By by Dolce&Gabbana

It drives me crazy. My dad gifted me a 2010 batch for high school, and I used it until I was addicted, not realizing how special it was until now. In 2026, I finally picked up a 1999 bottle for $220, and it smells incredible. Unfortunately, there’s nothing in Mexico that even comes close. I really wish it existed here.

It smells absolutely delicious at 90 minutes, but it’s very soft. I wouldn’t pay three figures for this under any circumstances (that’s just for the nostalgic). The base suspiciously smells like several Valentino perfumes; either they copied it or share perfumers (I lean toward the latter). Thanks, Jerry Drake, for the sample.

This is my fragrance. I found it by accident just as they were discontinuing it. I started with a tester, then bought more at gold prices, until I got scammed with a copy that eventually smells almost the same, though with less projection. Today, I have half of a 100ml bottle that’s starting to spoil and a fresh 50ml one I’m hoarding forever. It’s impossible to find now.

I loved this perfume; I really wish it were still available. It stayed with me in my memories, and I can only describe it with one word: spectacular.

By Man by Dolce & Gabbana is woody, spicy, and amber. The opening is briefly citrusy, giving way to powdery lavender and bitter green notes, but quickly reveals its warm nature of amber, woods, and spices. A rich, sweet aroma without reaching current levels, combining lavender, leather, tobacco, amber, and spices (nutmeg), softened with sandalwood, creating a sensual and elegant sensation. It brings back memories of another fragrance from that era, also discontinued: Envy for Men. It’s characteristic of oriental scents from the late 90s and early 2000s. You can also tell it laid the groundwork for The One for Men, inheriting its wood, amber, and tobacco base, although The One was less complex. Being warm and spicy, it’s suitable for autumn and winter, or special occasions like romantic dinners, due to its sensual aroma and difficulty in finding. Longevity on me is over 8 hours with regular projection. I got it at a good price, but no discontinued fragrance deserves a markup. By the way, this is my 600th review, incredible; I never imagined writing about so many fragrances; being part of this community has allowed me to share and discover scents I never imagined. I appreciate and greet all members.

A perfumery masterpiece of pure seduction and maximum addictiveness. Brutal performance with an almost eternal longevity on clothes. The base is unique thanks to the refined combination of habanolide and polysantol; very hard to wear without receiving compliments. I keep it as a treasure, haven’t found anything that comes close, and clones are mere imitations.

I don’t know if it was my young nose that failed me, but today I regret giving that bottle away in 2006. I didn’t know then that perfumes evolve, and now that I’m desperately searching for it, I see it’s costing a fortune on eBay—over $200 for 50ml.

It was 2007, and I went to spend Christmas in Tucumán, northern Argentina, with my then-partner. He took me to a shopping mall, and looking for a bargain thanks to the euro-to-peso exchange rate, I found it immediately: BY MAN by D&G. It was hard to get in Spain, so I told the sales assistant in a second, ‘I’m taking it with me.’ It cost around 120 pesos, just over 30€, and I’ve been smiling ever since. There are only a few milliliters left for the tribute; as I spray it on my hand, I’m transported back to that day in Argentina. Sharp herbal opening, then something sweet but without losing its edge. It’s a scent I don’t think can be matched today, and that’s a shame. While boring fragrances dominate the market, the good ones get discontinued. Maybe BY MAN would have succeeded now, or maybe not; the point is we’ve been deprived of it, and I’ll remember that scent from time to time.

What times we live in with modern perfumery, when a masterpiece like Dior Homme becomes pretentious and vulgar, disguised as a wedding tuxedo, with suspicious longevity. Put it next to BY MAN and you’ll see: here is class and originality, things Dior will never have. BY MAN is a vintage grail, unique and impossible to find. It offers a particular aroma of its era, and although it’s hard to find, when Jerry Drake gave me a sample, I finally knew what it was. It’s from that dreamy, cottony era with thickened sugar; it has everything. Alongside Pour Homme, it’s the best D&G ever made. It opens fresh, spicy, and herbal, then turns into a narcotic sweetness, like makeup-covered candies. After that, powdery facets, fleshy skin, citrus sparks, and sandalwood. It’s not for going out at night, but for creating a magnetic aura. No one has ever smelled like this. If you want an idea, try Armand Bassi. It’s a cocktail of androgyny, synthetic drugs, and mating season. As a perfume archaeologist, testing this sample generates more anxiety in me to find a lost bottle.

A murder crime. What led the brand to stop making this? I first encountered it in 2000 at a friend’s house, where two cousins were staying; she showed me Rochas Man from one and this gem from the other. I put a little of each on each wrist and got hooked. I hadn’t yet smelled anything that wasn’t green. It was my introduction to this world. Both captivated me equally, and I spent hours smelling left and right like a maniac, ready to buy one but unsure which. In the end, I chose Rochas Man, which won at the finish line by a nose. I still have Rochas in my collection today, but I never got By, nor have I encountered anything like it. It’s a shame; perfumery lost a great soldier.

Alongside the D&G Pour Homme old formula, I believe it’s the best proposal the house has ever made for men. The development is incredible after the alcohol fades; the feeling upon wearing it is very well-constructed, sexy, and with outstanding longevity. People on the street looked at me strangely every five minutes as I brought my wrist close, but I was enjoying a trance, so I didn’t care. The myth is deserved; it’s a crime that it didn’t stay on the shelves. It’s distinctive, singular, and grand, perfect for wild nights with a bold and mischievous touch, with a sillage and longevity off the charts to feel wrapped in a cloud of pleasure. Why discontinue something so good? It’s a cultured scent with outrageous prices that will never be forgotten.

D&G: return this gem to the world of the living. That sweet, woody sandalwood with vinyl lavender and tinkling tobacco, that androgynous, powdery, sweet, delicate, and ultra-sexual dry-down with human skin reminiscences. I’ve never worn a perfume that brought me more compliments; everyone wanted to see it, and even girls wanted to wear it. No matter how many years pass, I don’t understand how this pearl had such a short life. The cap of the empty bottle smells less and less, and every time I open it, a tear escapes me.

I remember this fragrance with one word: sex. I’m not referring to the exuberant style of the 80s. This sex is more subtle, talcum-like, sparkling, but very light, an oriental, synthetic, dry, very Martian scent. I especially remember the sweet touch of its dry-down, a very arid and soft sweetness. Whenever I wore it, someone would say they loved it. It’s inexplicable that fragrances with so much substance are discontinued. I remember it as genderless, perhaps a bit feminine for men and masculine for women. In the 90s, they played with clean, innocent unisex; this was another step, venturing into the sweet masculine trend that would explode years later. However, it has more quality and personality than today’s aberrations. I have the empty bottle, and it smells less and less each day, but when I open it, it still smells a bit. Every time I unscrew the cap, it’s like going back to 2001 and hearing Groovejet with Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Probably they don’t share notes or have anything to do with each other, but that tinkling sexuality is also present in the first Tom Ford men’s fragrance. As a sweet sweat scent, very animal, with a faint olfactory memory of cocaine or speed.

I still have half a bottle left. It smells intense and slightly powdery, worthy of a niche brand if it were made today. Warm for nights and cold for days. Right out of the bottle, it smells of nutmeg, spicy, and powerful yet soft, giving way to delicate wood and lavender. As it dries down, it becomes more subtle with amber and sweet tobacco. Projection and longevity are beastly. What a shame they discontinued it.

Its scent evokes the majestic savannas of Africa. It’s unique and majestic.