Man

Jasper Conran Man arrived in 2003, composed by Christian Provenzano and produced under licence by Fragrance Factory, and it is the men's fragrance the Conran name is still best known for in the UK. The opening is a straight citrus cologne accord of petitgrain, grapefruit and lemon, bitter and green rather than sweet, and it sets the register for everything that follows. The heart is the interesting part: sage, green tea and neroli, with the neroli doing most of the work and giving the fragrance a soft, slightly soapy floral centre that separates it from the wall of generic blue aquatics it shares a shelf with. Vetiver runs underneath from the start and dominates the drydown, joined by guaiac wood, musk and a little patchouli for a dry, faintly smoky finish. It is linear, and nobody who wears it pretends otherwise. Community opinion splits cleanly along one line. The people who like it point out that a green neroli and vetiver cologne selling at around ten to twelve pounds is genuinely good value, and more than one reviewer has compared it favourably to far more expensive fresh vetivers. The people who do not like it call it thin, synthetic and forgettable, and a few find the drydown sour. Both readings are fair. Performance is moderate for an eau de toilette at this price, with roughly three to five hours of wear and close projection after the first hour. It is a spring and summer daytime fragrance, easy in an office, and it is best judged as a cheap workhorse rather than a signature. Note that most UK retailers, The Fragrance Shop included, list it as Signature Men or Signature Man; the box itself simply reads Jasper Conran Man.