Artisan and Artisan Black are two of the very few men’s fragrances I’ve smelled and actually wanted to own. Artisan is my favorite of the two for a lot of reasons. But the main thing, it doesn’t rely on smelling primarily “marine and sporty” or “aromatic and woodsy”, which is something I have to commend Artisan and other men’s fragrances that avoid those two genres  for.

In Bottle: Orange blossoms that makes me think of freshly cut, sweet oranges. Very simple opening but it’s surprisingly pleasant and vivid. I quite like that.

Applied: Again, orange blossom opening with the vision of a fresh, juicy and sweet orange. It lingers for a bit before a little hint of spice kicks in and takes Artisan into slightly more familiar men’s fragrance territory. The thyme is also in there as Artisan evolves on the skin making this smell a bit more masculine as it continues to age and introduces a wet, green woods note and sharp citrus note in the middle that mingles with the spicy thyme and lingering orange blossom from the opening. Artisan doesn’t last very long on me, unfortunately, as it dries down a light green woodsy scent in the end that sticks very close to the skin. This is probably my favorite men’s cologne at the moment.

Extra: John Varvatos is a fashion designer that focuses primarily on men’s clothing. The name was started in 1999 with its first release in 2000, making this a very young fashion house indeed.

Design: Artisan is set in a glass bottle molded to look like it was woven. It gives the bottle a sort of tropical island, handmade, anthropologist kicking it old school and living out of a tent kind of feel. The texture on the bottle alone is enough to want you to pick it up and play with it for a while. The bottle, however, is quite heavy and a bit awkward to hold but you can’t argue with that awesome design.

Fragrance Family: Citrus Woodsy

Notes: Sicilian clementine, tangelo fruit, Mexican tangerine, aromatic thyme, Spanish marjoram, Greek lavender, North African orange blossom, Indian plant Murraya, orange-infused jasmine, Nigerian ginger, Chinese ginger, purple ginger, Kephalis wood, Geaorgewood, Belleambre, musk Serenolide.

You can’t look at that notes list and tell me it doesn’t at least intrigue you a little bit. Artisan is a great mix of notes but most of all it’s a really, really good fresh and masculine scent.

Reviewed in This Post:Artisan, 2009, Eau de Toilette.