Envy Perfume For Women, 60Ml

Product Information

Back in 1997, it seems the public had an unhealthy appetite for 'mean and nasty' as well as pink fluff and candyfloss, and we see the same thing happening today with the Spiky Woods. By flouting the idea that it 'should always smell good' Envy places itself firmly in the difficult - or Expressionist camp - along with some of Roudnitska's work, Sécrétions, Poison etc. The aforementioned light sweetness is caused by some mandarin orange, and adds a surprise oriental touch to the opening of Envy for Men, something which is followed up by jasmine hedione and a bit of rose before carnation - another old-timer favorite - shows up to continue the mature theme of the top. Ginger, incense, sandalwood and vanilla isn’t a combination you’ll find in many fragrances, and certainly not a combination you’d find in any of today’s offerings. I was given a big bottle of this for Christmas several years ago, and initially I really liked it, but after a while, for some reason, it started to irritate me.

If you'd rather not get your wallet eaten by carnivorous cave bunnies you can instead try the rest of what came in the wake of Envy for Men, but the further down the line you go, the less of a resemblance there is as the style is played with more by other perfumers. The smell may be different - but the spirit is the same; just the materials have changed - for the worse. The base of Envy for Men goes somewhat into a twist on a green fougère direction with patchouli, oakmoss, tonka, tannery leather, and cedarwood forming the core, but with spices like nutmeg, cardamom, and further oriental notes like amber and sandalwood to make it richer. Where they are too aggressive, this is too complaisant; a green, gingery Amber, it's so sweet and eager to please you wonder if there's any character at all behind it's manicured stubble and designer chinos.

Had I paid anything near that and smelled this fragrance for the first time under those circumstances, I'd be extremely disappointed and would give this a thumbs down; but when removed from all that drama, Gucci Envy for Men is a pretty good little scent taken on its own. I wouldn't say Envy for Men smells exactly like a mix of the two, but if you're going for a vibe and made a Venn diagram for it, Envy for Men could sit in that little elliptical part between both circles representing each fragrance. The almighty and insurmountable reputation of Gucci Envy for Men (1998), earned from the hype given to it by YouTube and Instagram influencers (the real shakers and movers of the "frag-bro" dominated community), can hardly be parsed from the fragrance itself; and it is such that guys will actually fall in love with the stuff or the idea of wearing it because of the reputation, regardless of how it smells. She wraps herself in a luxurious white robe while she ponders what to wear that night (does she wear the Castelbajac or the Sonia Rykiel? It's like green l'Eau d'issey, which is set on a base of scorched earth that clearly derives from Sinan.

Before the makeup, before she lights her first cigarette of the evening, before she pours herself a Dubonnet and before she douses herself with Calandre, she smells like this--fresh, floral, clean. Performance is good for something made during the decade of apologetic sillage, but Gucci Envy for Men is no screamer and has an average wear time of about 8 to maybe 10 hours, making it above the norm but not a powerhouse. I also like that it is like an echo, growing smaller and more distant, as hour by hour the bittersweet petals are stripped away, layer after layer, until all that is left is a cool and pleasant iris, like the core of an old Guerlain.

Calvin Klein Contradiction for Men (1999) would go in a slightly-sweeter and more resinous direction, mostly omitting the fougère elements but staying very much green, while Aura for Men by Jacomo (2000) would be more resinous like the Calvin Klein, but doubling down on the tobacco and isobutyl quinoline leather at the cost of both fougère and oriental elements. And I think I've figured out why it irritated me – a) the white flowers take over after half an hour or so, b) it barely lasted four hours and c) what was left took on a rather sharp, almost-but-not-quite sour green edge. Compared to all the fresh fougères, aquatics, gourmands, and ozonics flooding the designer market at this stage, it is easy to see how Envy for Men might be perceived as mature, old-fashioned, overtly masculine, or dated. Gucci Envy for Men was created by Daniela Andrier, the woman who would shape the smell of house Prada until 2020, and the start of a short-lived revival of green woody/tobacco-based masculines that rode the cusp between the 90's and 2000's.

In fact, what sweetness there is, is only there to stop the tamarisk note from getting out of hand, nothing more. The big floral notes--Hyacinth and Muguet--could easily take the bit between their teeth and make a run for it, but in Roucel's hands they are so well blended and harmonious that they are real team players. If you're a regular user, please take a break, explore our other interesting content, and come back later. This sweet, soft green floral is from 1997 but if you changed the '97 to '79, it would totally make sense.There's a bitter black note in the magnolia petal - which adds a gritty edge - and this is worked into a kind of burnt-sugar mossy base, which is anything but sweet. And of course it was a big success, which goes to show that a safe perfume isn't always the most lucrative one. I'm going to try layering it with something else to see what happens, as the first half hour of this is rather lovely. This throwback to the 70s, that Tom Ford does so well, should be evident from the first glimpse of his spare, chrome-capped bottle. This sleek, masculine, oriental, woody scent became an instant classic when it was launched in 1998.

It is an almost entirely floral composition, in a throwback way which somehow casts an unassailable aura around the wearer, like a vampiric woman whose creation and heart are rooted in the 40's, and who walks the Earth unchanged, unmoved. I wouldn't say this is the best example of the mini-genre it created, nor that the genre itself was very remarkable; but having the clout that the brand Gucci affords obviously didn't hurt it in the least.This and Gucci Rush are the only two fragrances I have backup bottles of, and that in and of itself is an incredible statement for me. I suspect the lavender, coriander, ginger, anise, and rosewood profile really helped establish this perception of Envy from guys used to things like Liz Claiborne Curve for Men (1996) or Eternity for Men by Calvin Klein (1989); for older Gen-X guys or even Boomers still in the market for new fragrances at that time, this might have been a godsend away from all that "fresh" nonsense.