Historically, I’ve never like Gap fragrances because their
heavy use of synthetic ingredients has been so blatant. In short, even though they may not smell
terrible, they lack depth. They smell
flat.
In comes Gap 1969 Electric For Men, rising above all the other
Gap scents I’ve tried. It doesn’t do
anything original – it’s a fairly generic-styled woody citrus scent – but this
is a perfume with an admirable level of complexity
and sense of balance. What you get is a
lovely citrus scent with orange and lemon top notes that last for hours, on top
of a dark, smoldering woody base. I
realize my description isn’t going to persuade anyone to rush to the nearest
Gap store and buy up their entire stock (you can buy a bottle for about 10
bucks), but this is a fragrance that I think will leave even the most jaded
perfume nut impressed.
Woody citrus scents have flooded the perfume market for
years, and they tend to be mediocre: go on any perfume enthusiast website, and
you’ll see endless complaints about how they have poor longevity, how they
smell synthetic, how they smell off-balance, how they don’t project, how they
smell boring, etc., etc.. This
fragrance, however, fixes all of that.
Granted, it’s not a sillage beast, but it projects well and the scent
lasts all day; you can smell orange, green leafy notes, and the smoky wood
floating up and around you for a good 8 or 9 hours, thanks to what I’m assuming
is a perfume made up mostly, if not entirely, of synthetics.
This a safe scent that won’t offend anyone, but it smells
really good. I particularly like how the
long lasting orange note plays off the base notes that smell like charred
wood. It reminds me a lot of Declaration
by Cartier, albeit less complex.
This is a synthetic perfume that smells natural, and is therefore
a great example of how a skilled perfumer can create something very wearable
with humble, cheap ingredients.
MY RATING: 8/10
Interest is piqued. Gonna take a sniff tomorrow since I have a Gap Outlet nearby. Hopefully they'll have this, since they do carry other frags.
ReplyDeleteI like your blog! Great post, I just recently tried a similar product that I received for free from perfumora.com. Will buy this one next time!
ReplyDeleteI recently smelled a gap scent at their outlet store in Key West, FL called agave indigo. First thought immediately is a blue agave Jo Malone dupe, right? It was quite nice, I wanted to go back for it (around $20 on sale), but never did. As stated, they do a decent job for the money.
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