Plus Plus Masculine by Diesel is one of those late-1990s men's fragrances that becomes more interesting when judged outside today's fragrance trends. Released in 1997 and created by perfumer Arturetto Landi, it combines bright orange and bergamot with heliotrope, green notes, florals, cardamom, coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, sandalwood, tonka bean, musk, patchouli, anise, vetiver, and oakmoss. The result is citrusy, creamy, spicy, floral, sweet, and woody, with an unusual personality that does not fit neatly into the modern blue fragrance category.
The fragrance is sometimes remembered for its unusual milk-carton-inspired packaging, but the scent deserves more attention than the novelty of the presentation. Plus Plus Masculine moves from bright citrus into a surprisingly floral and aromatic center before drying down into creamy woods and sweet spice. It is casual and youthful, but there is enough complexity underneath the sweetness to make it interesting decades after its original release.
What does Plus Plus Masculine by Diesel smell like?
Plus Plus Masculine smells citrusy, sweet, spicy, creamy, floral, aromatic, green, powdery, and woody.
The opening begins with orange and bergamot, giving the fragrance a bright citrus character. Palm leaf introduces a fresh green quality, while heliotrope adds a soft, powdery sweetness almost immediately.
The heart is unusually complex for a men's designer fragrance. Cardamom and coriander provide warm aromatic spice, while sage and green notes keep the composition fresh. Jasmine, violet, and lily of the valley give the fragrance a noticeable floral character. Birch adds dryness and helps prevent the middle from becoming excessively soft.
The base is where Plus Plus Masculine becomes warmer and more comforting. Sandalwood creates creaminess, cinnamon and nutmeg add sweet spice, tonka bean contributes warmth, and musk smooths the composition. Patchouli, vetiver, oakmoss, clove, and anise provide enough earthiness and spice to keep the fragrance from turning into a simple sweet scent.
The overall impression can feel almost creamy or milky, even though milk itself is not listed as an official note. That creamy quality comes from the interaction of heliotrope, sandalwood, tonka bean, florals, musk, and warm spices.
What are the top, heart, and base notes of Plus Plus Masculine?
Plus Plus Masculine was released in 1997. Both South Beach Perfumes and source-backed fragrance references agree on the launch year.
Top Notes: Orange, Bergamot, Palm Leaf, Heliotrope
Heart Notes: Jasmine, Violet, Lily of the Valley, Cardamom, Coriander, Birch, Sage, Green Notes
Base Notes: Sandalwood, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Tonka Bean, Musk, Patchouli, Anise, Clove, Vetiver, Oakmoss
This is a much more complicated composition than its inexpensive price point might suggest. Citrus and greenery create energy at the beginning, flowers and aromatic spices provide most of the personality through the middle, and a large collection of woods, spices, moss, musk, and tonka bean form the drydown.
Is Plus Plus Masculine for men, women, or unisex?
Plus Plus Masculine was created and marketed as a men's fragrance. The original Eau de Toilette is officially documented as a masculine release.
Its cardamom, coriander, sage, birch, sandalwood, vetiver, patchouli, oakmoss, and spices provide a traditionally masculine framework.
However, the heliotrope, jasmine, violet, lily of the valley, tonka bean, musk, and creamy sweetness make it softer than many classic men's colognes. Someone who enjoys sweet aromatic fragrances could easily wear it regardless of gender.
How long does Plus Plus Masculine last?
Plus Plus Masculine generally provides about 4 to 6 hours of noticeable wear for many wearers.
Current Parfumo community data gives the fragrance a longevity rating of 5.7 out of 10, so expectations should remain realistic. Individual reviews vary considerably, with some people experiencing strong longevity and others finding that it becomes noticeably softer after several hours.
The bright orange and bergamot are naturally the first notes to fade.
Cardamom, florals, cinnamon, sandalwood, tonka bean, musk, and the woody base tend to remain longer.
Performance may also differ between older and newer bottles because Plus Plus Masculine has circulated through the fragrance market for decades.
How strong is the projection of Plus Plus Masculine?
Projection is moderate.
Parfumo currently gives Plus Plus Masculine a sillage rating of 5.8 out of 10, putting it firmly in moderate territory.
The first one to two hours usually provide the strongest scent bubble, with orange, heliotrope, cardamom, florals, cinnamon, and sweet spices doing most of the work.
After that, the fragrance generally moves closer to the body.
This makes Plus Plus Masculine easier to wear casually than many high-projection modern men's fragrances.
What fragrance family is Plus Plus Masculine?
Plus Plus Masculine belongs primarily to the Amber Woody, traditionally called Oriental Woody, fragrance family, with warm spicy, aromatic, floral, green, and sweet characteristics.
South Beach Perfumes currently classifies it as Oriental/Woody and Warm Spicy, while fragrance databases commonly classify it as an Oriental Woody men's fragrance.
It can reasonably be described as:
Amber Woody
Warm Spicy
Aromatic
Sweet Woody
Floral Spicy
The fragrance is unusual because its floral and powdery qualities are much more noticeable than they are in many contemporary men's releases.
What seasons is Plus Plus Masculine best for?
Plus Plus Masculine performs particularly well during spring and fall, with cooler summer evenings and mild winter days also working nicely.
Spring brings out the bergamot, orange, green notes, sage, and florals.
Fall gives greater emphasis to cinnamon, nutmeg, sandalwood, tonka bean, musk, patchouli, and oakmoss.
South Beach Perfumes currently recommends it particularly for spring and fall daytime wear.
It can certainly work in winter, although someone looking specifically for a powerful cold-weather fragrance may prefer something with stronger projection.
Very hot and humid conditions are less ideal because the heliotrope, florals, tonka bean, and spices can feel sweeter as skin temperature rises.
Is Plus Plus Masculine better for daytime or nighttime?
Plus Plus Masculine is versatile enough for both daytime and casual evening wear.
During the day, orange, bergamot, palm leaf, sage, green notes, and aromatic spices give it enough freshness for errands, shopping, casual work environments, or weekend use.
During the evening, cinnamon, nutmeg, tonka bean, sandalwood, musk, and the sweeter floral elements give it enough warmth for dinner, drinks, casual dates, or relaxed social occasions.
It is not especially formal.
The fragrance feels more natural with denim, casual jackets, sneakers, sweaters, and relaxed clothing than with black-tie attire.
What occasions should Plus Plus Masculine be worn for?
Plus Plus Masculine works especially well for weekends, casual dates, dinners, shopping, college or campus settings, relaxed offices, travel, casual parties, daytime outings, concerts, and everyday wear.
It is particularly useful when you want something with personality but do not need a fragrance that dominates the environment.
There is a nostalgic quality to it that also makes Plus Plus Masculine fun for anyone who remembers men's fragrance from the late 1990s and early 2000s.
What age range is Plus Plus Masculine best suited for?
Plus Plus Masculine will probably appeal most naturally to men approximately 18 to 40, although fragrance has no real age restriction.
Its citrus opening, sweetness, and casual character give it a youthful personality.
At the same time, cardamom, coriander, sage, oakmoss, vetiver, patchouli, cinnamon, nutmeg, florals, and sandalwood provide enough complexity for more experienced fragrance wearers.
Men who wore fragrances such as Blue Jeans, Le Male, or other aromatic sweet scents during the 1990s may particularly enjoy the nostalgia.
Is Plus Plus Masculine office appropriate?
Yes. Plus Plus Masculine can be office appropriate when applied moderately.
Two or three sprays should work well for most workplaces.
Its projection is moderate, and the orange, bergamot, sage, green notes, sandalwood, and aromatics keep the fragrance from becoming completely sweet.
In a conservative office or small shared space, two sprays should be enough.
Is it good for dates? Yes. Plus Plus Masculine is particularly good for casual dates, dinner, movies, drinks, concerts, and cooler-weather evenings. Heliotrope, cinnamon, sandalwood, tonka bean, musk, cardamom, and florals give it a creamy sweetness that becomes particularly appealing at close range.
Is it a safe blind buy? Moderate. Men who enjoy sweet aromatic fragrances, orange, heliotrope, cinnamon, cardamom, sandalwood, tonka bean, florals, and powdery drydowns have a good chance of enjoying it. It is less safe for someone who dislikes floral notes in men's fragrances, anise, cinnamon, or fragrances with a slightly retro personality.
What fragrances smell similar to Plus Plus Masculine?
No fragrance duplicates Plus Plus Masculine exactly, but these three fragrances from the South Beach Perfumes catalog share important parts of its citrus, aromatic, spicy, floral, creamy, or sweet woody personality.
Blue Jeans by Versace
Blue Jeans is one of the best comparisons because both fragrances combine citrus, aromatics, flowers, anise, heliotrope, spices, woods, musk, patchouli, and warm sweetness.
Blue Jeans includes bergamot, citrus, juniper, anise, lavender, rose, carnation, jasmine, sage, heliotrope, vanilla, tonka bean, sandalwood, musk, amber, patchouli, and vetiver. South Beach Perfumes currently lists Blue Jeans with an active add-to-cart option.
Plus Plus Masculine: creamier, greener, sweeter, more cardamom-driven.
Blue Jeans: more aromatic, herbal, vanilla-rich, and traditionally fougere-like.
Both are excellent choices for someone who enjoys expressive 1990s men's fragrances.
Presence by Montblanc
Presence is an excellent alternative if the spicy and creamy parts of Plus Plus Masculine appeal most to you.
Bergamot, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, apple, sage, heliotrope, sandalwood, teak wood, amber, white musk, and tonka bean create a warm aromatic fragrance with several obvious connections.
Plus Plus Masculine: more floral, greener, sweeter, and more unconventional.
Presence: smoother, warmer, woodier, and slightly more mature.
The shared cardamom, cinnamon, heliotrope, sage, sandalwood, musk, and tonka-like warmth make Presence a logical progression.
Le Male by Jean Paul Gaultier
Le Male is a stronger and more polished alternative for someone who enjoys Plus Plus Masculine's creamy spicy sweetness.
Lavender, mint, cardamom, bergamot, cinnamon, orange blossom, vanilla, tonka bean, amber, sandalwood, and cedar create a fresh-to-warm progression with a similarly soft masculine personality. South Beach Perfumes currently lists Le Male with an active add-to-cart option.
Plus Plus Masculine: greener, more floral, more citrus-driven, more eccentric.
Le Male: mintier, sweeter, more vanilla-driven, stronger, and more polished.
Even Parfumo reviewers have noted that Plus Plus Masculine can develop slight Le Male-like characteristics during its drydown.
What is the difference between available Plus Plus Masculine concentrations?
Plus Plus Masculine is primarily known as an Eau de Toilette, which is the concentration represented by the South Beach Perfumes product page. The linked product is a 2.5 oz Eau de Toilette spray.
Plus Plus Masculine Eau de Toilette
This is the standard fragrance and the version most shoppers mean when they search for Diesel Plus Plus Masculine.
It contains the complete orange, bergamot, heliotrope, floral, aromatic, spicy, sandalwood, tonka bean, musk, patchouli, vetiver, and oakmoss composition.
Plus Plus Masculine After Shave
An After Shave version was also released in 1997. Parfumo specifically identifies it as a concentration variant of the original fragrance.
The After Shave is lighter and designed primarily as a grooming product following shaving rather than as a direct replacement for the Eau de Toilette.
There is no widely documented Eau de Parfum or Parfum version of Plus Plus Masculine that should be treated as a stronger concentration of the original.
Learn more about fragrance concentrations
Is Plus Plus Masculine discontinued?
Yes. Plus Plus Masculine should be treated as discontinued from regular Diesel production.
Current source-backed fragrance records state that it was last marketed by Marbert Cosmetics, while Diesel's current official U.S. men's fragrance collection no longer includes Plus Plus Masculine and instead focuses on its newer fragrance lines.
This does not mean authentic bottles immediately disappear from the market.
Older fragrances can remain available for years through wholesalers, distributors, retailer inventory, and remaining warehouse stock.
South Beach Perfumes currently maintains the Plus Plus Masculine product page, although the 2.5 oz spray was shown as sold out when checked on August 18, 2026.
For shoppers and collectors, the practical conclusion is that Plus Plus Masculine is an older discontinued fragrance whose future availability depends on remaining inventory rather than current mainstream Diesel production.
When was Plus Plus Masculine released?
Plus Plus Masculine was released in 1997.
The year matters because the fragrance reflects several trends that were developing during 1990s men's perfumery.
Men's fragrances were becoming sweeter and less rigidly masculine.
Floral notes were becoming easier to use in men's releases.
Vanilla, tonka bean, powdery notes, and warm spices were increasingly paired with traditional aromatics.
Plus Plus Masculine fits directly into that transition.
Its jasmine, violet, lily of the valley, heliotrope, cinnamon, cardamom, tonka bean, musk, and sandalwood would have been far less conventional in a mainstream masculine fragrance only a decade earlier.
Who created Plus Plus Masculine?
Plus Plus Masculine was created by perfumer Arturetto Landi.
Multiple fragrance references credit Landi with the 1997 composition, including Fragrantica and other independent perfume databases.
The fragrance is a good example of how an inexpensive designer release can still have an unusually complicated construction.
Rather than relying on one dominant ingredient, Landi combines citrus, greenery, florals, aromatics, sweet spices, woods, musk, moss, patchouli, vetiver, and tonka bean.
The resulting fragrance is difficult to describe with one word, which is part of its appeal.
How many sprays of Plus Plus Masculine should be used?
For most situations, 3 to 5 sprays should work well.
For office wear, start with two or three sprays.
For regular daytime wear, three to four sprays are appropriate.
For casual dates or evenings, four sprays can provide a pleasant scent bubble.
For outdoor use or cooler weather, four to five sprays may work well.
Because current community data rates longevity and sillage around the moderate range, Plus Plus Masculine can tolerate somewhat more generous application than extremely powerful fragrances.
Still, heliotrope, cinnamon, florals, tonka bean, and sweet spice can become noticeably heavier when oversprayed.
Is Plus Plus Masculine authentic?
Yes. South Beach Perfumes states that its fragrances are 100% authentic, original brand-name products, and Plus Plus Masculine is sold under the company's fragrance authenticity guarantee.
The South Beach Perfumes product page identifies it as Diesel Plus Plus Masculine Eau de Toilette for men.
Authenticity can be particularly important with older discontinued fragrances because bottles may come from several production periods.
Packaging may vary.
Distributor information may differ.
Older boxes may use different graphics.
The distinctive carton design may also differ slightly across markets and production years.
Those differences do not automatically mean a fragrance is counterfeit.
Learn more about our product guarantee policy
Who should buy Plus Plus Masculine?
Plus Plus Masculine is particularly well suited for someone who enjoys orange, bergamot, heliotrope, cardamom, coriander, jasmine, violet, cinnamon, nutmeg, sandalwood, tonka bean, musk, patchouli, anise, oakmoss, sweet aromatic fragrances, and nostalgic 1990s men's colognes.
It is also worth exploring if you are tired of men's fragrances built around the same current formulas.
Plus Plus Masculine does not smell like a modern blue fragrance.
It does not smell like a straightforward vanilla elixir.
It does not smell like a traditional barbershop fougere.
It combines pieces of all of those worlds with flowers, greenery, powder, and creamy woods.
That makes it more distinctive than its price or packaging might suggest.
Who may not like Plus Plus Masculine?
Plus Plus Masculine may not appeal to someone who dislikes floral notes in men's fragrances.
Jasmine, violet, and lily of the valley are genuinely part of the fragrance rather than decorative notes listed on paper.
Someone who dislikes powdery fragrances may also find the heliotrope too noticeable.
Anise can introduce a mild licorice effect, while cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and tonka bean give the drydown noticeable sweetness.
Men who strongly prefer dry vetiver, citrus colognes, leather, oud, tobacco, or very clean modern fragrances may find Plus Plus Masculine too busy.
Its performance may also disappoint someone looking for enormous projection and all-day longevity.
This fragrance wins through personality rather than raw power.
Final South Beach Perfumes Expert Review
Plus Plus Masculine by Diesel is exactly the kind of fragrance that makes revisiting older designer perfumery worthwhile.
On paper, the composition almost looks excessive.
Orange and bergamot.
Palm leaf and heliotrope.
Jasmine, violet, lily of the valley, birch, cardamom, coriander, sage, and greenery.
Then sandalwood, cinnamon, nutmeg, musk, tonka bean, patchouli, anise, vetiver, oakmoss, and clove.
Yet the fragrance does not smell as chaotic as that list suggests.
The opening is bright and sweet.
The middle becomes floral, green, and aromatic.
The drydown becomes creamy, spicy, woody, and softly powdery.
Heliotrope and sandalwood are particularly important because they create the creamy texture that many wearers associate with Plus Plus Masculine.
The fragrance's unusual milk-carton-style presentation probably reinforced that association, even though milk itself is not part of the published note pyramid.
What stands out most today is how willing the fragrance is to smell different.
A men's fragrance with jasmine, violet, lily of the valley, heliotrope, anise, cinnamon, nutmeg, oakmoss, and tonka bean would still be a fairly unusual mainstream release.
In 1997, it had even more personality.
Performance is not extraordinary. Parfumo currently places longevity at 5.7 out of 10 and sillage at 5.8, so this should not be purchased primarily as a high-performance fragrance.
Its strength is the wearing experience.
It works casually.
It works for dates.
It works especially well during spring and fall.
It can work in an office.
It feels nostalgic without needing to be treated like a museum piece.
There are also recognizable connections to fragrances such as Sculpture Homme, Blue Jeans, and eventually Le Male, particularly in the combination of aromatic freshness, flowers, sweetness, creamy woods, and warm spice. Parfumo's similarity data and wearer reviews repeatedly make those connections.
The fragrance is now better treated as a discontinued Diesel release. Source-backed records identify Marbert Cosmetics as its last marketer, and Plus Plus Masculine is absent from Diesel's current fragrance lineup.
That makes remaining bottles increasingly interesting for collectors and longtime wearers.
Would we recommend Plus Plus Masculine to someone who wants the safest possible modern blind buy?
Not necessarily.
The floral heart, heliotrope, anise, cinnamon, and powdery sweetness give it too much personality for that.
Would we recommend it to someone who likes Blue Jeans, Le Male, creamy spicy scents, unusual 1990s fragrances, and colognes that do not smell like everything currently on store shelves?
Absolutely.
Plus Plus Masculine may have been inexpensive and deliberately playful, but it was never boring.
Nearly three decades after its introduction, that individuality is the strongest reason to remember it.
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