Pure Game by Adidas

Snagged it on sale for $6 and thought, ‘Let’s give it a shot.’ The opening is very alcoholic, where you can detect the mandarin and grapefruit, though a bit like they’re starting to ferment. Then comes a very sweet and strong patchouli, lavender, and cypress. Once it dries down, which is the best part after an hour, you get a hint of wood, but it remains very sweet overall. For the price, it has brutal trail and projection, lasting about 2 hours on clothes. It smells like some old-school deodorant; I had an Estefano lotion as a kid that smelled exactly like this. It does resemble Hugo Boss Hugo, which I know because my dad owns one, but the Boss is sweeter and stronger, and that one gives me nausea. But hey, for $6, it’s not bad. Update two months later: I bought this at the same time as Polo Ultra Blue and Tommy Classic, and both have lost a lot of potency, but this Adidas is still the same, nothing more. That’s why it’s a 9/10.

I bought it for the price, intending to use it for sports or the office. It smells clean, fresh, and slightly sweet. For sports: its trail of about 30 cm lasts half an hour, then it clings to the skin for another 3 or 4 hours. At the office: the 30 cm trail lasts about 2 hours, then it stays close to the skin for hours, around 6 or 7. Since it’s not invasive and smells clean, I think a warm, enclosed environment like an office is its best stage, not sports, despite what it claims to be for.

It was my first fragrance, the one that started it all. Although its longevity and projection are very poor, it doesn’t stop it from smelling great. Thanks to it, I dove into perfumery and I have a special affection for it. I wore it for about 4 years as my only fragrance, and it was more than enough. I don’t know if I should count it as a plus, but several girls said they loved the scent; the most basic stuff is usually the key in most cases. I’ll always keep this fragrance in my collection; I’ve bought it at least 7 times. What would be the bomb would be finding a perfume with more performance that smells the same, but anyway, this is what there is, and I still like it just as much as I did 4 years ago.

Very similar to Benetton Dream Big and Aguas Masculinas Seduction Magnética. Good, but too much incense for my taste.

A clean scent, ideal for a post-gym shower or if you’re heading fresh to the gym. Pity that on my skin it lasts… 20 minutes, it’s a joke. In my search for the ideal sports fragrance, I tried this Adidas one and the disappointment was huge. I know I shouldn’t expect much from a fragrance in this category regarding quality/price, but that’s their forte: sports, and its longevity is non-existent; I’d hardly buy it again. If you see it at an excellent price (that wasn’t my case) and want to try it, go ahead; the scent is very pleasant, very common but that clean, pleasant kind that doesn’t bother. Hopefully, on your skin it will perform better. By the way, I notice a resemblance to Zara Man Silver.

I bought this cologne for an online deal; for the price, I grabbed it without a second thought along with another Adidas one. This particular one smells very similar to a well-known one; as Diegazo comments, it could be one of the Hugo Boss ones, though I don’t know which one. Regardless, it does the trick and saves you in a pinch for short times since it doesn’t last long on skin, but the next day I could still smell it on my clothes. Simple cologne for daily use, after a shower, or for going out for a walk or errands, beach, or pool.

I bought it purely because of the price and now it’s just gathering dust. The funny thing is that while testing some Hugo Boss scents, I found one that was identical to this—I can’t remember which one. Haha, that’s what happens.