Versace
Versace
126 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The black pepper strikes first with genuine pop, a sharp assault that momentarily obscures the brighter citrus notes. Angelica's herbal, slightly green character threads through the bergamot and neroli, creating an impression of sophisticated bite rather than cheerful zest—this is citrus viewed through a noir lens.
Saffron and cardamom emerge with quiet authority, transforming the composition from citric-spiced into something warmer, almost creamy. The cardamom dominates here, lending a distinctly oriental warmth, whilst the saffron adds a subtle metallic, slightly sweet undertone. The woody base begins surfacing, tobacco's leather notes becoming increasingly apparent.
By hour four, you're left with little more than a whisper—a soft, amber-woody skin scent dominated by labdanum's resinous sweetness and tobacco's dry, papery undertone. The cashmere wood provides a final halo of warmth, faintly creamy and almost powdery, before the fragrance dissolves entirely into your body chemistry.
Man Versace arrives as a deliberate contradiction—a fragrance that refuses the soft, fruity path expected of early-2000s designer releases. Domitille Michalon-Bertier has constructed something austere and masculine, built on the provocative marriage of angelica's herbaceous bite with black pepper's immediate heat. The bergamot and neroli provide citric scaffolding, yes, but they're merely the prelude to what genuinely animates this composition: the spice accord.
Once the saffron and cardamom emerge from their opening shadows, they transform the narrative entirely. These aren't delicate whispers—they're warm, almost food-like spices that sit heavy and insistent on the skin. The cardamom particularly reads as rich and slightly resinous, suggesting chai and Turkish cigarettes rather than anything conventionally fresh. Beneath this spice-forward heart, the woody-amber foundation builds steadily, with tobacco and labdanum adding a leathery, almost animalic weight.
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3.9/5 (153)