Reviews of Pi (1999)
by Givenchy

I really like the concept behind this fragrance, but the execution is a little "off."

Pi opens but smelling of sweet warm vanilla, however there's a lipstick accord in there that rubs me the wrong way. The lipstick smell doesn't disappear for an hour or so until the dry-down fully takes place.

The base notes smells of synthetic warm vanilla (Benzoin Crystals). It smells good, but doesn't smell very natural.

I don't detect much of anything else in this fragrance. Very sweet synthetic warm vanilla and lipstick.

Sillage is a monster though, and so is longevity. Just a couple sprays of this stuff directly to the skin and your scent will definitely linger as you cross paths with someone.

I have gotten several complements from the opposite sex while wearing Pi. Women seem to love it. If it wasn't for the lipstick accord in the top and mid notes, I would probably love it too. As it stands though, it's just mediocre.

The scent is good on the right person, not on me. Almost sickly sweet, over the top vanilla. I've smelled it work on some guys though.

It's too much vanilla in here. I like sweet scents but this one is like my grandma parfume, on the other hand it lasts long and woman like it.

Pi...or pie? So sweet, so vanillaish, so almondish. Wasn't sure I liked it at first but kept going back to it so I finally got a small bottle (after saying I wouldn't). Oddly enough I can smell a touch of lemon when I first apply this one but it clears out quickly.

Pleasant, but unfinished.

Like the computers chugging away to provide more numbers after the decimal point for Pi, Pi the fragrance is on an equally futile mission.

Pi opens with a sparkling combination of indistinct floral and herbaceous notes above a heart of vanilla, and only a woody resin at the base stops the vanilla from seeping everywhere.

The vanilla is pleasant, but it never entirely harmonizes with the notes above or below it. It trucks on into the night endlessly restating its vanillainess, hoping that one doesn’t mind that the top and base notes are left in limbo.

When I want to smell like vanilla (and I do some days) Pi is the fragrance I reach for. Its lack of resolution stops being bothersome once one realizes that it is what it is, and that it is better than many vanillic scents.

Pi feels unfinished to me. I mean, where's the supposed wood?-- what is magnetic wood? It's an inoffensive vanilla and not unpleasant, but doesn't really go anywhere. Bland is the word I am looking for. It doesn't create enough emotion to thumbs down it though.

Kaern

Calming, soothing and sweet scent. Though quite terrific, I need something more engaging. My personal preference should not discount the fact that this is a well made, though cloying fragrance.

I've had Pi for a few months and it's definatly gotten alot of wear. I love the powerdy vanilla it dries down to and I just feel it's a very pleasent scent over all with decent longevity.

I see this as having tried to be Boucheron's Jaipur Homme and failed. The sweetness that was so well-balanced in the Boucheron scent is out of control here, though not so disastrously as in Mugler's execrable A*Men. By no means disgusting, but not top-flight for me, either.

Very long lasting but borderlines on too sweet.

Vanilla vanilla and more vanilla. I onced owned this, my ex wife used to love it. I won't buy this again. If I want vanilla I will buy minotaure.

Just tried this. Both at the initial application and later during drydown, it is simply le Male by JPG, but with a dash of gasoline.
Sorry.

I Love Greek Letters, but i HATE Pi! I tried to like it because i had two bottles of it, but it just never got to me.
I can smell something like vanilla covered roasted almonds!!
Blah, its ok. but..blah.
NOT for my skin!
Thumbs down?? I would, but its an ok frag.

One of my brother's fragrances. Very oriental, almost all vanilla.

The start was strange, with a citric like mandarin, plus several kitchen-like spices (checked later, they was tarragon, rosemary and basil). As middle notes there was a vanilla like aroma and a bit of anise, but mainly an oriental sweet sensation. The base notes were tonka beans, maybe also vanilla, and benjui according to the salesman at the store.

A fragrance with a gourmand style, my 3 years old twin daughters liked it at a blind test and they said "chocolate" when smelled this one. My wife said "ambar" at the base notes and I remembered some notes from Elixir des Merveilles when it was dry. For winter use, due to vanilla and other warm spices, maybe a chance of summer with fewer sprays on skin. Suitable for daytime and office use, and a recommended range of age between 25 and 50 years old.

I bought this on a gamble, at Costco, discounted, it was in a plastic box. I don't know what to make of it. The bottle is garish, almost vulgar. It looks very much something that would be on a 75 year old man's dressing table in Trump Tower.

I sprayed it on myself about 15 minutes ago. It's a hot day here in California, about 98 degrees. OK, I'm getting used to it now. There is a powdery scent, like those brushes they use at the barber after they cut your hair. It's sweet and and also piney. It smells clean after it stays on your skin awhile.

If I had been at a fragrance counter and purchased this properly, by sampling it first, maybe I wouldn't have bought it. But it has a way of growing on you, that I don't entirely detest, and I think there is some mystery and sensuality to the scent that might create some interesting reactions from other people.

I've tried Pi out a fair bit lately and it makes me want to like it but I just can't. I can see how this warm fragrence would be ideal for close romantic type settings or a cold evening. In the top notes unfortunately I can smell nothing but what gives the impression of being pure vanilla extract, almost edible as many say. But as the time progresses it develops a bit more and there are woody notes for sure.

One of my main problems with this one though is that to me it has a very, very feminine touch to it. If I had never smelled it before I am sure I would guess that it was a female fragrance.

I can see how some might like it and it may have it's uses somewhere but I see it's application as very limited, certainly not enough to justify purchasing it.

Branching off into baking products was a really risky move for Givenchy, but in the end it their gamble paid off. Who would ever have imagined designer vanilla extract? I'm not sure why it's so popular though - although the bottle is lovely as is the name, it really made my cookies turn out quite bitter.

One dimensional take on sweet. Pure Vanilla with slight woods and florals. Apply with caution, as it can be very cloyingly sweet. Longevity and sillage are incredible with this fragrance and though the bottle is one of the most uniquely designed, the juice just isn't very wearable. On very cold evenings perhaps.. this is one "pi" that I won't be having seconds of! (that was even worse than my usual swill)

vanilla and baby powder to start with just hints of synthetic fruityness, I really takes a long time to calm down into something warm and wearable, try it out yourself - you'll see what I mean. I do like it on the tail end of the drydown though

I'm amazed by the number of enthusiastic reviews of pi. It's not bad, but it just way too simple. After a while all you notice is vanilla, vanilla and... even more vanilla. And when it comes to benzoin crystals. Well, if you like the smell of a car garage then you'll be more than pleased.

Sticky, sugary and ridiculously strong vanilla juice that is very popular globally. As always with sillage-monsters it is all in the application. Stick to 1-3 spritzes, up that and you'll make yourself or EVERYONE else sick. The orignal juice is waaaay better than the blue fraiche version launched later - that one smells extremely artificial.

I don't like it. I think it smells like almonds, and not in a good way.