Review: Gucci By Gucci Sport Pour Homme by Gucci (2010)

Ah, the dangers of prejudice. When I saw that a sample of this new flanker had made its way into one of my shopping bags, I immediately condemned it to the least forgiving recesses of my mind. For a start, it’s designed specifically for the summer – which always sets my alarm bells ringing – and it has a name that dares not only to be ridiculously long-winded (What next? Gucci By Gucci Edition Blanche Pour Homme Et Les Petits Garcons… by Gucci?) but also to contain the word ‘sport’. Three near-unforgivable black marks. But you know what… this stuff isn’t all that bad. There’s no way I’d buy it for myself, as I’d rather spend my hard-earned pennies on something with more substance, but if you absolutely insist on wearing lighter scents in hotter weather then this would probably be a sensible purchase. Dior restored some respectability to this genre a few years ago with Homme Sport, which used gingery notes for tenacity. Here, grapefruit fulfils a similar function, with a well-judged hint of cardamom-like spices brought in for a scattering of intrigue. Combine this with the predictable mix of lavender, lemon and lime and you end up with a fairly graceful tennis-player of a scent, albeit not the sort who makes it to the final of a grand slam tournament. You need more… ahem… balls than this to make it past the first round.