Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsDon't buy this scent...
Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2011
I was really hesitant about writing this review because I really don't want to convince everyone to smell like me. I'm REALLY BITTER when I walk by people wearing the same scent(I was an ORIGINAL Acqua Di Gio and Armani Code wearer before everyone stole my style!). I rarely write reviews on products but I owed it to YSL for this one. I'm a cologne fanatic and this was a completely blind buy, I never smelled it once before I bought it. I made the decision to buy this one only based on all the positive reviews online.
JUST RECEIVED THIS TODAY. My immediate thoughts: Oh my it SMELLS GREAT, definitely a night scent, it's sexy, great buy, glad I bought it, it's a keeper, all the positive reviews I read were correct, it's a five star scent! The 100ml bottle was even a little larger than I thought it would be. It smells like a scent that that will keep girls close to your neck. It slightly reminded me of Armani Code but this one is more mysterious, it's different. This scent lacks the boldness Armani Code has which is a GREAT THING. The problem with bold scents is that people can easily 'smell' what you're wearing lol. So without the boldness and tell-tale notes Code has, this scent can only leave people with one question, "What is that glorious smell!?!?!" Anytime I smelled Code I immediately knew what I was smelling. It's a BIG PROBLEM if someone can guess your scent without asking. This scent is more subtle and more mysterious than that. I can definitely see why people would comment on it a lot, it's just a really sexy and attractive scent. I can't get enough of it. I would say it's definitely a night scent. I love it and I can definitely see why so many reviewers say the ladies love it. This scent exudes confidence, class, attraction, and mystery. It makes you feel great when wearing it. It's one of my top scents of all time.
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MY ONLINE FRAGRANCE BUYING GUIDE: I have come up with a short list of important considerations before buying the fragrance you crave either for yourself or as a gift for a loved one. I have been a fragrance fanatic for years now and have spent way too much money on trying to find that right scent for me. I have read message boards, countless reviews of unhappy customers, and watched video reviews as well. I have done quite a bit of research lately and compiled it here. This is MY guide based on my style and preferences as a fragrance fanatic. I hope this helps some of you out...
1. BUY FROM AMAZON OR TRUSTED SELLERS ONLY: Two great reasons to buy directly from Amazon -
- The fragrance is guaranteed to be the real deal (many one star reviews indicate there are some fakes out there).
- The fragrance was probably freshly manufactured.
Because fragrances are costly, we all want to find the best deal, but you have to be careful who you buy from. There are a few companies online who unfortunately do sell FAKE fragrances. You can't always tell who they are until it's too late. The boxes and bottles of the fakes look EXACTLY the same as the real deal. Personally I like to just make my life easy and deal strictly through Amazon for multiple reasons. With other sellers you never know what you're getting. If you are a compulsive penny pincher and must buy from another seller, ensure you read MULTIPLE PAGES of the seller's feedback to double check the authenticity of their fragrance sales. If the product is being sold by someone other than Amazon and has little or no customer reviews yet, DON'T BUY IT. ALSO keep in mind on all fragrance purchases, EVERY SINGLE FRAGRANCE IS "NON-RETURNABLE". So if you are an unlucky buyer, have fun with the headache and trying to get your money back.
2. ENSURE YOUR FRAGRANCE WAS RECENTLY MANUFACTURED: Three recommendations to ensure the scent you buy is FRESH:
- Once again, buy directly from Amazon or a well known department store.
- Discounted fragrances on others sites already have a shelf which is why they're discounted.
- Don't buy from auction sites or sellers you can't trust.
I have read fragrances have shelf lives of about three years before they're considered expired. That's right, as soon as your fragrance is manufactured the time is ticking down to the expiration date. This sounds silly and like a gimmick but fragrances are made from oils which slowly break down as they age. Think about it, how long does that bottle sit around before you finally buy it? A few months? A year? There really is no way of knowing so my best tip to ensure you are getting a freshly manufactured scent is buy it from a well known company like Amazon or major department store chains. Amazon, like other department stores sells a very high volume of products which means new shipments are always coming and going.
3. BLIND BUYS AND REVIEWS ON FRAGRANCES: For people buying fragrances as gifts for a significant other: Do thorough research because you're taking the risk of disliking the scent when it arrives. Even though I just made a blind buy on this purchase, I DO NOT recommend doing the same thing. I highly recommend going to the mall and using the tester on yourself (not on the card) to test it. Use YOUR OWN judgement and see if the fragrance lives up to its reviews. After spraying it on yourself, walk around for a few hours and shop in other stores while waiting for it to settle into your skin. Give it a little time to allow the secondary notes of the fragrance come to life. If you have to make a blind buy because you can't test it out in person, ensure you read customer reviews from MULTIPLE web sites first. Read how many stars people give the scent and their explanation for the rating. If someone rated it negatively then read their explanation. Watch video reviews too. Video reviews have been a great source of information on different fragrances.
4. RELEASE DATES OF FRAGRANCES: I have a two year rule when buying fragrances. Before buying a new fragrance ensure it has a recent introduction date (my rule is two years or less). The reason why I say this is because when buying a fragrance that was released more than two years ago, you have to expect people around you to be using the same scent or know what you use. Take a look at Acqua Di Gio for example here on Amazon. It's coming up on 400 reviews and that's A TON for a fragrance. It was introduced around 2004 so after all these years countless people already know what Acqua Di Gio smells like.
5. YOUR SCENT'S POPULARITY: I'm someone who wants a unique scent people ask me questions about. Here are three tips to avoid buying a scent that's too popular:
- Buy a fragrance released sooner than two years ago.
- If it has a lot of reviews, a lot of people own it, don't buy it.
- If it's sold out on other sites there's a high demand for it, don't buy it.
- Choose newer fragrances with a lower amount of reviews but with only outstanding four and five star ratings.
Pay attention to the number of buyer reviews on Amazon and other sites. This can give you a general idea of how popular the scent is. If it has a large number of reviews, the scent probably does smell amazing, but do you want to own the same scent all those people have too? Don't follow the trend or else you'll smell like other people around you. I'm VERY BITTER when I smell my scent on other people around me. You know what happens when you hear a joke twice? The joke loses it's punch. You NEVER want to be using a fragrance everyone and their mother already uses. It's no fun smelling like people around you, and it's even more nerve racking when people can guess what you have.
6. KEEP YOUR SCENT A SECRET: The moment you spray that cologne on you become a salesman. Think about it, when it comes to selling fragrances, the best marketing resource designers have is YOU. When you spray that cologne on you turn into a walking billboard. People have an option to look at advertisements but with fragrances they are REQUIRED to notice your scent. Random people will stop and ask what you are wearing. If you tell them the truth, you've just recommended a compounding amount of buyers for your scent. Karma will catch up when you notice people around are using YOUR beloved scent! It's best to just leave it a mystery. If you don't want other people to smell like you then keep it a secret!
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