One of the types of the fragrance world carriers that actually doesn’t get a lot of love are solids. I’ve not seen a review on solids for a long while. That’s gonna have to be something new for our group to review and I’m just the guy to do it. Coming soon, Nørge Scents. I was asked give feedback and review after wearing it for a week, and I can’t wait to share it with them and you as well. I’ve got three incoming: Nordic Sandalwood, Northern Smoke, & Midnight Mountain.

I got my sample in yesterday and sprayed it on last night. It opens with a deep, dark pomegranate note tempered with red fruity notes. The Oudh makes itself apparent fairly quickly and creates a very dark, rich, woody take on red fruit. It's like a glass of Pom in a fragrance. It's perfect for fall / winter / spring date nights and evenings out. It might work in the summer, too, but I'll have to wait to try that as we are having a very mild spring week at the moment with temps in the 60s and 70s (very unusual for this time of year in Texas). Longevity is monstrous. I did two test sprays on my wrist last night, and woke up with it still going strong. It was still very present even after taking a shower and washing my hands several times through out the day today. It finally disappeared around noon after eating lunch and wandering around the mall. It was also an excellent follow up to the Hall of Hallucination that I got yesterday, too. It definitely complimented the scent at the end of the day. This might be my favorite designer fragrance of the year so far. It releases in the US market, and you can test it at Nordstrom's on May 7th. I will definitely be getting a bottle, but at $250 for a full bottle, I'll be waiting a while for it, and hoping it shows up at discounters at some point. But if I do end up splurging at some point, don't be surprised. I liked it so much that today I went to Nordstrom's to check out the rest of Fugazzi's lineup and came home with samples of Angel Dust and Vanilla Haze. I'm definitely going to be checking out more from this house.

Alexandria Fragrances Arabian Horse: The dupe that outdoes the original. And considering that the original is PDM’s Herod, that is saying A LOT, because I LOVE Herod. Herod, like many other great fragrances, has unfortunately dealt with some reformulations that have slightly altered the scent and hurt the longevity quite a bit. Arabian Horse is an Extrait de Parfum, so that’s already a big improvement, performance-wise. They are about 85%-90% similar. But Arabian Horse is denser, more ambery/resinous, and more tobacco-forward. This being my favorite tobacco note in any tobacco fragrance I’ve come across. It’s just sweet enough with a little smokiness while never smelling ashy or like a cigarette, or a night club. It has a nice, dark woodsy base that dries down into something that is absolutely to die for. (If you’re into these types of scents.) It’s warm, cozy, and comforting. I also have to mention that it is superbly blended! Herod is a bit more woody, a bit more spicy, a bit sweeter, and a bit lighter. The use of Iso E Super doesn’t help its longevity issues, as it seems to disappear before it actually does sometimes, due to anosmia. The modern formulation of Herod that I currently have, lasts about 4-5 hours (used to be an easy 8 hour or more fragrance!) Whereas Arabian Horse will get you a solid 8+ hours with solid projection and sillage for about half that time. The skin scent that lingers is an absolutely gorgeous amber, woody combo. I think it’s the slightly bolder use of amber/resinous notes in Arabian Horse that tips the scales in its favor for me, along with performance, of course. It also seems a bit richer, more opulent, and upscale than Herod. Honestly, fragrance houses should be wanting to make their own versions, or dupes of Arabian Horse. That’s how great it is.