This has been on my wanted list for almost a year now. Yes I'm a big Joop fan and this is one of the few bottles I was missing from the collection. Wow represents a massive pivot for the brand. If you know Joop for the nuclear strength, pink, candy-sweet bomb that is Joop Homme, you will find Wow! to be a completely different animal.The bottle tells you everything you need to know before you even spray it. It resembles a vintage whiskey flask or an apothecary bottle, filled with amber liquid.Where the original Joop! Homme is a loud club scent, Wow! is a "jazz bar" scent. It is mature, boozy, warm, and sophisticated. Ironically, this is one of the most subtle, refined, and polite fragrances Joop! has ever released. It is classified as an Oriental Fougère, but it behaves like a woody-spicy fragrance with a distinct "boozy" character. It opens with a very brief splash of citrus (bergamot) that immediately gives way to a warm, spicy cardamom. The violet leaf adds a slight "airy" or ozone quality, which prevents the spice from feeling heavy or dusty. It smells expensive and niche-quality right from the first spray. This is the best part of the fragrance. The fir balsam creates a resinous, pine-like sweetness that mimics the scent of an oak barrel or aged whiskey. It’s not a literal alcohol smell, but it captures the warmth of a dark spirit. The vetiver adds a dry, earthy woodiness that keeps it masculine. As it settles on the skin, it becomes creamy and powdery. Cashmeran is a synthetic note that smells like musky wood and feels "velvety." The tonka and vanilla add sweetness, but it is a dark, roasted sweetness rather than a sugary candy sweetness. As an edt my only contention is the longevity which is moderate at best. Unlike the OG, you can expect 5 hrs at best with this. Projection is moderate to Intimate. It projects well for the first 30–60 minutes, then settles closer to the skin. It creates a polite "personal space" bubble rather than filling a room. Unlike other Joop! scents, you can wear this to work without choking out your colleagues, so it's completely office safe. Additionaly, I picked this up yesterday at the Chemist Warehouse for a measley €29. It smells significantly more expensive than it is. If you put this juice in a Tom Ford or YSL bottle, people would happily pay three times the price. It lacks the harsh, metallic "cheap cologne" smell found in many budget fragrances. The spicy/woody profile needs cool air to shine. Perfect for Date nights, semi-formal dinners, or office wear in the winter. Wow! is an underrated masterpiece of the budget category. If you want to smell classy, masculine, and warm without spending a fortune, this is a blind buy worthy of consideration.

What I am loving most is how it doesn’t project. It stays close, almost private. Then every so often, a soft waft rises up, just enough to remind me it’s there. Quiet, intentional, reassuring. There’s something here that echoes Gris Charnel, that same calm, woody introspection, but Inverness leans cooler and more austere. Part of that comes from its use of maté absolute and amyris, notes you don’t see often, which give the woods an earthy, slightly bitter edge and a smooth, aged warmth. The result feels dignified and timeless, like stepping into an antique museum. Polished wood, old stone, hushed air, time slowing down. It brings a kind of tranquility that isn’t cozy. It’s grounding. A scent for stillness, inward focus, and moments where silence says more than volume ever could.

We all know Im a huge Zara fan, they are well known for offering affordable interpretations of popular designer scents. Performance can vary at times, but the scent is always top notch. I think this was my very first one, bought by my eldest for my birthday. Said to have a striking resemblance to the highly acclaimed, & more expensive, Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540. The notes here are very simple. Opens up with Orange, followed by Amber at the heart & Evernyl at its base. This is a synthetic molecule that provides a mossy, woody, and slightly earthy aroma, often associated with oakmoss. To be honest I would swear there is a tobacco note in there two. Now this might be the amber as some times amber can give a tobacco vibe apparently? Performance wise, your looking at up to 6hrs with projection for approx 2 before it fades to a skin scent. For under €20 this is a banging fragrance that punches well above its weight. Probably my no 1 from Zara. My Rating 7/10 Scent 2.5 Longevity 2 Sillage 1.5 Y/N 1

This is slowly becoming my office dumb reach. Simple but just works. I an curious to see how it’d perform in a relatively hotter weather.

Day three of my Armani adventures brings the Intensity. Emporio Armani Stronger With You Intensely by Giorgio Armani is an Oriental Fougere fragrance for men. Top notes are Pink Pepper, Juniper and Violet; middle notes are Toffee, Cinnamon, Lavender and Sage; base notes are Vanilla, Amber, Tonka Bean and Suede.