Perfume / Cologne

Sometimes when I feel like being a moron I wear Skin Musk, that stuff is tops.

I like Smell This for cheap stupid novelty scent. Beach Smells = great.

I don't wear it on a daily basis but sometimes if I'm going out. Then it's Eau D'Issey or Dune. I used to wear Spellbound and lots of men would comment favourably on it. Why did I stop?

Ally C - Lynx Africa does not count as deodorant as it has no anti-perspirant qualities. It's a body spray = perfume = you are a girl.

I like perfume (and girls) so that's not meant as an insult. I'm wearing Farenheit today, which is nice but doesn't seem to last very well. Sometimes I wear Cool Water and sometimes I sip into my CK selection pack.

I do use an antiperspirant myself but that's because I'm a sweaty bastard.

In general I trust Guerlain and Chanel.

I am currently rotating between Fendi, Trussardi Light, CK Truth, Green Tea, Happy, a freebee phial from Zara and a bottle of stuff from River Island I got for Christmas (work days only).

On the boy I'm 'liking' this new one that's oh so obliquely called Sexual. It's like, ok YOU, bedroom NOW!

Suitable replacements for the Chaos are either the Comme des Garcons red or Corso Como 1010 and I will get one of these on my next trip to Liberty, or when a fashion friend goes through Milanese duty free. Whichever comes first.

Welcome! Can i suggest Perfumes the Guide? It’s a great guide to fragrances, as is the recent sequel. Some descriptions of some of my favourites so you get a sense of the writing:

Fracas:

Fracas (Robert Piguet) butter tuberose $$$

A friend once explained to me how Ferrari achieves that gorgeous red: first paint the car silver, then six coats of red, then a coat of transparent pink varnish. Germaine Cellier would have approved. Her masterpiece Fracas, after going through a threadbare patch in the eighties, was revived by a U.S. outfit and spruced up to a quality approximating the original as far as possible, with the usual Cellier caveats of disappeared bases (see Bandit). To my nose, what makes Fracas great is a wonderful buttery note up top, which I attribute to chamomile, and a nice bread-like iris touch in the drydown. Pink and silver, with tuberose red in between. LT

I liked to play with perfume but never thought much of it until at seventeen I found the Guerlain counter at Saks. I’d sought it out because my roommate was crazy about a forceful thing they made called Samsara, which, while something I absolutely didn’t want to wear, had a worked-out quality that seemed a notch above what I was used to. The first thing I tried was the recent release Champs-Elysées, which had the starring role on the counter. I nearly ran off…For some reason, before heading home, I looked a little further and paused at one labeled L’Heure Bleue. The eau de toilette bottles at that time had the shape of squat lutes, a black serif typeface like a printer’s error on the clear glass, and tall plastic caps imitating gilded lacquer—in a word, ugly. In this unpromising container I found the most beautiful thing I’d ever smelled. I bought it with my food budget for the month and put the silly bottle in a dark cabinet so I wouldn’t have to look at it. I wore it quietly and rarely, because I couldn’t afford to buy another, and I never told anyone what it was, because the name’s particular combination of gargling French r’s and pursed-lipped eu sounds was unprocessable by the American ear, most of all when pronounced correctly—all of which had the effect of giving my love for it the fraught significance of a secret affair.

The second time I fell for a perfume, things were not so complicated. I was down to the last half inch of L’Heure Bleue in the bottle, I was out of college, and I was desultorily spraying everything on the girls’ side of Sephora, finding dozens of nice things but nothing that moved me much. Until I found that little black rubber puck. Look up Luca’s review of Bulgari’s Black farther along in the book, and then buy it and wear it and know what I mean. My first love was simply beautiful; the second was both beautiful and interesting. I began to have questions.

Black sets out boldly into space on three axes: a big, solid, sweet amber note; a muted fifties Je Reviens floral note (benzylsalicylate) as green as a banker's desk lamp; and finally a bitter-powdery, fresh rubber accord such as one encounters in specialist shops or while repairing a bicycle tire puncture. These three tunes hit you in perfect counterpoint when Black is first put on. The remarkable thing about Black's structure is the absence of top notes or drydown. Ménardo has contrived to make the harmony independent of perfume time, but very sensitive to small variations in one's perception. At different times, Black will strike you variously as a battle hymn for Amazons, emerald green plush fit for Napoleon's box at the Opéra, or just plain sweet and smiling. It also has the combination of great bones and good skin characteristic of old-fashioned perfumery, while being entirely novel and modern. Some things strive to be classics; others simply are.

These two halves, masculine and feminine, share a camphoraceous (mothball) smell, which gives Angel a covering of unsentimental, icy brightness above its overripe (some say "rotting") rumble. The effect kills the possibility of cloying sweetness, despite megadoses of the cotton-candy smell of ethylmaltol, leaving Angel in a high-energy state of contradiction. Many perfumes are beautiful or pleasant, but how many are exciting? Like a woman in a film who seethes, "He's so annoying!" and marries him in the end, I returned to smell Angel so many times I had to buy it.

But do you say “sillage” or “see-YAZH”

I’m still absent a perfect lavender. I think I may give up on irises entirely, I want a spectacular one but they’re always so… compromised

Oh, that was an xp. Angel is ofc an all time best. My bf puts it on in the powder room and I can smell it from the bedroom and it’s always surprising and amazing

I don't want to read all of this thread. I think Mitsouko by Guerlain is the most amazing scent of all time.

It is an aldehyde peach and bergamot fragrance, which is very 20th Century -- but also it has an autumn darkness with middle notes of rose, iris, clove, and jasmine, and base notes of vetiver, oakmoss, and labdanum

It is a perfect perfume for Fall, but I think also for all year round

I give up, if the cute women at the bar stop by a table to ask someone if they're wearing Jazz Club, I'll try Jazz Club. I'm more into fresh woody scents like cypress and cedar, though.

Ok?!

Fgti, try and see can you get a bottle of Caldey Island lavender from somewhere. They don’t make it anymore but that’s as of only a few years ago so you may be able to pick up some on eBay.

I'm gonna try that! My go-to lavender these days is Caron PUH, it is astringent in an appealing morning way, but nothing I'd wanna wear after noon

@ Dan S, Mitsouko is of course a favourite around here, I got a couple of very-vintage bottles of it and I'm pleased to report that its current formulations leave nothing to be desired. I have some vials of the "peach" aldehyde downstairs... aldehyde C14! The secret about that Mitsouko though is the odd pencil-shaving component, this kinda of lead-y smell, it's miraculous

Was gifted a bottle of Ombre Nomade and I really like it. It's intense. One spray carries through the entire day. My roommate asked if I could stop wearing it. My roommate uses Axe body spray.

Derek Guy of course has a thread about learning what scents you like

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1849229348798337203.html

i want to delve more into the ocean scents shelf

yeah ocean scents!! no matter how much I try to explore other things I always end up back here or in woody fragrances. interested to hear what sort of ocean scents you discover.

Question for anyone: what do you do with all the 1-2ml samples you end up with but won't use up because they aren't really your thing?

I usually give them to my better half first refusal, after that i usually randomly give them to other people i think might like them. I gave user Mookieproof a couple of Frederic Malle ones from a sample set but i can’t remember which ones and i don’t know if he ever used them.

Sorry, pressed enter just as i thought of something else - I also keep some in a drawer at the bedroom i stay in my parents in case i forget to bring perfume (i bring mine in atomisers so this happens more than you’d think). Good for travelling as well.

I keep em in a big shoebox, and refer to them when I want to remember. There are very few 2 mL samples that I’ve ended up buying full bottles— the only scents I have on my “I might buy that” list are the seemingly-rare CdG scents that I never see anywhere (2 Man, Black, Avignon). The night I watched Conclave at home I used up the last of my Avignon sample, perfect pairing imo

gyac thank you for that lovely welcoming post! i'm excited for what i find too. btw do you have a kind of travel atomiser that you like? thinking about when i eventually travel and might want to bring a lil something with me

seemingly-rare CdG scents that I never see anywhere (2 Man, Black, Avignon)

my friend was just telling me that she got her husband a bottle of 2 Man as a christmas gift, which she ordered online at luckyscent but had to pick up in person at scent bar. so it theoretically still exists in LA

that derek guy thread is good! not sure how ilx at large views him but i always find his threads v. informative

i just throw away samples i don't like, i don't want them around me.

donna, you might want to try Soul of the Forest by Maison Margiela's REPLICA line. ok i'm biased, it's the first fragrance i fell in love with. but if you want to smell like a woody forest floor in the morning or something, i'd check it out.

i'm waiting for my full size of Deer by Wolf Brothers to arrive from Poland.

Autumn Vibes is another Maison Margiela worth a sample... It's like a walk through a forest in October

I recently got a sample of Wolf by Wolf Brothers - absolutely loved the opening and first hour or so, was very optimistic that I'd finally found the autumn/winter scent I'd been looking for, then super struggled with the leatheriness and manliness of the dry down.

I'm a boyish lady and broadly happy to ignore masc/fem labels on fragrances but I was caught out this time. So, anyone finds a potentially less manly Wolf equivalent... let me know

I’ve started posting reviews on fragrantica. Anybody else do this? Truly one of the most atrociously designed web sites I’ve ever experienced.

https://www.fragrantica.com/member/2338265#member-reviews

a friend posted about this, i am curious if anyone here has smelled it Secretions Magnifiques Etat Libre d'Orange

i mean, conceptual perfume seems ridiculous but i also love the idea of perfume that smells like semen lmfao https://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Etat-Libre-d-Orange/Secretions-Magnifiques-4523.html

I do like ELdO in general but that one is pretty bad. The seaweed note is very prominent and it ends up smelling like stagnant water imo.

Rien, Encens et Bubblegum, Jasmin et Cigarette, the Rossy de Palma one and Spice Must Flow are all very good.

I’ve started posting reviews on fragrantica. Anybody else do this? Truly one of the most atrociously designed web sites I’ve ever experienced.

picked up some hermes eau d'orange verte for summer, as only really had wintry scents. i got a few samples in a hotel ages ago and always liked it. absolutely love it now i've gone back to it. orange, mint, maybe basil, incredibly fresh and summery.

xp thanks for the tips, not surprised to hear fragrantica is shady

xp to table, I have smelled it, Secretions Magnifiques that is, and it is a disappointment in every way. Like it didn’t even elicit a tremor of a “yuck”, it is an utter non-event

Afaic the world of perfume already has plenty of skanky classics! I wish more men would wear Bal A Versailles

there is a scent fair happening here tomorrow and if i have the energy to go i will try and report back

Please do! I just smelled Angel, Coco Mademoiselle, and Miss Dior on a grudging but necessary trip to Ulta. Hard pass on those for me. I did splurge on Guerlain Rose Barbare on a recent trip to the mothership in Paris. Along with OG Coco and some lighter wearing EDCs and EDTS, those will be my go-tos until they aren’t (as when I bid au revoir to Chanel 19 after a decade+ as my go-to).

Some thoughts on galbanum:

Galbanum is the painfully bitter green top note. The first time I sprayed myself with Givenchy III and went about my day, I felt like I was getting my teeth drilled. The bitterness was so strong, so bracing, and so addictive.

I began noticing that this particular note was associated with a dated version of femme fragrances— Miss Dior (1947 version, not the current), Lauder Collection Privé. Apparently it features in Yohji Homme (90s) but I haven’t smelled it. Same with Dior Jules. It’s a component in both Chamade and Vol De Nuit, but it both cases is kind of a “seriousing” ingredient rather than a feature.

I need a galbanum scent on a hot day. There is something about it that braces against fecundity and drowsiness. My favourite has revealed itself over time to be Miss Dior Original, the 2011 reformulation. You can’t get it, seemingly, anywhere except France, but in France, you can get it anywhere. I got a backup bottle last time I was there.

At Scent Bar, I was talking with the clerks about galbanum and we couldn’t immediately identify any recent creations that featured it. This, despite our mutual love for Papillon— galbanum is an ingredient in Dryad (albeit tempered into a general leather-grass accord), and a feature in Moores’ newest, Epona.

Anyway! Just typing some appreciative thoughts on my hot commute, smelling like the most expensive escort in Paris

Rain Wood by Perfumer H might be worth a look, though I can’t remember if they carry it at the Scent Bar.

derek guy has been on a roll lately on Bluesky, and he dedicated a rare thread to perfume the other day

https://bsky.app/profile/dieworkwear.bsky.social/post/3lsurjlmufk2f

splurged on a full bottle of Vilhelm Morning Chess today. some fragrantica reviews call it an aventus clone but tbh i wouldn't know. a bright bergamot that dries down into leather. planning to wear it to my friend's outdoor house party in a moment.

also got a few 2ml samples of some herbal/mint-forward stuff i enjoyed smelling in the shop:

- Etat Libre d'Orange You or Someone Like You (soft mint, grapefruit, lil bit of anise maybe?)
- Astier de Villatte Mantes la Jolie (crisp mint w/ hints of jasmine creeping in)
- Ella K Poeme de Sagano (very bright and grapefruit-y, nice)

things i haven't smelled:

egoist

ysl jazz and/or live jazz

antaeus

jardin apres le monsoon

gucci rush

by dolche & gabbana, the sandalwood thing

hermes equipage geranium and/ or bel ami vetiver. i have had samples of the og equipage and bel ami, so i know what those are. these are the updated versions. i dunno from the difference.

if any of you erudite sophisticates have any experience of any of these i'd like opinions. because dua fragrances has clones of these, and i need to buy some stuff. i have moral objections to clone houses , but i am also a hypocrite. i feel if something is way discontinued and way too expensive for the ogs on eb aythen clones are fair game. i have rive gauche and the dua clone, and i can't much tell the difference. the og seems higher quality, but that's within the margin of conceptual bias due to fact i know which is the branded version vs. the ersatz. i'm tempted by the fruit of another. tempted but i don't want the truth to be discovered: i want to believe.

i also have some clones from alexandria fragrances: a clone of escada magnetism and davidoff good life. i have samples of the og and it seems the dupes are pretty spot on. i like them a lot. i also have their version of givenchy insense but it's not all i wanted it to be. you live, you learn. i thought it would smell like golden sunshine but ther's some kind of internal contradiction that doesn't quite mesh for me. maybe i'll come around.

fragrancenet has a 6.7 oz bottle of hermes' jardin sur le nil for like 85 dolars american. i have too much stuff but nil is the ne plus ultra of fresh fragrances for me. it's different. carrots! cattails! it's vegetal. it's jean-claude ellena, which is important to me. history. history is crucial, even recent history. not gone far enough to be vintage or due for a revival, but still gone. interval-core, or interregnum-core, maybe. the recent past that hasn't yet entered the cycle of historical reassessment.

nb i'm a designer slave, because marketing ties the product to the era, and also i live somewhere where the alternatives are hard to access unless i put in the effort, which, really.

sur le nil and cdg 2 man and cartier roadster sport and maybe bentley absolute given gucci pour homme (the tom ford thing)is gone are all i really need to continue living on this earth. prada amber, guerlain heritage, lalique lion aqnd encre noire, versace versus uomo, all are perfectly what they need to be, but i'll live if you took them away from me. you'd get ab black eye, but that's between you and your god. you did that.

and tuscany! that's my boo. that's my old-skool jam. it's lost some vigor in its old age, but gtfo. when tuscany sings, i hear violins.

I like old designer scents generally more than new niche scents, with some exceptions. Even my beloved Papillons seem to have designer precedents.

Re: your list. Egoïste is one of my favourite mainline Chanel’s— not the Platinum, it sucks— smell it next time you’re at the airport. I don’t own it and can’t describe it.

Antaeus along with Kouros is one of those 80s masculines that weirdly to me smells like an overdose of castoreum, like there’s a soiled diaper quality to it (not derogatory); I have read that there is a significant difference between modern versions and original versions but I don’t love either enough to pursue this any further.

Gucci Rush is great, reports of its trashiness are overstated, my bf wears in once a month or so

Equipage is in my personal top 10, but I am drawn to anything that features eugenol (clove oil, “geranium”). Bel Ami is a very close second favourite— I fucking love Guy Robert, he did Amouage Gold as well, he’s def one of my all time faves. Equipage Geranium is nice but I prefer the OG. Bel Ami Vetiver I just am not into.

I really don’t understand flankers, sometimes. So much time and effort expended by Ellena in creating Terre d’Hermes, and it’s spectacular. Why do we need inferior variations? I struggle to think of flankers I prefer to the original. Declaration d’un Soir doesn’t count because it’s basically just a new fragrance (Jelk? I think? Either way it’s way better than the beige Trump-lobby smell of the Ellena original).

Oh and just to state, too: modern iterations of Hermes’ classics are essentially 1:1 with the originals, I do have some vintage bottles and they’re basically identical; the original scents suggest pre-restriction eugenol levels and nitromusks but they’ve been expertly recreated to my nose.

finally went into my least favorite part of Philadelphia to get to the perfume store. picked up some samples of the following:

Myrrh Shadow 403 (Bon Parfumeur)— the descriptions of this online don’t do it justice, it is much heavier on the Basil and resin notes than citrus. I like this one but need to wear it out. Made me think of wet basil.

Tabac Rose (BDK)— I don’t typically go for rose but this has something interesting in it, tobacco and peppery notes. Theo liked it so i thought i would try it.

Green Spell (Eris)— Theo literally picked this one up and sprayed a card, and was like, “get two of these.” Moss, fresh loam, incredibly green. Love it, but worried it will not feel great having it on all day but who knows.

They also gave me a sample of Imaginary Authors ‘Memoir of a Trespasser,’ which is not as heavy on the vanilla as I had feared and has much more oak in it, as well as something from their in-house brand called ‘Clutch,’ which really does smell like expensive leather and pipe tobacco.

Honestly, I know very little about perfume, so it’s exciting for me.

Galop is really coming into its own in this weather (cold, damp, miserable)

this is a designer update so skip if you don't care about that.

i bought a bunch of stuff simply because i went to the mall kiosk place and they were about to close, so i didn't want to waste the trip. i'm smart that way.

i got paco rabanne xs because they had what appears to be the og run. there's that, a reformulation that came about in the 00s, and then a further reformulation in the 10s. so i had to get that. it's ok. the og is yellowish, the i didn't know this scent then, but i have nostalgia for things i missed. i'm catching up to my own elided past, and that's ok. if i had had this i would have wanted to get it again for sentimental reasons.

it's supposed too be similar to and the precursor of creed himilaya but i ain't trying to hear that. xs is way on the aromatic tip and himalaya is frosty as advertised.

i also got l'eau par kenzo pour homme. it feels very juvenile. aquatic with a vegetal vibe. this is also an earlier formulation so i had to get it too, because it's different from the current iteration. the box is different, for one thing. also it's now called l'eau kenzo pour homme and not l'eau par kenzo pour homme so it's totally different, you see. it's harder to get and i got it, so i win.

in between days just came on so i'm gonna stop for a minute or so.

remember the midriff and the mook? this kenzo is so mook. i'ma rock it.

i also got the original lacoste, from 1984. it's pretty stank, with lime.

i went to the kiosk place in the first place to see if they dunhill icon and they didn't. it's discontinued so prices are going up. i actually really like it. i never got it because it was always just there. the other stuff i like for tangental reasons but the with the dunhill there's no subcontext or context or whatnot. i just really like it and can't explain why. it understands something about me that i don't understand myself and that's all i need to know. it doesn't matter if it's good or not or if it requires discernment or anything.

i vaguely remember some interview with steve martin and the interviewer asked him about what is funny or why or whatnot and he was loathe to respond because he said deconstruction destroys the thing you're in love with or similar. the things i like aren't particular special but they're mine.

nb: typos, been drinking.

i didn't get dunhill icon for crimbusmass presents. i thought i might. i were wrong. instead, i got the dua fragrances clones of van cleefs and arpels tsar and chanel egoist, which were also on my list.

the tsar is spot on. my brother has tsar so i know it but tsar is discontinued, so i have no qualms about getting a clone. fu, keep producing the real thing if you object. it's kinda cheap-smelling but unique. there's a dry herbal green note that is either the artemisia or maybe angelicaa. i dunno the difference.

egoiste! egoiste! open and slam shut shutter! this is different than i thought it would be. the rose and sandalwood are not as pronounced as i thought they might be. my bad, that's on me. never smelled the og so i don't know if the clone is failing to live up to the source or if it's verisimilitude is on point. what i got is pretty well blended. there's that. it's got it's own thing going on, a cohesion, a gestalt, no particular note or notes standing out. kinda vanillic and spicy, indistinct florals and woods. i'd place it between jaipur homme and heritage and maybe even obsession word up hashtag 80s. i thought the rose would dominate. maybe my smeller is compromised; i do smoke a lot .nb if i ever get to smell real egoiste i might change my opinion. also i might have to let this macerate a bit.

in summary and in conclusion (forte reference) i think i came out ahead. the tsar is og fougere, it smell like drugstore aspen in quality but gtfo, i'm stylin and profilin 80s sylee. it's soapy like a lot of fougeres but there's something more. it feels synthetic overall but it's got a dry bitter green slant i can't replicate anywhere else. maybe l'artisan fou de absinthe, but that's also discontinued and way more pricey than what it's worth. such is the way of the world. the egoiste, i told you where i live already and they don't stock it here. if you know egoiste tell me about it; i'd love to know your personal experience with him.right now i'm holding hands but i don't know our future together.

i'ma buy myself the dunhill icon since nobody else did. it's just a standard designer thing, but i really like it. sometimes you really like something that is unexceptional. love is a stranger in an open car. i've been driven so far away i can't find my way back home. i want it. there's an x accord i can't attribute to any specific notes or combination thereof. like mr. c says in the return, i don't need, i want.

The connection between Egoïste and Heritage is very real and I’ve never noticed it before!

i didn't compare notes qua notes but heritage (i know the real thing) and egoiste (i don't, just the dupe) have a subtlety that is impressive in retrospect. neither one jumps out as anything in particular, but as time goes on, you start to acknowledge the integrity and tastefulness of construction. different and diffident elements greet you politely in due time. as far as i know (i'm no expertise-ist.) egoiste was supposedly a flop because the culture was unprepared for anything other than trad masculines; remember obsession was a big deal before and it was way more so than egoiste. obsession was aggressively unmasc and therefore somehow way masc; egoiste, you had to be cognizant of the sideways flirtatious look it was throwing at you, and apparently few were. i think opium ph did ok and it wasn't any more butch than egoiste. i suspect egoiste was not enough in-your-face of the thing it was for the times. if it were louder, it would have hit harder.

i don't know how egoiste and heritage compare structurally but vibe-wise they seem on the same plateau to me. bowie said it doesn't matter who did something first, what matters is who did something second. if i said something novel and accurate, i didn't mean to. you'd know way more than i.

does tsar have dihydromyrcenol? that might be what makes it feel cheap and oily initially, but when that fades it's a dry herbal coniferous wonder. dihydro is a bane and blessing. i like everything i have that has it but it's the worst part of everything that has it.

nb posting opinions about fragrances while tipsy is my avocation but hopefully it doesn't offend too much or actually derail any serious conversations about a subject that actually has pertinence to to interests of many on here. i'm not a slosh, at least not with a frequency that should be alarming, yet. in my defense i will say i think drunk posting about art that you love should be a bigger thing in the world than is currently seems to be.

mystique, that's what i meant. egoiste has it, heritage has it, long story short.

I don’t know Egoïste except from airports. Chanel’s masculine mainlines don’t warrant a purchase— Antaeus is interesting but the wrong kind of animalic for me (see also Kouros). Pour Monsieur is the only classic-era masc I don’t want to wear, tho it’s nice. EgPlat and Allure and Bleu and whatever else are trashbin.

But Egoïste non-Platinum was always on the cusp of a love when I smelled it— it just didn’t smell necessary enough, I guess. I do love some of the Exclusifs— Sycomore is the only I own but buy me Cuir de Russie or Coromandel any time.

I don’t have Heritage on me out in the wilds of familyland but it’s always seemed to be to be an amber-adjustment-update of Habit Rouge— a touch less spicy but fundamentally the same vibe. I actually recommended Heritage to my mom and she loved the idea (but ended up sticking with the MDCI she liked more— Promesse de l’Aube).

I will smell deeper when I get home and figure out the connections

Also, in my packing haste, I thought carefully about "what evening fragrance to bring" for family-friend-functions (settled on Papillon Epona this year) but forgot to pack a morning fougere and I feel naked without it. It's become a necessary part of my toiletries bag, a seemingly secondary-importance object (like a tongue scraper, which I didn't forget) that has achieved primary-importance status. Givenchy Monsieur/Caron Pour Un Homme/Dior Eau Sauvage are my triumvirate of morning moods and man oh man am I missing that spritz in the mornings, especially while making breakfast for everyone, I feel like I've deprived myself of coffee or deodorant.

This is an interesting thread. Early this year, the algorithm must've seen that I looked at a cologne ad, so I began getting bombarded with similar ads, which led to a buying spree. I really like the darker colognes, like Mystikum Fragrances' Moonlight Ceremony, and Anomalia Paris' Cérémonie, and Amouage's Opus XIV - Royal Tobacco, and Comme des Garçons' Blackpepper, and (even though it's a little lighter in vibe) Room 1015's Cherry Punk. I've stopped the buying spree, for now. But, 2026 is a new year, so who knows?

I received a bottle of Eris Green Spell for xmas, it continues to please, no noticeable difference between samples I received in November and the bottle. The longevity does leave a little to be desired, but to me, so much of perfume and cologne is wanting to smell a certain way myself. what other people think is sort of secondary.

in the package with the Green Spell were some samples. I have only tried one— Milano Fragranze's 'Derby,' which has a bursty opening of hay and tuberose, then it dries down to something a bit more ozonic, imho. I kind of like it!