Summer is pretty much here, and that means perfume season has come to an end for me. My enthusiasm for summer fragrances in no way matches my drive to wear winter frags. "Fresh," "Sport," and "Summer" are words that send me running in the opposite direction, especially with sport frags. It's not that this stuff doesn't smell good - it does. It's just that these types of scents aren't that interesting. They're continuations of soap, shower gel, and deodorant by other means.
Parfums Mavive is an outlier in the "sport" category of masculines in that their sport scent actually smells better than most soaps and gels, and lasts a fair bit longer also. The original Pino Silvestre was a groundbreaking Italian fresh fougère by perfumer Lino Vidal for Silvestre, and for decades it was more than enough to satisfy European and American fougère wearers, particularly those who were fans of bright green notes. It was unrivaled until the seventies, with the arrival of Paco Rabanne and Azzaro Pour Homme, Next-Gen fougères that used dihydromyrcenol for freshness. Then Drakkar Noir and Cool Water relegated it to antique status, and for quite a while (probably until the advent of online communities) you didn't hear anything about it. I know that nobody under the age of forty wore it in the nineties or early aughts.
Enter Parfums Mavive and Pino Silvestre Sport. All the reconstructed pine notes and bright herbal facets of the original are drowned in aftershave-grade citrus, and it's quite pleasant, albeit a little dull. What saves it from total banality is a generously plush white musk layered with a pert grassy note, similar to the dominant accord in Adidas Sport Field, yet a touch richer and more textured.
Ninety minutes into the drydown and the musk is laid bare, smelling vaguely like Bounce sheets and synthetic sandalwood. It goes from very green to rather cloudy blue, but PS Sport is likely the only sport frag other than Claiborne Sport that warrants regular usage by anyone interested in old-school masculines. It's fresh, crisp, fruity, and sturdy enough to endure a workout. Hey, for ten dollars you really can't lose by trying it.