Big shout out to @Dave Anderson he sent me this wonderful kit of Happyland fragrances decants and I did a quick spritz of Barbershop, a traditional lavender-forward fougere, right up my alley. I'm going to have to do a full wear of it but so far I'm loving it!

A woody aromatic fragrance created by Thierry Wasser. It has a fresh citrus opening, a signature amaretto style almond heart, and a woody base of cedar, vetiver, and some leather. Top notes of citruses, bitter orange, orange blossom, and rosemary give a slightly aromatic freshness. In the heart is the almond which feels creamy, slightly cherry like, without being cloying. It’s blended with tonka for a smooth, sweet amaretto accord. In the base is soft woods, vetiver, and a hint of leather. It’s masculine and dry, keeping it from going too gourmand. Its classy, elegant, and versatile. It’s wearable for office or daily use. It is sophisticated and stands out from generic fresh or blue fragrances. Performance is decent to good, providing 6–7 hours on skin. Projection/sillage is moderate. It performs solidly for its concentration and feels easy to wear. It’s best in spring/summer/fall. It’s unique, high quality, smooth, well blended, and elegant overall. It’s versatile without being generic, and a good value on discounters. I highly recommend!

A sharp, woody, and energetic citrus fragrance that ditches the "lipsticky" iris of older Dior scents for a modern, masculine punch. ​Key Notes: ​Top: Sparkling Lemon, Bergamot, and Aldehydes (crisp & airy). ​Mid: Pink Pepper and Elemi (spicy & resinous). ​Base: Frankincense, Amber, and Wood (warm & sophisticated). ​Longevity: 8–10 hours. Exceptional performance for a fresh EDT; it hangs on much longer than typical "sport" scents. ​Occasion: The ultimate "anytime" fragrance. Perfect for the gym, high-heat summer days, the office, or casual weekend outings. ​Summary: It’s bright enough for the heat but has enough woody "backbone" to work as a year-round signature scent.

Meh meh meh. I know I should stop blind buying decants, chasing the needle in the haystack of scents I actually find full bottle worthy. And yet… I keep trying. This is definitely something I’ve struggled with in this hobby. It certainly thrilling when that package comes, and finding that needle in the haystack has just an incredible feeling. I’ve managed to build a collection I really love through this process. But the downside is the disappointment I feel when fragrances I buy & try either don’t live up to my expectations, or worse I really dislike them. It’s especially disappointing when the notes look like a frag would be something I would enjoy and there’s some influencer out there glazing the heck out of it. But as I’ve come to learn, it comes down to the actual scent and whether I respond positively to it or not. The notes usually do a really good job of ruling out things that I probably would hate, but they don’t do a good job of finding things I would actually love. And since I’m past designers and entry-level niches in my journey, it’s hard to find ones I’m looking for in real life and so I have to resort to blind buy decant buying. I keep telling myself I’m gonna wind this down, and I do find I’ve been slowing down in my purchases of decants as I’m closing in on what I see is my final collection given the limit limits I’ve set for myself. Anyway, here are the frags that kicked off this rant: - Gisada Gold: meh. Thought I’d try this since TLTG is glazing it hard and I like lavender. It’s very much in the same DNA of Extradose or Invictus Victory, maybe a little less sweet and with a hint of spices. But Extradose does it way better, and to me this comes across a little synthetic and has a kind of doughy undertone that I don’t like - Lalique L’Insoumis: meh. I was hoping this could be the classic gentlemanly year rounder I’ve been looking for, but nope. It has a sourness in the open (maybe from the lavender they chose), once it gets past that it’s a nice enough classic fougere type scent but projection and longevity are just awful and it’s nothing special. Plus, apparently it’s discontinued.

After me ranting for about a week, I walked into an out of way, Marshalls and lo and behold. There was Westloop first time I’ve ever gotten something out of a rack store anyway if anyone know the other ones that they’re supposed to carry in some of the rack stores cause all this one had was three W. loops.