Today I went shopping at one of the districts not too far away from me. I hadn’t really gone before so I decided to take advantage of my proximity and check it out. I’d been told that the Sephora over there had some Creed and Killian scents, so excitedly i went over to check it out. Sadly, no Creeds, and the only Killians they had were either basic or the tacky ones. BUT nonetheless, i walked around and ended up checking out this super cool cosmetics store, which happened to have a very good collection of Tom Ford Private Blend, BDK, and Parfums de Marly! Anddddd not only that, but also they let me have a bunch of free samples. Literally as much as i wanted. Anyways, i felt guilty asking for too many, so i just got three samples lol. The ones i got were: Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille Tom Ford Ebene Fume BDK Gris Charnel Extrait all for free! i’m super excited to test these bad boys out. I always think of that quote from Avatar the Last Airbender when Uncle Iroh says, “the only thing better than finding something you’re looking for, is finding something you WERENT looking for at a great price!” and in my case… free! what a blessed day indeed!

I have been eyeing this house for the past year now and I finally pulled the blind buy trigger because that's what I do... no samples over here. First impression is extremely fresh and clean that's from spraying it in the air not on skin. This will be my SOTD tomorrow where I will give it a full review but as of now Im very happy

Good evening, Brotherhood! Man, today had me running around like a caffeinated squirrel, but I finally carved out some time to tap in with you all. First off, huge honor hitting Level 9, not because the number looks cool, but because it’s a reminder of how much I’ve learned, how much I’m still learning, and most importantly, the connections made along the way. That alone is worth its weight in protein powder, creatine, AND a full tub of pre-workout! So today I dove into a few samples from the House of Dastan, and the one I landed on was… You? Who, me? No no… YOU? Yep, the fragrance is literally called “YOU?” According to the brand, this one is inspired by “discovering who you are and who you aspire to become.” And honestly, with a note list longer than my holiday shopping receipts and some wild, unexpected ingredients, I’m convinced this one is meant for you to interpret however your nose wants. It really leans into that “define what makes you, YOU” vibe. This is a Floral Fruity Gourmand from 2024 by Richard Herpin. The opening hits you with this waxy fig citrus combo dusted with cinnamon. It took me a minute to figure out what I was smelling, had me questioning my entire olfactory education. I had to keep re-spraying just to wrap my head around the opening because it doesn’t stay long before shifting into a smooth, milky, slightly vanillic, creamy phase with a woody base. On skin vs. clothes? Night and day.On skin, that milky vibe hangs around like it paid rent.On clothes, the jasmine, bergamot, and brighter florals take over and stay lively. Later in the dry down, the white chocolate makes an appearance, and surprisingly… it’s not bad. Actually, kind of unique. Overall, this is a very distinctive unisex scent definitely one of those “your nose tells its own story” types. For me personally? A bit too milky. Not quite my jam. But my wife? She’d absolutely rock this one and probably smell amazing doing it. Performance is above average still catching whiffs 6–7 hours later. Projection is just under an arm’s length, and the sillage is present but not beast mode.

Today I tried a little experiment after seeing a video about layering Dior Sauvage with Aventus. I used Sauvage EDP and Creed Aventus Cologne. I tested it two ways. On the left side I did full stack layering at each pulse point. On the right side I premixed one ml of each in a decant and sprayed that so the atomizer variable was taken out. I completely missed the opening, but as everything settled I noticed Sauvage taking over in the stack layering. The aromatics from Sauvage were a lot more forward on the left side. On the premixed side the blend felt smoother and had a bit more pop from the ambroxan. It actually showed more lift than the stack layering did. Right now the left side smells more muted and peppery while the right side is brighter and a little more balanced. I am not sure if this combo is a hit or a flop, but it was an interesting test. The premix definitely behaved differently than the stacked version. Just sharing the experiment in case anyone else has tried these two together.

So as some of you may have read, I was super excited to get a delivery of Outlands yesterday, and I spent all day today wearing it. I had a big presentation to make for work today, and even though I did it by zoom from home, I felt like a million bucks rocking it. After I was done with the presentation, I reapplied some right before going out for an eye appointment — because why not. So I’m checking out after my exam and a cute lady behind the counter says “oh, that must be you wearing cologne - I smelled it before and was wondering who was wearing it.” I said oh it’s new and I’m experimenting with it, hope it wasn’t too much and she said “no, it smells fantastic and I really like it!” So now I felt like two million bucks. Outlands is the real deal, my friends