Best Versace Man by Versace Alternatives & Similar Perfumes

Santal takes its inspiration from a Sandalwood fragrance originally created in the 1800s which has then been given a distinctive contemporary edge.

The Riviera. The Mediterranean fills the horizon. You’re driving along a coastal road with the roof down, feeling free. In this extrait, lemon caviar, zesty ginger and icy cardamom puts jut in your strut, while tomato leaf, neroli and black tea summons an aromatic dance. Frankincense and cypriol offer shade in the sunshine.

Perfumer: Paul Guerlain

Raíces, Spanish for roots, is a perfume that summons the force of the earth with a botanical bounce. The rain-soaked smokiness of vetiver twins with the glacial green of peppermint for a bright-eyed, vibrant persona. The persona shifts with unexpected sparks: black and pink pepper, orange blossom and ginger, rose and saffron.

Perfumer: Paul Guerlain

The colors of the day are melting. In the shadows, feelings take surprising shapes. The night is calling. Softness is in the air. Silent connections form. The alchemy is real. Two shadows. One.

Sombra is a dirty shadow of tough rose and oud, spiced with saffron and nutmeg. Tolu balsam bathes the composition in a twilight effect of almost-sweet tobacco and leather, for an animalic result that purrs.

A bait-and-switch perfume that starts sharp and clean with juniper and crisp, metallic violet leaves. Then comes the gentle abyss: a faded haze of tobacco, patchouli and leather swirled with white tea and musk. The message might be lost in translation, but all meaning will be found in the fragrance.

Silphium was a plant widely renowned as a spice, medicinal herb and perfume ingredient throughout the empires of classical antiquity, outshining both saffron and cinnamon. It was praised by Greek philosophers and writers, as well as Roman emperors and cookbook authors. The demand for Silphium eventually became so overwhelming that it was harvested to extinction, and the taste and smell of the once greatest spice in the world were lost in time.

This extinct plant was reconstructed by researching assumed relatives of Silphium, using aromachemicals (the molecular building blocks of scents) to create an accord reflecting historical descriptions. This is set against a background of ancient incense, woods and leather.

It is the energy of myth and the elegance of the garden that inspire a refined and vigorous essence.

Bergamot and juniper berries become full-bodied on a carpet of incense, fading into the persistent fascination of oriental wood.

The presence of a marble Hercules in the garden of the perfumer’s house, triumph of courage and immortality, elevates to myth the creations of Agatho and the Giardinodiercole becomes a perfume.

There’s a tantalising friction in the smell of iris root. It’s austere, but tender. It can be powdery, but it also suggests leather. Depending on the context, it can read as feminine or masculine. Iris Ardent resolves this fabled material’s dissonance in a compelling eau de parfum that balances all of iris’ contradictions. The opening spikes of cypress and vetiver provide the scaffolding for cushiony amber and powdery iris. Juniper’s bright twang illuminates the darkness of incense and moss. Intellectual, but accessible.

This extrait is named for the archipelagic country in the South Pacific Ocean, source of the sandalwood in the base. Vanuatu is a lively, confident blend of spices (black pepper, cardamom, cumin) dappled across characterful woody materials (sandalwood, patchouli, cedar and papyrus). Putting meat on the bones is fig milk, with violet leaves adding sharp sparkle. A fragrance for unexpected adventures.