Giorgio Armani Black Code Eau De Toilette Spray for Him

Author's product rating:   

Staying power	Excellent
Design of the bottle	Nice/creative
Value for money	Excellent

Advantages:	Babe Magnet
Disadvantages:	Expensive if you don't know where to buy it from .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Hi, this is my edited version, so please take time to re-read and re-rate. :-). www.ciao.co.uk recognises this fragrance as 'Black Code' but since then, Armani have renamed the product and it is now known as 'Code'. It was launched in 2005. I think it's still known as 'Blakc Code' in the US.

This is definitely one of my favourite fragrances and I rate it above Armani's Acqua Di Gio, which is renowned for its popularity with women. I have asked my female friends to comapre the two fragrancesw for me and they all agree with me that Armani Code is better; but that is not to say that Acqua Di Gio is not very good.

Anyway, I got a 50ml bottle of Armani Code from a friend of mine after she challenged me at tennis and lost 6-0. So then we went to the local town centre (Touchwood, Solihull) to buy my 'prize'. We looked around in all the obvious places for it and eventually she bought me a 50ml bottle from Bodycare for £29.99.

Armani, like many other fragrance brands, are not best known for their fragrances; they are better known for the consistently high quality clothing that they produce.

As you can see from the photograph, Armani Code (Pour Homme) comes in a simple black card box which says 'armani' in silver/grey and 'code' in white. It also says 'GIORGIO ARMANI', 'Eau De Toilette' '50ml, 1.7 fl.oz' and etc. In my opinion, this is just like their clothing; simple but classy. The bottle itself is semi-see-through and made of black glass. The shape of bottle is obvious from the photograph; the bottle is thinner round the middle than it is at the top and bottom. This follows the design of one of its predecessors; Armani Mania. The nozzle, like the box the bottle comes in, follows the trend of simplicity; it is like your average EDT with a lid over your classic spray atomiser. I must say though, the lid takes up a large proportion of the bottle's height.

Now, to the important stuff... the fragrance itself. I will firstly present to you what Armani says,

"Code combines a citron cocktail of bergamot and lemon with soft notes of olive tree blossom, warmed with Guaiac wood and Tonka Bean. A sexy fragrance blend for the contemporary man in the know."
(This was copied and pasted from www.giorgioarmanibeauty.co.uk)

I will now simplify the above into simple, clear English for you, "Code contains lemon, bergamot, olive tree blossom, Guaiac wood and Tonka bean notes. It's seductive and women like it'. After all, you don't wear fragrances to impress yourself, do you? The most important part is that women like it...

Anyway, I feel that Armani Code is a warm, woody sort of fragrance, like Bvlgari Black but has a citric twist to it. It's perfect for a romantic candelit dinner or for casual daytime wear. The fragrance itself is colourlessbut I can't really see a tinge to it because it's in a black bottle. There is one note that really stands out in this fragrance, I'm not sure, but I think it's the olive tree blossom and the Guaiac wood. It's the factor behind it's suitability for evenings.

Like all high quality fragrances, Armani Code is quite strong and is very long-lasting; a few squirts should see you through the day whilst anymore should dissolve most people's noses within a three-mile radius. When used moderately (in terms of quantityand not frequency) a 50ml bottle should easily see out 6 months but I'm nowhere near a fifth of my way through.

It's quite easy to find in shops and most major shops do stock it. These are the prices:

Boots: £35.00 (50ml)
Superdrug: £28.30 (50ml)
Bodycare: £29.99 (50ml)
Debenhams: £36.00 (50ml), £46-8 (100ml)
The Perfume Shop: £36.99 (50ml), £44.99 (75ml)

The cheapest is obvously Superdrug but not all Superdrugs sell Armani Code. It would probably be cheaper to buy online though;

www.cheapsmells.com (Delivery - £0.95 per item) : £23.04 (30ml), £27.04 (50ml), £35.04 (75ml)

www.fragrancex.com (Delivery - £7.37 + £0.49 per item) : £23.95 (50ml), £28.81 (75ml)

www.supaperfume.com (Delivery - Free) : £28.99 (50ml), £36.99 (75ml)

www.strawberrynet.com (Deilivery - Free) : £26.50 (50ml), £32.50 (75ml)

Please tell me if any of these prices are wrong. Overall, despite the prices, the product is well worth it and the high prices only signifies how good the product is. Thansk for taking time to re-read, re-rate and comment. If anything on this review is less than sufficient, please tell me and I will edit it.

Bye for now, Vince