by Tom Ford, Maurer & Wirtz, and Thierry Mugler; 2007, 1792, & 2001;
so-so, good, good
More fraternal siblings, this time fraternal triplets. Again, close,
but not identical, all have the fresh summer-lemon body, and what they
do with it later is where the difference lies, and Tom Ford ought to be
ashamed of himself!
Sure, he was innovative with his earlier scents: Black Orchid was
exquisite, For Men was unpleasant (for me, it smelling like replicant
ladyparts and all) but very unique, then he did retro very well with
Violet Blonde, but Neroli Portofino? Come ON! Pretty much ripping off
Thierry Mugler’s Cologne wholesale, right down to the slightly
downmarket public-restroom-soap note, which it quickly backs away from,
and instead dives headfirst towards the very plastic smelling 4711 fake
citrus center notes. It’s still classy, and lovely, but generic and a
really a copycat of its older brothers.
Now, 4711 has had a lot of work done over the years, and the
stretched skin on his smooth, lemony face is sure flawless, but obvious.
He still swans around Europe, respected by the ladies, still
occasionally emulated by very young men, but no longer an icon. Cologne
showed up and got the party started again, being just louche enough for
interest, but not enough to be offensive. Now Neroli is trying to hit
the scene, and has followed Cologne’s
style to the letter, but didn’t forget 4711′s original key attractions,
but still couldn’t pull it off. Neroli imitated the right swank from
his brothers, but forgot to become his own individual on the way to the
party.
Neroli Portofino sample arrived unasked-for in the mail from
Neiman-Marcus. Large bottle of 4711 bought from a bridal discounter.
Cologne sample bought from the now-defunct ReiRien.
