Got a solid spray to the hand at Macys, which is plenty to get a sense for it. My first reaction: Meh. It’s just meh. The good: it’s pleasant and it actually projects fairly well, I have been catching pleasant whiffs of it for a few hours now. And the woody, powdery vanillic drydown is pleasant. And… that’s all I can really say. The bad: I can’t really say there’s anything bad about it either (although there is a sharpness at the open, probably from violet leaf, that I don’t care for). This to me is just a very pleasant, super mass appealing sweet smooth lavender floral vanilla. To my taste it’s actually very unisex, like straight down the middle. Pretty light on the cardamom & leather and so it’s light enough that I think this can be used safely in all but hot summer days. I honestly don’t see this being the next big thing for Armani - there are of tons of sweet lavender vanilla aromatic choices eg in the BIR line, Invictus Victory and 1 million and Phantom line, Bad Boy line, Gisada Gold, even Ferragamo F Black all coming to mind. I’m not saying all those smell alike or that this smells like those, more that my first impression was oh man this is kind of like things I’ve smelled so many times before and this isn’t so great that it stands out from them, at least to me anyway. Not that the SWY line was groundbreaking or anything, but when I sniff things from that line, I don’t think oh this is similar to so many other things I’ve smelled before (except of course the dozen other SWY flankers lol). I guess what I’m trying to say is the SWY line has some character that I think this release is lacking. I’m honestly a little disappointed, to me this isn’t even decant worthy to test further. But hey, this is just my opinion - go out and sample it for yourself, let me know if you think I need to give this another chance!

Going with Percival from Parfums de Marly today. This is one of those fragrances I sometimes forget just how good it is until I put it back on. It doesn’t need to be complicated or challenging to work. It’s fresh, clean, masculine, and incredibly easy to wear, but still has enough polish to feel like I made an intentional choice rather than simply grabbing a “blue fragrance.” What I enjoy most about Percival is the balance. There’s that bright citrus and aromatic freshness up top, but as it settles it gets smoother, a little warmer, and more refined. It has that fresh-out-of-the-shower character without smelling like shower gel — which is a distinction I appreciate more and more as my fragrance collection has grown. I have plenty of fragrances that are more unusual, richer, darker, or more complex, but there is definitely a place in my collection for something like Percival. Some days I want the fragrance to be part of the conversation. Other days I just want to smell really damn good without thinking too hard about it. 😎 Today is definitely a Percival kind of day.

Good day gentlemen. I almost forgot to post again today anyway, I planned this yesterday not often I do that but with the weather being hot and humid this is a perfect fragrance.