I know I promised @Henry Clay and @Thomas Chavez that I'd get on board with their posts about Mancera Red Tobacco (which I love), but I'm just not up for anything involving tobacco or incense or anything too heavy tonight. TBH, I got things on my mind, and it's not going to be cooler than 60 tonight, and I need something refreshing, and easy, and a little mindless. French Riviera checks all those boxes for me. I CAN'T be the only one who feels like this is a vacation in a bottle. Yeah, I know... People accuse it of having a sun tan lotion smell to it and I get it... In fact, I get it and kinda like it. The only thing I'm missing is the sand and the ocean. You can't GET any easier than that. Is it appropriate for night?? Um, uhh... No, but who's in charge here? It's MY bottle and I want to spray it tonight! In fact, if I wake up in the middle of the night and the scent is gone, I'll douse myself in it just for fun. It may piss my wife off, but what the hell... Her birthday celebration is over. (I'll regret that one...) Just a quick summary of the notes: The opening is a sharp, photorealistic (smells like the real deal) burst of tangerine, orange, and lemon along with some ginger. The mid is where the "Riviera" vibe truly comes in. I get a salty, sea-spray accord. The florals aren't feminine and it gives me that "luxury suntan lotion" vibe. The dry down is a clean, sea salt, with maybe a little amber. It smells like a day at the beach. For a freshie, its performance is exceptional, and I'm expecting 7 to 9 hours. Mancera does it once again. They make some of the best values in the niche market out there. I give it a: 7.5 / 10.0

currently looking to buy a cool cologne for my stepdad for christmas, and i’m stuck on a few different options. first option: nocturno by rayhaan i’m thinking of this one, because he likes the sauvage dna, and likes his fresh, woody, masculine scents. he has some old school freshies like azzaro chrome and perry ellis red, and i think he’d like a modern, mass appealing take on it. it’s something he could wear daily and yearly. second option: club de nuit intense classic, masculine, great take on the drydown of aventus. if i was super rich, id by him aventus, but this is close as i can get haha. the one con is that the opening of this scent is a bit horrific, but the dry down is great. i dont think this will be a top pick but still a consideration third option: obsidian by rayhaan i think this is the direction that i’m leaning the most in right now. while he likes freshies, he also does enjoy sweet vanilla scents for the winter, and really likes coach’s platinum for men. this is a great potential option for him, because i think he’d like (and also need) something sophisticated and mature for the cold months. he’s in the age range and career range to pull this off, especially being around the classier crowd. what do you guys think?