Banderas
Banderas
230 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The menthol and melon immediately create a crisp, almost carbonated sensation, with bright bergamot zinging across skin like someone's just squeezed citrus over ice. Blackcurrant adds a dark berry undertone that prevents this from feeling entirely clean and transparent.
As the volatile top notes evaporate (swiftly), that seawater accord emerges as the fragrance's anchor—ozonic, mineral, vaguely salty. The cardamom-cappuccino-nutmeg cluster adds unexpected warmth and spice, creating an oddly compelling contrast with the aquatic freshness above, though the green apple keeps everything tart and slightly artificial.
Within four hours, you're left with barely-there woody whispers and a faint amber warmth that feels more like skin scent than fragrance. The scent retreats to an almost imperceptible second skin, then vanishes entirely, leaving only the faintest memory of that menthol-melon opening.
Blue Seduction for Men opens with the bracing optimism of a man who's just emerged from a cold shower. Olivier Cresp constructs something deliberately uncomplicated here—a fragrance built on the tension between menthol's icy prickle and melon's waxy sweetness, with bergamot and blackcurrant providing sharp citrus counterpoint. There's an almost sports-drink quality to the composition, a synthetic cleanliness that feels more gym locker than gentleman's club.
What makes this fragrance momentarily compelling is its aquatic heart, where that curious seawater accord (likely ambroxan-based) sits alongside cardamom's warm spice and the unexpected coffee-nutmeg pairing. It's as though Cresp couldn't decide between fresh-aquatic and gourmand, so he simply layered both, creating an odd but strangely intriguing effect—like drinking an espresso whilst standing in salty sea spray. The green apple adds a tart, almost artificial brightness that prevents the composition from becoming cloying.
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3.1/5 (508)