So after church today, my friends and I are going to be doing a watch party for a new music video dropped from one of my favorite singers, Laufey, a jazz/modern pop artist. The video itself is a fairly big deal, and featuring a lot of famous faces like Hudson Williams and Alysa Liu, and because of that, we promised we wouldn’t watch it or even LISTEN TO THE SONG until we could all experience it together. Anyways to celebrate this special occasion, i decided to wear one of her personal favorite fragrances, which is Santal 33 from the Maison of Le Labo. This was the iconic, flagship breakout scent that helped this house gain traction and project their signature DNA onto the world, and my does it live up to the hype! It’s a unique, dry, slightly leathery take on australian sandalwood, with an almost dill, slightly ozonic undertones. To some people it smells slightly salty and almost pickle-like. To me it reminds me a bit of wet concrete during the rain. It has a strong, dry yet wet feeling notes of sandalwood, balanced out with a dry, paper papyrus, combined with violet, some slight spice from cardamom, all tied together with a distinctive leather accord. The base is a bit powdery with some slight iris blended with amber. This is a highly polarizing but also very unique fragrance. It’s nothing unpleasant at all, but also unusual and very distinctive. The popularity is well earned, and it has almost a calming like quality to it. It actually has some really similar undertones to Dior’s “Fahrenheit”, specifically the older batches. The combination of violet, leather, and woods, with the slightly ozonic nuances put it in a similar realm, although Santal is a bit more calming and less aggressive. It smells very different to all different kinds of people. To some it smells like dry woods, to others, a dill leather combination. To me personally, it reminds me of wearing a brown leather jacket, arriving in a cozy, industrial looking cafe after a long walk in the rain, and observing the city outside of the window.

A&F was never really a thing in Ireland, I came across this one in on a Pharmacy discount shelf of all places. Seems to marketed towards the younger chaps, its a rather plesant and cheap fragrance launched in 2019 from the perfumer Clement Gavarry. It opens up with a nice burst of Citrus and holds a green vibe with some wood & spice throughout. But it also has that soapy shower gel thing going on. It all kicks of with a bright, energizing opening, dominated by a tonic of grapefruit and bergamot. This is sharpened wit the subtle heat of pink pepper. As the fragrance transitions into the heart, it takes on an aromatic, slightly spicy character through a blend of ginger, clary sage & lavender. This middle has a freshness that is both herbal & clean. The dry-down settles into a warm, masculine base where clearwood & moss provide an earthy foundation, while a distinct note of soft suede adds a smooth texture that lingers on the skin. In terms of performance, Authentic is a relatively intimate fragrance with moderate projection. It creates a pleasant scent bubble without being overpowering, making it an excellent choice for office environments or casual close encounters. Its longevity is not great generally lasting 3 to 4 hours. Given its bright citrus and aromatic profile, it is best suited for the spring and summer months, performing exceptionally well in high heat. It is an ideal "everyday" fragrance, perfect for gym sessions etc. I quite like this one, its a fresh everyday scent that makes a change from the CK style of scents. Whilst performance may not be great, at this price, we can cope with that, oh it has a powerful atomiser and magnetic cap. My Rating 6.5/10 Scent 2 Longevity 2 Sillage 1.5 Y/N 1

Cloudy and 15°C, so I decided to pull out some untested winter samples. This is my second fragrance from the house. The first was Oud for Greatness, which I really liked, though I cannot see myself wearing it just yet. It still left a very positive impression of the brand. I actually ordered a sample of Absolute Aphrodisiac but received Side Effect instead. I did not mind the mix-up since I had not tried either. This fragrance has become very popular among teens because a famous streamer wears it. If you search “Duke Dennis cologne”, Side Effect shows up. Anyways this is a super linear and very well blended fragrance in my opinion. The listed notes are rum, tobacco, cinnamon, saffron, sandalwood and hedione. Together they smell like spiced rum candy with a soft vanillic undertone. There also seems to be a plum-like nuance somewhere. I am not sure if that comes from the hedione since I do not remember smelling it before. I really like this one. It is sweet, warm and seductive. At first I thought it smelled like ATH Addicted, but after doing a side by side, it did not. After a few more cap tests, the closest comparisons to me were Monkey Special, Zara Rich Warm Addictive, and from memory something from Kilian in the black bottle line. The dry down is also quite similar to Gris Charnel minus the cardamom. I do pick up a very faint burnt rubber note, but if anything it adds character in a good way. Performance is not the best. For the first 70-90 minutes the projection was solid, around 2-3 feet, then it dropped off quickly. From hour 2/2.5 it becomes almost a skin scent. It has been exactly nine hours now and it sits very close to the skin. The only way to wear this is to overspray. Overall it could be a 10-12 hour fragrance, but about 80% of the time it will stay close to the skin. I have seen many reviews claiming newer batches are heavily nerfed, with only 4-5 hours of performance. My sample is fairly new, so I am not sure what they are referring to. If what I experienced today counts as bad performance, I might start hunting for an older bottle.