Fuel for Men (Donna Karan)

Guest review by Christopher Leon

A scent for me personally alludes to the fantasy of times and things past. One such thing is the fragrance that was recently resurrected, Fuel for Men by Donna Karan. It was a scent that I had worn circa 1995. I remember things better by the music I was listening to at the time. I can say it was either Pet Shop Boys during their “Disco 3” release or The Nightcrawlers “Push the Feeling On”, which was being played at every nightclub I went to back in the day.

Oh the memories….

Now for the fragrance, then and now. Did the scent make it through the re-translation in tact? Hmm….I would say “yeah” very coolly. There is a marked difference between the two versions. The re-launched version truly screams early 90’s with an on-the-cusp modernity. There is no big scorching leather note that you find in fragrances such as Hermes' Bel Ami or Knize Ten. A softer, subtle leather note for the modern man. Notes of leather and suede (I get more suede then anything else) comingle with pineapple (that’s right, pineapple...I was rather surprised to read this) with a load of patchouli and musk. The musk in the older version is stronger and helps to retain the scent very well. The re-launched version refrains from the use of the original's heavier musk (of which variety I’m unaware) and opts for more patchouli. It’s obvious that maybe the original version had musk in it that is now considered “prohibitive”. The extra dosage of patchouli to mask the lesser use of musk is adequate, but one can’t help wishing, “why not more of that marvelous musk?” Oh well, you take what you can get, and take it I will.

I also recall reading long ago there was a note of actual “fuel” added to the scent to give the impression of a man smelling as if he was working under the hood of his car. Whether that fact is true or not, only the real perfumer knows.

Back to the fragrance - sexy is the image of a man having just worked on his car; smelling of oil, brake fluid, antifreeze and pure sweat; looking like one of those unbelievably muscular men of Herb Ritts photography from the past. Who wouldn’t want to project such an image?

Well, since no man can come close to the cusp of a iconic Herb Ritts male model (well, some of us may...who knows?), we’ll do with smelling as if we're one. This scent harks back to that era. It beckons the male wearer to smell confident, sexy, and raw...as if he just finished changing the oil filter on his car. That may sound utterly ridiculous but doesn’t ad copy for most scents today? So I think my conjured up imagery can only be but a fantasy, and a fantasy of things past remembered, just the way I like to think of them.

Released: 1994
Notes: Citrus, juniper, pineapple, mayflower, amber, almond, lavender, sandalwood, patchouli and musk