By by Dolce&Gabbana

It drives me wild. My dad gifted me a 2010 batch for high school, and I wore it until I couldn’t do without it, unaware of just how special it was. Now, in 2026, I bought a 1999 vintage for $220, and it smells incredible. Unfortunately, there’s nothing in Mexico that compares to it; I really wish it existed.

It smells delicious at 90, but it’s very soft; I wouldn’t pay three figures for this under any circumstances (that’s for the nostalgic). The base smells suspiciously like several Valentino perfumes; either they copied it or share perfumers (I lean towards the latter). Thanks, Jerry Drake, for the sample.

It’s my fragrance; I found it by chance just as they were taking it off the shelves. I started with a tester, then bought more at golden prices, until I was scammed with a copy that, over time, smells almost identical, though with less potency. Today, I have half of a 100ml bottle that’s going bad and a new 50ml one that I’m keeping forever. It’s impossible to find today.

I loved this perfume; I really wish it were still available. It stayed in my memories, and I can only describe it with one word: spectacular.

By Man by Dolce & Gabbana is woody, spicy and amber. The opening is briefly citrusy before giving way to powdery lavender and bitter green, but it quickly reveals its warm nature of amber, woods and spices. A rich, sweet aroma without reaching current levels, combining lavender, leather, tobacco, amber and spices (nutmeg), softened with sandalwood, giving a sensual and elegant sensation. It brings back memories of another fragrance from that era, also discontinued: Envy for Men. It is characteristic of orientals from the late 90s and early 2000s. You can also tell it laid the foundations for The One for Men, inheriting its base of woods, amber and tobacco, although The One was less complex. Being warm and spicy, it is suitable for autumn and winter, or special occasions like romantic dinners, due to its sensual aroma and difficulty in sourcing. Longevity on me is superior to 8 hours with regular projection. I got it at a good price, but no discontinued fragrance deserves a premium. By the way, this is my 600th review, incredible, I never imagined writing about so many fragrances; being part of this community has allowed me to share and discover scents I never imagined. I thank and greet all members.

A perfumery masterpiece, pure seduction and utterly addictive. The performance is brutal with an almost eternal longevity on clothes. The base is unique thanks to the refined blend of habanolide and polysantol; it’s nearly impossible to wear without receiving compliments. I keep it like a treasure, having found nothing that comes close, and clones are mere substitutes.

I’m not sure if my youthful nose was at fault, but I regret giving away that bottle back in 2006. I didn’t realise then that perfumes evolve, and now, searching for it in desperation, I see it’s costing a fortune on eBay—over two hundred dollars for fifty millilitres.

It was 2007 and I went to spend Christmas in Tucumán, in northern Argentina, with my partner at the time. He took me to a shopping centre and, looking for a bargain thanks to the exchange rate between euros and pesos, I spotted it straight away: BY MAN by D&G. It was hard to get hold of in Spain, so I told the assistant in no time that I wanted to buy it. It cost around 120 pesos, just over €30, and I’ve been smiling ever since. There are only a few millilitres left for the tribute; as I spray it on my hand, I’m transported back to that day in Argentina. The opening is sharp and herbal, followed by something sweet but without losing its edge. It’s a scent I don’t believe can be matched today, which is a pity. While boring fragrances dominate the market, the good ones are discontinued. Perhaps BY MAN would have succeeded now, or perhaps not; the point is that we’ve been deprived of it, and I, from time to time, will remember that scent.

What times these modern perfume days are, when a masterpiece like Dior Homme becomes pretentious and vulgar, disguised as a wedding suit, with suspicious longevity. Put BY MAN beside it and you’ll see: here is class and originality, things Dior will never have. BY MAN is a vintage holy grail, unique and impossible to find. It offers a particular aroma of its era, and although it’s hard to come by, when Jerry Drake gave me a sample, I finally knew what it was. It’s from that dreamy, cottony, sugar-crusted era; it has it all. Alongside Pour Homme, it’s the best D&G ever made. It opens fresh, spicy and herbal, then turns into a narcotic sweetness, like candies with makeup. Afterwards, talcum facets, carnal skin, citrus sparks and sandalwood. It’s not for going out at night, but for creating a magnetic aura. No one has ever smelled alike. If you want an idea, try Armand Bassi. It’s a cocktail of androgyny, synthetic drugs and mating season. As a perfume archaeologist, testing this sample generates more anxiety in me to find a lost bottle.

Precisely yesterday a 5 ml miniature arrived, and every time I smell it, I feel anxious, thinking it’s impossible to get hold of. For my health, I should throw it away and forget that this precious thing ever existed.

Alongside the D&G Pour Homme old formula, I believe it’s the house’s best proposal for men ever. The development is incredible after the alcohol fades; the feeling upon wearing it is very well constructed, sexy, with outstanding longevity. People on the street looked at me strangely every five minutes as I brought my wrist close, but I was enjoying a trance, so I didn’t care. The myth is deserved; it’s a crime that it didn’t remain on the shelves. It’s distinctive, singular and grand, suitable for party nights with a bold, mischievous touch, with a sillage and longevity off the charts to feel wrapped in a cloud of pleasure. Why discontinue something so good? It’s a cultured scent with outrageous prices that will never be forgotten.

D&G: return this gem to the world of the living. That sweet, woody sandalwood with vinyllic lavender and tinkling tobacco, that androgynous, powdery, sweet, delicate and ultra-sexual dry-down with human skin reminiscences. I’ve never worn a perfume that brought me more compliments; everyone wanted to see it, and even girls wanted to wear it. No matter how many years pass, I don’t understand how this pearl had such a short life. The cap of the empty bottle smells less and less, and every time I open it, a tear escapes.

I remember this fragrance with one word: sex. I’m not referring to the exuberant style of the eighties. This sex is more subtle, talcum-like, sparkling but very light, an oriental, synthetic, dry, very Martian scent. I remember above all the sweet touch of its dry-down, a very arid and soft sweet. Whenever I wore it, someone would say they loved it. It’s inexplicable that fragrances with so much substance are discontinued. I remember it as genderless, perhaps a bit feminine for men and masculine for women. In the nineties, clean and innocent unisex was in; this was another step, venturing into the sweet masculine trend that would explode years later. However, it has more quality and personality than today’s aberrations. I have the empty bottle and it smells less and less, but when I open it, it still smells a little. Every time I unscrew the cap, it’s like going back to 2001 and hearing Groovejet with Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Probably they don’t share notes or have anything to do with each other, but that tinkling sexuality is also in Tom Ford’s first men’s fragrance. As a sweet sweat scent, very animal, with a faint olfactory memory of cocaine or speed.

I still have half a bottle left. It smells intense and slightly dusty, worthy of a niche house if it were made today. Warm for evenings and cold for the day. Upon spraying, it opens with nutmeg, spicy and powerful yet soft, giving way to delicate wood and lavender. As it dries, it becomes more subtle with amber and sweet tobacco. Projection and longevity are beastly. What a shame they discontinued it.

Its scent evokes the majestic savannahs of Africa. It is unique and majestic.