Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren
196 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
A sharp, aldehydic burst immediately dominates, with mint and tarragon cutting through the softer citrus notes like menthol vapours. The freshness is aggressive rather than welcoming, an icy-clean sensation that's vaguely synthetic, as if you're smelling ozone filtered through a laboratory.
Seagrass and geranium emerge to create a soapy, slightly powdery middle that softens the initial sting considerably. The ginger provides gentle warmth, but the aquatic accord remains stubbornly present, keeping the composition feel oddly detached and cool rather than skin-like or intimate.
The base notes—amber, sandalwood, cedar—appear briefly before evaporating almost immediately, leaving only a faint woody whisper and some nebulous musk that's barely perceptible within minutes. By the fourth hour, you're essentially wearing skin with a memory of fragrance rather than fragrance itself.
Polo Sport Ralph Lauren arrives as a bracing splash of aldehydic freshness—the kind of scent that feels like it belongs in a crisp white towel rather than a bottle. Harry Frémont has constructed something genuinely aquatic here, a synthetic marine accord that sits at the fragrance's backbone, giving it an almost ozonic quality that's neither warm nor particularly inviting, merely *present*. The citrus elements—mandarin, bergamot, lemon—provide a brightness that's immediately apparent, though they feel somewhat compressed, lacking the dimensional juiciness you'd expect from a 1994 composition when citrus handling was more sophisticated.
What makes Polo Sport interesting is its almost clinical approach to freshness. The tarragon and mint in the opening introduce a slightly herbal, almost medicinal edge that prevents this from being another generic aquatic. As it settles, seagrass and geranium create a slightly green, slightly powdery heart that's reminiscent of fresh linens dried outdoors—pleasant but not particularly memorable. The ginger adds a whisper of warmth that's quickly absorbed by the synthetic notes dominating the composition.
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3.7/5 (171)