Citrus Paradisi by Czech & Speake

Truly great and original scent. Apparently a difficult and controversial one. When i first tried it, I did not know what to think of it. But it has grown on me over time and I like it better than I even remember every time I try it.

Sour, bitter, agressive, volitile grapefruit oil essence, underlain by impressive cigarette ash and general funk. Very masculine. In your face. Refreshing and summery in a way, but to me this one works well in the dead of winter, too. That funk goes on and on.

I get good tenacity from it.

Just super scentmaking, IMHO.

Without getting into a long description of Citrus Paradisi, I'll just mention that grapefruit lovers/fanatics should buy this without a second thought, or even a sample. You certainly can't find a better dry grapefruit cologne for men.

That said, I must ask - why grapefruit? The thin, sour nature of grapefruit leaves much to be desired of the fruit, and even more of Citrus Paradisi by C&S.

A peripheral issue for me is the price. I don't really care how skillfully it's rendered, or how lovingly it's packaged. Grapefruit cologne doesn't need three figures in its price tag.

And while I'm bitching, let me also add that this is a COLOGNE, not an eau de toilette. Its longevity is truly abysmal. I get twenty minutes out of this, max.

The opening is a very blunt, bitter grapefruit, with hints of lemon and green spices, maybe rosemary, or something similar. Rapidly the volatile citrus begins to fade, its astringency waning into an unlikeable and nondescript sour mash. It's comparable to a half-drunk glass of grapefruit juice that was left in the sink under a leaky spigot for a few days. A little rancid and watery. If you want to get conceptual about it, you might say it's a little like a shirt that was aired on a cold night after being saturated with cigarette smoke.

Under that is a pencil-shaving/ghostly tobacco thing that never really develops beyond a vague suggestion. Instead of offsetting it, this base (there's really no middle) merely extends the boredom of the top. It's not altogether unpleasant; the noses at C&S were obviously trying to conjure something fresh, funky, and masculine using unconventional ingredients. In the sense that this is a very odd scent, they succeeded. But is it desirable?

Eh.

You decide. Try it out. I sampled it. I'll never buy a bottle, or ever have one unless I'm getting it from somebody who got it secondhand, hates it, and simply wants to give it away. The quality is middle of the road. Although the citrus is rather natural, everything else in there has a twangy syntheticism (new word) to it. Although I haven't really seen a box or bottle, the pictures show me nothing all that spectacular - but that's the least important thing in my book. The scent overall is quite a disappointment. I couldn't even suggest that anyone stick this in their citrus fragrance collection for the sake of being thorough. Not unless, as I stated above, you are a grapefruit fanatic. Citrus Paradisi has some complexity. I detect a series of notes, although none of them are interested in making themselves stand out, at least not beyond the grapefruit top. As I also said, staying power is awful, although rather on par for a cologne. And I haven't tried the atomizer.


Not the best citrus fragrance I've ever tried, and not even the best from Czech & Speake. But that's just my opinion - you may find it to be quite good, and also quite wearable, and I'd totally see how you could. This is a quality house and they certainly aim to please. It just so happens that this particular fragrance did not really please me all that much.




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