The Mainstream Monday: Sniffing a Popular Perfume

All I know of Paco Rabanne is that he is the designer that designed all those bizzare-o Barbarella costumes. Well, the guy has many perfumes and colognes as well, the most recent one to have 15 minutes of fame has been Lady Million (ick). Paco Rabanne fragrances aren’t very popular in the U.S. In fact, until recently, I thought they were only sold in the U.K.! Anyways, Ultraviolet Man is a bit sci-fi. Imagine ultraviolet laser beams, crystals, and lots of synthetic “masculine” accords.

Paco Rabanne Ultraviolet Man is a cool sniffing fragrance. At first blast, I get lots of mint that actually makes my nose feel “cold”. It reminds me of the first few minutes of Heeley Menthe Fraiche. Within a few more minutes, I get a generic “synthetic”. It’s like synthetic green-fresh. It isn’t bad really, it comes across as modern and not as bland as most “fresh” men’s fragrance. This green-fresh also keeps the mint from being like toothpaste. It helps the mint seem “green” and fresh. What also keeps the mint fresh but adds to the coolness is a teeny bit of sweetness from some synthetic that reminds me of lavender. Under the cooling greenness, I do pick up on spicy, black pepper. This black pepper is OK, I could of lived without it. I’m a bit sick of that peppery kick that always shows up in men’s fragrance. I think the pepper is what makes Ultraviolet  generic, not the synthetics. Luckily, the pepper fades. Ultraviolet keeps sniffing “cool” but with a salty, sweaty musk. Sometimes I think I get a salty vetiver. I think I’m getting “salty coolness”. The dry-down is still cool with an almost aquatic oakmoss. I’ve heard that Ultraviolet Man is sweet. I didn’t get any of that until much later. I forgot that I was even wearing it! I do get sweet but it isn’t sweet (well, from a female perspective). It’s patchouli and a creamy amber. I can see how this can be interpreted as feminine but I find those creamy woods and ambers very wearable (and attractive) on men. There’s still a hint of mint at the dry-down and I like that.

Ultraviolet Man is synthetic but almost in a cool Comme des Garçones way. It’s a minty fresh fragrance. It’s masculine, one of those “sheer” masculine scents that work well in the summer. I’m sure a woman could wear this, especially a woman that likes mint scents. If it lacked the black pepper, I’d buy a bottle for myself as one of those “refreshing summer minty fresh scents”. The more I try Ultraviolet Man, the more my nose ignores the black pepper. Maybe this wouldn’t be bad for summer. Ultraviolet Man isn’t special but in my opinion, it’s much better than the overpriced Heeley Menthe Fraiche that received so many positive reviews. And I couldn’t smell it! As a minty, masculine scent, Ultraviolet Man is good. I recommend this for any person looking for a “mint” scent, or a refreshing aquatic-aromatic scent.

I’m a bit of a dork and I like sci-fi and b-films. The bottle of Ultraviolet Man bottle reminds me of some laser shooting pistol from a lame early 80’s science fiction flick. The Rabanne house describes it as “a gun spray, the new weapon of seduction”. Doesn’t that sound like a tag line for an 80’s semi-erotic science fiction flick? Ultraviolet Man: Conquering evil female dominated, alien ice planets with his new weapons of seduction.

Notes include Russian coriander, Italian mint, black pepper, synthetic ambergris, Indonesian patchouli, and oakmoss.

Give Ultraviolet Man a try if you like sheer, cool scents or minty scents like Heeley Menthe Fraiche, Cartier Pasha Fraicheur Mint, L’Artisan Parfumeur L’eau de L’artisan, Ralph Lauren Big Pony #3, and/or Archipelago Morning Mint shower products. I find the lasting power of Ultraviolet Man OK. It wears like an EDT about 3-5 hours.

Actually, Ultraviolet Man isn’t easy to find in the U.S. However, it can be found on discount sites like fragrancenet.com.

Want more reviews? Try…

Basenotes (member reviews)

Ultraviolet Cologne for Men
From: BigDiscountFragrances.com

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