Minotaure

Fresh slight sweet bitter green... I think this is supposed to be a Fougere somehow! i get a tonka sweet herba spice with green touch. I also get sweet soapy musk.

The origin of the 90's had an amazing smell! Longevity was unfortunately very poor, sillage was ok, not dominant like it deserved to be. Nikos sculpture tried to copy the scent though it was too synthetic and made of cheap ingredients. Unfortunately no one tried to develop a better parfum. Wish paloma picasso would develop and market it with a stronger sillage and more than 12 hrs of longevity, even if it's as a tribute to dear Bowie R.I.P.

This was a nice fragrance. I had a 50ml in the late 90s. Minotaur was like a green-fruity-aquatic with a sweet, woody musky base. I read David Bowie wore it sometime recently!

very fresh upon opening, then boozy (almost fizzy, if that makes sense?), heavy and almost organic, like a living creature (hence the name), projection is quite strong and longevity is decent, it sticks around, a little bit of an acquired taste, and definitely not a safe blind buy, but can see the appeal for men, women and everything in between

It smells old, heavy, and honestly kinda boring and dusty. like history class but in fragrance form.💀

Modern formulation smells exactly like Body Kouros

(Review of a vintage formulation from the Cosmair era) Minotaure is one of the least captivating creations from Paloma Picasso from an artistic standpoint. The reality of it is that it truly doesn’t say or do anything new; it’s a pretty typical retro masculine oriental woody cologne from the pyramid perspective, but I still rate it well because of how it wears. Looking to most masculines of this type prior to 1992, the perfumes were loud, heavy, ostentatious, and/or sometimes complicated beasts - but not Minotaure. In the list of pros and cons, it’s biggest pros that tip the scale are that it smells very pleasant and clean, and it can be worn anywhere, anytime, by anyone of any style, and in any climate. The citrus opening is bright and aldehydic, and just as the pyramid implies it is pretty nondescript. I’m sure there is bergamot, lemon, and perhaps some orange materials in there but they are ill-defined. However, the sparkling aldehydes work to give them some of the breadth they lack by creating this feeling of a very fine mist in the air. Unlike many aldehydic hesperidic openings you cannot feel the materials going up your nose. The lightweight diffusiveness is very attractive. The same can be said for the lavender and floral heart. The lavender is oily, green herbal, clean, and soapy just as you’d expect from a yesteryear masculine, and the florals - just like the hesperidics that came before - are vague. They are very obviously white floral, but I’m on the fence of either carnations or muguet. There is a creamy and unctuous aspect to them, not much in the way of sweetness, and it is smooth and supple. There is a bit of an aromatic and peppery lean to the heart that wants to make me say carnation, but it’s far more likely to be the aromatic woody base of sandalwood and cedar playing upwards. Some moss, a touch of musks, and a bit of vanillic benzoin round out the base. I have to admit that I like Minotaure, but I also have to freely admit that it is overrated and overhyped. It’s not worth chasing after expensive vintages but if you can smell it, or get a great deal on a vintage bottle, by all means do so if you like this profile. It’s just so easy and comfortable to wear, and every stage of it smells clean and lovely - almost like it’s not there until you intentionally take a whiff of it off of your skin or your clothes. Good stuff - not great, certainly not poor, just genuinely good stuff.

It opens reminiscent of Kouros, somehow, even though the two share so little. Then it builds in booziness and the tonka-vanilla smoothness, becoming cozy without going to dark. I've heard plenty of complaints about performance and reformulation, but this is my first experience with it and I don't really care. It's great as it is and I tend to overspray, so the lacking performance isn't noticed on me. Just don't spray like you have an office job, I guess. Easy for me because I don't. Probably the most masculine vanilla-heavy fragrance I've experienced. Very nice. Probably a masterpiece.

David Bowie wore this!

I bought it just because I used it back in the 90s and wow, it's completely different. Of course it's similar, gives me also flashbacks, but I must try hard. Back then I love it and now I will sell it. They ruined all good fragrances from my youth. Drakkar noir, Roma, Fahrenheit,.........

It’s a fairly unisex fragrance — both men and women can wear it. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stand out for its longevity or projection. After a few hours, it’s barely noticeable on the skin and only slightly on clothing. It doesn’t last much at all. And in terms of projection, you have to spray a lot for people to notice it, unlike with other fragrances. That said, it smells really nice — like fresh vanilla. My wife and I went through it in just a couple of months.

I bought Minotaure because I was curious — it’s one of those cult scents that inspired many others. I’d heard people talk about how the reformulation had changed the fragrance, but I’ve always accepted that kind of thing. Reformulations happen — there’s nothing we can do about it. At first, I appreciated the scent very much, but over time, for reasons I can’t explain, it started to feel like I was spraying lightly scented water rather than an actual perfume. And I’m not exaggerating — it’s become so faint that there’s barely any point in wearing it. That’s been my experience so far. Maybe with time, it will regain a bit of strength... PS : Very similar to Pi from Givenchy, except for the dry down.

Nose Note #289 So far the only fragrance with the real rum note (which is not listed, but the smell of the fragrance is basically that of rum, i.e. alcoholy rasins). It also has some noticable sweetness to it. After a while the rum smell remains but acquires this shrouded nature, as if the whole smell gets glassed in and becomes less transparent and more cloudy. Very interesting, sophisticated, mature smell. To me it reminds of many other sweet fragrances of late 80s onwards like Joop Homme and Le Male.

Tal cual @MatuteEche ! lo conoci en 1992 en mi pais Argentina y es una fragancia de culto, unica. Primavera, fresca preferentemente u otoño. No va con tempreraturas extremas.

Mi perfume de toda la vida..... para mi gusto grita invierno, pero con pocas vaporizaciones en otoño y primaveras frescas se usa a full. No lo veo como perfume para todos los dias.

I purchased a Cosmair bottle, batch code UN251. THE FIRST thing that hits me is honeyed fruits, a delectable sweetness like candied apples. This goes away swiftly as what's left is the amalgamation of a boozy sweetness with cedar, slight jasmine and rose, some Sandalwood for sure and musk. This definitely is a creation. Not put together cheaply. This is 90's for sure, early 1990's. As the dry down continues, I get a slight resonance of ash in Zino Davidoff, then the realm of Balencieaga Pour Homme hits. The coriander is definitely there with that one and with Minotaure. The rose hangs in there ever so nicely too. If you want the Balencieaga feel, over spray Minotaure with Drakkar Noir and you'll get it. Definitely a unique scent when mixed. But, by itself, Minotaure closely resembles Giorgio Red for Men, without the heavy prominent Rose that's always upfront in that one, minus the sweetness of fruits. Well made. 10/10.

Got a vintage mini-sized bottle to test drive. Smells similar to Zino by Davidoff. It has that "creamy" note I don't find appealing. Otherwise, a nice, solid fragrance for everyone else.

New formulation is completely bad. Staying power is about 2 hours. But still is a very nice fragrance.

I'm reposting this post. I wore this for many years and recently purchased it again. It is beautiful but search out the Cosmair formulation (which I just purchased on eBay). I have that one and the newer formulation and there is no comparison. The Cosmair is richer, deeper and stronger.

A true masterpiece 🏆 and that was the signature Scent of the late David Bowie 🙏 the vintage version was more potent ! The current version is just been reformulated and watered down 👎 but still smells great 👍 the longevity is poor! Try to get the vintage version of this gem 💎❤️

I have just ordered a bottle after reading (in a review of Poets of Berlin - one to avoid IMO!) that this was David Bowie's signature scent.

This perfume have a special place in my heart because it was the VERY FIRST DESIGNER PERFUME that I received as a Gift back in 1994 (I was 10yrs old). Before that, all the perfumes I owned were either remains of my uncles and Grandfather's old perfumes whenever they purchased new ones, or AVON's "Black Suede" & "Wild Country". My mother worked back then as a pharmacist and the pharmacy as we know, sold perfumes and other stuff so she Bought this for me. I loved it even thou I was a kid I always wore perfumes like Drakkar Noir, Ralph Lauren SAFARI & CHAPS, Daviddoffs Cool Water, cK ETERNITY, Lagerfeld PHOTO, even LAPIDUS! But none of them were mine so MINOTAURE was MY FIRST OWN! I bought a new bottle to add it in my collection. The Reformulation is REAL! Man what a bummer! The scent is still there ...... But the performance is just gone. I remmember when I was a kid my school uniforms would smell like this even AFTER washing them. My bed sheets would smell like this all the time (I use perfume even to sleep) but with this new reformulation in like 2 hours it becomes a skin scent, very sweet musky scent, BUT A SKIN SCENT. After like 6 hours max is already gone. Regarding of price at least I bought it cheap. I paid like $35 only. I don't know how much it retailed back in the 90's when Salaries were $736 USD monthly in 1994 but $35 in today's economy is cheap. Is an awesome scent and in my case it adds up nostalgia to the equation. Very manly and aromatic with "dirty-sweet" notes. That drydown is very powdery and pleasent. I wish this lasted as it used to.

If you layer Minotaure with Drakkar Noir you get a unique scent

I wore this throughout the early 2000's, and it was my signature, never a fragrance I would had called a beast, but definitely had a bit of potency. I definitely get the similarity to Laura Biagiotti's Roma, but that roasts the current formulation for performance. The newest formulation smells very good, but sadly performance is poor, it just doesn't project or last very long. The original was a terrific fragrance, definitely 5 star, but in its current form it's a 3 at best.

When I was a kid my dad had this fragrance in the early nineties and it was much more powerful than now, which is a terrible shame, because it smells amazing.

Two weeks later, I think it smells wonderful and I love the bottle design, but this has NO strength! After only a couple hours there is nothing left and I have to spray half a bottle on me for any projection. I would love to try Almairacs new version.

Opening for first few minutes is cloying and a bit chemical. As it sits the notes really start to blossom. After the initial chemical smell fades it opens to an amazing powdery vanilla amber scent. Dry down is more woody and musky, becomes much less unisex than in the beginning. On the skin I can smell it for around 4-5 hours maybe. Projects for around 2-3. Wish it would last a bit longer.

This stuff is everything bad about reformulation, it's so weak I can't pick out any of the notes except aldehydes, the longevity is poor and the bottle redesign is atrocious the atomizer doesn't fit the look of the bottle it makes it look super cheap. If you're looking for something similar I'd go for Nikos Sculpture Homme Parfum. It's very similar except it performs well and smells more refined.

Classic, timeless creation from Michel Almairac. Woody, aromatic, powdery vanilla scent - I absolutely love it. New formulations are considerably weaker , and not so dense than the OG bottles and the plastic cap looks cheap. The perfume " Wake Up World" from Parle Moi De Parfums ( Owned by Michel Almairac:) is a fresher, more modern version of Minotaure, worth trying.

So, some time in the nineties when this was brand new I got a sample of this from the nice lady at the fancy department store where I bought my cheap Cacharel. It felt like my first real perfume and was too sweet/dense and heavy for me but it has haunted my dreams ever since. Though the original is long gone, it would be interesting to try the current version. I think I'll leave it in the past though.