I want to approach this differently and compare two fragrances: Carolina Herrera Bad Boy Parfum, and Gisada Ambassador Intense. Both of these fragrances are occupying similar spaces and roles but come from different directions to reach their goals. These are dark and spicy fragrances that are built for longevity, projection, and sex appeal. Bad Boy Parfum is a flanker that surfaced out of a vanilla and amber dense designer. The original was aimed at the younger club demographic. It focuses on several key areas for designers. The perfume needs a reasonable price. It must have an arresting opening. It must project like a siren at all costs. It must grab the attention of as many people as possible without offending anyone. These are the ingredients that I see as vital for a designer fragrance of this kind. What materialized in this instance was an attempt to push those traits as far as possible without tipping the whole thing into the abyss. The oil concentration increased, the base material ratio increased, the top notes had to become more daring. They had to do it with a designer budget. The consensus from the community was that it was a step too far. They choose to go Green with a vanilla. Greens are already a difficult and divisive area of perfumery, but in this instance they went all-in and created a Cannabis note. Bad boy, right? Well most people thought it was too pungent. This one will fade into obscurity until it gets discontinued, at which point people will realize what they missed. So how do you go full Green and leather on a budget? Boatloads of patchouli. The synthetic-forward presentation is obvious to anyone with enough experience in fragrances. The lack of ingredient diversity hurt this perfume more than the marketing. Loud, linear, green, and dense without the benefits of great material made the opening smell like a good dose of artificial thc sitting in a leather jacket. It's what they were going for but it was either too early or too late to the scene to fit in. CH doubled down on tonka and saved the line for the mass audience. I happen to really enjoy this one, despite the flaws. It made a huge mistake because it went too niche.

Tomorrow going to be in the 90’s again so I’m going to wear Valentino Uomo Aqua. It’s orange, tomato leaf, iris, Sage, patchouli and slightly leather. Another discontinued favorite that I only wear a few times a year.