Released as Ralph Lauren’s answer to YSL Jazz, Safari for Men has always occupied the scruffier end of the nineties fougère spectrum. It was the louder, brasher cousin, more Giorgio Beverly Hills Red for Men than Left Bank intellectual. What’s striking now is not how dated it smells, but how little it’s changed in more than three decades. The oakmoss is gone, and you feel its absence because this is exactly the kind of scent that wants that dark green bite. Still, the aromatic structure remains remarkably intact. The Cosmair-era bones are all there, and Safari smells essentially as it did when it first hit department store counters in the early nineties.
Do I like it? Yes. Safari represents a kind of masculine perfume that was once everywhere and is now oddly confined to luxury niche bottles priced north of $250. By comparison, the materials here still feel generous and even a little luxurious, and the construction more than elegant enough to justify modern designer pricing. It is unapologetically forceful, a true room-filler, so discretion is advised. This is not a scent for nervous sprayers. Safari is unmistakably retro, a fresh fougère with shoulders, and anyone wearing it should understand that. If you’re under 30, don’t leave it on your dresser expecting instant recognition. That said, I once spotted a bottle lurking in the background of a very chic New York twenty-something’s bedroom on YouTube, which suggests the usual fashion cycle may be doing its thing. What was once passé has a way of becoming compelling again, and Safari still has the confidence and presence to function as a signature.
What really sets it apart is the way its resinous and balsamic elements are staged. The opening is distinctive and slightly strange, built around cinnamon leaf and eucalyptus, softened by restrained touches of lavender, coriander, and bergamot. The cinnamon leaf hangs on for a good fifteen to twenty minutes before giving way to carnation, tarragon, and wormwood. These aromatics guide the scent through a dry, cultivated garden of rosy florals before it settles into a gently sweet base of mossy patchouli, sandalwood, amber, and musk. It’s confident, handsome, and oddly moving in its refusal to be updated. Gorgeous, and absolutely worth owning.