Aromatic fougère fans will honestly forget this is an 80's juice outside of the packaging and it is probably the safest work scent from the period as you'll smell like nothing but clean all day.
Performance on Sung Homme by Alfred Sung is extraordinary, with sillage for miles and longevity for a work day. Regardless of what kind of soap it is, you really have to like soap fragrances to like Sung Homme, as it's the soapiest masculine I've smelled it's literally an 80's powerhouse of epic bar soap. I'm not getting much patchouli separation in this mix, but overall this feels like Paco Rabanne Pour Homme but slightly less herbal, less floral, and levels of magnitude higher in the soapy department. I don't get much petitgrain but I don't doubt it's in there the middle of sage, thyme, lavender, geranium, rosewood and fir is more readable to me, although the mossy base of cedar, sandalwood, musk, and vetiver is definitely the star attraction after the first hour. Commercial soap comparisons aside, the scent does have way more notes than can be readily detected due to it's blending, but there is definitely a lemon/bergamot top with laurel and galbanum. Speaking of noses, nobody knows who made Sung Homme, and while it chugs along into it's 30th year of continuous production, it gets a more-divisive reaction from perfumistos because it's commonly available, making it's perceived flaws less tolerable. What is that notoriety you ask? Well, let's just say it bares a remarkable resemblance to Irish Spring Soap (1970), and wouldn't be alone in directly drawing parallels to commercial bath products, as Cabaret Pour Homme (2004) would also be a direct aping of Coast Soap (1976), but doesn't get the flack that Alfred Sung receives since it was designed by a famous nose and was discontinued, getting instant veneration from vintage fans.
Sung Homme, as an aromatic fougère, feels right at home alongside 70's aromatic fougère and chypre greats like Paco Rabanne Pour Homme (1973), Avon Deep Woods (1974), Bogart Eau de Toilette Pour Homme (1975), Halston Z-14 (1976), Van Cleef & Arpels Pour Homme (1978), and others, but it's not without it's notoriety. Regardless, the futuristic violet color juice and monolithic Art Deco bottle catches the eye enough that I'm sure more than a few guys (or their significant others) bought this blind upon release.
It would seem like the career death via estrangement from the progression of mainstream masculine trends a la Avon, but maybe because Alfred Sung had a lot more clout in the scene, the throwback nature of his masculine was allowable. The late 80's was a time of extremely virile and animalic floral chypres doing battle with (and losing to) the new wave of synthetic "fresh" fougères and aquatics pushing their way up, but here was Sung Homme just riding in the out-dated groove of soapy early 70's aromatic fougères and doing surprisingly well. Sung Homme is an anachronism for the 80's in the same way Rive Gauche Pour Homme (2003) was for the turn of the millenium.
Alfred Sung is a Chinese-born Canadian fashion designer known in the industry for founding the Club Monaco chain of stores, but in the mid-80's launched Parfums Alfred Sung, which begat the eponymous Alfred Sung in 1986, then this male counterpart in 1988.
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