Last of my PDM samples. I didn’t even realise until I checked today. Before trying it, I was a bit gutted to be ending on a fragrance I had never seen anyone talk about. That changed quickly once I tried it. The opening made me go “wow”. The note breakdown didn’t make much sense to me because right off the bat I got bergamot freshness, sage and lavender aromatics, sweet praline, and warm saffron. Stays the same in the mids with less freshness and the dry down becomes simpler, with the warmth stepping back and a touch of sweetness remaining alongside oud, patchouli, leather, and vetiver. It’s luxurious, warm, fruity, woody, leathery, slightly green, and perfectly balanced. Definitely a cool to cold weather frag. It’s everything I wanted Oud for Greatness to be. This also confirms my oud tolerance. Anything stronger than this feels unnecessary (sorry not sorry @Paul Bartnicki) I don’t think I can give an accurate performance estimate today as my skin is supposedly dehydrated. However, this is roughly a 7-10+ hr fragrance with strong projection for the first few hrs. The sillage and scent trail are excellent too. I really like this DNA and want to explore more fragrances in this space. I don’t want to be blinded by just this one, so suggestions are welcome. I’ve heard Widian Liwa and Ormonde Jayne Muscat sits in a similar realm. Overall, I’m giving it a 9.7/10. It smells objectively perfect. Second only to Cedrat Boise for me. Luckily it’s not popular and has no good clones, so it could easily be a signature scent. I still need to retest performance, but the fragrance itself is excellent. Points deducted for lack of uniqueness and the price tag. Top 3 PDM for me and possibly the first I purchase. Currently it’s a top 10 fragrance of all time for me. What are your thoughts on this?

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.

One of the most popular lines in the blue genre, with a clean, versatile, and mass-appealing profile. It was released in 2010, the first release from Chanel since 1999's Allure Homme. Created by the now retired master perfumer Jacques Polge, a Woody Aromatic fragrance, it blends traditional masculine notes with a contemporary, citrusy freshness. It opens with an sharp, energetic burst of grapefruit, lemon & mint, accented by the subtle heat of pink pepper. This opening is fizzy & bright, with an immediate sense of cleanliness. As it transitions into the heart, the citrus softens to make way for a spicy aromatic blend of ginger, nutmeg & jasmine, which adds a nice layer of warmth. The dry-down is where the fragrance reveals its woody character, settling into a smooth foundation of New Caledonian sandalwood, cedar & vetiver. An infusion of incense & labdanum gives the base a smoky, slightly resinous depth. For an edt, it performs rather well, lasting almost 6 hrs with good protection for the first 90m. After this it becomes more of a intimate scent. Its equally effective in a formal office setting as it is at a casual gym session. While it can be worn year-round, its bright citrus profile makes it particularly shine during the spring & summer months. Whether you are dressing up for a black-tie event or heading out for a weekend brunch you can't go far wrong with this. My Rating 7/10 Scent 2 Longevity 2 Sillage 2 Y/N 1