Calvin Klein - Escape for Men (1993)

"a fresh fruity fragrance with some greenness.."

Here we have CK's fragrance a little bit left behind from the more popular and known models. But it's still a good fragrance. Has many good points that I'll be explaining in the review. Escape classified as a green aromatic but acts as a fresh fruity type cologne. It was launched in 1993 two years later from its women's version, and the nose behind it is Steve Demarcado, not a potent creator so far, most creating regular fashion and celebrity fragrances. Actually Escape is his one of the best creations. 

Escape for Men's blend consist of: 

top notes: eucalyptus, melon, juniper, grapefruit, mango, bergamot

middle notes: rosemary, cypress, fir, sage, birch, sea notes

base notes: sandalwood, amber, patchouli, oak moss, vetiver

Just look at this list. How nice looking those notes are. Lot's  of nice fruits on the top, bold green aromatics, and very classical fougerish base note arrangements. Except sage note, I mostly hate it, I know, but I can not help about it. Unlike lot's of negative basenotes comments I still think escape is one of the better quality CK fragrances, and worked faithfully on it to create a good fragrance. I can feel it after using hundreds of fragrances. Of course I'm not saying its Creed or even Gucci quality or something like that, but its clearly better, more natural, well blended than most newer CK scents. The blend is very smooth, fresher side, fruity, soft, light, unisex and well behaved. kinda like a nice companion, comes with you wherever you go.

Yes, I know when you look at the blend , especially the middle notes it's suits perfectly as a green aromatic. But in realty the scent character is very different. This is a typical fresh fruity scent. You can forget about the notes I've written above. Escape is mostly a melon & mango combination. Yea some notes like sea notes makes it nearly feel like a aquatic fruity, but it's % 90 melon and mango. And this is good. Not boring, very gentle and adaptable. You will get the aromatic notes least. There are not much well made fruity fragrance out on the market, but to me Escape is one of the best. Not a plain dull fruit combination but cleverly riched with eucalyptus and sea notes, and just a tad spiced with aromatic woodiness. So in summary its a fresh fruity fragrance with some greenness. I think more people need to know about escape. Its being crushed under fragrances like eternity and ck one series. I can easily say most of those are under escape quality feel-wise.

In summary it's one of those fragrances you can spray and go. Summer, winter, in, out, day, night, doesn't care. Perfectly versatile. You like fruity scents? You need to try this. A well made satisfactory scent.

I would suggest escape to younger people than 30. After that it can feel a bit too simple and light for the experienced and aged user. Like pouring a freshly made, unripe wine to a well aged smoky oak barrel. you get what I mean? It can be ant time in a year and day, but would suit spring and summer best, as it doesn't smell so special I would suggest as an outdoor fragrance rather than an indoor one.

Olfactory group: Aromatic

Scent: good  7/10

Silage: average to above average  5,5/10

Longevity: average 5/10

Quality feel: above average  6/10

Recommended: Yes,I would suggest this to anyone, but mostly to lovers of fruity fragrance lovers

Paco Rabanne - XS Pour Homme (1993)

"c'mon who hasn't tried XS yet?.."

Paco Rabanne is a fashion house founded in 1966. It was founded by a Spanish architect named Francisco "Paco" Rabaneda Cuervo, who had fled to French in the Spanish Civil War time with his family. Today the brand is known as Paco Rabanne. The first paco rabanne fragrance was launched in 1969 and now it has 47 fragrances. So it's a Spanish brand in its blood. The XS model was launched in 1993 and created by the two noses Rosendo Mateu and Gerard Anthony. Both are successful noses but Gerard Anthony takes the edge with his legendary Azzaro Ph creation. Anyway let's get to the fragrance.

XS pour homme's blend consist of:

top notes: rosemary, mandarin orange, tarragon, mint, bergamot, lemon

middle notes: coriander, juniper, sage, bourbon geranium, brazilian rosewood

base notes: amber, patchouli, sandalwood, musk, vanilla

Its a good blend. And when we look at it, we can see most of the potent notes giving sweetness are in the base notes. So it can be understood with the drydown xs want to be get on the sweetish side. And that's mostly true. But before how it smells to judge the blend I can say its quite natural with no generic smelling. It's not a real high quality fragrance but it's above most of today's fragrances. That's very similar with fragrances launched in 90's. Worse that 80's fragrances, better than 2000's fragrances. The blend is smooth but also dynamical which I like. 

It starts fresher side, get a bit more mature with the middle notes and then sweetens with base notes. That change from freshness to sweetness is quite smooth but noticeable. Good as its not so dramatical. Its not a rough blend, and lets you smells some of the notes it has very cleanly and separately.

 

The scent; hımm, at the first few minutes it really opens like Cool Water from Davidoff. Fresh and clean. Not too citrussy, but a bit more fresh spicy, aromaticier than regular cool water. After opening with notes like coriander and rosewood it gets a bit more mature and sensual/warm. Then after some more time with the help of base notes it gets more sweet. Kinda like a smooth woody scent with honeyish sweetness. Its nice, notably strong, potent and likable. Sweetness is just in the middle, not too sweet. Its warm. And not cloying if you use with right dosage. The main problem with XS I found is that it 's quite particular abut the skins it's sprayed on. Loves choosing skin, and body chemistry. On some peoples it will smell more citrussy, herbal and fresher with its top and middle notes, on other peoples it may behave more like a light oriental with sweetness from the base notes. If you are lucky, with your body chemistry you will experience both of these and get the full potential from the cologne. So I would suggest trying it before buying, even though it's quite a likable fragrance by most fragrance lovers.

In summary, XS is nothing special; a regular fashion fragrance from a regular fragrance house BUT, its doing it's job quite well, very well actually. It doesn't feel cheap, synthetic or cloying. The scent is nice and likable,perfectly modern,  has good longevity and sillage and reasonably priced. Sound pretty nice for a fashion fragrance to me. And c'mon who hasn't tried XS yet? Is there anyone? 

Since it's a easygoing fragrance, its ideal user range is quite wide. But I think it would suit best with people between 18 - 35. Since its get a bit sweet and warm side, this is not as a cool fragrance as some other, so not for hot days. Perfect for autumn and winter. Can be a good office fragrance, dinner fragrance, meeting fragrance, or for everyday regular use. But doesn't have a strong character to be a signature fragrance. 

Olfactory group: Woody Floral Musk

Scent: good  7/10

Silage: good to very good  7,5/10

Longevity: good  7/10

Quality feel: average  5/10

Recommended: Yes, except highly selective fragrance gourmet's, I would recommend trying it to most fragrance lovers