Has anyone else experienced falling out of love with specific fragrances? Not necessarily fragrance fatigue as a whole, but fragrances that you genuinely loved at one point and now just don’t feel the same about. Maybe you’ve overused them, your taste has changed, or you’ve simply started noticing something about the fragrance that you didn’t before. Have you ever managed to fall back in love with a fragrance after that happens? If so, what worked for you? Did you take a break from it, try wearing it in a different season or setting, layer it with something else, or just accept that the fragrance had run its course? Would be interested to hear what actually worked for people.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to spend some time with the complete fragrance collection from Urbane Aromatics, created by founder Drew Goetz. There are currently four fragrances in the collection—UA1, UA2, UA Sailor, and the recently released UA ROSÉA—and this is actually the first time I’ve owned an entire collection from a single fragrance maker to talk about. Rather than simply smelling each one and moving on, I wanted to live with them. I wore them to work, while painting at home, during warmer days and cooler evenings, around cigar smoke, with the windows down on an unexpected drive to Santa Cruz, beside the ocean, and eventually during a visit with my mother. Each environment taught me something different about how these fragrances behave and, more importantly, how they made me feel. What began as an opportunity to experience four fragrances from a young independent house became a surprisingly personal journey through scent, environment, memory, and emotion. So before I get with Drew Goetz and learn more about the man behind Urbane Aromatics, I wanted to share what happened when I spent some real time with his work. And that last part became increasingly important. UA1 gave me refinement and calm- it’s a male forward metropolitan wear for office, day, and cooler evenings. UA2 surprised me by challenging how I initially expected a fragrance marketed as feminine to wear on me. A floral, feminine wear that I challenge. UA Sailor seemed to find its natural habitat somewhere between the ocean breeze and the smoke of a fire pit. Then came UA ROSÉA, and suddenly I wasn’t simply reviewing a fragrance anymore. The interview is coming soon, but this introduction… this fragrance and enjoying the wear… it’s hit me different. Owning an entire collection is nothing, but getting resonant, poignant, and emotional response from each one isn’t shared by a lot of people. Most of us don’t have an entire collection of a maker’s art in our world. That’s why I started with this introduction and soon, the interview will share more.

A true classic, and one that flies a little too far under the radar these days especially for me. I'm a big fan of these old school Chypre. Released back in 1955, & created by Henri Robert. If that name rings a bell, it should, he’s the guy behind some of Chanel’s most enduring work, and he crafted this to be the definitive masculine counterpart to the house’s feminine staples. It’s been reformulated over the years, but the DNA remains remarkably intact. Fun point of interest: this is widely considered one of the first truly modern men’s fragrances, before it, men’s scents were mostly heavy, dense colognes. Pour Monsieur was said to have changed that by being clean, structured, and sophisticated. Seems like it was a benchmark for gents scent ever since. It’s an Aromatic Chypre, its sharp, citrusy, herbaceous, and grounded in oakmoss. Nothing flashy, nothing screaming for attention. It opens bright and crisp: Sicilian lemon leads, supported by orange, verbena, and petitgrain, with Tunisian or Grasse neroli adding that distinct, refined citrus-floral lift. Zesty and airy, never sharp or soapy. As it settles, the aromatic spice comes through — cardamom and ginger provide a gentle warmth, while coriander and basil add a cool, herbal edge. It’s sophisticated, well-judged, and never shouts. But there is without a doubt, a lavender vibe lurking in the background. My nose is nowhere near attuned to distinguish, but I'm guessing it's something along the lines of Lavendin or Linalool. Then the base takes over, this is where it earns its reputation. Oakmoss is the undisputed star: earthy, slightly bitter, and deeply elegant, anchored by Virginian cedarwood and a Patchouli or Vetiver. Dry, woody, and perfectly balanced, zero sugar, zero synthetic sweetness, just proper, grown-up composition. It’s easy to see why it’s lasted 70 years. On skin, it’s polite. Longevity is roughly 5 hours on a good day, which is decent but not spectacular. Projection is moderate, it stays close enough that you’ll smell it, and others will notice you, but it won’t fill a room. That’s by design, though, this was never meant to be a beast. It’s a signature, not a show. Wear it to work, to meetings, on dates, anywhere you want to smell put-together without announcing yourself. It feels expensive, tailored, and timeless. The downside? Chanel’s pricing — you’re paying for the interlocking Cs as much as the juice. But if you want a piece of history that still smells modern, clean, and unquestionably classy? This is it.