Have to travel today (Heading to the DC area) and I wanted to wear something softer for the plane trip. The opening of this fragrance is a soft woody scent with undertones of some resinous sweet and spicy notes. At 15 minutes I am picking up some Oud along with a continued slightly sweet and spicy scent. At 30 minutes the opening has settled and I am getting a mostly Sandalwood scent accompanied by some Incense. At 60 minutes, the sandalwood remains the prominent note in this fragrance and throughout the wear you get undertones of different accompanying notes. At this point in the wear, I am picking up a light sweetness which compliments the Sandalwood nicely. The dry down of this fragrance is quite elegant. You get a dominant Sandalwood with some nuttiness and a hint of the floral notes in the background. Performance: The projection of this fragrance is OK with it creating a scent bubble of about 18 inches for about 2 hours. The sillage is also OK with a scent trail of about 2 feet for almost 2 hours. Longevity on my skin is between 5 to 6 hours with the fragrance becoming a skin scent after about 2.5 hours.

As staple for the late 90’s and early 2000’s, it seemed every guy had this one. And it was a beast. The question is raised: Are the current formulations and clones similar to the original, or must we look elsewhere to get those notes of juniper, amber, cactus, and lavender that we loved so much. Let’s dive in. Liz Claiborne’s Curve for Men. The original. I applied this today, and immediately, I was taken back. This twenty year old 5 mL bottle smells exactly as I remembered it. Smooth, deep woody, ambery, lavender, with a unique cactus undercurrent. There is also a slight peppery and juniper note. There is pineapple listed as a note, but I do not detect that at all, and I can’t say that I remember a pineapple note at all either when I wore it decades ago. So I do not think that top note has degraded over time. It must be and has been a subtle accenting note if it was even there. But did I say this fragrance is smooth? Dang, it’s good. Curve was coming out of the “complex” era of fragrances where the notes were many and well blended. So individual note details are hard to describe, and the fragrance functions as a whole. This is a strictly linear fragrance and doesn’t change much if at all over its lifespan. As for performance, it has decent projection, but not crazy. Again, this one works well in a work space, but spray heavier if outdoors or in an open space. It does lend itself to cooler weather because it does feel thicker and heavy, but it could be worn in an evening setting during warmer weather. As for longevity, it projected nicely for at least 5 hours, then it was a skin scent. It was gone in 8 hours. In 2011, Liz Claiborne was acquired by Elizabeth Arden Co. and the Claiborne name was dropped from the label. And alas, the downhill slide from there is real. Elizabeth Arden’s Curve for Men. I would like to think that I am not aggravated by many things. But this is one of them. I do not know why, but synthetic rubbing alcohol pineapple is where they thought this fragrance needed to be. The pineapple is up front, and not in a good way like Aventus DNA. Though I can’t help but think they brought the pineapple forward after Aventus’ success. The opening doesn’t smell like I remember the fragrance at all, and when compared to LC Curve, that seems truer than ever. The opening is just awful. For one hour, this is a vastly different fragrance. Then, to say something nice, it finally lands pretty close to the original late in its life as the pineapple alcohol evaporates away. Although it does seem to lean a tad bit more on the black pepper and juniper; and the cactus note seems absent. As for performance, this is right on par with the original. And as for longevity it is a skin scent after 5 hours. It actually may last just a tad longer than the original, just a tad longer.

For anyone who hasn't yet seen the news, Chuck Norris passed away today. I met him once back in 2012. He was a genuinely nice man and loved his fans and had a great sense of humor. A friend of mine opened a coffee shop called Kick Butt Cafe and he decorated it with tons of images of Chuck and had posters and photos of him everywhere. Chuck was kind enough to sign an autograph and mention the place to his fans, and it made my friend's entire year. So in honor of the man, the myth, the legend, I'd love for anyone who was a fan to 1). Post what you cologne you think he would have worn (I don't know if he did or not, but I'm guessing that his natural body scent was it's own perfume) 2). Post your favorite Chuck Norris joke. He was known to tell a few of his own and enjoyed hearing good ones, so I don't think it would be disrespectful, and it's a way to honor him and the joy he brought to millions of fans over a lifetime.

Received a sample of this one on the mail yesterday, so today I went for it. It’s my first time trying this Luna Rossa Carbon and I like it. It’s a very versatile fragrance, it has a good projection the first 2 hours, but past the 4 hours me & my wife can still smell it. On clothes it lasts longer but I’m looking forward to see how it keeps projecting and its performance.

At some point this afternoon I reached level 9, and I just wanted to thank everyone who makes this board a fun and educational place to hang out! I have learned so much, and have received so much inspiration, over the last 15 months, from all of you. Sometimes a literary masterpiece from @Renato Carotti is just what I'm looking for, and other times a two-liner SOTD from @Adeel Arif makes the bells go off in my head lol. I appreciate the experienced viewpoints, as well as the epiphanies being shared by those of us newer to the game. Thank you to the guys I DM with, to the guys that I've connected with, and to those I've yet to meet. Onward and upward brothers!