Gucci Guilty Pour Homme: Every Concentration, Ranked By Mood

In 1935, the League of Nations imposed an embargo on Mussolini's Italy, and leather imports dried up. Gucci's workshop in Florence did not stop. It developed a new material out of woven hemp sourced from Naples, and the brown-on-tan diamond pattern on the resulting bags became the brand's first commercial success, according to Britannica. A house that answers a shortage with a new fabric is a house that enjoys breaking a rule.

That is the attitude behind Gucci Guilty Pour Homme, which arrived in 2011 as the men's companion to the 2010 original Gucci Guilty. Fragrantica lists it as a woody aromatic by perfumer Jacques Huclier, with lavender and Amalfi lemon on top, African orange flower in the heart, and Virginia cedar, patchouli and vanilla underneath. The launch came with Chris Evans and Evan Rachel Wood in a commercial directed by Frank Miller, and the Los Angeles Times credited the advertising and the Gucci name, more than novelty, for it topping the year's launches. Gucci is a Florentine house founded in 1921 by Guccio Gucci, and the Beauty side has changed hands since: Coty holds the licence and has agreed to return it to Kering early, per Coty's own announcement.

The trick is that the first grid is really one scent at different strengths, so you can choose by occasion. The Eau de Toilette is the lightest and the easiest daytime choice. The Eau de Parfum is deeper and suits evenings. Guilty Parfum Pour Homme and the Elixir de Parfum with Orris Butter and Benzoin are the dense, close-to-the-skin ones. Eau de Toilette Intense, the Love Edition Eau de Parfum and Guilty Essence Eau de Toilette are the variations, and the Deodorant Stick is what you use so the morning layer and the evening one agree.

Wear a new scent for a full day before you decide. The first ten minutes are a pitch, and the dry-down at six in the evening is the truth.

Guilty Absolu de Parfum for Men with Orange Flower is the direct extension of the line for anyone who liked the original and wants it richer. The Alchemist's Garden is a separate Gucci collection, and the four I would compare are Vanilla Firenze, Osmanthus Nectar, Fiori di Neroli and Lignum Idealis. The names tell you roughly what to expect, and they are the route to take if a department store cologne has started to feel too familiar.

Intense Oud Eau de Parfum with Black Pepper, Oud and Cedarwood is the most overtly woody thing here, and A Forgotten Rose Perfumed Oil is the unexpected one, a rose in oil form that you apply by hand instead of spraying. Tom Ford's Private Blend Oud Wood Eau de Parfum sits at the end as the benchmark for anyone curious how a woody fragrance reads from another house.

A pairing I like: a Guilty concentration for the office and one of these for a dinner, never both on the same day.

What I would skip: spraying a perfumed oil the way you spray a cologne. A dab on the wrist and neck is plenty.

Swatch this kind of cologne on the inside of your wrist and walk away from it for an hour. Aromatic woody scents change the most, and the version you smell at the counter is rarely the one you take home.

Yves Saint Laurent has two here. Y Le Parfum is the modern, polished one, and L'Homme Eau de Toilette is the gentler choice for people who want to smell clean rather than noticed. Armani Code Eau de Parfum is the evening option, and Viktor&Rolf's Spicebomb Night Vision with Incense & Woods is the dark, dressed-up one. Valentino's Uomo Born In Roma and Prada's Luna Rossa Carbon are the two I would wear in a shirt and jacket.

Jean Paul Gaultier's Le Male Eau de Toilette with Mint & Vanilla and Versace's Eros Eau de Parfum are the louder ones, for a warm night and a good mood. If Guilty's lavender and cedar is the reason you like Gucci, these are the neighbours on the shelf.

What I would skip: buying two of these in the same week. Live with one until it feels like yours.

A fragrance sits on top of everything else you use, so the soap and the deodorant matter more than people admit. If the shower gel and the cologne fight, the cologne loses.

Method's Men's Body Wash in Juniper and Sage is a clean, green starting point that will not compete with a woody scent. Dr. Squatch's Fresh Falls aluminum-free deodorant is the natural option, and its Conditioning Beard Oil & Cologne is the two-in-one for anyone who wants a light finish after grooming.

For the beard, Jack Black's Beard Oil, Scotch Porter's Shea Butter and Biotin Conditioning Beard Balm and Proraso's Nourishing Formula After Shave Balm for coarse beards cover oil, balm and calm. For hair, Redken's Brews Clay Pomade and American Crew's Medium Hold Hair Defining Gel cover texture and control.

Unscented or lightly scented grooming leaves the cologne as the only voice in the room, which is how a good bottle should be worn. If you use two scented products, make sure they share a family, such as woody with woody.

What I would skip: a strongly scented pomade on the same day as a fragrance you took time choosing. Hair holds scent, and it will argue with your neck all day.

My pick for a first bottle is the Eau de Toilette. It is the gentlest way into the line, and if lavender, orange flower and cedar suit you, the Eau de Parfum and the Elixir are there for evenings and colder months.

After that, choose one other house for contrast, and keep your grooming quiet around it. Wear it for a full season before you buy a second bottle, because the first impression is the least reliable one. Gucci answered a leather shortage with a hemp weave in 1935. You can answer a bland wardrobe with one good bottle.

Once you have settled on a Guilty, the next question is what else belongs near it, and this set answers with other Gucci bottles, other houses and a few quiet grooming pieces. The Gucci Alchemist's Garden range is the most unusual part: Muschio di Luce, Ambrosia del Deserto, A Midnight Stroll and The Eyes of the Tiger are all good to smell if you like a story in a bottle. From other houses, Versace Dylan Blue, YSL L'Homme and the BVLGARI Pour Homme are the dependable ones, and Viktor&Rolf Spicebomb Night Vision is for evenings. For the routine, there is the Armani Acqua di Giò deodorant stick, Jack Black Beard Wash and Clay Pomade. Keep the pomade and the scent in the same mood and use one spray.