My Top 5 most anticipated blind buy purchases (January 2012)

I decided to give you all a small taste of what is to come in my January 2012 fragrance haul. These are the top 5 fragrances that I am anticipating to open the most since they are blind buys never smelled, never tested, never sampled fragrances. Some I purchased because I felt the notes seemed interesting enough to take the plunge or some are from word of mouth. Either way these are the top 5. I have not included the 3 mystery bottles that I have purchased that will be most likely be my top 3 niche fragrances for winter 2011/2012. Those bottles will also not be included in the haul video, they will be introduced on youtube (yes I will be first to mention them) as number 3,2,1 on my top winter list. As you know I am full of surprises and hope that you enjoy the month of January. Here is my list , excluded are many purchased that I have already smelled like Royal Oud, Amouage Epic , Fumerie Turque among others which I feel might be the best purchases of this haul.

At number 5 we have Thierry Mugler's limited Edition (unless it sells then it will come back a year later as another limited edition) A*men taste of a fragrance (chili). TM has decided that chili powder may go well with chocolate,tar, caramel. It might give this a spicy kick and might just work. I have heard two sides of the coin with this one. I'm not sure what to expect with this one and I am excited to bring my nose to this one. The only designer in this list, TM knows how to get my excited about a release.




At number 4 we have Huitieme Art's Sucre d'ebene. A gourmand that was brought to my attention oh about 4 months ago on our facebook board (FGN) . It's easy to get my attention to blind buy when you talk about a gourmand. This is my first purchase from this brand, and usually there is extra excitement from blind buying in a brand new fragrance house because you really have no clue what to expect. I hear lots of good things about this one and not too many bad things so this could be an easy blind buy for me.



In 3rd we have Nasomatto's Pardon. I remember first sniffing Black Afgano oh a good year or two ago and been blown away from the fragrance, once purchased I never really felt the urge to look deeper in to the line. I felt this was a one and done house, well perhaps I was wrong or maybe I am right. We will see with Pardon if this house is worth looking into some more. This may make a strong case to crack the top 10 winter niche for 2011 if it makes a good impression but BA is a hard act to follow .






In 2nd we have the hyped up Puredistance M. Yes this thing has been pretty hot lately on youtube and on boards. Puredistance even did a timely release of a 100 ml bottle this month. I blind purchase this little 17.5 ml (looks like a nice decant bottle) to see what the hype was about. I'm sure I'll be getting some solid juice for the price. Sometimes I even jump on the hype bandwagon and most of the time it's a safe bet knowing people won't hype something horrible. I really can't wait to sniff this one.






Invasion Barbare is my #1 most anticipated blind buy purchase of this haul. It is also the most expensive (price point not per ml) . Some would call me crazy purchasing something like this blind but it's in my nature for not waiting on something like this. I can already hear the rumblings about this one all over message boards on how great it is. Comparisons to le male & fahrenheit have me shaking my head in enjoyment hoping they are right. This could be either the worst blind buy that I have ever done or the very best, either way it's the one I can't wait to sniff the most out of the 46 bottles of this huge fragrance haul.

Returning in January ! What to expect

First and Foremost I would like to thank every single one of you that have supported me in the past few years with this hobby. You have made me your #1 source for men's fragrance information on youtube and I will continue to keep you all informed on this hobby that we all share. The past few months I have pondered how I can upgrade my youtube channel to give you the best information and give you the best presentation for fragrance reviews. Today I will inform you on a few changes that will transpire in the next few months on the channel.

I felt the first of many changes was to be the presentation of my reviews. I felt that I needed to upgrade how to shoot my reviews, hence I have purchased a Canon T3i which will produce a full 1080p HD video for all you hard core fragrance heads that would like to see as much detail on the presentation of the bottle and the box before shelling out your hard earned cash on blind buys. I felt this will be a huge step since only a small handfull of reviewers have this kind of quality and I felt you as my subscribers deserve a better presentation. I have also dedicated some of my budget to get proper lighting , lenses and equipement to make the whole presentation much neater.

I felt since I was upgrading on the presentation of the videos, it was time to brush up on the format. I have stuck with the same format for over 2 years now which I know most of you love since you all know where to go in the video to find the information you need. The main reason for this is I feel that I needed to cut the fat and start fresh and see what information you all needed and the information that was not necessary. First I wanted to take out the google images in my videos, which will be replaced by my own pictures of the bottles and box. I have also found a local talent that will help me with music for that introduction (the music will be a later addition) . Overall the information that you have come to me for will always be there including the smell, my reaction, age group, how many sprays and where, buy try or pass. I will be adding a segment on longevity and projection which was usually kept for the end of the video in the rating system. I felt they needed to be touched upon in more detail. The rating system will continue to be at the end of the video but less time will be spent on it. I will also be introducing a timestamp feature on my video which will be in the description box under the video and give you a timeline of what time a feature is being spoken about which if you are looking for one specific thing in a review you can just go to that timeline to find out the information. I also will be adding a few new features in the full reviews which will be discussed at a later time.

In other news I will be in New York City on January 14th for a meetup will fellow fragrance heads. I have Al (frangrancefanatic1) & Ed (frunkinator) working on the details at the moment which we can all meet and speak about fragrances. I am very excited to meet a handfull of you. My very 1st review back will be on Hot Water by Davidoff which has been touched by only 2 reviewers, so I am very excited to give you all the details on this fragrance.

I wish you all a happy holidays and a happy new year , and please stay smellin' great !

Marc

Duty Free in Dubai : What I wanted I got !!

Well this is where the fun starts. It's that time to fly and what that means is I have a chance to look at Duty Free sections all over the world and try to find some jewels. This time around it was in Dubai that I set my sights on the prizes. I was really surprised to see not many new designer releases were available in Dubai duty free. Talking about the new JPG and the new YSL's were both no where to be found, nothing from Thierry Mugler. I did find a few exciting designer releases such as SWW from Dsquared. I did not sniff it but I did almost purchase it, perhaps next time. I came across the Tom Ford section which is always a treat to see what they have, usually they only have the lower end of the brand (the non private blend) which include Tom Ford for Men and Grey Vetiver. I was surprised to see Tom Ford extreme on the counter. I decided since I did just review Grey Vetiver and also already did a review on the original Tom Ford for men that I would pick this one up. I had my eye on this fragrance for quite some time and was wondering back when I purchased the original Tom Ford for men to get the extreme. I heard great things about it, so with no samples or tester available on extreme in duty free I decided well this what I do (blind buys) so I grabbed the last box for the extreme happy to start off my duty free purchases. First impression since I only worn it once since purchase is this is a good one folks!!! I really enjoyed it, it's dark and well balanced great for fall and winter. I have not taken a look at the note breakdown but I'm sure it's as simple as the original Tom Ford for men but also as the original does the job very well. I smelt a little bit of spice and woods . Longevity for a first wear with it came out disappointing which gave me around 5-6 hours but projection was well into 3-4 hours into the wearing still going strong.


Next was the buy that I knew I was going to do when I first heard that I was going thru Dubai. That's the Amouage house. Epic was next on the list and this one was a no brainer. I found the Amouage section and knew exactly where I was going and what bottle I was going to get. Epic in a sense is Epic !! I've sniffed this one before in Duty Free (never worn it) but for the past 2 years I overlooked it over purchases with Reflection, Memoir and lastly Honour Man in duty free. It always came in second and finally it was it's turn. I knew it was gorgeous and I knew it was only a matter of time that I snatched that bottle up. The incense in these Amouage bottles is just insane and so well blended with the other notes that I just get floored every time I smell one of these. This one has Oud in it and of course some spices and usually these Amouage Fragrances just invoke where I wear them that I am some important Sultan and I demand attention. People this brand is the only brand that I will not blink and spend 300 dollars on a bottle . I know what I get from these scents and they are terrific. For the record this is my 6th bottle of Amouage after Memoir, Reflection, Honour, Jubilation XXV and Dia. Stunning just Stunning

My Latest Purchases

Frapin's 1697 is a limited edition fragrance and I felt like snatching this one before it was too late. Hopefully it's a good one
As my previous post stated this fragrance is the one I wanted to buy in 2011 and once I found out it was for sale I snatched a bottle up. Can't wait to sniff this
Fig tea is my 2nd bottle of PDN , it is a woman's fragrance but figs are so light I'm pretty sure anyone can wear them.
At the beach 1966 was a fragrance I was interested in since I still need more summer niche fragrance to round up my collection. This might go head to head against Fire Island from Bond.
Sel de Vetiver was a purchase that was a long time coming. I love this fragrance since I first sniffed it a few years ago.
Oranges & Lemons is a fragrance I bought because of a facebook challenge . Can't wait to see what's in store
L'eau by Serge Lutens is a fragrance I was interested in because it's totally the opposite of what SL usually does. I think it's well done IMO.
L'eau by Artisan should be another great addition to my ever growing collection

Most Anticipated Release for 2011

This is the fragrance that I will blind buy right away when it's released. This is my most anticipated release for 2011 called Amouage Honour Man. I love the bottle already and the notes look tempting. This is by far the one fragrance house that I don't mind spending the money.

3 New Purchases

I'll start with the one I've been trying to get a good price for a long long time. Ever since I got Tobacco Vanille I knew the 2nd bottle I wanted from the line was AA. I believe that was a year and a half ago and two other Tom Ford purchases later I finally got my 4th Tom Ford bottle and it's Amber Absolute. This is a blind buy, but hey I trust my nose and the reputation of this fragrance to know I will love it. I can't wait. This is my 3rd Private Blend purchase in 3 months. I am starting to enjoy this brand a little more these days.
Next I wanted to get this one. The Original Penguin fragrance which is another blind buy for me. I can't wait to see what it has in store for me.
Last is Armani Code Summer 2010, I bought this one overseas where I am. I noticed the freshness of this one right away. I believe it was a good purchase for reviewing since Armani Code Sport is out now and it's always nice to get the whole line together. We will see how this one works out for me.

Story

Hello fellow fragheads,

Once in a while when you test hundreds of fragrances sometimes it just gets too boring perhaps or too easy. But once in a blue moon a fragrance just blows your mind. Today , minutes ago I was working on my fragrance review on Timbuktu from Artisan and this fragrance just blew my mind.

I remember when I first got it (I believe I have a video of me hating it on youtube) I hated this stuff. It was too much for my nose. This is why I test and test and test and test until my nose has wrapped itself around the scent, because hey when we buy a fragrance we don't want it to smell good to us for a few days or weeks. We want to experience it perhaps for years and decades. To really review a scent I go through the good and the bad. Initial impressions with a scent can last over a week perhaps a month but after long term use you will either get bored, hate a note or two in it, learn to love it , or just grow with the scent. Timbuktu just woke my ass up today and said hey ! I'm a masterpiece !!! Yes you are. If your a scent head and enjoy scents that challenge your nose then Timbuktu is something that you MUST try. It's not something most people would wear as a day to day fragrance but it's a work of art.

Wow

Announcement

I'd like to announce today that I have decided after months of thought that I will return to youtube in September of this year. I will enjoy my break off of youtube and come back stronger then ever. I am planning to have at least 100 full reviews done and ready to shoot once I am back and hopefully the videos will continue to flow once I am back.... thank you for everyone's support and I can't wait to continue our journey together

Luckyscent Haul !

Hey guys another fragrance niche haul at luckyscent. First and foremost let's take a look at my first fragrance I bought which is Artisan's Premier Figuier. I just love figue's and the cooling sensation they give so I decided to get the very first figue based fragrance in the game which is this one. We will see if I love this one just as much as I do with Philosykos.
Next is the reason why I did the haul in the first place. I have been searching high and low for Black Afgano ever since I got the sample of the black juice. It's been rumoured to be discontinued and it was off the market for so long. Well it's back and I snatched the bottle right away. I can't wait to add this to the arsenal. Costly tho, for 1 ounce it was 150$. Much better then the ebay cost at the moment for a bottle going for 200-400.
Next is Frapin's L'humaniste. I can thank my youtube friends for this blind buy. So much hype and so much love for this fragrance so I decided to see what the fuss is about.
Talking about youtube hype. How about the Cereus line ? They are getting tons of love on youtube and I decided to blind buy number 4 and see what I can get from it. A summer scent that I am really interested to see what it gives me .

Working on....

Today is a day that I am finally done doing final touches on all uncompleted fragrances reviews. So it's time to work with some new fragrances, this is something I am always excited to do. I chose two fragrances that I have had for a few years now and are in a huge need to be reviewed. Usually I pick fragrances that I have had for a while and that I have worn already a few times so I know usually what I am getting from the fragrance which makes the testing time for these fragrances much shorter then usual. So today I picked the original He Wood. I have only reviewed He Wood Rocky Mountain Wood and gave it a great score on my channel but how will the original do when it's reviewed ? Usually flankers never outshine the original but this time I think we might see the pupil beat the teacher.

Next I picked a Givenchy fragrance. It seems like forever since I tackled this fragrance house and I chose it's gourmandish fragrance called Very Irresistible. This one is really interesting and personally I think is one of the better Givenchy fragrances on the market. We will see how it stacks up against other fragrances in the same genre.

Working on...

Since I am back working on some reviews I decided to let you guys know what I am working on at the moment. Nothing big right now just working on finishing a couple of cheapies. Including Cuba Red & Playboy Hollywood. These reviews were almost complete before I decided to hang it up so now it's just a refresher course on them and finish up my thoughts on them, they will both be future reviews in October/November 2011.

A Return to youtube ?

I'm sure most of you have heard of me taking my leave of youtube, and wondering what is in store for me. Well things have changed in the past 3 weeks for me. When I left youtube for good, I knew that the community was in good hands and that me taking a leave would not hurt the community but make it grow and others would feel motivated to bring up the level of content on their own channels. Truly I needed the time off and I needed the time away to focus on other things in life. Well at that time I knew a certain few people would let me know that I needed to stay but I never knew it would be like this. A flurry of emails and videos on youtube have showed me that this little thing I thought I was doing perhaps maybe a little bigger then I thought. It comes to the conclusion that I am thinking of returning perhaps.... let's just say I am keeping the window open. Good news if your a betting man is that I have resumed testing fragrances for reviews.

New Creed : Royal Oud

Creed is releasing a new fragrance and it's called Royal Oud. People often ask me what new releases do I look forward to in the future ? I really never have an answer until today. I am very excited for this fragrance to drop so I can blind buy that bottle right away. What are your thoughts on this new Creed ? Is going to be the next big hype and flop or get no love but is a underrated gem.

2 New Purchases

First I purchased the new Ellena fragrance. Jardin sur le Toit is his newest creation for Hermes. I love these fruity/fresh fragrances from Ellena, he does a masterful job on most of them and this one is a winner for warm days. I wore it already a few times on my skin, it needs perhaps 5-6 sprays on the skin to last , so yes you need to overspray but the is a winner in my books. I love it.

Anyone who follows my purchases to a T knows I already had a bottle of L'instant Exteme and know that I have been hating on the fragrance ever since I got the bottle. It felt a little off since there is so much love for this fragrance and I really did not like what my bottle was giving me. I always felt there is something wrong. Alas there is something wrong, my bottle does not smell what I smelled in Duty Free the other day with L'instant Extreme. It's close but as close enough to deem it amazing by any means. My first bottle was a blind buy on ebay and it was a tester, I never ever buy testers on ebay but I could not find it anywhere and I pulled the trigger.

So conclusion is it a fake or is it old juice or what is going on ? Well at the moment I can't say much since I am not home and I can't compare my new authentic bottle from duty free with my tester I got from ebay. I can def. feel a difference but I will need to have them both side by side to see what I get.

Lesson Learned ... no matter how hard the fragrance is to find perhaps buying a unboxed tester on ebay is not the most reliable way to purchase a fragrance.. yes the Guru got duped too . It happens to everyone :D

Keep smelling well my friends

SODT : Dior Homme Intense

It's a rainy day in Canada and I felt like wearing something with a little backbone and it's been a while myself and Dior Homme got together. This one was perfect for the weather, and since I am with my woman all day it was perfect for the occasion. We went out for breakfast, then went to the a few malls , did some groceries and came back home. Just a simple Sunday, you don't have to wear this one only at night or only during cooler days, she worked just well casually during a rainy day with your woman. I love this one and no wonder people are loving this one.

Fuel For Life Denim Edition is Purchased !

I liked the original so this was an easy blind buy. Can't wait

New Purchases : Tom Ford

I wanted Amber Absolute but instead went with two different ones , hopefully they work out .

Creed & Bond Purchases

Central Park is my next purchase from Bond no. 9 , think I might be happy with this blind buy.

Royal Water is my next Creed. Also a blind buy

3 More Purchases

How about that, someone needs to take my credit card away or something but I had to get a few more designer frags. First we have La nuit de l`homme le parfum edition. See if this is any different.


Next is the brand new Boss called Orange Man. Actually a beautiful bottle from Hugo for once. Can`t wait to sniff





Guerlain Homme Intense is next and this one has been on my radar for a while since I love both l`eau and the original. No brainer and I bet I will love it too.

New Purchases : JV & Gucci

A brand new fragrance from Gucci. Easy enough to purchase for me. I can`t wait to try it out.





Bought this at sephora.ca and hoping that it`s a little better then the original because I never liked the original. We will see but I don`t have my hopes up.

2 Niche One Designer Purchase

Let's start with my new designer purchase then we will tackle the niche. Prada has always done quality fragrance once they finally decided to do fragrances for men. I am a big fan of the line and Amber was/is one of the best fragrances for daytime use. Amber Intense was introduced this year and I could not ignore it. Blind buy which was pretty easy to pull the trigger.

Next with have another Bond. I purchased Montauk early last month to add to my Bond no. 9 collection and I decided to add another which of course is Wall Street. This again is a blind buy for me but I hear good things about it and have been wanting to get this fragrance for over a year now. Just could never find a good price for it or decided to get other Bond's instead. I can't wait to sniff this one out.

Last but not least is another Creed. Again same with Bond I am just going to buy the whole lineup one bottle at a time. Original Vetiver is probably the last well known Creed to buy for my collection. My next purchase from the Creed lineup will be something unknown by many and will probably be an older fragrance from the line. I believe this is my 12th bottle of Creed and I must say they look great. I can't wait to sniff this one since again this is another blind buy and I think it should be perfect for spring.

Luckyscent Haul !

First Purchase is Orange Sanguine. It's the most authentic orange juice based fragrance that I have ever sniffed. The question is...do you want to smell like O.J. ?

Second is Parfumerie Generale's Cologne Grand Siecle. I remember liking the sample I had from this so I decided to get a full bottle.

Midnight in Paris is the third bottle. This is the EDP concentration. I sure hope the hype is real with this one since it's a blind buy.

Idole by Lubin is such a boozy fragrance that I had to get it. Won't get much use at this time but around December this one will come in handy.

Sel Marin by Heeley was an easy choice for a fragrance buy this month. This is one of the best from Heeley and is actually my 3rd bottle from the brand.

Un Bois Vanille from Serge Lutens should be a good blind buy and I can't wait to delve into it.

Knize Ten is the oldest fragrance I own now. Made in the 20's I think this is the best leather based fragrance on the market so let's give it a try.

New York by Nicolai is a gem in the fragrance industry. Weird it has taken me so long to get a bottle.