Play / Play Intense (Givenchy)

By Thomas

Evidently, YSL’s L’Homme has spawned a revolution. I never would have guessed it, but Givenchy’s latest – Play – seems to follow the L’Homme style quite closely. Actually: pretty much every recent mainstream release I’ve tested lately seems to follow the L’Homme script, but I digress.

I’ll digress a bit further, though: Justin Timberlake seems to be a good face for this scent. Young-ish, dresses reasonably well, smiles a lot – these things already put me in an upbeat frame of mind, and fortunately Play is also pretty upbeat and light on its feet. Not a bad pairing, and it does nicely in terms of framing my expectations: This will Not Be a Guerlain. Glad they cleared that up.

So, Play smells playful, if a bit washed out. It’s one of those L’Homme-type scents, not all that distinguishable except for a floral/brown sugar note that comes in after an hour or so. The opening is fruity/floral, not resolutely masculine by any stretch of the imagination, but it will suffice.

The brown sugar/molasses comes in, and it’s a welcome change of pace. Still not heavy, pleasant enough. Towards drydown we get the standard ending notes: woody/amber, and the curtain falls on the latest Givenchy creation.

Play Intense does Not require its own review, but deserves a mention to say that it’s a good bridge between Play, and the original John Varvatos. Quite close to JV, actually, but pay no mind to the claptrap about PI being an ‘evening’ scent. It’s not all that heavy or substantial, unless you’re comparing it to Play. Not bad, all things considered.

Recommended? Well, I won’t be buying bottles of either, but they’re fine as gifts for those relatives who will wear anything you give them (and not hold grudges) or who Really Really like Justin Timberlake. Kind of like the recent trend of acoustic versions of recent rock hits. Inoffensive, but I’ll take the full-powered versions, please.

Year: 2008
Perfumer: Emilie Cooperman, Lucas Sieuzac
Notes: Bitter Orange, Grapefruit, Black pepper, Patchouli, Tobacco Flower Accord, Vetiver
Notes: Bergamot, Tangerine, Pink pepper, Vetiver, Tonka bean, Patchouli