Note Pyramid
Pour Lui in Red
Mauboussin Pour Lui in Red Eau de Parfum 100ml, from 2022, is the fullest men's composition the house offers, nine materials deep where its siblings run to three or four, and it uses the extra room to build a proper arc. Ginger leads, dry and peppery rather than sweet, with bergamot lifting it and juniper berry putting a cool resinous snap underneath. That juniper is the detail worth noticing; it has a gin like crispness that keeps the ginger from warming up too soon.
The middle turns aromatic. Lavender brings its clean herbal sweep, geranium adds a green, slightly rosy sharpness far crisper than a flower would be, and vetiver starts early here, dry and rooty and faintly smoky, bridging the heart and the base before the base has arrived.
When it does arrive it is substantial. Leather is the lead, supple and dry rather than tarry, and sandalwood rounds it with a creamy smoothness while cedarwood keeps a splintery sharpness in play. The last stage is warm, dry and quite grown up.
At eau de parfum strength this runs long, with real presence for the first couple of hours and a close trail for the rest. It is a cold weather bottle, equally at home in an office and at a dinner, and it reads as a more serious proposition than the price suggests. There is a practical argument for it as well. Nine materials across three clear stages means the fragrance keeps offering something new for several hours rather than announcing itself and then flattening out, and that is what separates a composition like this from the cheaper end of the men's shelf. Two sprays is the correct dose.
Mauboussin has signed its work with that name since 1903, and jewellery remains the business. Fragrance came in 2000, and the men's side of the catalogue has grown out of Pour Lui ever since.
Please note: images are a guide only. Packaging and bottle design may occasionally differ from those shown due to manufacturer updates or promotions.
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