Question:
Our local Best Frag-Finding Store (Albertson's Food Stores, heh) received some new stock the other day, so I got to do a batch of sampling. The skin test batch was:
Gucci Pour Homme ($32)
Gucci Envy ($30)
Michael for Men (Kors) ($23)
L'Eau D'Issey ($50)
My girlfriend's favorite was definitely Envy. I thought it was alright, but didn't really grab me in any dramatic fashion.
I was rather fond of Gucci PH, though after a bit of time it seemed to dry down to a faint salty-sweaty scent... I didn't personally mind it, but it's not a scent I'd go out of my way to exude. To her nose, it just smelled like rubbing alcohol.
Poor Michael didn't have a chance on me, it faded into near-nothingness almost immediately, possibly just overpowered by the other testers... It was pleasant enough, kind of a 'warmly sweet' scent. Kind of... plum-tobacco-leather?
Now the L'Eau D'Issey. It's been over 24 hours and a couple of showers and I can -still- catch a whiff of D'Issey on my wrist. This stuff has unreal monster longevity on me. As for the scent... Maybe I'm being sacreligious, and I'm probably just rather sensitive to the common notes, but if you put me in a room with L'Eau D'Issey and Guess Man I would not be able to snort out the difference beyond the longevity. Anyone else get this similarity?

Answer:
Strange you mention both Guess Man and Issey! Small small world...because I own both of those and I had a similar experience...
I wore Issey Miyake to school the other day and asked my g/f what she thought it was. She said "Guess Man". I said "no..." she said "oh then it's issey miyake"
I can DEFINATELY smell the difference..even after the dry down... I don't get how people can confuse them!
First of all...top notes are different. Issey is floral/odd smell (probably that Japanese Yuzu stuff) and Guess smells like sweet fresh masculine apples.
The dry downs... Issey is woody/citrusy slightly with florals. Guess Man is sweet green smelling with some woods and citrus...no florals to me.
Smell again! put one of each wrist. they smell different but may share a common woody/citrus note?
They both get excellent longevity on me. The best two in my wardrobe with Platinum Egoiste not too far behind. Sillage for Issey is more at first, but when they dry down, sillage is about equal.

Answer:
L'Eau D'Issey lasted 24 hrs on you? WOW!!!!
Even if i swam 100m in this stuff THEN wrung my swim shorts out over my head..
Id still have to dive back in.. 10 mins later..
TERRIBLE... TERRIBLE... duration on my skin!!