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Stronger With You Leather by Emporio Armani

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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.

Stronger With You Absolutely by Emporio Armani

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Stronger With You is a series that I’ve been working my way through, as far as posting reviews for the site. Today’s entry is SWY Absolutely, another one of the flankers off of the main original EDT formulation. How does this one smell? When should it be worn? Is it worth a try?

What does Stronger With You Absolutely Smell Like?

Notes include: glazed chestnut, rum, lavender, cedar, vanilla, elemi

My Full Review

Here’s how Armani describes it: Stronger With You Absolutely parfum is an addictive fragrance for men, inspired by the power of absolute love. This powerful and sensual fragrance is boosted by an addictive new rum accord, while lavender, sustainably sourced in France, is irresistibly enhanced with liquorous and fruity facets. Warm vanilla, harvested in Madagascar while supporting local communities, and smoky cedar wood, carefully extracted in Virginia, USA, round up this powerful scent. 

The opening spray gives me a blast of the very short-lived bergamot and some of the other fruity sweetish notes, that seem to be associated with the lavender accord.

This is met with some spice and warmth. Not overly so, however. Armani talked something about pink pepper being here, I think that may be a part of this initial mix, since that is in Stronger Intense as a note.

But, this one also strikes me as being quite resinous from the get go. Elemi or the ‘glaze’ of the chestnut note is something that really sticks out after that top blast.

The Armani website mentioned cinnamon in addition to the rum accord. Yes, there is some warm spiciness and booziness , but this is a lot smoother composition than a heavily spiced boozy rum note.

Much different than something like Man in Black or the intensity of the cinnamon in Spicebomb Infrared.

Once we’re past all of that, the chestnut will ramp up. The warmth of the blend, the woody influences from cedar (bit smoky), with the vanilla and lavender playing support. Not as boozy at this stage, at least its been drained of any spice.

I think that when the chestnut really has the lead, as the strongest note, that’s when this one is at it’s best.

Yes, later in the dry down, it’s still the strongest. However, the lavender seems to start creeping up more on my skin, for the final run.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

This one has some definite strength. Though, it’s about the same as some of the others in the series. You get a few hours of a scent trail and solid projection off of the skin.

The projection is really good, able to reach pretty far across a room. Then, it’ll become a 4-5 foot scent bubble, and finally a skin scent. Not the heaviest or most beast mode projection out there, but I wasn’t disappointed.

On my skin, Absolute lasts up to 11 or 12 hours. This and Intensely are the same in terms of their performance and somewhat better than the EDT.

Like the others in the series (other than Freeze), this is an autumn and winter wear. It can probably do the early months of spring as well, particularly evening wear. Though, this isn’t one for the summer months.

This is a casual, nightlife, and date night kind of fragrance. It’s sweet, so, I’d not really wear it to the office or as a super formal cologne.

Overall Impressions of Stronger With You Absolutely

Overall, do I like this fragrance? Yes, it’s among the best of this line. Though, I personally prefer Intensely over this one a little bit more. It’s pretty neck and neck, but that gets the nod.

I do like the chestnut note, in this one, in particular. The elemi, cinnamon, and rum are all nice touches. Maybe could’ve had more of each to really distinguish and make Absolutely an even bolder scent, but it’s nice enough for what it is.

The performance here is on equal footing with Intensely and about what you get with the rest of the line. No issues there.

If you like the rest of the series, this is also one that you’ll enjoy, also. It’s not super different, but it does have its distinct qualities about it. But, if you already own other SWY fragrances, you don’t necessarily ‘need’ this one.

It’s a very good scent, on the whole. An enjoyable wear and one of the better options out of this lineup.

Stronger With You Intensely by Emporio Armani

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Stronger With You continues to roll along as a fragrance series for the Emporio Armani label. I’ve been going through the releases over the past little while, in order to give each of them full reviews. Today, I finish up my thoughts on Stronger With You Intensely. How does it smell? How long does it last? Is it worth a try?

What does Stronger With You Intensely Smell Like?

Notes include: pink pepper, cinnamon, toffee, lavender, sage, suede, amber, violet, vetiver

Click here to try: Stronger With You Intensely

My Full Review

Here’s how Armani describes it: This addictive fougere scent features notes of pink pepper, vanilla and an ambery wood accord. It reflects the personality of today’s young man in search of an intense fragrance that lights up his profound love story!

Intensely really kicks off with its spicy notes blazing. That pink pepper really commands attention, a dash of sage, and even a little bit of the cinnamon, as a part of that toffee accord, and that’s found in other fragrances from this series.

But, it’s not a complete spicy takeover, since the sweetness it there early on too. It’s got more of a caramel aroma early on, that will shift more towards the vanilla end of things by the end of the wear.

That initial spiciness isn’t a long lasting affair. Stronger With You Intensely shifts to a warmer and sweeter overall aroma. But, the lavender note becomes more noticeable to me after the opening is done.

In Absolutely, the lavender comes on strong in the end.

The good news for me, is that lavender will get weaker in favor of the amber note. Toffee and vanilla. Plus, a bit of suede giving it a smooth leathery finish.

The pink pepper and other spices are basically gone for the back half of this one, on me at least.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

Sillage wise, this one is well above average, and will leave a scent trail behind in one’s wake for a few hours at least.

The projection is really good, able to reach pretty far across a room. Then, it’ll become a 4-5 foot scent bubble, and finally a skin scent. Not the heaviest or most beast mode projection out there, but I wasn’t disappointed.

On my skin, Intensely lasts up to 11 or 12 hours. It’s really got fantastic performance for a designer mass market fragrance. Now, those last few hours aren’t really that strong, but the cologne is still there.

Seasonally, this one has autumn and winter written all over it. You can probably venture into the spring, since this is a great choice for the nightlife, but I’d stay out of the heat with Intensely.

It’s a sweeter fragrance, a nice one for romantic wear, nightlife, and such. Probably not what most will want to go with to the office.

It probably does skew younger in its appeal. But, it doesn’t strike me as being completely immature or only a teenager’s fragrance.

Overall Impressions of Stronger With You Intensely

Overall, do I like Stronger With You Intensely? I do and it might be my favorite from the whole series. Though, I like Leather, also. Kind of a toss up with those.

Just on performance alone, you already get the awesome longevity and sillage of the original EDT, but amped up and with a better smelling formula.

While the spices don’t last that long on my skin, I do like that bold kick to start off. Then, with the toffee/caramel aroma comes in with the suede and vanilla, that’s when Intensely is really a joy to wear around.

This one is sweet. Which, I get can be too much for some people. I find this to be more tolerable to wear than the original, which I found much more cloying.

So, if you don’t want the sweetness to the same extent, maybe try out Absolutely. That Stronger With You fragrance is almost as good to me, but I like Intensely slightly more.

But, I do think that I prefer The Most Wanted by Azzaro to this one, which often gets compared to Intensely. That has a simpler aroma, more cardamom, but really works on my skin.

Encens Satin by Giorgio Armani

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Armani Prive is the upscale line of the Giorgio Armani brand. I’ve tried some of them out before, but not the entire range. I really wasn’t checking for Encens Satin, but when I had the change to buy a sample as a part of a lot, I went ahead and added it on. How does this one smell? Does it last long? Is it actually worth the high price?

What does Encens Satin Smell Like?

Notes include: incense, amber, woods, spices

encens satin review

My Full Review

Here’s how Armani describes it: Celebrating a new vision of legendary, sensual, incense. Blue satin, as fluid as the Mediterranean. A midnight blue, refined and modern, one of Giorgio Armani’s most emblematic colors. Satin that caresses as it envelopes the body, always in motion. It is this opulence and radiance that inspired Giorgio Armani to create Encens Satin, a fragrance where each note is wrapped in a deep, luminous embrace.

This is an absolutely smooth, warm, and rich incense fragrance. many other perfumes which use that note, have a harsher and smokier incense. This one is hot and almost like it hasn’t been burned in a while, and yes, somehow feels like it’s wrapped in satin. Weird.

With that, there are some generic spice notes up top. Not very distinct in how they come across, almost like they are sprinkled within the amber itself. It feels like they used labdanum here too, along with the amber note. It’s sweeter, spicier, and deeper than I’d expect otherwise.

The wood here is quite light. I get brief hits of it throughout, but this really turns into the incense and amber show. Sure, some hints of spice remain, just not to the same extent as the beginning.

Again, since the smokiness isn’t heavy, Encens Satin actually comes across as clean and very dry. I get the same deep darkness impression that I get with another Armani scent, AdG Profumo, just on the opposite end of the spectrum.

Water based incense versus this dry aroma. Oh, the frankincense is way higher quality here, though.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

Encens Satin isn’t a super heavy fragrance. It has depth, but it very wearable. I don’t find it to be blow out a room powerful. It projects itself well above average, in the first few hours, and will leave a nice scent trail.

But, never made me feel as if it were dominating absolutely everything.

The longevity is great. I got well above 10 hours on my skin. Probably in the 12-ish hour range, at least as a faint amber note. There is no disappointments with how this scent performs.

Seasonally, this is going to be autumn and winter. Maybe the early part of spring, at night. But, I really wouldn’t go too warm with when I ventured to wear Encens. It works in the cold and crisp weather, but can fall apart completely in the heat.

This Armani is indeed a true unisex. Doesn’t lean too far in either direction. Perhaps, a slight bit more traditionally male. Not enough to make a fuss over.

This isn’t a daily wear for most people. Sure, cold weather and out a night, it’s great. Maybe not a daytime fragrance to go with in many office environments. Some folks, might have jobs where it’d be fine.

Again, not too intrusive and not obnoxious. Just kind of depends on your own circumstances.

Overall Impressions of Encens Satin

Overall, do I like this fragrance? I do. I’m not a major fan of the incense based fragrances of this sort, but this Armani is fantastic for what it is.

The amber and the incense lead the way, with only hints of spices and wood throughout. However, it simply works. Not too complex, but you get a full array of sweetness, spiciness, smokiness and just a great perfume all around.

It projects strongly, but isn’t so overpowering as to make it off-putting. But, it also lasts a long time, helping to make the cost of entry with Encens Satin more palatable.

I am pretty sure that Encens Satin has been discontinued, as it’s out of stock everywhere that I’m looking, at the moment. As such, you’ll probably have to track down a bottle in order to experience it…or grab a sample first on eBay, if available.

That being said, if your an incense fan or just think that this one sounds interesting, Encens is definitely worth a try.

Code Femme Absolu by Giorgio Armani

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Armani Code is a best seller in both the men’s and women’s space, with each respective version. Usually when the men’s Code spawns a flanker, the women’s gets one as well with the same title. In 2019, we got the Absolu versions of Code, include Code Femme Absolu. I received a sample of this perfume, when I put in my last order with Armani. How does it smell? Perform? Is it worth a buy?

What does Code Femme Absolu Smell Like? 

Notes include: ginger, tuberose, jasmine, orange blossom, orange, tonka bean, vanilla, sandalwood

Click here to try: Code Femme Absolu Eau de Parfum Spray 50ml/1.7oz

My Full Review

Code Absolu Femme kicks things off with a hefty dose of ginger, the floral blend, and citrus. All of this together with vanilla undertones.

At first, I pick up mostly orange blossom, with tuberose and jasmine following. Together it feels slightly waxy and like it has a sweet fizziness. I can certainly recall smelling portions of this fragrance in the original Armani Code.

As it moves along, I pick up more jasmine and tuberose versus the orange blossom. Still, there’s enough citrus fruit to keep the feeling of orange alive. Though, it’s not an overwhelming citrus type of perfume.

Still further, the ginger fades, as does the orange. Tonka bean and vanilla really emerge to join the floral bouquet that is dominating. Not too complicated: flowers, with vanilla and tonka bean, and the hint of a sandalwood base.

Actually, smells quite similar to Dior Addict, at times. That and the original Code. But, a creamier and more enveloping version of each of those perfumes.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

Code Absolu Femme has a strong sillage, well above average, but not super extreme. I’d say it has the ability to venture across a room, with the right number of sprays, just not one or two. The strength and projection won’t disappoint.

Nor will the longevity. On my skin, it seems to stay in the 8-10 hour range. Which for most purposes, is all you will need. Again, not an elite performer, just a very good one.

Seasonally, colder to moderate temperatures and climates. I’d avoid higher heat and humidity with this one, as it does have a certain amount of thickness. Not a sheer beach wear or anything like that.

Absolu Femme also feels geared more towards adults rather than younger women. It’s well put together and confident. Less of a casual fragrance, but it could work well in the night, just as well as at work (so long as you go easy with the spraying).

Overall Impressions of Code Femme Absolu

Do I like this fragrance? I do. It not only reminds me of Code Femme and Dior Addict. But also, it has elements of the men’s version, which I love. This version? I only like. I’d certainly find it attractive on a woman.

Code Femme Absolu does everything well. It has an intensity that not everyone will find appealing. Very floral and when the vanilla/tonka bean comes in, it can be too sweet and creamy for the tastes of some folks.

Overall? It’s certainly a perfume that I’m not disappointed by. If you’re interested in getting this, do so now, as Armani has discontinued it. A very short run from its late 2019 release date. Kind of odd that they sent me a sample, as it was already being halted.