No 88 Czech & Speake for men

This review is of the vintage Forester formulation of No. 88.

Czech and Speake No. 88, in the vintage formula, is a breathtakingly gorgeous masculine rose. It is flanked by frankincense and what smells like a long-lasting neroli. It's dark, gothic, and nearly morbid, yet warm and inviting in every way. If you're a fan of dark smells or black metal, you need to try this. This is, of course, gauging the vintage formula. I've heard the new stuff is a little lighter and brighter, so I'll update this review when I try the new one!

This one has a very oriental aura to me. No 88 makes me think of indian shops, and while i kind of like this aroma, i don`t know if you would feel comfortable wearing it frequently due to this indian shop aura. No 88 starts with a spicy, incensed rose aura. It`s curious that there isn`t spices listed on the pyramid, i do get some mixed with the rose. The rose is sensual, intense, slightly incensed, and it projects over a sandalwood base that is what makes me think of the indian shops. It`s intense at the first 3-4 hours, then it calms down to a soft woody incense aura. This could work amazingly as an exotic incense stick aroma. But for me, on my skin, it doesn`t work so fine.

I love this on my husband. It is sexy and individual, and he always gets comments when he wears it (from other men too!).

Smelling this I kind of regret I am not a man- it is a great fragrance, but way too masculine to pull of as a unisex fragrance. A really great combo of rose, geranium and vetyver (I live vetyver). Hm, a possible present for my dad for Christmas this year?

A type of scent that would be appropriate for both every day and an evening. Woody, aromatic, elegant, I would say very British, but it also touches something slightly more exotic that the streets of London City thanks to frangipani. A ray of sunshine on a busy street.

It also changes quite a lot on the skin. It starts of quite calm, but from time to time it gets revived by the bright citrus accords. I did not detected them at first, but they definitely stay quietly in the background and revive the scent from there.

It's one of the more idiosyncratic scents - some people it is stunning on, others have something in their skin chemistry (like my partner....) that makes it smell terrible. I've never met anyone that wasn't captivated by the smell straight from the bottle though. Definitely my #1 signature scent.

If smelling like the back of a plastic watch after you've been wearing it for 10 years is what you like then this is for you. Extremely unique scent but not for me, sillage and longevity is moderate. Someone said this is something Dracula would wear and I agree, will definitely chase everyone out of the room.

Overpowering elements of rose and a soap-like drydown made this a bit of a headache inducing affair for me. I love the old English retro feel of the bottle design, but from my experience, the fragrances of Czech & Speake aimed at guys, come second to those of Penhaligons (sorry to any C&S fans out there).

Hmmm strange...looking at the notes and other reviews I am wondering if I have got a mis-labeled sample.

This is quite similar to Cuba but rather more masculine and 'clean' feeling. Both No 88 and Cuba feel rather boozy and have this 'shimmering' quality, it's difficult to describe what I mean by that but both fragrances seem to be constantly moving, one note nudging another one out, only for it to pop back a few minutes later. They never seem to settle into one groove, and I find that quite exciting.

At the opening I do get a boozy kind of bergamot, almost like Grand Marnier, with carnation peeping through. Combined with the booziness it actually feels more like a powdery clove. The rose is there but only just, I find the vetiver quite strong here but this fragrance retains it's warmth (I sometimes find vetiver a bit cold and clinical)The frangipani is barely discernable, for me all the florals except the carnation are so discreet that it merely softens the composition. It's definately a woody fragrance, feels rather more like rich mahogany or rosewood to me for most of it's duration, the sandalwood only coming through in the drydown. I rather like it, but would I spring for a full bottle? At those prices, the jury is out...

This is supposed to be a "man's" scent, but I find it completely unisex. It starts out very citrusy, presumably the bergamot, but fairly quickly changes to a rose scent boosted by citrus and geranium. I really didn't detect much of the woody notes that are supposed to be there, but the rose-geranium scent lasts all day, and is strong enough to mask them. C&S 88 is a pleasant, aromatic scent with enough complexity to be interesting, and strong enough to get me through a day at work and night out afterwards. It starts and ends like a walk through a highly scented herb garden, with a rose garden in the middle.

Ozzy Osbourne wears it hehehe...

I am thinking of Vampire when I smell this. I really enjoy it in the first 2 hours as it is very fresh roses with a touch of sour (frangipani?). Sad it turns into a soapy 'lointain' (far away) great roses it had in the first 2 hours or so.
If I had not discovered Black Aoud, I would probably buy this magnifique scent.




9/10