Colors Uomo
Benetton (1988)

[Original 1988 version by perfumer Jimmy Anton Studer]

I could choose to write on about how men's fragrances from the past recall a rosier time, "the smell of everything the world has lost," when "men were men" and "women were women' neighbors were looking out for each other, kids rode their bikes in the streets and alleys, and families could sleep with their doors unlocked and windows open without fear of being robbed in small-town America.

But I am not an ignorant goon, and I know the past, though something I adore revisiting time and again, was wrought with a lot of societal ills. While culture has collapsed and groupthink has come to reign with the advent of algorithm-driven social media, western society at the time was still in denial that its most viable contributors to their culture were gay people and people of color.

In comes Colors de Benetton, the original for men, and I won't even begin to pretend this is haute parfumerie, but it is the smell of hopeful youth through the lens of the era, still holding onto the gusto of manhood with its fuzzed-out coniferous, aromatic spiciness, but has one foot in the door of the sensitive and sweet. Vanillic florals, cedar, and sandalwood ease the coarse machismo. Where the likes of Antaeus and Jacomo de Jacomo began the 80s, Colors was its last hurrah with a hint of where the idea of 'masculine' in perfumery would go—deconstructed, just a bit more intimate—and maybe even more colorful.

Colors Uomo I think would have been an odd release for the 80s, but I still like it. The packaging looks 80s, though. It's a barbershop scent, but not like Paul Sebastian is. Colors smells like a lime was squeezed over lavender-sprinkled canned shaving foam with a very oakmossy/soapy dry down.

My first review....Realized I still had an old bottle of this (circa 1989) that was a gift from my late Mother when I was a teenager hidden in the back of my bathroom cabinet. I knew it was there but hadn't worn it in decades. Tonight for some reason I sprayed it on the back of my hand. There was very little left in the bottle and it took several pumps before it sprayed.

I was instantly taken back emotionally to 1989/90 and the girl I was dating at the time. Later she and I drifted apart but I'd like to believe we both care about each other and I truly do hope she is happy.

Would I wear it now? No. Is it a bad scent? Also no. I just simply couldn't. It represents who I was and not who I am or who I aspire to be today.

The bottle will remain in my collection and I will nostalgically sniff it occasionally knowing it is a time machine back to to 1989/90 for me.

You will not get your dose of nostalgia from the 80's or 90s with the latest version of this perfume.

Unsweetened citrus-y scent and not much else. No vanilla. No patchouli. No sandalwood. Slightly bitter. No complexity. No evolution. Smells of one thing only. Unrecognizable. Could be a sports scent in all is generic "glory" Smells cheap. No wonder I got mine for $9.

I guess the good old stuff is in old black bottles not the current blue ones.

From the reviews here I thought the formula was either the same or something very close. Should always look at the dates when the reviews were published.

One thing is for sure, I have four bottles of the stuff and I do not want to smell like this.

$36 dollars wasted.

A burst of lemon with big projection.

The heart is a bitter cypress and patchouli with a slight menthol vibe. Rather sharp and metallic to my nose.

A little bit goes a long way.

It's an inexpensive citrus summer scent, so enjoy if you like it. I used to, but tired of it rather quickly. It's that bitter, sharp metallic note that lasts and lasts, which I find ultimately offensive.

Like lemon sherbets in liquid form. Simple, synthetic and a little dated? Perhaps - but refreshing and fun to wear while somehow comforting and familiar.

At this price it can only be a thumbs up!