212 Men NYC Eau de Toilette

Few men's fragrances sum up the turn of the century as neatly as Carolina Herrera 212 Men NYC Eau de Toilette, which arrived in 1999 and has barely changed its argument since.

The opening is green and sharp. Citrus leaves give a bitter, stemmy brightness that is nothing like juice, and grass runs alongside it, cool and freshly cut. Together they make a top that reads as outdoors rather than as perfume, and it is the reason the scent still feels clean a quarter of a century on. Gardenia in the heart is the choice that marks it out. It is a creamy, slightly soapy white flower, and in a men's fragrance it was unusual at the time and still is. Lavender sits beside it, herbal and cool and faintly camphorous, pulling the gardenia back towards the barbershop. The two of them are what make this recognisable within a second or two.

Sandalwood and musk finish it, the sandalwood creamy and dry, the musk soft and skin like, and neither of them tries to add drama. The base is there to hold the top together rather than to take over. As an eau de toilette it is bright for the first hour and then settles close for several more. It is a daytime scent, it suits warm weather and offices, and it has always read as clean rather than seductive. Six materials, arranged with some confidence.

Carolina Herrera showed her first collection in New York in 1981, having come to fashion from Venezuela. Her first perfume arrived in 1988 under a licence held by the Spanish group Puig, which bought the fashion house in 1995. The 212 line opened in 1997 and has been the most widely known part of the perfume business since.