UDV for Men Eau de Toilette 100ml

UDV for Men Eau de Toilette 100ml, from Ulric de Varens, dates from 1993 and smells like it, in the best sense: this is a herbal, slightly bitter men's scent of the kind that was standard before everything turned sweet. Six materials crowd the opening. Mandarin orange and lemon give the citrus, artemisia and tarragon the bitter green bite, rosemary a dry camphorous edge and mint a cool snap over the top. It is a busy, bracing start, the fragrance equivalent of cold water on the face, and nothing about it is trying to be charming. People who grew up in the nineties will recognise the shape of it instantly.

The middle softens a little without changing direction. Geranium keeps the green peppery thread going, jasmine and neroli add a clean floral roundness, and the whole thing begins to dry out rather than sweeten. Then the base does the work that makes the bottle worth owning: vetiver brings smoke and damp earth, cedarwood a sharpened pencil dryness, honey an unexpected sweetness that sits low rather than on top, tobacco a dry leafy warmth and musk the skin quality that holds everything together. That honey is the detail worth paying attention to. In a composition this dry it has a disproportionate effect, rounding off the bitterness just enough to make the fragrance comfortable over several hours rather than merely interesting for one. It lasts moderately and keeps a sensible distance, which is what an eau de toilette of this vintage is supposed to do. Daytime, the office and cooler months all suit it, it is firmly aimed at men, and it is cheap enough to use without rationing.

The company behind it has made perfume and toiletries in Paris since 1981, with affordable pricing as its declared purpose.