After my Yves Saint Laurent L'Homme review posted last week, many men wrote me at my Now Smell This email address "confessing" their love for L'Homme; these men were unwilling to "admit" their admiration for L'Homme in my review's comments section because I called the fragrance "standard-issue men's perfume." I think women are more willing to proclaim: "Call this perfume crap if you like...but I LOVE it!" All you sensitive perfumistos out there: I have a confession to make — I, too, like my fair share of "standard-issue" men's fragrances.

Perfume addicts are inclined to enjoy categories of scents: ambers, vanilla fragrances, rose perfumes, mossy aldehydes.... Me? I like citrus perfumes, leather scents, smoky/incense fragrances, and vetiver and tea colognes of all types. If I come across a fragrance full of lemon, orange, petitgrain, a hint of vetiver and wood — chances are good I'll enjoy it, even if there are 100 other fragrances that smell pretty much the same. Today's scent, Diesel Only the Brave, is not innovative or "strange", not by a long shot (it reminds me of Zirh Ikon for one), but I'm partial to its components, and I like it.

Only the Brave contains lemon, leather, cedar and amber. The fragrance opens with an ozone-lemon accord which is followed by a talc-y (super-light) leather note...

Yves Saint Laurent L'Homme debuted in 2006 and has been a best-seller ever since; it is one of many fragrances that prove I do NOT have my finger on the pulse of the perfume-buying public. (L'Homme bores me.) I even nodded off as I read L'Homme's notes list: bergamot, calone, ginger, basil, cedar, violet leaf, vetiver and tonka bean. I predicted, accurately, that L'Homme's basil and ginger would be negligible and its bergamot, violet leaf and tonka would dominate.

L'Homme was created by the triumvirate of Anne Flipo, Pierre Wargnye and Dominique Ropion. L'Homme starts with warm (lightly gingered) bergamot and ozone, and it moves rapidly into (light) green territory (a touch of violet leaf). L'Homme ends comfortably on a plump cushion of amber-cedar-vanilla/tonka. L'Homme smells like standard-issue men's perfume...

Diesel will launch Only The Brave (shown above left), a new fragrance for men, in March, although it is not expected to reach the US until May. The new fragrance was named for Diesel founder Renzo Rosso's Italian holding company and his charitable foundation, both of which have the same name. The bottle is modeled after Rosso's fist...

Coming in March from Yves Saint Laurent will be La Nuit de l'Homme, the third flanker to 2006's L'Homme Yves Saint Laurent. The new fragrance is a "more seductive facet of the YSL man".

The oriental fragrance was developed by perfumers Anne Flipo, Pierre Wargnye and Dominique Ropion (the same team that created the original l'Homme) and features notes of bergamot, cardamom, lavender, vetiver, cedar and coumarin...

Givenchy has launched two new limited edition summer fragrances in their popular Very Irresistible line.

Very Irresistible Givenchy Fresh Attitude (above left) for men is...

...about being daring, optimistic and having a zest for life...

Cacharel returns to men’s fragrance after a nearly seven year hiatus with the masculine counterpart to 2003’s Amor Amor, aptly entitled Amor pour Homme. The bottle has changed from red to blue and one of the Amors has been dropped, but the real story is the composition. With notes of bergamot, aromatic tea, mandarin, rose, cardamom, palisander wood, benzoin and tonka bean, Amor Pour Homme, created by Sophie Labbe and Pierre Wargnye, bears little resemblance to its feminine predecessor.

First, a word about Cacharel. Overall, I love their collection of women’s fragrances (though I found Promesse a phenomenal bore) but am saddened by the marked lack of men’s scents. Cacharel’s first men’s fragrance, Pour L’Homme, is an odd combination of nutmeg and ylang tempered by floral and herbal notes...

Yves Saint Laurent will launch L'Homme Yves Saint Laurent in September. The bottle was inspired by Bauhaus, and the target market is young men between 25 and 30. The fragrance was created by Anne Flipo, Pierre Wargnye and Dominique Ropion...

...targets a more mature woman than Very Irresistible. Firmenich’s Olivier Cresp and Jean-Pierre Bethouart created the oriental floral. The top notes are fresh with essence of white thyme, mandarin orange from Calabria and essence of saffron. The middle note mixes maxillaria orchid, lily and ylang ylang, while the base note is made of tonka bean, vanilla, rosewood and oak wood absolute. (via cosmeticnews)

Ange ou Demon is an Eau de Parfum, and is available in 50 and 100 ml bottles and in matching body products.

Viktor & Rolf will launch Antidote, a fragrance for men, this September...

The fragrance features notes of green tea, lemon, mint tea, juniper berry, watermelon, cucumber, lotus flower, lily of the valley, bamboo sap, lotus flower, reed wood and crystal musk...

It’s true, I do love sweet foody scents, and following on the coffee themes I introduced with Mat; Very Male and Bond no. 9 New Haarlem, one might think I have a caffeine addiction. But Very Irresistible offers only a hint of mocha, preferring to spend most of its time wavering between a minty citrus and a nutty, woody note...