A bit colder here today due to the rain last night so went with a spicy sweet and woody fragrance. Not many days left for these types of frags so I’m taking advantage. This is my favorite from the line so far. Hoping for the new Purple Melancholia can dethrone it though. Great projection and longevity on this one and it’s a compliment beast.

Hi all! I have been a bit silent over the last two weeks, mostly because I was busy trying dupes to fragrances I really liked. All of the below has been tested on strip and then on skin, couple of days of wear too. Incoming Montagne for Tygar and Thé Noir 29, so I will do a follow-up review as well comparing the 3 (OG, Alexandria, Montagne) Let's kick this. 1- Bvlgari Tygar / Tygar Extrait / Vibrato Sospiro (had an OG sample) / Alexandria Black Panther TL;DR: probably the easiest of the bunch: it is a plain yes, thank you very much. - The similarity between Alexandria's Black Panther and Bulgari Tygar is shockingly close. Sospiro is lighter than both, some would say more versatile. - I personally love the strength of Bylgari Extrait, and Black Panther sits between both the Tygar and the extrait in terms of strength and projection. - This does not change throughout the whole perfume lifecycle (start, mid, dry down). When the Tygar stops smelling, the extrait and Alexandria's Black Panther continues to last for a long time, easily the workday. This is definitely a win, scratch the itch and save the bank account - A must buy allowing me to move to another scent profile 2 - Le Labo Thé Noir 29 vs Alexandria Mystere 29. TL;DR: if you look for the dry down, it is a match. If the whole scent journey is important, it is not an exact match but maybe to your taste - Things get interesting here as I started to notice something similar to what I felt when doing the comparison between French Avenue Obsidian and Kilian Angel's Share On the rocks (see discussion here). - At first and on strip, Mystere 29 starts off with more soap and a slight acidic touch, comes very strong as a scent overall. Thé Noir is earthier, you can smell wet ground with roots, darker, less ominous. - I shifted to skin straight away, and this acidic touch disappears. You just have the extra soapy smell which may be enjoyable for some. After two minutes Mystere 29 smells more like green tea but the scent is way stronger than The Noir. There is a clear difference between the two here. - Twenty minutes later, Thé noir becomes hotter, spicier, and therefore stronger as a scent overall. Mystere 29 is floral, with a scent of dried hay, leaning more into The Matcha 26 territory, which again is enjoyable but different from Thé Noir 29. - Between 30 minutes and 2h, The Noir progressively goes into Mystere 29 direction. During that time, Mystere 29 still has this soapiness to it. - 2h later, Mystere 29 has lost its soapiness, and the dry down is literally the same with Thé Noir 29, albeit Mystere 29 being slightly greener. I don’t think anyone would notice the difference though, this is really nitpicking.