Masaki Matsushima, the Japanese fashion designer, launched the Mat; line of fragrances in 2000. Mat; Very Male, a surprisingly warm and subtle fragrance from a designer known for his fresh citrus and aquatic scents, is his first oriental, and this time the star of the composition is sambuca. The notes include bergamot, aquatic freshness accord, sambuca, lotus flower, bamboo, precious woods, patchouli, liquorice wood and white cedar.
The scent opens with what I would describe as the aroma of a hot cup of coffee, the rich sambuca note (a liquer of elderberry, anise and herbs), and then merges into a light woods fragrance. This scent’s closest cousins are Yohji for Men (the original scent in the tall cylindrical bottle) and Lolita Lempicka for Men, though Mat; Very Male is lighter in all aspects, perhaps because of the inclusion of the middle floral and aquatic notes, or perhaps because the Mat; fragrances are not generally known for their longevity.
On me, I don’t really detect anything but the liquorice wood and sambuca, which is not exactly a bad thing, but with all the other notes included in the composition, I hoped for something that would develop a bit more. I’ve tried all of the Mat; fragrances now, with the exception of the new Mat; Orange, and like the rest of the line, Mat; Very Male starts off strong and then quickly fades. After about an hour, the scent had all but disappeared on my skin, with merely a breath of sambuca and a hint of cedar remaining.
The packaging is excellent — housed in the same bottle as the original Mat; Male, this time the bottle is appropriately black with a matte (pun intended?) finish. It is available now at sephora and will be in department stores later this fall.
Hi,
First, thanks a lot for all your fantastic description and for your news! Great job!
So i have one question about this fragrance…is it (again) the perfumer Jean Jacques who created it?
jeremy
Marlen, you mentioned sambuca which is enough for me to seek out this fragrance. Thank you for a great review. I will have to try it soon.
I love sambuca, so I shall likely try to seek this one out… mmmmm, sambucca…. *wipes away the Homer Simpson drool*
I was quite delighted and surprised by the Mat; Male, and on my feminine skin it fortunately did have some decent staying power. I wonder if, as a woman, I might find a bit better staying power for the Very Male as well.
i love your picture “simpsons” !
hummmmmmm, sannnnbuuuuucaaaaa ! lol
Jeremy – I can't find the actual creator's name, but when I read the initial press release on matsushima's site, I don't recall Jacques' name being mentioned.
Katie – the fragrance is ALL about sambucca, though again, it's not as heavy a scent as say Lempicka or Yohji Homme.
I found this nice little article about Matsushima: http://www.cnn.com/STYLE/9901/26/matsushima.ss.99/
and…
http://www.firstview.com/MENspring2005/MASAKI_MATSUSHIMA_MEN/index.html
Victoria – Mat; Very Male should now be in a Sephora or Nordies near you!
I finally smelled this fragrance because Canada finally got Sephora! It's about freakin time. I've been (to Sephora) before in France and the U.S and loved it. However, France wins hands down by having the most selection of fragrances. I liked Mat;Very Male but was not entirely impressed with the lasting pwer. It like disappeared in 2 hours! I owned Mat Male back in the day but preferred the female version better.