Pour Lui by Oscar de la Renta is a powerhouse unlike any other. A floral, green, leathery chypre with an abundance of aldehydes, Pour Lui feels distinctly from the 1980s, yet smells like nothing else from its time; or from any other time for that matter.
One of the things that makes Pour Lui feel so unique is that it is an aldehydic bomb that is unabashedly masculine. Aldehydes are a tricky note to pull off in masculine perfumery; a small amount can make a fragrance aromatic, clean and effervescent, too much, however, and the fragrance comes off overly floral, sweet and quite feminine. We probably have Chanel No 5 to blame for the association of aldehydes with feminine fragrances, but typically when you think of a fragrance that has an overdose of aldehydes, your brain doesn't associate that with an uber masculine, alpha male type scent. Yet some how we have Pour Lui, an aldehydic overload that is a hairy-chested, unmistakably masculine scent.
It's the way Pour Lui blends the sweet, aromatic aldehydes with a healthy dose of dark, green herbal notes that ensure this scent comes across uber manly. Pour Lui balances its sweet aldehydes with oakmoss, patchouli, juniper and leather. Next to the aldehydes, the note that jumps out the most to me is oakmoss. Pour Lui is an oakmoss bomb. It has so much oakmoss in it that it makes me wonder just how incredible the vintage bottles were before authentic oakmoss was banned.
It's the way Pour Lui blends the sweet, aromatic aldehydes with a healthy dose of dark, green herbal notes that ensure this scent comes across uber manly. Pour Lui balances its sweet aldehydes with oakmoss, patchouli, juniper and leather. Next to the aldehydes, the note that jumps out the most to me is oakmoss. Pour Lui is an oakmoss bomb. It has so much oakmoss in it that it makes me wonder just how incredible the vintage bottles were before authentic oakmoss was banned.
Given it's oakmoss heavy nature, Pour Lui reminds me of Paco Rabanne pour homme. Pour Lui feels like a nighttime companion scent to Paco Rabanne; I picture the kind of guy who wears Paco Rabanne during the day or at work would reach for a bottle of Pour Lui when going out to nightclub or for a night out on the town with his special someone.
Pour Lui often gets compared to a favourite of mine, Antaeus. I must say, however, that to my nose they smell nothing alike. Pour Lui and Antaeus are from the same era, are both dark masculine fragrances and both fit the same reach category, but they don't smell anything alike. Pour Lui is also often compared to Van Cleef & Arpels pour homme, which don't smell alike to me either. VC&A pour homme smells classier and more brooding, whereas Pour Lui comes more as a macho, assertive sort of scent.
When I picture Anteaus I think of a demure younger gentleman in the 80s taking his special someone to dinner and the theater, with VC&A pour homme I picture a mysterious European gentleman in the 70s and 80s who may or may not be Dracula and when I picture Oscar de la Renta Pour Lui I picture a young Miami drug lord in the 80s flashing around his money and success at a neon soaked nightclub with Heart of Glass by Blondie playing in the background.
Oscar de la Renta Pour Lui is an uber masculine, slightly sweet, soapy scent that I would recommend to any fan of oakmoss, green herbal scents or 80s powerhouses. The most recent formulation out today is still a fantastic scent that'll put some hair on your chest and will make you feel like a lion among men.
8.5/10
Pour Lui often gets compared to a favourite of mine, Antaeus. I must say, however, that to my nose they smell nothing alike. Pour Lui and Antaeus are from the same era, are both dark masculine fragrances and both fit the same reach category, but they don't smell anything alike. Pour Lui is also often compared to Van Cleef & Arpels pour homme, which don't smell alike to me either. VC&A pour homme smells classier and more brooding, whereas Pour Lui comes more as a macho, assertive sort of scent.
When I picture Anteaus I think of a demure younger gentleman in the 80s taking his special someone to dinner and the theater, with VC&A pour homme I picture a mysterious European gentleman in the 70s and 80s who may or may not be Dracula and when I picture Oscar de la Renta Pour Lui I picture a young Miami drug lord in the 80s flashing around his money and success at a neon soaked nightclub with Heart of Glass by Blondie playing in the background.
Oscar de la Renta Pour Lui is an uber masculine, slightly sweet, soapy scent that I would recommend to any fan of oakmoss, green herbal scents or 80s powerhouses. The most recent formulation out today is still a fantastic scent that'll put some hair on your chest and will make you feel like a lion among men.
8.5/10
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