212 Men Parfum

Sweetness is the whole argument in Carolina Herrera 212 Men Parfum, the most concentrated form the house's 212 men's scent has taken, and at this strength the sugar stops being an accent. The opening is candied rather than spicy. Caramelised ginger is the lead and it smells exactly as billed, a sticky heat with the burnt edge of stem ginger in syrup, while cardamom cools it slightly with its soapy, faintly eucalyptus green bite. Spicy lavender carries the middle, which is a smart choice: lavender keeps the thing from reading as a dessert, and used warm like this it brings a dry herbal sharpness instead of the usual clean laundry calm. Violet leaf sits under it with a bruised, cucumber green quality. Then vanilla, and only vanilla, closing the composition with a thick, resinous sweetness.

Five materials, and it behaves like a short composition. There is no long story to follow. It opens sweet and spiced, it settles sweet and spiced, and the interest is in the texture rather than in any development. A parfum concentration carries far more oil than a toilette, which here means weight rather than noise. One spray is a decision, two is plenty, and the trail stays on your clothes into the next day. Cold weather and evenings suit it best, and it is aimed squarely at men who already know they like sweet fragrance. Ane Ayo, Fabrice Pellegrin and Alberto Morillas are the perfumers behind it, three names on a composition of five materials.

Fashion came first. A debut collection reached New York in 1981, the designer behind it having been born in Venezuela, and the first scent appeared in 1988 through a Spanish licensee, Puig. Puig purchased the fashion arm in 1995 and has run the 212 line since its launch in 1997.