Trussardi — Action Sport
Essence
Action Sport is a near-forgotten artifact of the early-90s Italian “sport/fresh” wave - the 1993 flanker to Trussardi’s more distinctive 1990 Action Uomo. Where the original Action leaned mint-herbal and architectural, Action Sport drops the mint for citrus and recasts the fougere as a bright, energetic, workout-ready freshie: tart citrus, aromatic herbs and lavender over a mossy-woody fougere base. It’s housed in Nicola Trussardi’s striking cobalt-blue pyramid plastic bottle and labeled, fittingly, “Eau de Sport.” Long discontinued and genuinely obscure, it’s a vintage-hunter’s curio more than a known quantity - coverage is thin, and even enthusiasts note how little attention it ever received.
Scent Profile
The top is all bright citrus - bergamot, grapefruit, lemon and mandarin - giving a clean, crisp, “uplifting, invigorating, energising” opening with no sweetness. The heart is classic aromatic-fougere machinery: basil, lavender, neroli, geranium, tarragon, with jasmine and iris softening the edges. The base is where the fougere identity lands - oakmoss, vetiver, patchouli, ambergris, tonka and musk - described as a rooty, mossy, woodsy drydown with bold patchouli. Sources diverge on intensity: one reviewer (Darvant) reads it as “very tart, herbal and masculine… with a strong woodsy temperament, a bold patchouli and a rooty-mossy base… bracing and airy,” while awearer frames it as a lighter, sportier revisit of the fougere with lemon and mandarin leading before basil, oakmoss, vetiver and musk emerge. Signature accord: crisp citrus over an oakmoss-patchouli aromatic fougere. Linearity: a fairly straightforward fresh-fougere arc, citrus-bright to mossy-dry.
Performance
Performance is the one area where the (sparse) sources genuinely conflict. The detailed review is blunt that it is “not a great performer in terms of longevity and projection,” describing it qualitatively and recommending it specifically for actual sport/casual use rather than for presence. Against that, reviewer Darvant reports the opposite - “brash and powerful sillage… it heralds by far its presence.” A retailer spec sheet splits the difference at “moderate” for both intensity and longevity. The reasonable synthesis: a bright citrus-fougere that likely opens with a punch and then settles to modest staying power, best read as a warm-weather daytime/active scent rather than a long-haul performer. Spring and summer are the agreed-upon seasons.
Wearing Context
By name and by nature this is a daytime, warm-weather, active/casual fragrance - “you want to go out for jogging or play football smelling this,” as one reviewer put it, “a very ‘during workout’ EDT.” Spring and summer are ideal. It reads distinctly masculine (it’s a classic men’s fougere of its era) and energetic, uncomplicated and fresh rather than seductive or formal. Settings: casual daywear, sport, errands, hot weather. Social perception, to the extent it’s documented, is “clean, crisp, classy” and inoffensive; onewearer recounts a taxi driver asking what he was wearing and vowing to buy it. Not an evening, office-power, or cold-season scent.
Comparisons & DNA
The closest internal reference is the parent, Action Uomo (Trussardi, 1990) - the mint-herbal, “incredibly heavy green herbal” original that Action Sport modernizes by dropping the mint and adding citrus; one reviewer says he may even prefer the Sport, while conceding the original is “older and better performing.” The single named external comparator in wearers reviews is Sport de Paco Rabanne / XS Sport (Paco Rabanne) - “up there with Sport de Paco Rabanne!” per - positioning it among early-90s sport fougeres. Despite the era’s reputation, no wearers source actually compares it to Davidoff Cool Water (a comparison sometimes assumed for 90s aquatic-fresh fougeres but not borne out here). one reviewer reached for an upmarket frame, calling it good enough to be “the best Hermes,” which says more about quality impression than literal similarity.
Reception
With so little written about it, “consensus” is generous, but the sentiment that exists is warm and tinged with rarity-nostalgia. Admirers call it “a brilliant Sports fragrance,” with “its own” identity rather than a clone, “fresh, dry and class,” and repeatedly call for Trussardi to bring it back (“It must return!!!”). one reviewer rated it an overall qualitatively. The counterweight is indifference rather than dislike: a collector who owns both Action scents remembered them as “pleasant enough but nothing special,” kept mainly because they’re discontinued, and the wearers has long flagged the Sport’s “lack of attention” and even called its note pyramid “kinda sketchy.” So: liked by the few who’ve tried it, ignored by everyone else. Blind-buy verdict: a low-stakes, fun vintage pickup for fougere and 90s-sport fans who enjoy the hunt - but manage expectations on both fame and longevity, and don’t overpay.
Versions & Reformulation
Single composition, no known reformulations documented - the fragrance was simply produced and then discontinued. It was issued as “Eau de Sport” (its concentration label) in 25, 50 and 100 ml, with a small 2 ml miniature also known, and a matching “After Shave Sport” variant existed at a different concentration. As a vintage-only product, bottle-to-bottle variation today is a function of age and storage rather than reformulation. catalogs it but, as of this writing, hosts no user reviews or ratings - a measure of its obscurity.
Acquisition Notes
Discontinued and described by multiple wearers as “very rare by now.” It survives on the vintage market via specialist sellers (e.g., Italian vintage perfume dealers) and auction/marketplace listings; pricing seen on dealer sites runs in the rough vicinity of €79 for 100 ml, with empty collector “dummy” display bottles of the cobalt-blue pyramid asking far more (around €147) as design objects. Sizes to look for: 25/50/100 ml plus the 2 ml mini. No counterfeit problem is documented (too obscure to fake), and no batch-code system surfaced; the real risk is age/condition, so buy from vintage sellers who describe fill level and storage. The distinctive cobalt-blue pyramid bottle (the women’s counterpart used the same shape in beige/tan) is the visual ID.
Notable Facts & Lore
- The bottle is the headline artifact: a sculptural cobalt-blue geometric pyramid with a chrome looped cap, designed under Nicola Trussardi.
- Trussardi’s own heritage account places its origin in Bergamo in 1911, “with an artisanal leather glove workshop founded by Dante Trussardi”; grandson Nicola took over in 1970 and introduced the now-iconic greyhound logo in 1973, transforming the glove maker into an Italian luxury house.
- Action Sport belongs to the early-90s moment when Italian houses (Trussardi, Romeo Gigli, Versace’s Versus) were modernizing classic masculine perfumery toward something fresher and more “architectural,” with the 1990 Action Uomo’s mint-herbal accord cited as ahead of its time.
- Action Sport was the 1993 follow-up that traded that novelty for a more conventional citrus-sport fougere.
- Its lasting “lore,” such as it is, is its obscurity itself: a 2011 thread opener went hunting for anyone who’d even tried it, joking about its near-total “lack of attention” - a status it has largely retained.