Today it was sub 8°C, so I thought I’d use the opportunity to crack open a winter sample I’ve been wanting to try before the seasons changed. I got three Shaghafs (Oud, Oud Elixir and Oud Tonka) and went with Shaghaf Oud today. A relatively linear fragrance that starts off with warm saffron, jammy rose, decadent praline and what I assume is “oud”. Once it fully dries down, the saffron disappears and the vanilla pops up. The rest remains largely unchanged. It’s a lovely rose oud gourmand with a youthful Middle Eastern touch. It has that jammy rose vibe similar to Satin Mood that pairs well with the “oud”. The quality at this price is very surprising, almost shocking. Performance is good. People online claim 12+ hours, but that is supposedly the older batches. The one I tried projected nicely for the first 2 to 3 hours at around 1.5 to 2 feet, then slowly settled closer to the skin by hour 6. I’m expecting around 9 to 11 hours before it disappears. I also get whiffs of the fragrance every time I twist and turn, which is quite nice. I always hear good things about Swiss Arabian, but I thought it was exaggerated. I understand the hype now. Super justified love and respect for the brand. Worth gatekeeping for some. Overall, I’d give it a solid 8.5/10. A very easy to like, high quality and beginner friendly rose oud fragrance. Nothing revolutionary, but at this price it’s a no brainer. I could pick it up for £23, but I’m going to try the other two and make a decision. I’m expecting a little more complexity from this DNA, and Elixir seems to have it.

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Just got word this one's a comin' Just don’t buy from them, wait til discounters!!! What say you, guys? You like Mancera? What's your favorite one? If you don’t have a Mancera, which one or ones are piquing your interest? Love to hear from ya!

I recently came across this video from Robin James, which i’ll attach here https://www.youtube.com/shorts/H1jslzwZT8E In the video he points out something that i find a bit alarming, which is the increase of ai usage in advertising, particularly in this video… Pengaligon’s They took it down quickly but have already faced immense backlash from it, i think. But the time it was up there already has made comments and got people talking about it. And it isn’t just Penhaligon’s, i’ve found Memo Paris, and even Xerjoff have started using AI for their images and videos, although they’re not as widespread, they’re still there. Now Robin expressed dislike and disapproval of Penhaligon’s usage, especially considering how quickly they took it down. It’s almost like they were experimenting and dipping their toes into the water, to see if they could or not. I myself am not the biggest fan of this either, and it’s for a few reasons. You can disagree with me on this if you want, and if you do, i’d love to hear your perspective on the matter. Now a disclaimer before we talk about this, i want to make it clear that im not some gigantic ai hater who goes seething at the mouth whenever i see its usage. There’s tons of brothers even in this community, myself included, who enjoy using it for visuals and such, and there’s no problem in that. It’s a quick and simple way to add fun visuals to your posts and illustrate your points better. There’s no problem in that. For individual use, i think it’s perfectly fine and quite fun to use! Number two, i don’t want to come across as like a virtue signaling “look how correct I am, let’s CANCEL these guys” or whatever lol. This is just my opinion personally. Now with that being said, id like to explain my reasoning on why i’m kind of disappointed in these brands for using AI. The biggest reason for me is in the same realm for why I disapprove of communities like fragrancetok, the huge rise and over saturation of clone houses, and a boom of constant advertising on social media…