When I saw the list of ingredients for Juicy Couture’s new men’s fragrance, Dirty English — peppered mandarin, blue cypress, Calabrian bergamot, caraway, cardamom pods, marjoram, black leather, “Santal Fatal” accord (a mix of sandalwood, Atlas cedar and vetiver), agarwood, ebony wood, black moss absolute, and amber musk — my first thought was: “Why this dark, heavy scent now…so close to spring?” By late February, I’m yearning for crisp-bright scents, perfumes with lots of citrus, floral, fruit and ‘green’ accords. I needn’t have worried; though Dirty English’s mix of notes sounds hot’n’heavy, the cologne is light enough to be worn in spring, even summer.
Dirty English starts off with the aromas of smooth citrus-y leather and cypress, and mellow caraway and marjoram. I was hoping Dirty English would provide rude blasts of the promised black leather, black moss (surely this note would be weird and musty?) and agarwood, but Dirty English is a well-mannered, well-blended scent and I don’t smell anything out of the ordinary. (I’ve tried to detect the “Santal Fatal” accord but I smell only cedar, cedar, and more cedar.) Near the end of Dirty English’s development, agarwood does make an appearance, as does an overused fragrance note of late: satiny, vanillic ‘amber musk’. Dirty English is a mid-strength, sweet, wood scent and as I wore it I was reminded of (a milder) Yves Saint Laurent M7, (a sweeter) Gucci Pour Homme and (a cleaner) Tom Ford for Men.
I have no idea what the term ‘Dirty English’ denotes. I’ve looked at Juicy Couture products bearing the name (I like the Dirty English bulldog T-shirts) and assume the Dirty English clothing line is casual wear aimed at young men. I can say with assurance there is nothing “dirty” about Dirty English for Men Eau de Toilette. The cologne is described by Juicy Couture as “outrageously sexy”, “mysterious” and “magnetic.” I would describe it as “nice”…and tame. If you’re an old hand, or should I say an old nose, at perfumery, you’ve smelled many scents like Dirty English. Perhaps Dirty English is being marketed towards 20-something men who are moving away from the dated, rather simple-scented, ozonic perfumes of the past 10 years? (Starting last autumn, I’ve noticed that “fresh” ozonic men’s fragrances are not the norm anymore in new mainstream releases.) I do like Dirty English and would be happy to smell it on others or to wear it myself — but probably only if someone gave me a bottle; Dirty English has decent lasting power and non-annoying sillage.
Juicy Couture Dirty English was developed by perfumer Claude Dir. During its early release, scheduled for March, Dirty English will be a Bloomingdale’s exclusive. As of this posting, the scent has not been widely advertised and it is not for sale on the Bloomingdale’s retail website.
Update: Juicy Couture Dirty English will be available in 50 and 100 ml Eau de Toilette and in matching grooming products, including De-Funk Deodorant and Up With a Twist shower gel. (via Women's Wear Daily)
39 Comments
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Oh I like the name, and it does sound like something I like, could you imagine a girl (am still young hehe) wearing this?
Sounds…nice. And for my non-scented husband (that I'm slowly trying things out on) it might be worth getting a sample. I like fresh and oceany for myself, but not so much on the menfolk, so this will be a good one to try. Thanks Kevin!
bittergrass: yes, a girl could wear this…K
March: I've only seen a TINY photo of the bottle…was there a metal CHAIN about the top? (I did like the lions in the logo). And yes oui si ja…I get so tired of the many men's scents that “wear down” to the same ole notes: vanilla, amber, musk, “wood.” There must be an approved list of notes out there..or notes that are deemed “popular” at a given moment. Frustrating. K
Rose: this one IS nice and may be a good candidate for a “starter cologne” for the hubby.
all bark and no bite?
victoriamegatron: more like “all purr and no hiss….” K
Kevin, what are you doing to me? I've always been a Tom Ford fan and wanted a milder M7, a sweeter Gucci Pour Homme and a cleaner Tom Ford for Men, because that would be something a girl could wear too. I find all of those too masculine for me, but love love love them on men
I guess now I'll just have to get me some Dirty English *LOL* Nice review:)
I was looking forward to this one, but it looks like I'll be sticking to Gucci pour homme which is already as sweet as I can bear. I did like Tom Ford for Men, but it wasn't bottle-worthy. A “cleaner” version would simply be insipid, I expect. Why bother? I'll still give it a sniff, but it doesn't sound like my Gucci will have to fret for its place.
Smartylicious, there is another version of M7 namely M7 Fresh.
Smartylicious: sorry about that…but just think, I've given you a choice of ONE bottle of scent instead of three…I've saved you money! (IF you like Dirty English that is)
Marianne: finding a bottle of M7 Fresh is about as likely in the US as finding a hen's tooth in a lake…!
quinncreative: ah…I have two warring male cats at home these days and purring and hissing are things I notice all the time
Carlos: if Gucci Pour Homme is as sweet as you can bear I doubt you'll like Dirty English…but I did like DE's marjoram in the opening and the bit of agarwood at the end.
LOL Kevin…but you could start with some samples from Europe e.g. and later order it online if you decided you like it enough.
I can't WAIT to smell this! Will Macy's be getting this soon, Robin???
Bloomies has it until mid-April, after that it ought to be everywhere, eventually. If I remember correctly though, Macy's took awhile to get the original Juicy Couture scent.
Nice review, K. I was intrigued by the list of notes when I first read the copy — definitely didn't sound like the typical “geared-toward-the-youngsters” scent. I know that ALL smells are worth sniffing, in theory, but it would be hard to imagine wearing or even sampling something from “Juicy Couture.” The name and concept both make my skin crawl. This sounds pleasant, but with the embarrassment of riches out there, I'll probably skip it.
Off to buy myself a bottle of Terre d'Hermes online — it's my birthday! Suppose I should splurge for something more extravagant and special like a full bottle of Jubilation XV, but….
It looks like Imagination Perfumery (I don't know anything about them) has M7 Fresh in stock, by the by.
Butting in to say Happy Birthday!
monkeytoe: yes, I often find “rare” scents on the Internet…but the problem is not being able to smell them somewhere on a shelf…and these days I'm not buying much unsniffed.
Joe: bonne anniversaire to you and your Hermes…I'm in the mood to buy something this weekend too…can't get CdG Hinoki off my mind……and I have NOT smelled it yet.
I had high hopes for this one. Very dissappointed. I love TOM FORD fragrances (PRIVATE BLEND and BLACK ORCHID) and TOM FORD for MEN is just OK IMO but way better than DE. I am male and collector of over 100 fragrances.
Forgot to mention that DE does come in a fabulous bottle!
I really like this! Love the bottle, the name, the scent is fun. I'm not a Juicy fan at ALL but this is a good one. Not great, but quite good.
My husband thinks the name is perfect (he's Italian, I'm English) and he thinks Brits are a dirty bunch. lol
My only concern is the shower gel comes in that papery/plastic
packaging – do you think it will fall apart from the moisture?
bartamy: haven't seen the shower gel packaging…but I can't believe they'd put the gel in a dissolving package!
Oooohh this sounds delightful! I can't wait for it to be released here in Australia, where it's currently autumn now and will be moving into winter not too many months more.
eminere: PERFECT for fall.
Smelled this and it didn't smell too hot, IMO. I'm praying The One for Men and Jay-Z's new cologne don't disapoint me
Spot on review, Kevin. As a 41 year old woman, I certainly have smelled many men's scents similar to Dirty English, but if this reels in the young men and gets them away from 'marine' and 'ozone', I'm all for it! I like it.
I really liked it on a card so I got a sample for my boyfriend and had him wear it today. It was very nice and spicy at the beginning, but after an hour or so, he smelled like an Abercrombie and Fitch store. Guess we'll have to keep looking for something that starts out sexy and STAYS sexy.
The shower gel comes in a glorified plastic bag. I asked the lady at the fragrance festival today and she said that she hadn't had any complaints about the packaging, but I can totally see my boyfriend stepping on it in the shower by mistake, breaking the bag and emptying the whole thing!
Iwork for the company so I can explain to you why the packaging is what it is. They designed it like that so that the guys can use every last bit of the product. Too many times you can't get all of the product out of the typical tubes, but you can with this CapriSun looking packaging which inspired the whole thing. Great packaging and the guys all love it! already DE has made the Top 10 at Macy's and they've only carried it a few weeks. Great fragrance!!!
any idea when the new Juicy Couture fragrances for women are coming out?
We have been told that it would be late this summer. Possibly as early as July, but probably not until the first or second week of August. As far as a specific launch date goes, nothing has been given to us little people yet. : )
Well I am a young guy, and when I first smelled this I thought, is this me? I measure everything with my two baseline staples for Spring/Summer It's YSL L'Homme, and for Fall/Winter it's Burrberry London. When measure up to my two baselines I thought, it's interesting, more toward the BBY: London side of things. But I acquired a sample from Sephora recently and tried it on today, got on the elevator and every one was commenting on it. Now it's been mid day I've gotten out of the office and walk around in the sun and it's developed quite nicely. And maybe my nose is wierd but I do get the peppery/spicy notes on it even now. Its enough for me to go out and get a bottle.
I absolutely love Dirty English, I love the boozy opening to it, the slightly animalic undernote to it and its ongoing spiciness.
One of my best purchases this year. And I'm 45 – so I don't agree it's mainly for young guys!
OK so I'm real late replying to this review from last year, but better late than never, right?
Kevin: Great write up my friend! I actually just purchased Dirty English tonite on a whim while walking around at a mall with a Sephora in it. I actually really love it. The drydown is even better than I expected. The Juice is a nice amber color and the glass bottle heavy and rich looking. Oh and the bling-y-bling non-shiny pewter-like bad-boy cap with the leather string is really cute…I may even tie that leather string with the medals around my wrist for a REAL mid-life crisis soon!
As they say: “New life, new fragrance!”
Kevin, good talking to you tonight my friend
Eric
I recently bought a bottle of Dirty English for men. I totally love it! The reason I bought it is because I simply CANNOT STAND the majority of men’s colognes today that are filled with citrus and flowery scents. I personally like sandalwood, frankincense, black pepper, musk, veviter, spice, very incens-ey kinds of smells. Seems like there is only one or two choices for me each season. However, the name “Dirty English” is a big turn off for me, although I like the bottle, it looks like something the English royalty might have on their dressers! They should have named it something more exotic because the smell is intoxicating!