There is no other mass-market perfume brand which interests me more than Gucci. The reason is back in 2002 when Tom Ford was the creative director for all things Gucci he took charge of fragrance, too. The perfumes that were generated at that time were brilliant envelope pushing fragrance for any market sector. At the mall they were top of the class. The perfume which made me take notice was 2003’s Gucci Pour Homme. Mr. Ford and Michel Almairac pushed back against the prevailing fresh and clean trends of that day. It is one of my favorites still.
Alessandro Michele
Those were the greatest times of Gucci’s fragrance history. I would suggest it was because the brand creative director was also interested in perfume. It took almost fifteen years until another Gucci creative director wanted to take charge of the fragrance piece. Alessandro Michele has reinvigorated Gucci fragrance from stagnant drift to something to be paid attention to again. Sig. Michele has worked almost exclusively with perfumer Alberto Morillas since he took an interest in 2017. It hasn’t been a flawless rebirth. There have been some stumbles here and there. Gucci Guilty Pour Homme Eau de Parfum is not one of them.
Alberto Morillas
Guilty Pour Homme Eau de Parfum follows last year’s Guilty Pour Homme Cologne. That was one of those stumbles I mentioned. The Cologne version was lacking anything different. The Guilty Pour Homme Eau de Parfum returns to what I like so much about the partnership between Sig. Michele and M. Morillas.
What has been so refreshing about Sig. Michele’s vision for fragrance is he isn’t looking to follow trends but set them. That has meant the recent Gucci releases aren’t part of the transparent wave of fragrance. The other thing is M. Morillas is encouraged to use ingredients outside of the typical mass-market palette. When it succeeds it is one of the reasons I am excited about perfume with Gucci on the bottle again. For Guilty Pour Homme Eau de Parfum the different ingredient choice is chili pepper.
It is right out front paired with a full-spectrum rose. The heat of the pepper ignites the spicier facets of rose. Bringing them to the foreground. This is a kind of rose I can get behind. It heads towards more typical fougere country with a heart of lavender and neroli. They turn the overall profile towards that, but the rose continues to burn freely above it all. Patchouli and cedar comprise the base accord which just provide a solid foundation for the fiery rose fougere.
Guilty Pour Homme Eau de Parfum has 10-12 hour longevity and average sillage.
I like the way Sig. Michele is providing consumers a vivid counterpoint to most of the current releases. It will become another perfume collection where the Gucci name means something again. Guilty Pour Homme Eau de Parfum sets a rose on fire to get your attention.
Disclosure: This review is based on a sample provided by Gucci.
–Mark Behnke
Recent Comments