In an attempt to appreciate what I already have I’m slowing down on my purchases. The past few years my collection has boomed in growth and it’s time to dig through and wear them all. The special occasion bottles, those forgotten gems in the back that are discontinued. It’s time to take them out. In the last batch of 2025 leading the way is Xerjoffs Symphonium Parfum. What I get in symphouim parfum is a powdery chocolate with soft animalic touches followed by vanilla cardamom and musk. I didn’t get much citrus but time will tell with more wearings this fall. Tom Ford Noir Extreme is my first Tom Ford to make the collection. I smelled this last year and it’s been on my mind ever since. The wife approved of the sample so here it is. That’s all I needed. Mind games queening is a must smell ladies and gentleman. It’s unisex leaning feminine but it’s a beautiful powdery, vanilla fragrance with coconut orris root apple cotton flower vanilla musk and rum. If not for the masculine man get it for you wife. I only grabbed a sample of it but I did grab Duas Queen of Chess which in my opinion is almost a dead ringer. My other sample is Bortnikoff’s Sir Winston and duas version Churchill. I was drawn to this as a tobacco lover but this is a tuberose dominant fragrance. A lovely one!! The oud and tobacco really play the background to the tuberose, ambergris and touches of green tea. This could easily be an everyday scent but at $400 a bottle I doubt it. The last bottle here is dapper fragrances clone of Clive Christiana Blond Amber. I’ll have to smell blonde amber again because this smells more like angel share to me and I don’t recall ever finding the two to be that similar. Hope you all are well!!

For those interested I stumbled across this. Enjoy. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOrhrQykY6E/?igsh=NjBrMGFoMHNzaWcw

Gents, Color me intrigued. This is the 3rd Givenchy I’ve tried now (my first night with this one) and damn I’m impressed. I’m not sure if the whole Gentleman line fits this bill (I have more samples coming this week), but for a fall/winter/date night fragrance…they just keep hitting the mark. I’ve tried the Intense EDT and Privee (definitely a favorite) and they don’t lose right now. I love the sharp, masculine woodiness that comes out. While I’m not against sweet, there is a difference between a mature sweetness and a playful sweetness and this comes across very mature. The woodiness, cacao and pepper are really giving this kind of a sexy incense smell. Not like something at a hippy store, but something more elevated. Man - I can’t wait to try the rest of the line because I’m looking for some solid starting blocks for my fall/winter lineup and especially some darker/deeper/mature frags for date night and I’m loving what Givenchy is selling right now. Have a hell of an evening gents 💪🏽

Anyone wear something that reflects it?

Spicy, woody, aromatic, lavendery, bit sweet opening Quite synthetic opening but still very pleasant Masculine, modern, and youthful Perfect for office and evenings out Definitely has the DNA of the OG Great projection and great sillage Woody, still lavendery, some vetiver, bit ambery on dry down Great longevity on skin and lingers on clothes Typical BIR bottle, studded, spiked neck, small cap the clicks in place, good atomizer Great overall performance I would recommend VUBIRED ⭐⭐⭐ Might be redundant, but if you do not have the OG or Intense, get this one and it should be enough but is more expensive too.. Strongest, richer and deeper, than the predecessors as it should be.. also less sweet and bit spicier than the Intense version..