For those of you who celebrate, today is the traditional holiday of Beltane, which celebrates the midpoint between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. It's traditionally when the fields were fertilized, and the hopes for a strong fall harvest were planted. It was often celebrated with fertility rites - the May Pole is a remnant of these celebrations. There is often a bonfire, a feast, weddings, and celebrations that go well into the night. I'm celebrating with my friends, though the rain is putting a damper on things. I have a wedding tomorrow, and there will be a bonfire and celebrations after. I picked Amouage Overture Man as my SOTD. It's resinous, sensual, a little boozy, and mysterious with a bit of an animalic undertone. I'm meeting a date, and we are going out for a little celebration. Should be a good time. I wish everyone a bright blessing and wonderful Beltane holiday!

After seeing the ads for this brand all over social media I finally pulled the trigger and got the discovery set. Unfortunately, I found myself not really intrigued by any of them as many smelled just bad and others were okay at best, but not worth going beyond the sample. However, this bad boy just stood out to me. As my nose has evolved, I find myself appreciating different scents but really looking for something more appealing to me. Not necessarily safe, but something different. I have enough aquatics and freshies, vanilla-bombs and even woody scents so now I’m at the point where I want something that stands out and adds to the collection in a new and meaningful way…and this is the latest to fit that bill. The oud, suede and amber combination is fantastic to me. I don’t get the citrus in the opening but I’m okay with that. I can sense a little florals in the background but overall the spices and various woods won me over. Definitely not something I’d expect to smell at Dillard’s or Macy’s. It does sit closer to skin for me similar to The One and the Givenchy Ambree/Privee/Boisee frags, but for date night, this is something I love to put on and even just spend the house at night as it’s been semi-cooler in the desert, I’m all about it. Longevity is 4-6hrs for me but I’ve also noticed that sample bottles spray different so I’m curious to see, now that I have a real bottle, do I get better longevity. Weird wrinkle I’ve picked up in sampling versus whole bottle purchases. If you haven’t tried this one and are into darker frags, would recommend.

While I have Lattafa and other clones in my collection my favorite clone house has to be Bujairami. I am so impressed with the quality of their fragrances. I was wearing the Aftermath which is inspired by Aventus and a couple of my frag head brothers couldn’t tell the difference until I told them. Do any of you brothers have a favorite clone house?