Recently got this for insanely cheap. I will admit it’s not my favorite fragrance that I own but it has a solid place in my line up. Strong wood and aromatic and a very slight touch of sweetness on the back end. Projects incredibly well. This weekend I wore it on a chilly day with a light sweatshirt and we have a long car ride. My wife liked it very much a stated that this was a fragrance she could actually smell on me from the passenger seat. However it was almost too strong for me. Today I’m wearing it with a suit to work and I feel like the projection is the perfect balance and the wood and slight spice is really coming through.

Yesterday I was traveling with my family and we ended up at a pretty large mall. There was a fragrance store there and I went in to see what they had. Mostly designer but they did have a few niche that I wasn’t very familiar with. They actually had givenchey gentlemen original which I had been looking for. The guy told me he didn’t have a sample of it and I was fine with that. Then I saw that the bottom of the wrapper was carefully opened and you can tell it had been like that for a while. I said this has been opened already. Looks like it’s already been tested. I looked at a few other boxes and they were also opened. I watched him very carefully open the fragrance so I could sample it and then reseal it like it was brand new. Ps gentlemen original is not something that I like at all. I’m so glad I didn’t blind buy that one.

Cool today, but sunny, and about to run some errands, so I'm going with this woody aromatic fragrance. Despite the name, this is a relatively new fragrance (2024). Top notes are Cinnamon and Tarragon; middle notes are Patchouli and Vetiver; base note is Russian Leather. I'm wearing a sample travel spray today, but the bottle is already on its way to me. Happy Weekend, Gentlemen.

Picked this up because it was thrown out there by the man in charge @Antonio O. Centeno. 36 bucks on maxaroma. English laundry. Cambridge knight.

In places like Dubai and across the Middle East, fragrance is part of daily life in a much bigger way than it is here. A lot of people assume they are wearing massive amounts of heavy oud in extreme heat all day, but most of the time it is more controlled and intentional than people think. A big part of it is how they wear fragrance. A lot of Middle Eastern fragrance wearers apply heavier scents closer to the skin or on clothing instead of overspraying exposed skin. Oils, oud blends, musks, and incense fragrances are often applied in smaller amounts and refreshed throughout the day instead of trying to create a giant projection cloud all at once. Many people also wear stronger scents more in the evening, at dinners, gatherings, malls, or indoor social settings where air conditioning is everywhere. Another thing is that oud, amber, musk, rose, saffron, and incense are culturally normal there. People grow up around bakhoor, oud smoke, attars, and rich fragrance oils, so heavier scents are associated with cleanliness, luxury, hospitality, and presentation rather than something “too strong.” Their scent tolerance is different because those smells are part of everyday life. A lot of people also misunderstand Middle Eastern summer fragrances. They are not always thick syrupy winter bombs. Many are actually built to work in heat using airy oud, dry woods, musks, saffron, incense, citrus openings, mineral notes, or transparent rose-oud combinations instead of dense sweetness. You can wear fragrance the same way here in America if you approach it differently: * focus on controlled application instead of overspraying * spray clothing lightly instead of only skin * use oils or attars in smaller amounts * save denser oud fragrances for evenings or indoor settings * wear dry woody ouds, incense, musks, saffron, or airy amber styles in warmer weather * layer lighter fresh fragrances with woods or musks instead of wearing only ultra-fresh scents all summer * think of fragrance as part of grooming and presentation, not just projection