I was about to make this a SOTD post, butt changed my mind as this question popped into my head. I know we all have and are still building collections. We all start out and are in different places in this journey. But I noticed how my FBW criteria has changed since I started and was curious about the other brothers. When I first started, I would hear about a scent, if I smelled it and liked it in the store it was an immediate bottle purchase not wear testing, not sample grabbing just straight to the bottle. Over time I have become a bit more discerning, now don't get me wrong I have still bought a couple of bottles by falling victim to the shopping excitement, but I have been lucky enough to still be happy with those. Now I am at the point that I will wear my samples a few times before I make a decision to add it to the FBW list. Because of the relationships at the stores I have made I have a crazy amount of samples to go through and I am doing that lately and just doing my samples that were either given to me by the salespeople or by my family at Christmas. and making some decisions. I'm wearing BTV - Hasu today. Now I know that Boadicea is a polarizing house. You either love it or hate it and most of the hate I have read online comes from pricing. I had worn this one a few months back and thought hmmm 🤔. this is nice, I'll have to revisit it. I chose it for today and both of my harshest critics gave me compliments. My wife and my book keeper both of whom never hold back (even when I think they should 😜). So this one will be added to the FB conversion list. So let me know. 1) What is your criteria to convert to a full bottle? 2) do compliments play a roll in your decision? Hope you all have a wonderful Thursday!!

Mavro sits in the same general vein as fragrances like Bvlgari Tygar and Sospiro Vibrato, but with its own twist. It has that modern luxury feel, smooth woods, musks, and a refined freshness, but Mavro takes a darker, richer direction with more depth and warmth. What I like most is that it feels expensive without being overly challenging. The woods are smooth, the sweetness is controlled, and there is enough darkness to make it interesting without becoming heavy. It smells polished, masculine, and confident. Performance is very good on my skin. It projects well for the first few hours and lasts all day. While it leans more dressed up than Tygar, it can absolutely be worn casually if you keep the sprays light—around 2 to 3 sprays is plenty. The main difference is that Tygar and Vibrato are brighter, more sparkling, and citrus-driven, while Mavro adds a darker woody-amber character that gives it a more sophisticated and slightly mysterious feel. If I had a criticism, it is not the most groundbreaking fragrance. It works within a familiar luxury fresh-woody style rather than creating something completely new. But it executes that style very well. Rating: 8.5/10 Mavro is like Tygar and Vibrato’s darker cousin. It keeps that upscale fresh luxury DNA but adds richer woods, more depth, and a touch of darkness. It smells smooth, masculine, and expensive without trying too hard. Keep the sprays light and it works casually or dressed up. If you can find it at the right price, it’s definitely worth picking up.

Week 2: The Problem with Owning Too Many Fragrances Hey guys, Joe A. here with another one for ya’! Welcome back to “SHELF CONTROL”, where one man attempts to bring order to a fragrance collection that clearly stopped respecting boundaries, triggered mild family concern, and may or may not have been one blind buy away from a full-blown intervention! Last week, I introduced the idea behind this mini-series: building the Joe Average Fragrance Library and gathering my bottles from around the house into one central location. This week, I want to first identify and address “The Problem…” And no, the problem is not that I own too many fragrances. Ha, let’s not get crazy here!! The problem is that when bottles are scattered everywhere, I’ve stopped having a collection and started managing a very confused, full-blown (ha, see what I did there) glass-based ecosystem. Part of the joy of collecting is having options. I want to wake up and decide, “Today feels like tobacco and vanilla,” or “This heat is disrespectful, bring me citrus immediately.” But when the collection is spread out, I don’t always choose from what I own. I choose from what I can find! And that’s a problem. A hidden bottle is almost the same as not owning it. If I can’t see it, reach it, compare it, or remember it exists, then what exactly is it doing for me besides quietly depreciating in a box like a tiny, scented stock portfolio? Then, there are the “duplicates…” When bottles are scattered, it becomes very easy to convince yourself, “I don’t have anything like this.” Then later realize, I absolutely do have something like this. In fact, I have six somethings like this! Collectors know this game. We don’t always buy the same fragrance twice. Sometimes we buy the same idea twelve different ways and call it... "research!"...yeah... That’s where Shelf Control comes in. This project is not about making the collection look perfect for pictures (although that’ll be a big bonus!) It’s about making the collection useful again. I want to see what I own. Wear what I love. Rediscover what I forgot. And maybe confront a few patterns I’ve been politely ignoring. So before the shelves go up, before the construction begins, before the Great Bottle Migration officially starts, I need to admit what this project is really trying to fix…

I bought my 2 son's (and myself😬) a sample of BTV Almas for Christmas this year. My older son loved it and asked me to make him a decant if I ended up with a bottle. Truthfully I forgot all about it until I ran into my samples this weekend while "reorganizing". So I thought I would give it a try. I'm enjoying this one immensely, and my wife complimented me this morning as well so it already has a leg up! 😎. I have not heard from my younger son yet, but if we go 3/3 assuming my wife doesn't want in, it may make a full bottle more reasonably priced considering the usage. We'll see how the day goes.

A bottle of Santa María Novella Melograno appeared in the movie Casino Royale with Daniel Craig. I’m curious what impressions the brotherhood might have on this fragrance. I haven’t tried any SMN fragrances yet.