Apparition Homme by Emanuel Ungaro

Emanuel Ungaro puts his Eastern philosophy into an exotic, twisted aquatic. It’s a love-hate fragrance, but I’m sticking with the love. It’s so far from the known that it’s worth more than just its scent; it’s brutally indefinible. Watch out, it’s intense, brilliantly poorly made (maybe on purpose), seductive for that synthetic, psychotropic, strong personality. Heat creates a dry aura of sugars, metals, and psychedelic turquoises, like electronic party drinks. With this, people hate you and love you, and the hate is more interesting because it’s almost always due to not understanding such a beautiful yet annoying scent, which is good! Apparition is an experience you have to surrender to in order to access its magical aura. Ozone notes, annoying if you overdo it. Otherwise, excellent.

I tried it in 2010 at age 22 and found it fresh and well-made; my friends were jealous; the name Ungaro already sounded great. It’s a good fragrance, though it won’t be eternal, and it hurts that Polge, one of the great perfumers, didn’t turn it into a masterpiece. It leaves a huge hole in my heart; I don’t know what went wrong. I would get it again: I remember that immense freshness and those sudden sweet sparks. I want it back; the bottle was beautiful and the perfume inside was a real treat.

I bought APPARITION HOMME DE EMANUEL UNGARO on a good deal because it’s discontinued and because the name Ungaro gives me legendary chills, like fallen houses that were once the best: Pierre Cardin, Guy Laroche, Christian Lacroix, or Lanvin. Also because I like L’HOMME III and especially Oud. But Apparition has disappointed me. It smells like a generic supermarket cologne, something indefinible but very artificial and low quality. It’s a mix of musky, plastic citrus with that rancid aura of cheap stuff. I’m not talking about the price, but the pejorative concept of cheapness. The fact that Olivier Polge, creator of Florabotanica, Valentino Uomo, or Midnight in Paris, made it is shocking. Of course, Olivier has to eat and has made perfumes I don’t like (La Vie Est Belle) that succeeded (Invictus, Gabrielle). Buñuel also directed trash movies like Don Quintín el Amargao, but later made masterpieces like Viridiana. Our creators don’t always have free rein; if they work for multinationals, they do what they’re told. Apparition has no trail or longevity and could be used as an air freshener for annoying guests.