Police — To Be Rebel
Essence
To Be Rebel is a 2016 cheap-thrill designer flanker in Police’s skull-bottle To Be line, and wearers are essentially unanimous about what it is: a budget interpretation of Versace Eros with a fresher, more aquatic-fruity twist. It is a fresh-aromatic-woody-spicy masculine built on violet leaf, grapefruit and pepper up top, a marine, orange-blossom and sage heart, and an amberwood-musk-vetiver base, trading on a striking blue skull flacon and a rock-bottom price. Its identity is almost entirely defined by that Eros resemblance and its value.
Scent Profile
The opening is fresh and green-spicy: a cool, slightly metallic green from violet leaf, juicy grapefruit, and a peppery bite of black pepper and nutmeg, with a watery aquatic edge that many wearers single out as the most likable part.
The heart brings a marine accord with orange blossom and sage for a fresh-aquatic core, while a sweet, slightly fruity undertone emerges that drives the Eros comparison. This sweet-aquatic center is the fragrance’s signature, often summed up as Eros made lighter, sweeter, fruitier and more aquatic, with the original’s vanilla dialed down.
The base is a clean, modern amberwood, white musk and vetiver drydown. The whole thing is fairly linear, and the individual florals and vetiver tend to stay submerged beneath the grapefruit and the Eros-adjacent sweetness. A few wearers note a darker grape-soda facet or a watery Le Male impression in the opening.
Performance
Performance reports are mixed but lean adequate-to-good for the price, with many wearers reporting around six hours of longevity and moderate projection, and more conservative estimates landing at four to six hours. The practical takeaway is that it performs respectably given the cost, and because it is so cheap you can spray liberally and reapply freely. It is best as a warm-weather daytime scent, with the amber-musk base giving it just enough to stretch into milder cool-weather daytime use.
Wearing Context
This is a young, casual, warm-weather crowd-pleaser, repeatedly described as a great first fragrance and a compliment-getter for the money. It suits spring and summer daytime, casual outings, school and work, errands and lively social settings, reading as flirty and approachable, and several wearers find it works on both men and women. It feels wrong in formal or cold-weather-evening contexts, where its cheap-synthetic edges and derivative character show. The skull bottle is itself part of the appeal for younger buyers.
Comparisons & DNA
- Versace Eros is the near-unanimous reference: To Be Rebel is repeatedly called an Eros interpretation that is lighter, sweeter, fruitier and more aquatic, with the tonka-vanilla sweetness reduced.
- Paco Rabanne Invictus is folded in for a touch of its aquatic-fresh side.
- Ralph Lauren Polo Red contributes the fruitiness, with one wearer summing the scent up as a calmer Eros with some Polo Red fruit.
- Within Police’s own line it sits opposite To Be Camouflage, described as mostly Invictus with Eros-style mint, while To Be Rebel is the reverse.
The olfactory family is the sweet fresh-aquatic-fruity blue masculine.
Reception
Reception is best summed up as great for the price and derivative on its own merits. Praise centers on its pleasant, sweet, youthful character, its value and its fun bottle, with many wearers blind-buying it happily and treating it as a lighter, less overpowering Eros alternative for everyday wear. Criticism is dominated by the unoriginality charge, with wearers calling it Eros without the tonka bean, alongside complaints that the sweetness can read stale and a contingent who find it generic synthetic blue fare. The split runs between fantastic cheap Eros alternative and pointless synthetic clone, and as a blind buy it is an easy yes for anyone wanting Eros’s vibe lighter and cheaper.
Versions & Reformulation
This is a single composition marketed by Mavive as part of the skull-bottle To Be collection, offered in 40, 75 and 125 ml eau de toilette. Reports point to minor batch variation and a downgrade in bottle hardware over time, with older bottles carrying a metal Police logo and skull pin versus plastic on newer ones, and the line has occasionally gone hard to find. No formally documented reformulation of the juice exists.
Acquisition Notes
This sits at the rock-bottom budget tier, frequently found around $15 to $25 and counting as one of the cheapest designer blue scents on the shelf, sold at drugstores and discounters in 40, 75 and 125 ml. Decants exist but are largely beside the point given the full-bottle price. The signature blue crystalline skull flacon with a metal Police plate is central to its identity. Given the low price, counterfeiting is a minor concern, so buying from established discounters or drugstores is sufficient.
Notable Facts & Lore
- The To Be name riffs on Hamlet’s “to be, or not to be,” styled as a modern rebellious masculine statement.
- The whole line is built around the skull flacon as a fashion symbol of rebellion and transgression.
- Police pitched To Be Rebel as inspired by the crested punk hairstyle, meant to express uniqueness and transgression.
- The brand has historically used celebrity ambassadors including Bruce Willis and footballer Paolo Maldini, though none are tied specifically to this scent.
- Its enduring reputation in the hobby is simply as one of the go-to ultra-cheap Eros alternatives.