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Diamonds for Him was released back in 2008 under the Emporio Armani label of Giorgio Armani. Even after all of these years, it still sticks around and has at least some limited availability for purchase. But, is it actually worth a try? Does it still hold up versus all of today’s options on the market?

What does Emporio Armani Diamonds Smell Like?

Notes include: Citrus, Bergamot, Cedar, Szechwan Pepper, Guaiac Wood, Ambroxan, Vetiver, Cocoa Bean

Click here to try: Armani Diamonds for Him

My Full Review

Coming back to Diamonds after all these years was a great nostalgic experience. The bergamot note leads things early on, with a blend of cacao and woodsy spices underneath. It’s bright, sweet, and fresh in this opening act.

The cacao note is going to be a highlight and grow in strength, as we move along. But, I really like the way that it sits underneath the citrus, guaiac wood, and hint of pepper. It all comes across a nuanced and balanced. Each sniff, gives me a slightly different aroma.

What’s interesting is that Diamonds has periods of a powdery or a bit of a dusty sort of smell. Not overwhelming to me, but it’s there.

One note that surprised me with its strength during this return to Emporio Diamonds, is the amber. Smooth and warm, almost combining with that rich cacao. The cacao is kind of wrapped up throughout the wear, despite being the dominant ingredient. It’s not a pure chocolate smell, actually has similarities to Valentino Uomo.

The bergamot will start to lose some of its potency. This one becomes drier and woodier. Guaiac, vetiver, and some cedar really provide a fresh boost as you transition into the middle of the wear.

The dry down is a woody fresh mix and the amber and cacao together. Much less of the spice and almost none of the bergamot. Any of the powdery quality has also evaporated away.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

Diamonds isn’t a complete beast with how it projects. I’d say that it’s slightly above average, on the whole. The first hour or two will be pretty strong, maybe 5-7 feet from the skin, with normal sprays.

Thereafter, it is going to sit much softer in the air, probably 2-3 foot radius. Not bad, just not going to dominate a room in most cases.

The longevity on skin is about 6.5-7 hours for me. That’s good enough for most purposes, but I’ve never found this cologne to be a round the clock wear that won’t quit. If you need it for longer, bring a sprayer to reapply.

Seasonally, this one works great anytime but the height of summer. If it’s a little warm outside, Diamonds is still capable of being pleasant. In my experience, humidity will kind of make it smell a tad off. So, just avoid daytime in summer.

It does have the ability to go day or night. I wouldn’t mind it as a nightlife fragrance, it’s just not going to scream for attention, in that environment. Ideally, this is a fragrance that I’d wear during the day in autumn. That’s really when it is firing on all cylinders.

Overall Impressions of Diamonds

Overall, do I like Diamonds for Men? I do. I had a higher opinion of it when I was younger, but coming back to it, this Armani scent was really enjoyable.

The opening act is fresh and has a nice balance between all of the notes. I love the use of bergamot here, with its similarities in style to Valentino (which I have a full bottle of). Multi-faceted for a good while, before settling down into a woody cacao blend. It’s nice at that point, but I like the first half more.

The performance isn’t anything to brag about, but Diamonds is certainly a serviceable cologne in that department.

I’m not sure if this has been reformulated over the years or not. Going off of my memory, it smells like how I remember it. Then again, it’s not an exact measure.

I do recommend trying this one out, especially if you like a chocolatey aroma in your colognes. $40-75 dollar range would be okay. Beyond that, it might not be worthwhile. If bottles get scarce, the price can jump to insane levels. Personally, I wouldn’t bite if they do.

Best Men's Colognes

Best Men’s Colognes started back in 2013, as a way to share my learning experiences with the different fragrances that I’ve owned, as I dove head first into the hobby. Since then, that new hobby grew into a consistent passion, helping millions of readers along the way. I have personally written reviews for well over 800 perfumes and colognes for both men and women. This is along with writing hundreds of other in-depth fragrance guides.

bestmenscolognes.com/

Code is the still and long-running series from Giorgio Armani. In 2022, the designer came out with Code Parfum for men to continue on the name. How does it smell? Does it last long? Is it actually worth a shot?

What does Code Parfum Smell Like?

Notes include: bergamot, sage, iris, tonka bean, cedar

Click here to try: Code Parfum by Armani

My Full Review

So, this is going to be a one wear review, at least until I update it in the future, after longer testing. I tried this out with 5 sprays from a tester bottle in a department store.

Here’s how Armani describes it: ARMANI CODE PARFUM rewrites the code of a timeless masculine fragrance – infusing the powerful and seductive signature Tonka Bean with fresh notes of iris, sage, and bergamot, to create a woody aromatic blend that is long-lasting and uniquely distinctive. ARMANI CODE PARFUM speaks to a man who rewrites the codes of masculinity – a new seduction that is charismatic, a confidence that is refined, and a self-expression that is authentic.

From the first spray of Code Parfum, I am reminded a lot of Luna Rossa Ocean. Sage, bergamot, and iris are all major players early on with both of these colognes. It’s as if you took the main idea of Ocean and combined it with elements of the original Code.

Parfum lacks the suede and caramel, but also includes the tonka bean note. So, it’s not as smooth as Ocean, nor does it have that ‘blue’ aroma. But, I think that this one has a great colder freshness.

The bergamot is awesome here. Sparkling, enough juiciness, and it actually lasts throughout the wear, on my skin. The citrus note tends to disappear, as it does in the Prada cologne. But, with this one you get a nice run.

The iris note, is sort of two fold. You get the sunny aldehyde version and then, the rich orris butter. The aldehydes give this one a colder feeling throughout. Sage and aldehydes together. Yes, the iris has a faint powdery smell, but honestly isn’t that heavy with it. This one actually leans more towards a light soapy/cream aroma.

The tonka bean here is much weaker than it is in Code EDP, for example. Which was heavy on that and vanilla, to the point of distraction. Still nice, just wasn’t great. Here, I like the light sweetness and smoothness that it adds to the mix.

The tonka bean does play more of a role in the dry down, as the bergamot fades somewhat. Yet, the end is headed up by the tonka bean and iris. With the bergamot and a bit of cedar playing support.

Clean, simple, and effortless to wear.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

Parfum has an above average amount of projection and will probably leave a trail for around 2 hours, with proper sprays. For me, during this test run it felt like it radiated off of my skin well enough.

It’s not a heavy scent or a club beast, so that’s not what I’d expect.

Longevity here was in the 7-8 hour range. Maybe it’s capable of a little more, but I wouldn’t count on it, outside of heavy spraying.

Seasonally, I wouldn’t mind wearing this anytime outside of the summer. The freshness allows it to definitely venture outside of the winter months, also. Ideally, I’d like wearing this best here in autumn or the early spring.

This is a daily wear cologne. Super safe for the office. Attractive and not going to blow out the room. Code Parfum has plenty of versatility. It can be worn more formally, casually, or even on a date if need be.

Overall Impressions of Code Parfum

Overall, do I like Code Parfum? I do. Code Absolu is still my favorite from the series currently. But, I think this is better than the EDP and the modern version of the EDT.

Update: Coming back to this one a few years later, this one is great. It might be more enjoyable to me than Absolu, at least at times. Plus, they don’t make that one anymore, so I’d go with Parfum.

I was a fan of Luna Rossa Ocean’s opening act, so I really enjoy the similarities here. This one, is better over the duration of the wear, and doesn’t turn into a super boring cologne. Simple, yeah, but the aroma is very nice and kept my attention.

You’re still going to get plenty of the vibe of the original EDT, just in a fresher and cleaner form. It’s updated and modern, from an older formula which has been degraded over time.

Performance isn’t amazing, but it seems to be able to hit a standard work day. Versatile enough for multiple seasons, office or even night life.

One issue here, might be the pricing. As a Parfum version, the higher concentration is going to sell for a higher price. So, you might want to test it out before blind buying.

It’s probably not going to offend anyone, just you may want something different for the same price point. I don’t think the price is anything outlandish, however. Perhaps a bit elevated.

I was tempted to grab a full bottle for myself. I enjoyed wearing Code Parfum. As of now, it’s sort of borderline. Not something I definitely want, but may end up with at some point.

Best Men's Colognes

Best Men’s Colognes started back in 2013, as a way to share my learning experiences with the different fragrances that I’ve owned, as I dove head first into the hobby. Since then, that new hobby grew into a consistent passion, helping millions of readers along the way. I have personally written reviews for well over 800 perfumes and colognes for both men and women. This is along with writing hundreds of other in-depth fragrance guides.

bestmenscolognes.com/

Stronger With You Leather is the last of the decants I bought of this series. Now, there still currently are two more that I need to review, but this is the fifth full review that I’ve gotten to. Leather was released back in 2020 by Emporio Armani. How does it smell? When should it be worn? Is it actually worth a try?

What does Stronger with You Leather Smell Like?

Notes include: leather, elemi, spices, chestnut, vanilla, sage, lavender, oud, guaiac wood

My Full Review

SWY Leather opens up with an interesting take on the Stronger with You line. I mean, from the jump you can tell that it is apart of the series, but it lacks a lot of the hallmarks of entries like, Intensely.

The sweetness is taken way down, to where it’s basically only the vanilla note. Yes, it still has sweetness, just not from multiple sources. This one does feel nuttier to me in the opening act, with that signature chestnut out in full. But, one thing I do notice is that the spice mix is weaker here too.

Sure, some generic spice and a bit of sage wafting up from the heart. However, it doesn’t really bring that strong kick.

Now, the leather here is potent and you get plenty of it. Though, from the elemi to the guaiac wood, there is a real resinous aroma that surrounds the leather note from the start.

So, at the opening this one comes across as more of a blend of chestnut, leather, and vanilla. With the other notes providing a basic level of support.

Out of the entire series of fragrances, Leather is the closest to Absolutely, in terms of smell. Again though, even the lavender note is weaker here versus the others.

The dry down here is basically a takeover of vanilla and leather. On my skin, the chestnut sticks around, but is less prominent and the third strongest note.

The resinous smell has faded, oud is a bit stronger than the remaining guaiac wood. But, really neither is massive. It’s not really all that spicy or sweet. Just warm, vanilla, with a very nice leathery finish.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

Sillage wise, I think this one has some sneaky power. The others do have pretty huge projections and leave scent trails in your wake. But, the sweetness and spice of the Stronger With You lineup, really makes them seem bigger.

Here, I think you get a lot of ability to project. Though, it doesn’t punch you in the face in the same way as a bold spice or sweeter scent can. Nonetheless, I can spray this on clothing in my house and pick up the scent from far off.

The longevity here is fantastic. Double digit hours and it goes beyond, most of the others too. 12-ish hours, maybe a bit more depending on the day.

Now, this does become softer than its initial strong stillage, but this Emporio Armani cologne really sticks around for a long time. Awesome.

The original Stronger EDT felt way too youthful to me, at times. Frankly, I wouldn’t want to wear it at my age. That being said, Leather feels much more appropriate for guys in their 30s and up.

Not to say that is the only group that can wear it, but it does have a nice refinement that some of the others like EDT and Freeze do not.

Seasonally, this is an autumn and winter scent entirely. I wouldn’t be wearing this out in the heat. Not that it’s too heavy, just the notes are conducive to that environment.

If you don’t go too heavy with it, Leather is a fairly safe fragrance during daytime activities. Personally, I’d want to reserve it for the nightlife. It is warm and does have a sexiness to its scent that simply works.

Overall Impressions of SWY Leather

Overall, do I like this fragrance? Yes, it is probably my second favorite of the Stronger with You lineup. The top three go back and forth, but as of now it’s: 1. Intensely  2. Leather  3. Absolutely.

This one offers something a bit different. You get the basic DNA, but without the same level of sweetness and spice. More of the spice remains, but even that is pretty weak in comparison. Instead, that title note, takes a bigger slice of the aroma.

I like the mix of chestnut and the leather note. The underlying vanilla and oud/guaiac wood are also nice. I’m not super thrilled with the resinous aspect, but it doesn’t distract me all that much.

The performance here is still great, like most of the rest of the Stronger With You scents.

This is probably pretty safe for a blind buy. You’re going to have to like leather (but it is well-blended and not just a leather bomb), obviously, and this does have more of a mature vibe than some of the others that have been put out. Nonetheless, this is a worthwhile fragrance to try out.

This does seem to be in pretty limited supply, as of posting. At least in the US. So, the price is probably going to be elevated versus others in the SWY series.

Best Men's Colognes

Best Men’s Colognes started back in 2013, as a way to share my learning experiences with the different fragrances that I’ve owned, as I dove head first into the hobby. Since then, that new hobby grew into a consistent passion, helping millions of readers along the way. I have personally written reviews for well over 800 perfumes and colognes for both men and women. This is along with writing hundreds of other in-depth fragrance guides.

bestmenscolognes.com/