In the words of Robert Downey Jr.’s epically befuddled character in Tropic Thunder, “Maybe I am a little confused.” That sums up our testing of Guess by Marciano’s Spring 2009 Fragrance for Men. At the outset, I didn’t know it belonged to men, as the bottle had a certain androgyny to it. Naturally, I recruited my boyfriend, because between the two of us, we had to figure it out, right? Famous last words.
The top notes of ginger mandarin, iced tonic, and crushed black pepper immediately hit us as we looked at each other and wisely nodded. “Male!” Mere minutes later, the scent had mellowed, and lavender, sage, rosemary, violet leaf, neroli petals, and star fruit began to emerge, prompting my boyfriend to blurt out, “Oh, man, now I smell like a girl!”
Fortunately, amber, leather, and musk made their presences known as the bottom notes, and he calmed down. And just in case you might wonder, I got all these notes from the press release after the fact, when we learned that this new fragrance was definitely for men.
Make no mistake, just because the scent confused two naive twentysomethings, it is by no means unpleasant. While for men, a bold woman could wear this perfume for night. Now that I’m not so confused anymore, perhaps that bold woman will be me . . .
The entire collection of Spring 2009 products is available at department stores everywhere and at www.guess.com
