I remember @Lars Friedmann giving this so much love a while back. I received a complimentary sample with a purchase, so I thought I’d finally give it a proper wear today. My God, this opens beautifully. Within 10 seconds my mouth started watering. It’s tropical, fresh, juicy, and surprisingly addictive. The opening feels fairly linear on my skin. I get pineapple, sea salt, bergamot, and that distinctive “iodine” note. I assume that’s where the seaweed-like, slightly metallic saltiness comes from. Then the beautiful passionfruit, white florals, and ginger come in and elevate everything. As it dries down, the fruitiness remains while the caramel and woods round things up. On a profile level, it also gives me a custard apple vibe, which probably explains why it feels so nostalgic and rounded to me. After Monkey Special, this is probably my favourite passionfruit and caramel fragrance. This is a genuinely beautiful scent. Juicy, creamy, smooth, and for the first time, a musky salty fragrance doesn’t smell strange on me. Performance is unfortunately a bit underwhelming. At almost 6 hours, it’s already on its last legs. Mostly a skin scent at this point, and that was with 5 sprays. It creates a lovely scent bubble but doesn’t leave much of a trail. If the projection and longevity were just a little better, this would have been an instant purchase for me. I’ve always said fresh niche fragrances are rarely worth the money. This fragrance is making me take those words back. This is worth the money. I still maintain that the LV offerings aren’t. One thing I’ve found a bit odd is the brand itself. There doesn’t seem to be an official website, much of a brand story, or the sort of presence you’d expect from a luxury house. I genuinely don’t even know where I’d ideally buy a bottle from, so I think the brand could benefit from investing more into its marketing and identity. I also saw a post recently about Alexandria’s version, along with a comment mentioning the Montagne dupe. I’ll probably try the latter at some point, but my gut feeling tells me I’d still end up choosing the OG.

Week 1: Welcome to Shelf Control - Building the Joe Average Fragrance Library !! Hey guys, Joe A. here with another one for ya’! Welcome to the beginning of a new mini-series I’m calling "SHELF CONTROL"... because apparently, when you own enough fragrances, SELF-Control leaves the building and Shelving becomes the only responsible adult in the room!! For years, my bottles have been scattered around the house like some kind of aromatic scavenger hunt. A few in one room, a few in another, decants in drawers, boxes tucked away, and the occasional bottle showing up in a place that makes my family pause and question my life choices. At some point, you stop asking, “Where did I put that fragrance?” and start asking, “Do I need a floor directory?” Of course, no fragrance collection gets this out of hand without the family noticing! At first it’s cute: “Oh, you got another bottle?” Then it becomes curious: “Wait… didn’t a package come yesterday?” And eventually, the tone changes: “How many of these do you actually have?” Gentlemen, that is not a question. That's a warning shot!! That’s when I knew it was time... My goal is simple: gather my fragrances from around the house and organize them into one central location in my garage office. In theory, that sounds easy. In reality, it means building a real shelving system, making room for the collection I already have, leaving space for future arrivals (let’s not insult each other by pretending I’m done here) and creating something I can actually use. Over the next several weeks, I’ll be documenting the full process: the problem, the planning, the construction, the great bottle migration, the sorting, the rediscoveries, and finally, the big reveal of the Joe A. Fragrance Library! Because that’s the real issue... A large collection is fun, personal and full of stories. But when bottles are scattered, hidden, boxed up or buried behind other bottles, it stops feeling like a collection and starts feeling like inventory from a very confused warehouse.