This morning I wanted to wear my new Hermés Ginsing Balboa sample that I got last week. I got about 3 sprays this morning and the atomizer stopped working 😢 Here’s the difference for me. Things happen. I get it. It’s no-one’s fault just an issue. But because I have a relationship with “My Guy” remember I’m a lifelong NY’er 😜 I took these picture and a video of it not working and texted it to him. Within 3 min I received a reply. “My apologies, I’ll send you another one out today” I thanked him and offered to send this back and he said absolutely not. Keep it! If I had bought this online at a discounter or even from a reputable reseller I’d be sending an email and waiting for someone to reply and this is a holiday weekend and more than likely wouldn’t hear anything until Tuesday. Also not the biggest deal but come Tuesday I’m back at work and not thinking about this as much. I am also assuming the outcome from an email would have been the same as my relationship just delayed. But I’ll never know how fast they would respond or if they would need more evidence or escalate up to a manager etc. My sales associate made it his responsibility and will take great care of me. That is worth whatever price difference I could have found in my eyes. Another reason why relationships matter!!

As Amouage Decision 42 starts rolling out, I figured I would touch on the fact that it has a higher oil concentration. Somehow, our minds have been conditioned to believe that more automatically means better, and that is not necessarily true—especially with fragrances. Two perfumers can use many of the exact same notes and raw materials and still create two completely different fragrances. It all comes down to how those materials are balanced, what the perfumer chooses to emphasize, and how the fragrance is constructed. The same thing applies when you increase the concentration. A higher oil concentration does not simply make the original fragrance stronger. It can change the entire wearing experience. The fragrance may become richer, smoother, deeper, and last longer, but it may also sit closer to the skin. An EDP can sometimes project farther because the lighter materials have more room to lift off the skin and create a larger scent bubble. Look at Reflection Man and Reflection 45. Reflection 45 is denser, richer, and more complex, but the original Reflection Man is brighter and more open. There are situations, especially here in Arizona, when I would rather wear the original because it breathes better in the heat. The same applies to Blue Talisman EDP and Blue Talisman Extrait. The Extrait has more depth and weight, but the EDP has that brighter, airier quality that makes it so easy to wear. The Extrait does not make the EDP unnecessary. They serve different purposes. That is how I am looking at Decision 42. I am not automatically going to call it better than the original Decision just because it has more oil. I want to see how it wears, how it projects, how it develops on my skin, and whether it gives me a different enough experience to justify owning both. Higher concentration may give you more richness and longevity, but it does not always give you more projection—or a better fragrance. Sometimes the original concentration is what allows a fragrance to open up and really breathe.