Gucci Guilty Cologne Pour Homme, from Gucci was released in 2019. The perfumer behind this creation is Alberto Morillas. It has the top notes of Bergamot, Juniper Berries, and Rosemary, middle notes of Cypress, Heliotrope, and Violet, and base notes of Cedarwood, Musk, and Patchouli.
Allow me to start with the positives here this is not just a cookie cutter, eau de cologne freshie. Nor is it the ultimately bland aroma chemical mess of a eros or Invictus, some small merciful praise can be bestowed upon Gucci Guilty Cologne for this fact. Gucci had really turned a corner injecting life into this Guilty line with the divisive release Guilty Absolute (Men's one) which people either found to be a blissfully animalic leather or an inept, antiseptic, nightmare. Stranger still that it had come from the nose of Alberto Morillas, and this one does too, with the use of a note/accord seldom found in men's designer perfumes and that's Heliotrope. All this sets us up for an interesting fragrance and cologne is not without that merit let's just let it have this credit, before I rip it to shreds! So the opening is actually very fresh, truly aquatic, fresh a bit salty but with a steady decent into more floral territory. This is that violet leaf, dry ionones sort of tinge but if this was a violet fragrance I expect I would like it. I sampled this without prior knowledge of the notes and I KNEW there was heliotrope in here....I couldn't place the name and kept saying Angelica no...mimosa, no....artemisia no....what is it?? I knew what I meant and seeing it here just validates how prominent it is in this fragrance. Three stages are... unusual fresh, seaside floral opening, into a heart that is almost a scrubber, it's that bad. Let me just say that this could be a taste thing on my part but I found it really sour and unpleasant combination. Then when nearly dead and settled right the way down comes a woody, synthetic aroma chemical heaven of timbersilk, clearwood, synth ambers? and like that.....all is well. Too little, too late and overall I have to say I plain dislike this fragrance and would never wear it, categorising it as a stinker. Just let me highlight once again that this was not a failure for any of the reasons I thought it might be, and I respect that Gucci and Morillas have tried somewhat to follow suit from the barnstorming Absolute, with something different. It fails because perfume like this should be at the least pleasant for all it's challenges and this wasn't to me. Sorry it just wasn't.
Allow me to start with the positives here this is not just a cookie cutter, eau de cologne freshie. Nor is it the ultimately bland aroma chemical mess of a eros or Invictus, some small merciful praise can be bestowed upon Gucci Guilty Cologne for this fact. Gucci had really turned a corner injecting life into this Guilty line with the divisive release Guilty Absolute (Men's one) which people either found to be a blissfully animalic leather or an inept, antiseptic, nightmare. Stranger still that it had come from the nose of Alberto Morillas, and this one does too, with the use of a note/accord seldom found in men's designer perfumes and that's Heliotrope. All this sets us up for an interesting fragrance and cologne is not without that merit let's just let it have this credit, before I rip it to shreds! So the opening is actually very fresh, truly aquatic, fresh a bit salty but with a steady decent into more floral territory. This is that violet leaf, dry ionones sort of tinge but if this was a violet fragrance I expect I would like it. I sampled this without prior knowledge of the notes and I KNEW there was heliotrope in here....I couldn't place the name and kept saying Angelica no...mimosa, no....artemisia no....what is it?? I knew what I meant and seeing it here just validates how prominent it is in this fragrance. Three stages are... unusual fresh, seaside floral opening, into a heart that is almost a scrubber, it's that bad. Let me just say that this could be a taste thing on my part but I found it really sour and unpleasant combination. Then when nearly dead and settled right the way down comes a woody, synthetic aroma chemical heaven of timbersilk, clearwood, synth ambers? and like that.....all is well. Too little, too late and overall I have to say I plain dislike this fragrance and would never wear it, categorising it as a stinker. Just let me highlight once again that this was not a failure for any of the reasons I thought it might be, and I respect that Gucci and Morillas have tried somewhat to follow suit from the barnstorming Absolute, with something different. It fails because perfume like this should be at the least pleasant for all it's challenges and this wasn't to me. Sorry it just wasn't.