Arrogance pour Homme
Arrogance (2000)

Arrogance pour Homme by Arrogance (1982/2000) is something of a monster compared to its more-refined 1980's powerhouse counterparts. All bluster and no finesse, a mish-mash of both 70's and early 80's masculine tropes turned to 11, Arrogance is every part of how its name suggests, and vascillates between clean soapy leather and virile musk skank, spice and wood. About the only thing this scent doesn't have is a game plan on how it should dry down when applied, and on several occasions while test-wearing, I thought I could pick out any of a half-dozen other fragrances I own. Namely, this merges the carnation leather and musk styles of things like Monsieur Musk by Houbigant (1972) and Van Cleef & Arpels pour Homme (1978) with the soapy fern structures of Paco Rabanne pour Homme (1973) and Worth pour Homme (1980), with a bit of Kouros by Yves Saint Laurent (1981) for that honeyed incense urinal cake funk redolent of a gay bath house. All this, and more await the brave wearer of Arrogance pour Homme.

The opening reminds me the most of something like Monsieur Musk, with it's clear pronunciation of carnation leather put forth by muted citrus tones and spices, also not entirely unlike something such as Jacomo Eau Cendrée (1971) or Avon Oland (1970), with the more-floral aspects of the carnation only materializing a few moments later. From there, the soapy fern accord starts to materialize, with jasmine and rosewood lending a bit of that similarity to Paco Rabanne, but at other times the Van Cleef & Arpels scent. The ultimate destination of Arrogance pour Homme is to be most like a more-rugged hetero-centric Kouros, the bath house vibes of the soap mixing with honeyed benzoin incense and civet toned down, sliding in more vetiver and a dry castoreum warmth to share the stage with the nether-regions ambiance of Kouros. It's effectively macho of course, just more Tom Selleck than Tom of Finland, which might be the point, I guess. Performance is going to be all you need really, so there's no need to draw that out.

The newer versions of this released in 2000 are no slouch to be sure, but then again 2000 wasn't as time of as-stringent regulation, and oakmoss had only just started coming under scrutiny in heavy usage. The animalic tones are tamped down somewhat here compared to the original 80's bottles, but all the powerhouse mishmash of chypre, fern, leather, and musk is here, just perhaps a bit more balanced towards the aromatic aspects. Indeed, modern(ish) Arrogance pour Homme is a much more balanced fragrance than the deeper vintage bottles, but it is every bit as scatterbrained from a thematic point of view, and still a goulash of hirsute fragrance design, not a re-orchestration or a difference fragrance re-using the bottle as some may fear. That said, if you want almost cartoonishly-brash fragrance experiences, then only the original bottles will do. Lovers of Kouros, Boss Number One by Hugo Boss (1985), or Givenchy Gentlemen (1974) might find Arrogance a tad redundant, and it always had a bad reputation for being so over-the-top, but when has that ever stopped enthusiasts? Thumbs up

FFor some time now, now tired of the modern pseudo niche, I started to (re)discover the old classics, the vintage ones as it's cool to say today (but I prefer to call them old classics).

Modern version;
a perfume of TWENTY EUROS (€20) which, apart from a slightly chemical opening (it reminds me of some detergents, but I really like it), literally puts the jewels on top of many modern design perfumes and niche products. However, it must be said that perfumes of this kind are children of an era in which brands were not afraid of offending anyone, were not subjected to political correctness or "gender fluid" and were not afraid to offer products that are openly and distinctly masculine or feminine; and from this point of view, here you can't go wrong .... we are in the presence of a true masculine perfume, on a par with Kouros, Zino, Platinum, Lapidus, Antaeus and beautiful company .... in short, a perfume that identifies a male, classic, with austere and perhaps refined ways. Everything is then strengthened by the very dense and full-bodied patchouli which, together with the amber notes, brings the perfume to a vaguely sweet and lovable finish.

Vintage from 1982;
a perfume so dated in the hints, complex and dense in the composition and in the rendering. The freshly sprayed perfume is very strong but the opening is extremely different from the modern one, it does not smell of chemicals but of green and natural, in full 80s style, it is felt from meters away with its bitter and aromatic green scents . The green aromatic part is then supported by a fat and dense base of rough castoreum very similar to Antaeus by Chanel but more marked and stronger than its cousin from beyond the Alps. The drying is similar to the modern one, let's say that the new one looks like the original vintage one but the differences are extremely evident. I own both and have a small stock of the vintage, but I also continue to use the new one whenever I want something good but undemanding and to wear casually.

Duration and trail important for vintage, reduced duration on the new which after the initial hit tends to diminish quickly within about 4 or 5 hours. In any case, whether vintage or new, promoted. For lovers of the classic fragrances of times gone by.

I was curious about this fragrance but couldn’t get hold of the vintage version which is notoriously more animalic. I came across a tester bottle of the reformulated version in a retail store, put my nose to it... BIBLICAL… purchased it without waiting for the dry-down, and here is the review.

Disclaimer: Understand that for a kid raised on a steady diet of Denim Original in the 80s and 90s like me, Arrogance PH is going to be the ne plus ultra of masculinity.

A big, dark, spicy-citrus, masculine AF opening gives way to a rose and carnation mid, then oakmoss, patchouli, and leather come alive in the dry-down... but it's very spicy throughout. While the newer version lacks the bucketload of civet and castoreum, it's still a manlier fragrance than 99.999% of what's produced today.

Arrogance PH projects very strongly for a couple of hours, and then takes ages before becoming a skin scent. I catch energizing wafts of macho spice repeatedly during the day. Warning: It's like Red Bull, don't wear for bedtime.

Arrogance is not a well-respected perfume. Frag-heads consider it unoriginal, a mish-mash of more popular fragrances that preceded it. Azzaro Pour Homme with a shotgun. Denim Original with sunglasses and an Uzi. Good enough for me!

Masculinity Level: Snake Plissken, WWIII hero turned criminal. The apex of badassery.