Question:
This fragrance is not what I would want to smell like. I finally sampled it and still have a bit of it, and I cannot even bring myself to sample it again. Just doesn't move me in any way.
Rose soap that my grandmother would use. To each his own. There are so many other scents out there for me to try. This scent is a novelty, a side show with a persuasive barker pulling you in. I enjoyed the chance to try it, but I hope, along with my friends who sniffed it, to never encounter it again. I will stick with Montale Black Aoud; the closest I can get to 88.

Answer:
Quote: Originally Posted by UngerWoo If you read the reviews here at B'notes, you'd think No. 88 included Charlie Manson's bathwater. It's described as deep, dark, and impossible to fathom. I'm not getting that at all. To me, No. 88 is a nicely blended clean -- almost soapy -- frag. It's the scent of an English gentleman. I'm just not getting any of the "evil" that everyone else seems to suggest is lurking in No. 88.
What gives? Keep in mind that fragrances respond differently to different skin types. On my skin No. 88 is about as Gothic as a scent can be and, besides that, it sends its sillage into the next room through 12 inch concrete block walls--try taming that.
Also, most of the great complex scents have dualities about them and many reviewers recognize that there are several dualities with No. 88: dirty - clean; wild - gentle; raw - refined.

Answer:
Its a very complex scent composed of over 100 different ingredients and I do appreciate the scent....it really takes you on a journey...the opening to is like being suffocated with gas..then it gets cold....then you get about a million different spices...cloves really stands out on my skin...then it dries down to rose and woods.
Same here...I don't find it gothic or dark....dark, maybe the initial spritz..and cold but in general it wouldn't be something the devil would wear.
I actually owned two bottles of this stuff at one point but I finally gave it away. I spritz some on my wrist and said WTF...this stuff smells like an old wanker...doesn't make sense but those were my exact words. I decanted a ml and test it now and then and still think the same.
BTW....I heard they changed the formulation of the scent.....recently back in 2004-05...and the older formulation was more gothic and dark...the new stuff is a little toned down.

Answer:
See, on me No. 88 is rose and sandalwood, right off the bat. (Heh. Bat.)
Anyway, the rose and sandalwood combo persists the whole time I'm wearing No. 88 - the background notes slowly evolve over several hours.
the net result, to my nose, is not a dark or evil scent. It smells like dirty rose petals. Specifically, rose petals made dirty from a couple of people having a very enthusiastic frolic on top of them. Hooray!

Answer:
I find No. 88 very gothic and dark, but I don't think it's the best choice in hot weather when the sun burns down and you're wearing rainbow-colored shorts and a yellow T-Shirt.
Last time I wore it it was winter, no snow but pretty cold and rainy here in europe. It was around midnight, I was wearing dark clothes, a black, awesome wig (like Basquiat) and some additional drops of the vintage formulation. Yes, it was HELLOWEEN -

Answer:
I found 88 to be a blood red rose at midnight on Halloween. Nothing gothic about that.
I don't see threads from the past at the bottom of the page. Did that stop with the upgrade?
anyway here's a quite detailed one and there are links to previous threads at the bottom of this page:
/showthread.php?t=168361
btw: when I searched google for czech & speake + gothic it lead back here.