Mainstream Monday – Sniffing a Popular Perfume
I will never understand why the mainstream fragrance industry thinks men want to smell like metals and other impersonal, machine-like things. I also don’t understand why the industry only wants mean to smell like hedione and metallic, cold showers. I want my partner to smell warm, approachable, cuddly. Azzaro Chrome is as soft, cuddly, and approachable as the Silver Surfer – cold and stand-offish but with a masculine six pack!
Chrome opens up as cool and aquatic. It’s generic “man scent”, a blend of bergamot water in an aluminium can. It hurts my nose and gives me freezer burn. Chrome is metallic and cold. It’s heartless and frigid. Chrome really does recreate a “chrome” feeling, but it isn’t a motorcyle that has been outside on 90°day. Chrome is air-conditioned. The citrus in Chrome is crisp, generic and I’ve bet you can get something like this from Axe these days (unfortunately). Eventually, Chrome gets more aquatic, somebody is washing that motorcycle. I do get something that vaguely reminds me of ivy: cool, wet, green, slightly floral. It’s still really cold. Frankly, I don’t get much dry-down from Chrome. I get generic aquatic citrus woods. It never “warms” up and it never becomes “human”. It’s what the 90’s wanted us to think that good-looking, muscular young guys should smell like.
I am not a fan of this one. I don’t want to smell like Chrome (I am female). It’s abrasive, I can’t imagine this juice sprayed. A couple of dabs on my pulse points worked my nerves. But, I don’t mind smelling this one on someone else walking by…really, really quickly. It’s one of those fragrances.
Notes listed include bergamot, bigarade, neroli, ginger, ivy, lichen, hedione, cardamom, mate, rosewood, and sandalwood. Perfumer – Gerard Haury
Give Chrome a try if you if you want to remember what every available bachelor smelled like in 1996 or if you like cool, aquatic masculine fragrances/ “aqua” fragrances like Davidoff Cool Water, Bvlgari Aqua Homme, Calvin Klein Eternity Aqua, Ralph Lauren Polo Blue, Dior Farenheit 32, and/or Givenchy Pour Homme Blue Label.
Azzaro Chrome retails for $52-$70 and is available at Sephora. It’s even at discounters like Fragrancenet.
Victoria’s Final EauPINION: The Earth will be consumed by Galactus before I’ll purchase a bottle of Azzaro Chrome for myself or anybody that lives with me.
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I have a bottle that was gifted to me. Does anyone want it? 😉
I’ll pass 🙂
i can’t tell you how much I dislike this fragrance btw. It’s the cynicism towards their customers I can’t stand.
The original Azzaro is considered by many to be a masterpiece; I think Chrome is one of the worst masculines I’ve ever smelled by comparison.
I think this fragrance is awful, but I know many dudes that love it. My theory with that is that this fragrance was launched in a “good” time in their life when they were starting to think about fragrance or had the money to purchase such luxuries on their own. It isn’t that Chrome is good, it’s that it was accessible at that time in their life. We all know that Cool Water did a much better job with this “cool aquatic” concept. But, that was 8 years old when Chrome was launched and maybe it seemed dated…IDK. I just know that Chrome seems much “cheaper” in comparison.
Next time you go to the gym, just leave your bottle of Chrome in the locker room. Maybe someone will give it a good home.
-and- I should add that it is possible to make good “weird”/”other” fragrances – Bvlgari Black immediately comes to mind as something that smells “like a machine” yet doesn’t lose its warmth & humanity in the process.
Interesting that you mention that, because when I was writing this review, I kept thinking of Bvlgari Black and how I should do a comparison of good “machine” vs. bad “machine”, thought about going Transformers with it. But, I didn’t. It would be an interesting post, though, comparing mainstream masculines that have a soul and those that don’t.
I had a boyfriend in high school that wore this. I can’t really remember much about it other than it being “light”. Do teenagers have a weakened sense of smell or something? 🙂
Haha, it must be some hormonal/primitive temporary weakening of the sense of smell so that you can attract a mate through the means of hissy florals and cold aquatics.
I don’t mind this one too much in the summer. It’s cool and refreshing.
I can see that.
“The earth will be consumed by Galactus before I purchase a bottle of Azzaro Chrome”
I love this line! I actually lol’d! 😀
🙂