Just to share my experience of scent with other people at my job and just doing word of mouth. I’m not looking to get rich, just enough to continue my collection and like I said, share the olfactory experience. An older head at my work liked some Boss I was wearing, so I said I would hook him up. He was shocked. “You would do that for me!?!?!” I was like yeah. So I thought this all up. Looking for some constructive criticism. 3ml glass (got 5ml and 10ml on standby) with parafilm all free of charge cause he wanted some “green” fragrances. Hope he enjoys them. And like I said, looking for y’all’s criticism since I know you’ve all bought many a sample before.

I am probably going to piss off some clone warriors with this one, but so be it. I can say this because I have been there. I chased everything. I owned hundreds of dupes and clones. I chased every new “95% identical” release, every beast-mode version and every $30 alternative that supposedly made the original obsolete. But I also chased every inexpensive designer brand I could find. Rack-store bargains, discounted designers, cheapies that somebody on YouTube said were hidden gems — if it was inexpensive and getting attention, I wanted to try it. Then I started doing the same thing with niche. I chased niche brands, affordable niche, hyped niche and whatever house everybody happened to be talking about that month. For a long time, the hobby became about the next bottle. And eventually I had to ask myself a question: Do I actually love perfumery, or do I just love collecting bottles? Because those are not necessarily the same thing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with buying affordable fragrances. There is nothing wrong with clones either. Some are excellent, some perform better than the original, and some are incredible values. But if your entire collection is built around copies of fragrances you have never even smelled, I have a hard time calling that a deep appreciation of perfumery. Especially when those same people turn around and say: “Why would anybody pay $300 for the original?” “The clone is better.” “It smells exactly the same.” “The original is a ripoff.” How do you know? You never smelled it. Watching a YouTube reviewer tell you something is 95% accurate does not mean you have experienced the original. And this is one of my biggest problems with clone culture. Somewhere along the way, price and performance became the only measurements of quality. If a fragrance costs $25 and lasts 12 hours, it is automatically considered better than a $250 fragrance that lasts seven. That makes absolutely no sense to me anymore. Perfumery is more than projection and longevity.

Match #34 in my fragrance tournament proves that the decisions only get tougher from here. This Round of 16 matchup features Giorgio Armani Acqua di Giò against Chanel Allure Homme Sport Eau Extrême. Acqua di Giò (1996, created by Alberto Morillas) is one of the true classics of men's perfumery. Its bright blend of bergamot, lemon, lime, mandarin, jasmine, and marine notes helped define the modern fresh fragrance, and it's one of the few lines in my collection where I also own a flanker. Chanel Allure Homme Sport Eau Extrême (2012, created by Jacques Polge) takes a different approach. Citrus, mint, cypress, tonka bean, and woods combine to create a fragrance that works beautifully through three seasons. It's fresh enough for warm weather, but has enough depth and warmth to feel more substantial than a typical citrus fragrance. Acqua di Giò has that instantly recognizable DNA and a brightness that's hard not to love. But for me, Allure Homme Sport Eau Extrême is the more complete fragrance. It's more complex, more sophisticated, and just feels like a step up in maturity while still being incredibly versatile. Another difficult decision, but Chanel Allure Homme Sport Eau Extrême advances to the quarterfinals, while Acqua di Giò drops into the loser's bracket for one more chance to stay alive in the tournament.

Anniversary fragrance. 44 blissful years and counting.

Technically this is my second SOTE today, I put on Mind Games J'Adoube for an early evening party. But now I am home at almost 11pm and time for a cigar. Had to wear Dua Tux after @Jon Jacobs asked me about my dupes of YSL Tuxedo and I figured it has been many months since I wore this one, so it was due for a revisit