The Fragrance Guru's Lair

SOTD : Serge Lutens Chene

2012-03-01T07:28:00.002-08:00

Chene has a strong oak and rum note, very warm dark woody fragrance which is well balanced. I would consider this a great man's man scent, I really don't feel this would be worn by a woman (it could) but the strong woody note in here really makes it manly. The rum fits in well and it just a great composition by Lutens yet again. I love his line which is so warm and great for fall and winter. They almost never disappoint .

Overall Score : (✭✭✭✭) Future Purchase for me

Working on this Review

2012-02-29T15:58:00.000-08:00

It's that time again to start new journeys and old journeys alike overseas. I do the bulk of my testing here, I call this the lab. I bring decants of my current fragrances that I am testing for a future review, I decant old favourites and bring new samples to test out some new things that I might purchase in the future. Overseas is the lab of testing out everything out there. Today I am working on an old favourite from the house of Creed called Virgin Island Water.

I've had my bottle of VIW for over a few years now. I remember fondly when I first sniffed this fragrance, my eyes grew wide and I don't think I ever smelled something so perfect for summer before. I was excited. This fragrance now since I've been testing this one for well over 2 years now, and probably has had the longest testing phase out of any Creed I've reviewed previously (it's actually one of my most used niche bottles at the moment). This one is coming to an end, I am almost done testing this one out , come April my journey with VIW will be over and the review will be ready for the small screen waiting in line with other fragrances to be fully reviewed on youtube and to be judged. I'll tell you this VIW has made quite an impact on me in the past few years, actually a few great memories came with this one. I remember I brought a decant on this to Aruba with me, and what a perfect juice for this type of trip, now every time I smell this fragrance it brings me back to that place, the sand, the wind, the sea. The coconut filled alcoholic drinks. It takes me on a journey, and isn't that what scent should do to you ? It's a great feeling and I can't wait to share this journey with you. This is by no means a perfect juice, I don't think that really exists but this is why I test, some fragrance just never get me in the mood or get me excited to wear it... this one does and does it well.

SOTD : Andy Tauer's Incense Rose

2012-02-28T10:21:00.001-08:00

A jammy Rose (yes rose can smell like jam) with a tons of incense; backed with spices and resins. Overall pretty good, oh don't be scared of the just for women tag, it's unisex, more manly then you think. I like this one quite a bit. Not my favourite from the Tauer brand. Smelling my hand does make me think this is a great creation for the right person, it's so complex and well done but sadly for me did not knock my shoes off and could be a possible buy in the future but at the moment it's a pass for me and it will make my future buy list.

My Final rating : ✭✭✭

Duty Free in London

2012-02-25T23:27:00.001-08:00

Duty Free in London (Heathrow) was sub par. Nothing exciting just the same old stuff that we all see basically everywhere. Usually when this happens I purchase fragrances that are new to the market which I did yesterday. I picked up Dolce & Gabbana's The One Sport and V&R's Spicebomb. Needless to say with first sniff I am happy with both purchases. D&G will be good for the warm weather that is approaching and Spicebomb will be perfect for the cooler weather we are having at the moment. My initial impressions are the Spicebomb is a good designer scent which I think is worth a purchase and The One Sport is just another typical freshie which is lost in the sea of the same genre all over the world. If I had to pick one Spicebomb would be the winner. I can't wait to wear these for the next coming months overseas and see what they give me.

What to wear ???

2012-02-24T09:37:00.002-08:00

Pic of the top shelf of my fragrance curio #1

My SOTD Today

2012-02-24T06:26:00.001-08:00

Agonist's Infidels is my Scent of the Day Today. The weather is warming up here in Canada and it's time to try out one of my newest acquisitions from my January haul. I felt this one would be a great Spring and Fall fragrance and it's not disappointing me yet. Lots of people online say you pay the big bucks for this for the bottle only with average juice. I disagree and I think yes part of the purchase is the bottle and presentation and being one of very few to own the juice. I believe this fragrance is unique enough to stand on it's own and could very well be one of my favourites for spring.

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

2011-12-29T22:22:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-21T07:57:00.000-08:00

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 !!

2011-10-06T16:06:00.001-07:00

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

2011-08-04T17:24:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-18T00:24:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-15T23:25:00.001-07:00

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

2011-06-25T23:12:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

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 !

2011-06-24T05:50:00.001-07:00

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....

2011-06-10T22:27:00.000-07:00

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...

2011-06-05T01:10:00.000-07:00

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 ?

2011-06-03T17:55:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-27T10:19:00.001-07:00

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

2011-05-27T01:46:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-22T11:56:00.000-07:00

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 !

2011-05-11T11:41:00.000-07:00

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

New Purchases : Tom Ford

2011-05-11T06:27:00.000-07:00

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

Creed & Bond Purchases

2011-05-01T17:14:00.001-07:00

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

2011-04-23T12:36:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-23T06:25:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-18T23:08:00.000-07:00

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 !

2011-04-13T04:06:00.000-07:00

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.

New Fragrance on the market : Puma Jam Man

2011-04-09T23:42:00.000-07:00

Puma has released a new duo called Jam for men & women. This isn't a huge headline that people will jump for joy with a new fragrance from Puma. I did do a review of Puma Create for Men and thought it was not bad for a sport fragrance against the Adidas of the world's.

Top : Marine Notes
Heart : Pineapple ; cardamom

Base : Tropical Woods

As you can see with most of these baby blue juices from these kinds of companies the notes are very simple and almost made up. I can picture it now that this will be very synthetic, but you come to expect that from these releases. The only thing I can say would excite me is to smell the synthetic Pineapple in this and see how it turns out. Puma Jam is available as 25 ml Eau de Parfum, 40 ml Eau de Toilette, 150 ml shower gel, 60 ml after shave lotion, 150 ml deodorant aerosol spray and 75 ml deodorant natural spray.

Consider me yawning at this release which most of you will, but I still would like to take a sniff and see if it's worth a sniff for the teens or a gym fragrance.

The 2011 Fifi Finalists

2011-04-09T23:30:00.000-07:00

The Fifi's are here. This is like the Oscars of the fragrance world. I still don't like the shortened name Fifi, but that's just me. In the past there was some really sketchy winners but I always like to take a look at what they nominate. So let's look at some of the finalists and I'll pick my winner.

Luxe (sold in over 250 doors) - FRAGRANCE OF THE YEAR

Dolce & Gabbana The One Gentleman 
Marc Jacobs Bang 
Ralph Lauren The Big Pony Collection
Hermès Voyage d’Hermès

As you can see these are really mainstream fragrances (obviously with the sold over 250 doors) and my choice would be as far as quality goes Hermes would win hands down, beside all of these.

Specialty Luxe (sold in 26 to 249 doors) - FRAGRANCE OF THE YEAR

Bond No. 9 Cooper Squar
Paco Rabanne One Million
Prada Infusion de Vetiver 
Tom Ford Azure Lime
Victorinox Swiss Army Snowpower

This is a strange thing to see 1 Million not being sold in that many stores. They must of just not made the cut for 250 doors. Either way in my eyes One Million wins this by a landslide with the popularity and the cost of the fragrance and the success it has in 2010, it's a no brainer.

Fragrance Idol 2011

2011-04-09T04:58:00.000-07:00

Just bought the mystery bottle for Fragrance Idol 2011. I am very excited to bring back this great contest for brand new reviewers. Last year Mymickers won Green Irish Tweed and I'm proud to see that he has continued reviewing and was a great choice for 2010. I can't wait to see what 2011 will bring for us. So if your thinking of doing a new channel on youtube on reviewing this is perfect for you. Keep it posted !

My Twitter Page !!! Brand New

2011-04-09T00:58:00.000-07:00

It's about time I get on with the times. You can follow me now on twitter with updates on all sort of things you would not find on my blog or on my youtube channel. News around the industry, what I am wearing, what I am working on and other great things. Follow me @ fragrance_guru . Thanks

Small Hiatus

2011-03-28T10:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry guys about the lack of posts, I am not going anywhere. I've had a few e-mails on youtube asking me where I have been, well just busy you know how it is. I'll be back in April posting again some fragrance stuff that I have planned for my comeback home. Chat with you guys soon

Purchases : Erolfa & Mandarina Duck

2011-03-04T05:53:00.000-08:00

Purchased two new bottles today. Creed's Erolfa & Mandarina Duck's Pure Black. Wanted the Mandarina Duck for a while now since the Details Magazine had this bottle in a article, it seemed interesting. Erolfa is just another bottle to add to my growing Creed collection, I felt it was time to get it for spring and summer.

New Purchases : Comme Des Garcons

2011-03-03T05:55:00.000-08:00

The Synthetic series from Comme des Garcons has been discontinued , actually it was not on the market for too long and most people probably never heard of these fragrances or never wanted to hear about them. I was lucky enough to come across two bottles of this brand. One is called Tar & the other is called Garage.

So your telling me you bought a scent that smells like Tar and another that smells like a garage ? That's what I am telling ya ! These are great finds IMO just for my nose because I know they won't be something I will wear all the time , but they will be great to try out and add to my collection. I can't wait to sniff them

Comptoir Sud Pacifique Haul : 2 More bottles from this house

2011-03-02T22:04:00.000-08:00

I felt compelled to get a few more from one of my newest favourite brands : Comptoir Sud Pacifique. I purchased Coco Extreme (a coconut based fragrance) & Coco Figue (figues/coconut) . They should both be great for this summer, and I believe both are very unisex so not only I can wear them but the wife can too. I really am starting to enjoy this brand more and more, yes they are pretty simple and straightforward, nothing too complex from this brand. I love how I can look at the notes of a fragrance from this brand and there's no surprises, I can purchase a fragrance like Coco Extreme and know I will get a a well made (yes synthetic) coconut note.

I really enjoy this brand and I hope some of you delve into this brand more and more like I am.

New Purchase : Bond No. 9's Montauk

2011-02-22T11:56:00.001-08:00

Bond No. 9 Andy Warhol's Montauk

This fragrance has been on top of my list for a long long time. Not sure why but it has been really hard to find for me and I guess the harder you are to find the more I want you. This comes true with this fragrance right here. I really wanted the purple bottle but beggers can't be choosers and had to get the yellow bottle. (that's a true collector talking right now) .

From the note breakdowns on this fragrance from various sites, it looks like I got myself a fragrance good for spring and summer. We will see what I get once I get my nose around it.

2 Hermessence Purchases

2011-02-22T06:46:00.000-08:00

Hello Bloggers ! It's been a while since I've written on here and what a better way to write to you guys about my new purchases. I have been looking at the hermessence line for a long time now, trying to figure out which bottle will be my first purchase. Today was that day that I opened my wallet to not only one but two of these fragrances. I purchased Ambre Naguile & Vetiver Tonka today to start my hermessence line. Both blind buys so I can't wait to smell them.

Vetiver Tonka mixes the old with the new. The old being Vetiver which is being compared to the classic Guerlain and the Tonka Bean mix should be a good mix, nothing too crazy but still nice to smell.

Ambre Narguile is a mix of cinnamon and vanilla , well this should be a perfect match in heaven for me. I love amber based fragrances and throwing in a little cinnamon on top does not hurt . Kinda makes me think of the drydown to Musc Ravageur , perhaps this is why this is such a winner. We will see..

Eau Sauvage .. what to do with you ?

2011-02-16T04:15:00.001-08:00

This is arguably the first major classic fragrance that I will be reviewing on my channel. It's really hard to judge a fragrance that has such a cult following , and it's even harder when your opinion differs to the rest of the world. I know this is a fragrance that has been on the market since the 60's and I had to really open my mind that this is one of the pioneer's in the fragrance game for masculines. Well first and foremost yes this fragrance will be reviewed in May and it took me a while to really understand what this fragrance is about, there is so much history attached to this classic.

My first impressions of this is yes it's a classic and yes it stood the test of time for so long and it has it's fans (basenotes has like 120 likes to 20 negs) and almost religious followers. Do I think this is something I would wear on the regular ?? Not at all actually . Would I recommend this to my subscribers ??? No not really, unless someone is really looking for something like this. Do I think it's well made ? To a certain point yes ! I like it but not enough to wear on a day to day occasion. I think it's something every cologne head needs to smell, the smell of the past.

Overall I love the opening to this , then it just goes downhill from there. This might be the first review I feel that I am taking a classic that lots of the experienced frag heads respect and love and actually give it a fairly bland score. I respect it (kinda like rive gauche pour homme by ysl) but it's not for me.

A Sneak Peak to my next Creed Review ...

2011-02-13T20:19:00.000-08:00

As my loyal followers on my blog, I decided to give you guys a little sneak peak of which Creed I will be reviewing this coming April/May. So you guys will know what is coming up before the rest of the youtube community knows. As you can tell by the bottle, it will be Silver Mountain Water.

I have reviewed Green Irish Tweed, Himalaya & Millesime Imperial from the brand and they have gotten a pretty good overall score from me. We have 2 perfect 10's from the brand which is pretty amazing. Will SMW get a low score like Himalaya or will it join the ranks of MI & GIT on the perfect score list. Tune in around April & May to find out what kind of score this fragrance will get.

Tom Ford's Private Blend

2011-02-12T20:03:00.001-08:00

Hi guys, so today I was thinking of getting another Tom Ford. My Tobacco Vanille looks a little lonely and I feel like the next one that would be right up my alley would be amber absolute. Which is probably going to be my next blind buy from the brand. How about the rest of the line, it's pretty extensive , so if anyone has smelled any of them that are not TV and AA then let me know what you think. I have a small list of 5-6 of them that I think would be great buys for myself but I'd love to hear your thoughts on what would be a good fit for me personally and a good review of the line. Let me know in the comments below.

Also I am again looking around at Bond's and Creeds for this time off, as you guys know I usually buy 2 of each brand and add them to the collection until there is no more to buy. I was thinking this time around from Bond to get Montauk (I've been waiting this one for a while) and Wall Street (great for summer use) . The Creed side of things I believe I still have 2 really popular Creeds to get then I am getting into the lesser known Creeds, but the ones I will be purchasing most likely will be Original Vetiver and Erolfa. Also looking into the hermessence line , most likely going to purchase the 2 most popular (vetiver & ambre) then branch out to the rest of the line.

So that's what I am looking at purchasing in the near future.

Doing a little revamped Review on one of my faves

2011-02-10T20:47:00.000-08:00

I like to do this from time to time since my reviewing style has changed quite a bit since I first started. I know my first 10 reviews on youtube were pretty much amateur hour. In these reviews sometimes I would be off topic and not review the fragrance until 3-4 minutes into the video. I would sometimes open up a review with new bottles I purchased. I was pretty much camera shy, I was stuttering and sometimes repeated myself not sure where the review was going. Either way I love revamping old videos of some of my best bottles. Boss Bottled I decided this time needs a new review. I believe in that video, I did a adequate job of letting people know that this is by far the best Boss fragrance I own, but I did not describe the smell as well as I wanted to. I am hoping by revamping the review to my new style that more people will know about Boss Bottled. So this is what I am working on at the moment, nothing new just trying to make the best review out of a classic.

In other news, I know I will get this so I will touch on the topic. I am working on the review on Boss Bottled Night but the actual video will not be released until later 2011. Sorry Boss Bottled lovers but your going to have to wait and see what I think of that fragrance.

Working on.... Musc Ravageur (Subscriber's choice winner)

2011-02-07T20:55:00.000-08:00

Thank you Mr. Roucel for this amazing fragrance. It seems the new fad on youtube is to go against the grain on popular fragrances. I always love to see reviewers giving out your own perception on a scent, good or bad. It seems that MR has taken this hit on the tube, and I can't wait to throw in my 2 cents for this scent.

Roucel made Musc Ravageur back in 2000 for Frederic Malle. With Mr. Malle he gives you unlimited budget (to a certain degree of course) and unlimited time and gives you a central theme to work with. Roucel is known for gourmands ( Rochas Man, New Haarlem to name a few) and this time was asked to make a Musk. On first sniff of this fragrance I felt a certain strange feeling inside of me thinking well this isn't as musky as I thought it would be. This smells almost like Mr. Roucel's signature gourmand notes. This one is well known to be the "sex in a bottle" theme. When hearing this you think this might be some magic juice. This one personally can't be used in all occasions. It's not something I would wear to work or going to the club. If your looking for a panty dropper, sorry look elsewhere. This one is to seduce the woman your dating or want to date. This is the fragrance I would wear to a candle light dinner.

It has this animalistic feeling to it that can't be put into words. Musk ... hardly.

To My Subscribers ...

2011-02-07T11:50:00.000-08:00

First blog post overseas here. My inbox has been flooded by e-mails about A*men Pure Havane. To clear the air, yes I will be purchasing it and reviewing it. This is a blind buy that I can't go without. Will this be the next big hype on youtube ? Most likely... I can just see all the youtube reviewers kicking themselves to be the first one to review this fragrance.

In other news, I did not purchase anything at duty free. The sales lady at duty free was a little too pushy and kinda left a bad taste in my mouth. She tried to tell me that Tom Ford came out with a brand new fragrance that I had to smell.... it was Tom Ford for Men. This kind of sales tactic just makes me not want to buy from you so I did not. Either way there was nothing at duty free that opened my eyes.

Purchase Alert !!! Duty Free in Amsterdam

2010-12-16T14:36:00.001-08:00

I got at duty free this time Narciso Rodriguez for Him musc collection, Hermes Concentree D'Orange verte & the new Amouage Memoir Man.

Coming Home !!

2010-12-12T21:02:00.000-08:00

Time to get back home. See you guys soon.. the 2 day travel to get home starts tomorrow :)

Subscriber's Choice : X-Mas Edition

2010-12-08T10:46:00.000-08:00

Since my return is coming soon I am deciding to bring back Subscriber's choice with a bang. I will be doing a special christmas special subscriber's choice video for you all the week of christmas. I decided to pick 3 bottles that have had TONS of mail to review. I believe this is going to be a close race and that I will get a record of votes on these ones. As usual my blogging friends you know theses bottles weeks ahead of my youtube channel viewers and not only that but you get a vote on here and on my youtube page once I release the video. So from the pictures if you did not know what bottles these are I would like to introduce you to them. We have from Le Labo a fragrance called Rose 31. We have a Bond No. 9 fragrance called New Haarlem and a Maurice Roucel beauty called Musc Ravageur. So please vote in the poll and not in the comments below because I will not count those comments as votes on this blog. You can always comment to let everyone know how you voted if you wish or cheer on your fav. bottle. Thanks

Purchase Alert !!! Chanel Sycomore

2010-12-08T05:37:00.001-08:00

Another Blind buy today ! Chanel's sycomore bottle is huge 200 ml of juice so I hope I like it lol... it sounds like a bottle that would up my alley. I know the quality will be there at least since I know Chanel makes some great stuff with Mr. Polge. Vetiver based fragrances as usually pretty good and I hear this one is one of the best in the business so it was a no brainer for me. See you guys soon on the tube, I should be back in the next coming weeks.

Purchase Alert !!! Neiman Marcus Purchase Guerlain

2010-12-08T02:57:00.000-08:00

This might be the most expensive blind buy I have ever done in my life, with duties, taxes and all that other junk Neiman Marcus charged me this bottle cost me well over $300 and I owe all that to the youtube splitter Will. He split this and saw his video and how he described this scent, I just had to get this. Thanks Will !!!

I really love these Guerlain releases instead of the usual stuff they put out. This and SDV should be a great 1-2 punch for the cooler weather as far as Guerlain goes. This is a gourmand oritental fragrance that was released this year. From what Will said this should be one of the faves instantly. Guerlain describes this scent as a middle ground between gingerbread and chocolate, so I think this should be one of my best blind buys ever.

Purchase Niche Alert !!! Luckyscent Bulk Buy

2010-12-03T05:17:00.000-08:00

So let's start off with Artisan scents, I got two. First Dzongkha and we all know how I felt about my sample of this stuff. It was a no brainer. Next it was Havana Vanille which is a blind buy. I really hope it works out, but vanilla based fragrances are no brainers for me. They work on my skin very well.

A got a few Montale's since I reviewed both of mine last time I was home. Black & White Aoud were pretty interesting scents to review and both pretty unique, but I decided to go left field with these Montale's. I got the newest addition called Full Incense since I love incense based fragrances. I also grabbed Chocolate Greedy and see how foody it can be . Both are blind buys but looking at the notes I think I should love them both and hopefully we have two winners here.

A Serge Lutens fragrance called Five o'clock au gingembre. This is a blind buy but the note breakdown got my attention. This looking at the note breakdown is going to be a comforting scent a la tea for two or Gucci pour homme II. Not because it has tea in it, because it does not. It seems like it's going to be one of those that won't be too harsh or too brash just enough to wear on a casual day perhaps in the fall or spring. Most SL scents are pretty harsh and better for winter but I think this is going to be that toned down version for them and I can't wait to sniff it.

Next was a Comme Des Garcons fragrance called Hinoki. I believe it was me and another fragrance reviewer called Miguel was talking about this one. It's a special fragrance and I finally figured it was time to add it. It was between this and Sequoia. This gave me a woody and incense based fragrance. It kinda reminded me of my last CDG purchase called Avignon (great scent! ) . Happy I am getting this.. finally !

Finally bought Lonestar Memories from Andy Tauer. My 2nd bottle from the Tauer line. This is the same company that brought you L'air du desert .... Ahh such a great scent, the leather... the birch and the incense. This gives me a cowboy feeling. This is going to be a great scent in the cool months. I really like how this and L'air is going to go head to head in the winter months.

Scent of the Day : Eau Duelle by Dyptique

2010-12-03T04:36:00.000-08:00

Eau Duelle's sample is done today. Will I miss it ? Yes and No. I have many vanilla based fragrances and I love them all, this one really reminded me of my king of vanilla which is SDV by Guerlain that I just purchased. It mixes some spice with the vanilla but overall it's a vanilla based fragrance. It's really nice and well done and probably a cheaper alternative to the Guerlain but this sample was really weak on projection on me. No one could smell this at all, even in the heat where vanilla based fragrances usually cook and project like monsters. So overall what can I say about Eau Duelle ??? It's quality and a good vanilla based fragrance but with so many choices out there I would shop around but keep this one on the list. It's good enough to be compared to the guerlain. For me, it's a pass at the moment but I won't say I won't come back and buy a bottle if I need a good vanilla fix.

Purchase Niche Alert !!! Comme Des Garcons & CB I Hate Perfume

2010-11-24T00:38:00.000-08:00

Two new niche fragrances from CDG & CB I Hate Perfume.

First let's go with Avignon from Comme des Garcons. I had a sample of this and this is the best incense based fragrance I have tried in my years of sampling. Kyoto gets all the press from the Incense series but this one is the star IMO. Cheap too for a niche scent, under $100. The fall is perfect for incense based frags, and if you never tried one start here and finish here because this is it. Anyone who has been in a Catholic Church will know what I mean about this incense. Thank you Mr. Duchaufour for this masterpiece !!!

Next is a fragrance house that I had my eye on but never got a bottle. This is a blind buy and I am basing this buy on the name alone : Burning leaves... this should be great for fall too. I am really into these smokey themed fragrances to keep me warm in the cool weather of Canada, this should bring back memories of raking leaves before the winter's that I do every single year. I can't wait to smell this.

I am a happy camper btw very happy with these purchases... next I need to tackle Artisan and get myself a few of them, perhaps a Montale and a Amouage... keep it locked in

Purchase Alert !!! New Kenzo & a classic Guerlain

2010-11-23T22:44:00.000-08:00

Purchased 2 New fragrances today, a couple designer names you should know... Kenzo & Guerlain. First I got Guerlain's L'instant de Guerlain not the edt but the edp. Can't wait to give that one a sniff, not only that but I want to get more bottles from the famed house of Guerlain .

Next is Kenzo Homme Woody/Boisee. My fellow friends on basenotes told me about this one in a recent thread as one of the best releases in 2010 so I decided to pick it up.

Purchase Alert !!!! 2 New Creeds

2010-11-19T02:23:00.000-08:00

Ever since finishing my Green Irish Tweed sample overseas I have had the itchy trigger finger to add to my several bottles of Creed. I decided to go with some darker Creed's for the cooler weather. The only thing that bothered me was Bois du Portugal does not come in the 4.0 oz bottle which I wanted all my Creed's to come in since they look nice and tidy together. Either way the juice was something I could not pass up, so Bois du Portugal was purchased (2.5 oz). Next was another Millesime fragrance. I took a chance on one of the lesser known Millesime fragrances called Tabarome. I was seriously considering others but most of them like Erolfa & Original Vetiver are much more for spring and summer, so I will wait till next time.

Purchase Alert !!!! Comptoir Sud Pacifique

2010-11-18T23:11:00.001-08:00

My latest purchase is Comptoir Sud Pacifique's Vanilla Banane. This is one of 3 bottles I will be buying from this line (they also have a coffee & a chocolate based fragrance) . This one is what the name says a banana milkshake vibe that driesdown to simple vanilla. Nothing complicated and some would say it's too simple but I think it's pretty unique. The banana milkshake feeling only lasts at most an hour but it's worth the purchase for me. If you like sweet fragrances and wanted a banana based fragrance and don't mind sweet vanilla fragrances then this one is for you. See you guys soon

My Story of Going Crazy with my A*men Sample

2010-11-16T01:57:00.000-08:00

I usually don't share my crazy stories with you guys when I sample fragrances for reviews but I need to share this one just because I have some spare time. So I had a leftover sample of A*men yesterday from a previous review that I brought overseas with me. So I decided in the morning to spray the rest of the sample on me so I can throw the sample out. There was 4-5 sprays worth, which I felt was not too overboard since I was going to be outside most of the time and it's freezing over here ( i'm talking about winter coat..gloves the whole works) so I was like oh this should be fine.

So the morning went on and I did notice the fragrance but nothing too overpowering and I was happy to announce that I did not stink up a whole room. The day went on without a hitch, at the end of the day around 6 pm I decided to shower up and apply some Dior Homme Intense (a very very strong fragrance 2 sprays) for the night. Smelled great but I never really noticed anything different.

The next morning I woke up (my room is freezing since I love sleeping in the cold) got in the shower did my morning thing, I usually turn the heat on in my room after I wake up. Anyway long story short when I was in the middle of my routine in the morning , my room was getting pretty warm I caught a sniff of something... what was that ???? WTF it's the patchouli from A*men glowing on my skin , just the patch just glowing off my skin after 23-24 hours 2 showers and wearing another very strong fragrance.

This is why A*men is still one of my favorite fragrances of all time. That is what I call a fragrance with balls ladies and gentlemen.

Scent of the Day : Dzongkha by Artisan Parfumeur

2010-11-16T01:23:00.000-08:00

Bertrand Duchaufour is a damn god !!! This is him at his greatest. This is simply stunning for someone who is looking for a spicy/woody fragrance. I want the whole Artisan line at the moment, and this one is on my purchase list. You can smell the leather, the incense , the cedar okay actually you get all the notes and it's simple but delicious and such a warming fragrance. I was cold today but with this on people wanted to get closer to me because I was giving out a warming vibe. LOVE !!! this is a must get ... logs on to luckyscent

Scent of the Day : Lyric for Men by Amouage

2010-11-14T01:45:00.000-08:00

Well here's another test of Lyric for Men by Amouage. I am really really trying to like this but this stuff again is stepping into the feminine a little too much for me. I smell like a damn girl with this stuff on. Okay I will give it this, it's quality and it lasts and lasts and I am one that can put on a unisex fragrance with confidence. This one just can't do it for me. Sorry but I will pass on this one, perhaps a good buy for the wife. I'll stick with my C&S No. 88 for my rose based fragrance .

Purchase Alert !!!! 3 New Scents

2010-11-12T04:26:00.000-08:00

First I purchased a Bvlgari fragrance called simply Man. This is Bvlgari's newest fragrance for men released in 2010. This and the other fragrances I bought are all blind buys so I have no clue what I just purchased but the bottle looks good tho. I always liked Bvlgari fragrances so this should be pretty good.
Next up is round two of trying to purchase Marc Jacobs Bang ! I love this bottle but I hate pepper based frags and I know what I am getting here, maybe the worst fragrance I could smell but perhaps I might like this pepper. Either way I could not pass on this fragrance since the bottle is beautiful and I loved the original Marc Jacobs frag.
Last but not least is the one that is getting lots of press lately as the Dolce & Gabbana knockoff of the discontinued "BY". So we will see if Kristiansand NYC is the same as "BY" but not only that but is it any good.

Tim is back !!!!

2010-11-12T04:06:00.000-08:00

If you have been on youtube in the past 2 days you will notice a familiar face that left us came back to the game. I will link his comeback video on my blog and please comment and show some support to the one reviewer that has my respect. If you don't know if there was no Tim on youtube there would be no me on youtube. So mad respect for him and I am one very excited to have him back. I always respected his views on fragrances and happy to see new reviews will be coming. Thanks Tim for coming back and the fragrance community feels complete with you back.

What I'm working on.....

2010-11-12T03:33:00.001-08:00

I'm working on a few reviews at the moment... Versace Pour Homme 2008 is pretty much complete and ready to be reviewed and should be on the slate for a youtube review in late December or early January. This one reminded lots of people of Allure Homme Sport and I agree at some point. I also felt a little ADG in this one too. There was a oud note in the breakdown and I was disapointed that it was really muted almost non existent.

I am working hard at the moment getting the Givenchy Pi review ready for my return. I really tested this one out when I first got it , some testing in the spring and summer but mostly in the cool weather. Pi is very popular and mostly compared to my fav. Le Male and people want to know if it will also be a fav of mine, well keep it locked in and see if Pi does well.

Scent of the Day : Cardinal by Heeley

2010-11-12T00:52:00.000-08:00

Cardinal by Heeley smells much better then I thought when I first tried it. Perhaps it's because it's on my skin now. It's incense done differently and I like it. It's not what you come to expect from a incense frag. It won't remind you of church or anything. It has a touch of citrus that I can feel with some dirt thrown in from the patch & the vetiver. This could be a great one for incense fans like me once spring comes to town, not too dark or harsh. Thanks Heeley another good one.

New Youtube Series Introduction

2010-11-10T07:08:00.001-08:00

Have you ever wondered which fragrance is better when people compare them and say they smell alike ? Is Cool Water really Green Irish Tweed in cheaper form ??? What about Sean John and his knockoffs of numerous Creeds ??? How about Bond No. 9 fragrance being compared to other scents ??? Did you ever wonder which one would come on top in 12 different categories ? I have decided to finally introduce to my channel the VERSUS challenge where 2 bottles will go head to head and I will let you know which one is the best... Stay tuned

Scent of the Day : Kyoto by Comme Des Garcons

2010-11-10T02:39:00.001-08:00

Kyoto by Comme des Garcons

What I wanted to get from this incense series I got from Avignon while Kyoto fell short. I was really excited to smell this fragrance ever since I knew about the incense series, this one was the most celebrated and talked about. Perhaps the hype killed it for me, but my sample is now done and I came out pretty upset at it with my last wearing. The perfumer for this one is Bertrand Duchaufour which to me is a genius and I love all his scents and I truly recommend anything he has done. Incense based fragrances should be dry, Kyoto has it. Incense fragrances should be darker, Kyoto got that. How about strength , Kyoto lost it. This is too transparent for me to really think this is going to shine in the fall & winter's of the Canadian weather. I need some Oooph... where is it? Bertrand is known for amazing and tuned up incense fragrances, this is not like him to do this like this, it's almost like CDG asked JC Ellena to do a incense frag, and he did his magic and made a transparent incense fragrance.

So many times I wanted to love this. I gave it so many chances now I hate to say this but this one is a pass. Avignon on the other hand..... simply amazing

Purchase Alert !!!! Creed Aventus

2010-11-06T03:26:00.000-07:00

Need I say more ??

Scent of the Day : Green Irish Tweed by Creed

2010-11-03T10:53:00.000-07:00

Simple simple simple... I just showered and wanted just something simple yet elegant but nothing over the top. Yea the swiss army knife of the Creed brand will just do well. Nothing too crazy and nothing too boring, just right ! I forgot I had a sample of this overseas way back when I was actually reviewing it and had some left over so I decided to finish her off. Great scent and is making me look into some new Creeds. Oh no that trigger finger is cocked

Scent of the Day : Fat Electrician by Etat Libre D'Orange

2010-11-01T12:13:00.000-07:00

Today was a vetiver day. Beautiful day here in my ultra secret location overseas. It was a little cool but I thought it was perfect to wear in my opinion the best from this fragrance house which is called Fat Electrician.... yes that is not a typo ! Anyway back to business, this one is different from other vetivers I have tried. This seems like they meshed one of my new favourite notes (vetiver) and one of my old faves (vanilla). The vetiver does take center stage here and it seems like it's joined with incense at the start (might be wrong and too lazy to look at the note breakdown) then comes in the vanilla but no too sweet (not like a le male type of vanilla) very much toned down but nicely balanced. Really enjoyed this and I believe it's time for me to get a bottle.

Purchase Alert !!!! Bond No. 9 Bulk Buy

2010-10-30T00:28:00.001-07:00

Hello there frag heads, it's been a while since I wrote to all of you . Well the Bond No. 9 lovers out there will be happy to hear I decided to add a few more bottles to my collection. As previously said in one of my videos, I will continue to buy Creed's & Bond's every single time I go overseas and stock up on the whole collection. Keep in mind these are blind buys and I have no clue what they smell like , well I do to a certain point knowing what the notes are. Today I purchased 2 of the most popular Bond's on the market. Riverside Drive & Chez Bond (both purchased on ebay.. one from my ebay connect millcreekrescue909 (Chez bond). Chez Bond obviously is being compared to GIT from Creed, well if it does then that's great since I love GIT. Next purchase for me is to stock up on a couple Creed's ... I am looking at you Aventus !!!

Scent of the Day : Wonderwood by Comme Des Garcons

2010-10-17T00:13:00.000-07:00

The jist of this one is wood. I guess you could of figured that one by yourself .... a very dry fragrance perfect for the cooler months. Not sure if I would fork over the money for it since I know alot of other woody frags in the designer section that do the same thing this one does. It really did not blow me away or showed me anything new sadly since I had high hopes for this one .

Top 10 List ?

2010-10-15T18:50:00.000-07:00

Alright guys I am working on a few top 10 lists. I have not done any top 10 lists on my channel yet (not including my top 10 season based lists) and I always get tons of requests to do some, so here is your chance to let me know what top 10 list you want to do on youtube once I get back. Comment below to let me know what list you want from me, I am hoping to release at least a good 3-5 top 10 lists for this winter. Some ideas that have been requested lately were : Top 10 most complemented, Top 10 for high school, Top 10 clubbing, Top 10 longest lasting, Top 10 most masculine.. you get the picture so let me know which ones you want, let me know of any fresh ideas... thanks

Scent of the Day : Cardinal by Heeley

2010-10-15T18:37:00.000-07:00

Cardinal is my next venture into the Heeley frags. This one reminded me of another sample I got from Comme des Garcons called Avignon. So if you have one you don't need the other. This one is a incensed based frag. First impression wearing it gave me a dry wood feeling almost a cedarwood feeling, then the incense moved in. It's not as potent as I wanted it to be for a incense frag , so it does loses marks for that. It's not that smokey which I love in my incense frags but this one would be great if your looking for a incense fragrance that's not in your face, it's almost toned down. Not saying it's a weak frag, today I got a good 6-8 hours and do remember it's a EDP so it's will last. Ohhh I just felt a little bit of green, can you say vetiver peaked it's head ! So far this is not bad quality, but for the price I would probably pass. Just might buy it to complete my Heeley collection but I think if you like incense there is much better out there for the price.

Scent of the Day : Lonestar Memories by Andy Tauer

2010-10-14T22:52:00.000-07:00

I'm going to let the cat out of the bag. As much as I want to keep this one a secret and I will let you guys know what I got with this one. Just looking at the name this reminds me of a Cowboy scent. Weird how I get these pictures in my mind when I smell something. What is a cowboy smell you ask... well it has some incense, leather, just reminds me of the wild west with the horses, leather, the cowboy hat, the guns etc.... WILD WILD WEST... haha

I know now that I post this some people will get a sample since I love this so much and I encourage you to get a sample because this is good, this actually for me challenges L'air du desert for the crown of the Tauer fragrances. This is only off this one sample but I can smell quality pretty quickly.

When I smelt this it made me think of a fire burning all night and you kept it going all night to warm you up while you were sleeping, then you wake up and the fire is pretty much done but it still has a little smoke coming from the ashes and you smell that. It also has the leather hitting the smoke and just simply is up my alley with the smokey leather feeling that it gives me.

The best way to describe this is a great leather based frag that which found it's prefect partner in crime with that smokey incense feel to it. Very highly rated by myself and this is a buy for me and will be my next Tauer fragrance.

Scent of the Day : The One Gentleman by Dolce & Gabbana

2010-10-13T18:36:00.000-07:00

Today it's time to spend some time with the one... the one gentleman ! As some of you remember I purchased this bottle at duty free while leaving Canada. This is actually my first real wearing of this fragrance and my first initial thoughts. Wearing this today seems like I might not like this as much as I liked the original. The original had it faults but the faults was not on the scent but much more the longevity issues. This one gives me a much different smell and it actually smells at first glance nothing like the original. I am feeling lots of different things with this one , without looking at the note breakdown I get some sort a fruit, some lavender, perhaps pepper and woods at first glance. It seems to be light just like it's counterpart and this could be it's downfall. This might grow on me as far the smell goes but I might come out disappointed with again another new D&G release.

What I'm working on.....

2010-10-12T03:31:00.001-07:00

The return of the "What I am working on" series on my blog, which I believe is a great way to let you guys know what reviews or what ideas I am working on for December release. This week I have been working very hard on my review of L'eau D'Issey pour Homme by Issey Miyake. Just doing some finishing touches on the review. Basically what I do in this final step overseas is take all the info I wrote about the fragrance in the past 10-12 months while I was wearing it and put it all together in a final review. Some information never makes it to the final edit, actually come to think of it 80% of information I write down does not make the final review. Only things that keep coming back to me makes the review. This fragrance has been reviewed to death on youtube, and I took some time this week to see what the other reviewers though about this fragrance, it was interesting to see what others though about it. I believe 4 out of the 5 reviews I saw were positive . Personally you will have to wait what I think of it , but trust me I am pretty excited to review this bottle since it's popularity and love of this fragrance.

I am working on a few ideas like I usually do to add to my reviews. I am looking at tweaking my presentation including buying a brand new SLR camera (like JR's for HD quality) , and finding a new setting in my house that I feel would be better suited for lighting for my videos. I believe my cologne/clothes room isn't the best setting. I am also thinking of taking out the rating system at the end of my videos and trying to incorporate the same rating system but with bottles at the bottom of the screen while I am rating them so my videos can finish with my face and not you guys staring at a bunch of bottles. I am also thinking of removing the "when I close my eyes this fragrance reminds me of.. " and "one word to describe this fragrance" features and replace them with a compliment factor which would go in depth with how many compliments I do get with the wearings and what kind of compliments I am getting including Steph's reaction (wife) (then rate it from Excellent to poor) . I am also adding a feature which if the fragrance did make any of my top 10 videos I would say it in the video so the consumer would know if the fragrance is something I really love (ex: Le Male : rated #1 for fall in 2009, rated #2 for fall in 2010 ...etc)

I salute you my friends ! Let me know what you think, please your opinion counts to me .

Marc

Song of the Day : Stereo Love by Edward Maya

2010-10-12T03:22:00.000-07:00

Great Song... can't get enough of it at the moment :)

Scent of the Day : Le Male by Jean Paul Gaultier

2010-10-12T03:18:00.000-07:00

Ohhh yea you know who it is !!! When I wear this sucker it just feels like I am complete, I love this stuff !!!

Song of the Day : Cologne by John Blu feat. Twista & Gucci Mane

2010-10-07T19:29:00.000-07:00

Love this track !!

Scent of the Day : Menthe Fraiche by Heeley

2010-10-07T19:23:00.000-07:00

Menthe Fraiche, I totally forgot about how good you can be ! It really does live up to it's name being a Fresh Minty fragrance and I get that vibe every single time I wear this. It's just a work of art and I recommend this to anyone who likes a minty fragrances. This is one of the top ones in the game and it just evokes a clean minty vibe with me.

Scent of the Day : Dior Homme Intense by Christian Dior

2010-10-06T22:27:00.001-07:00

2nd try with my new bottle of Intense. I am really enjoying this fragrance, it reminded me of something the past few wearings and I think I got it. It has a almost powdered chocolate feeling to it. Obviously the powdered feeling is from the original but the chocolate feeling is something new that I rather enjoy. Kinda feels like Armani Diamonds meets Armani Code. I'm really feeling this fragrance for a great fall fragrance and the more I wear it the more I am enjoying it. Alright guys that enough from me.

Song of the Day : Far East Movement - Like a G6

2010-10-04T22:18:00.000-07:00

Scent of the Day : Le Male by Jean Paul Gaultier

2010-10-04T22:13:00.000-07:00

Going back to the favourite... brought one of my bottles with me since I don't think I could do another 2 months without it... yea if you didn't know you know now, this is my signature scent.

Song of the Day : Yolanda Be Cool vsDCUP - We No Speak Americano

2010-10-04T13:11:00.000-07:00

Scent of the Day : Dior Homme Intense by Christian Dior

2010-10-04T13:04:00.000-07:00

Decided to open it up and try out Dior Homme Intense in Holland. Wore it for about 8 hours and still going strong. Went outside with it , went for a walk and also some chilling in my bedroom and a small 2 hour nap. First wearing impressions is that it does really feel like the original. I really felt that floral woody feel to it like I felt in the original. I also feel that lipstick feel that others get in the original, well it's still in this one folks.

Apparently this is a limited edition fragrance which I was not aware of, so I feel like I had some good luck with me finding this. I really feel like this one has a warmer quality to it, almost like comparing l'homme with la nuit de l'homme and this one and the original dior homme. It feels like I can wear this for fall and winter which is perfect for me.

Overall experience with this one I would say it came off as a quality fragrance, I would say it's very well done and I enjoyed it. It won't be one of my favourites of all time but it will compete vs the la nuit de l'homme's of the world. I enjoyed it and I think you should take a look into it too.

Blog Time : Duty Free Shopping

2010-10-03T12:46:00.000-07:00

Alright guys it's that time again to start blogging again. I was my usual self browsing in the duty free area. I found some interesting choices, too bad the duty free in Toronto is not as good as the one in Amsterdam but I make due.

I smelled a bunch of fragrances new and old. Some good some so-so. I smelled the new Eternity Aqua and did not come out impressed. I did smell a few of the Dolce's numbered series I really liked #1 and #10 (I believe that was the number) and those were sub par and might deserve a purchase later on. I smelled a few Tom Ford's from the women's side which was White Patchouli and Black Orchid and both impressed me but the price tag was outrageously expensive. I believe they were both $140. I also smelled the new Prada for women which was not bad at all.

I was pretty impressed by the Hermes line Pamplemousse & Orange vert but did not purchase again since it was not a bargain at $120 a shot. If they weren't so expensive I would of bought them both.

I decided to purchase a Dolce fragrance after-all which was The One Gentleman. Not that I came impressed with it but I decided it was worth the gamble and the price was right. I will be testing this fragrance out in the next coming months.

Next I was intrigued with the hype over Dior Homme Intense. I really did not think much of it. I know Dior homme is some sort of living legend at the moment for some people but I really was taken with the Intense version because it is a EDP so it's much more potent and you could almost tell right away from first sniff that your getting a much better fragrance IMO. This was a no brainer even thought the price tag was a little high I decided it was a good choice.

That is my day for today.... time to go fly. Good Bye Canada

Today`s Youtube review will be on... Cool Water

2010-08-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, just uploading my video on my review on the classic Cool Water by Davidoff. Personally this is a great cologne for the price point, if it was much more expensive then perhaps I would not tag this as a great cologne but looking at pricing this is awesome for the price.

I know this one has it`s haters and lovers and I would put myself in the lovers categorie I guess since I don`t find it vile like others do. The main thing with cool water is the lavender and I think alot of people associate lavender with cleaning products, but I feel CW does it well with the other notes surrounding the lavender. Yes it`s very synthetic almost to a fault, but to me it is pleasing and to women they also gave this one a thumbs up.

I was surprised with the longevity though. I only got 5-7 hours daily on 35 testing days of wearing total. Since I heard different opionions on this I really thought longevity was something I had to test numerous times. As far as projection goes, this thing was a beast, as long as it was on me it was projecting and doing very well. One of the best actually at this point of the reviewing proccess for me. As far as compliments go I must of gotten 10-12 compliments while wearing CW which is about average. The wife loved CW when I was testing it out recently and she approves of this cologne. (why am I buying bottles for $200 + when CW works wonders lol)

As far as my stamp of approval on this thing, I would say it`s well done for what it`s made for. It`s a $20 bargain bin fragrance that works very well. This is approved as far as a cheap fragrance goes, especially if your in a country that does not carry CW.

The youtube review will be out today and it will be in much more detail... thank you for reading

Marc

Scent of the Day : Himalaya by Creed

2010-08-23T11:14:00.000-07:00

Final Testing for Reviewing Purposes (daily wear during summer days)

Scent of the Day : L'air du desert Marocain by Andy Tauer

2010-08-21T07:56:00.000-07:00

Scent of the Day : Eau Parfumee au The Vert by Bvlgari

2010-08-19T16:19:00.000-07:00

Scent of the Day : Reflection Man by Amouage

2010-08-08T03:22:00.000-07:00

Canada in a week !!!

2010-08-06T22:57:00.000-07:00

Yess !!! I am coming back home in a week. I am excited and very eager to be back home. As far as reviewing I will be pretty busy my first few weeks home, as most of my subscribers know I have purchased my first home and will be pretty busy purchasing furniture and setting things up. As far as fragrance news is concerned for my comeback video to youtube I will try to keep in touch with all of you and hopefully I can post a few videos in the first week of me touching down in Canada. Probably no reviews since they do take almost half a day to a day to complete. I am excited to start my channel with a brand new background and I am setting up to have a new format for my show while I am at it.

Also I have two new features I would like to introduce to you all, first is I will be doing features on perfumiers . One video dedicated to one perfumier, I will bring out all the fragrances that this perfumier has made , a little background on them and the scents they created and a top 3-5 scents that they made and what style they use etc.... my first video will be on the legend Jean Claude Ellena and I will continue this trend so we can put the well deserved spotlight on the people that actually make these scents for us.

My next video idea will be again a spotlight video but this time on the notes in a fragrance. I will tackle one note (vetiver for example). Explain the history of this note in fragrances, which fragrance have this note as the main accord in the scent. What it smells like, and obviously take a few of my favourite scents that have this note and let you know my favourites. Perhaps this will help people know what something smells like and not only you will learn but I will also learn from these videos about some notes in fragrances.

Last but not least my reviews... what's in store ?? Well you have seen a few scents that I posted on my blog that I am working on, but also the age old question of when will I be reviewing my niche scents. The work is done and I will have several niche fragrances reviewed this time around. I also have a summer top 10 scents video planned to be released sometime this month. Other then that we have the same old videos coming back as the Good Bad & Ugly segments will continue, I do have a few haul videos planned and of course more subscriber's choice videos. I will leave you all with that... see you on the tube real soon.

Marc

Scent of the Day : Gold Man by Amouage

2010-08-06T22:50:00.000-07:00

Since I heard the duty free I will be passing through on my way home will be carrying Amouage I decided to take out my samples of the line and see if I can see if any get my interest. I purchased Jubilation XXV from luckyscent a month ago and I felt that was the only one that I really wanted to spend that kind of money on. Today was Gold Man's turn and I know this is high quality stuff but I can't get past this baby powder feeling I get with this one from first sniff to last sniff. It's just not what I am expecting from this kind of fragrance house. The price makes a big different in my opinion because I like the scent for $50 but not for $250. So yes price does make the decision for me here today, perhaps I am missing something and I am sure I am but this one will stay as a sample for me and not a bottle purchase.

Kindness of people on youtube : New Purchase !!!

2010-08-05T03:00:00.000-07:00

The kindness of others on youtube in our fragrance community has blown me away. The past 6 months I have seen our community change for the best , I have seen so much kindness to each other from subscribers and reviewers alike giving out samples for free to each other, to doing giveaways to even giving out bottles. This brings a smile to my face how the community has grown and how well it is doing. I want to thank everyone that has ever done a swap, a giveaway or just gave out samples to help another one out.

I recently was emailed by user RobDigz on youtube , and what he wrote really shocked me and really made me realize how special this community is. Rob spearheaded a collection to get me a gift card to one of my favourite websites luckyscent.com . Him and several others chipped in and got me this giftcard to thank me for all the work I have done. I quickly emailed him back to thank him and I did not really know what to write to him actually words failed me. I just want to take some time to thank these people that I never met but I do consider friends. Robdigz (Rob) thank you for being one of the best subscribers I could ever have, you have been always there since day 1 with me and I always enjoy your input. Also fellow reviewers KerosenetrewThe, MyMickers, Ptitan08, Ariscotm, Mkousui, KatiePuckrickSmells also subscriber danwalshmtl and of course our fellow splitter Pigasus27, I want to thank you all again for the donation. I have the pleasure to know all of these people from around the world and share the wonderful world of fragrances and hopefully I can continue to do this for another year (yes it has been a year since I've reviewed Le Male in August 2009).

Now to the good stuff lol, what did I buy ? I thought of going to a fragrance house that I have been wanting to try out for a long long time called Parfumerie Generale. I decided to splurge on L'ombre Fauve, this bottle will have a special meaning to me since it was given to me by great friends and the once I do get to review it , it will have a special meaning also. Thanks again and I could of not though of a better 1 year anniversary on reviewing.

Marc

Scent of the Day : Chypre Rouge by Serge Lutens

2010-07-31T09:21:00.000-07:00

My scent of the day is Chypre Rouge by Serge Lutens and this is the absolute last time I wear this crap. I have given this numerous tries and every single time it makes my nose wrinkle. This is the perfect example of just because it's expensive and from a great fragrance line does not mean it's going to be a solid fragrance. This is horrible !!! I am usually pretty good with fragrances but this one is total junk. I'm hearing it's being discontinued and within reason. The are awesome notes in this one , and lots of familiar notes that I love but this one takes the cake. Pine needle meets red cough syrup ??? This is by far the worst niche fragrance I have ever tried, wait scratch that... the worst fragrance I have ever smelled ever ? Pretty darn close, I would not pay designer price for this let alone niche money. I never could imagine when people where saying a fragrance was so bad that they had to wash it off... now I know the feeling. I love the Lutens line and I find the fragrances I have tried from this line interesting well blended and done just right, they are right up my alley for winter fragrances but this one is a big flat yuck !!! I will pass on this one

New Subscriber's Choice

2010-07-31T08:49:00.000-07:00

Okay guys it's about time that I am coming home soon and I usually give the guys that are checking out my blog time to vote on my blog a few weeks ahead of the game. You know what to do , if not this is how it works. You will see a poll on my blog (please do not comment what your vote is under this post since I don't count them) just vote on the bottle you want me to review in my next subscriber's choice video. (Remember I still need to do the last subby's that Himalaya won). All votes are counted and once I am back home I will do a video on my youtube channel for you to vote again ! Alright so let's look at what bottles are going head to head.

Fahrenheit 32

Comme des Garcons 2 Man

John Varvatos Rock Volume 1

New Purchases : Frederic Malle & Bond No. 9

2010-07-31T03:05:00.000-07:00

Hi fellow youtubers & friends. Yes I have opened my pocketbook this past few weeks. (The guy that said the recession hit me is pretty quiet now lol) ... anyways I was saying I believe in blogtv episode that I was going to get Bond's & Creed's at a slower pace and get other niche houses while still trying to finish my Bond and Creed collections... (yes I want almost all of them) this time I got my Bond's on fragrancenet.com (ugh) I used the code Tim9 (lol just joking Tim) I used the code on the site that actually gave me 15% off which was pretty good. My last purchase from that website was so disapointing that I have not used them in over a year and I can't vouch for them. The packaging was sloppy , the bottles have been opened and sprayed once or twice at least ( probably they sent me a returned bottle from another customer) so I was not impressed and looked elsewhere, well I will give them another chance by buying 2 bond bottles. I also went on the Frederic Malle website today and got myself a treat. Let's check this out :

The Scent of Peace by Bond No 9

I was looking around to get more Bond's but it's hard buying blind with a company like Bond since they aren't cheap and I try to look at the note breakdown , see what others are saying then buy it. Well the whole Bond line is hard to do this since everyone says oh it smells like this Creed or that Creed and that's all they have to say about Bond's. I decided on this one for a few reasons. One the perfumer is Michael Almairac which is one of the best in the business. Alot of people are saying that this has a strong Peach note, which caught my eye. I know this is going to be a summer scent and hopefully it does well.

Andy Warhol's Silver Factory by Bond No. 9

This one was easy to choose. It was my first choice for my next bond. I like daring scent's and this one has that all over it., did someone say incense ??? Hell ya !!! This is going to be one of my most exciting blind buys for me to unwrap (hopefully fragrancenet does not screw it up) . I was thinking of getting Chez Bond, Wall Street, Montauk (hard to find online) & Riverside Drive but those will have to wait till next time.

Bigarade Concentree by EDP Frederic Malle

I totally squeezed all the juice out of my sample and did not notice until I grabbed for it today and it was all gone :( I was so sad that I went on the Frederic Malle site and ordered it right away. What can I say about this ? Well it's a JC Ellena fragrance so that seals the deal, right ? No but it helps. This I was scared to try because I loved it but heard horror stories on the longevity, well where I am right now it's hot so hot I can fry a egg on my head. This one shines in the heat, and I mean the real heat. When it's hot this thing lasts (yea I said it) , when it's cooler and your not sweating then yes this thing will run away. I love this , probably not the best for Canada weather but I might bring it with me on my travels to LA or Florida or even Egypt when I go there.

Working on.....L'homme by Yves Saint-Laurent (updated)

2010-07-28T06:24:00.000-07:00

A Small update here guys. So I have been going through my old videos and decided to start re-reviewing some of my earliest videos on some favourites. They are missing crucial information since they were made when I just started they are missing things such as application, buy try or pass and the new rating system. So you will see new reviews on these fragrances. Starting with L'homme by YSL. I will keep the old videos on my youtube page since I don't believe in deleting my videos at all. The way these reviews will be made will be a little different, I will add a feature at the end judging the rating I gave it in the old video and give you guys a new rating and tell you why it went lower or higher or stayed the same since tastes do change and I know my first few videos I was doing all my favourites and gave some pretty high scores. Hopefully you will enjoy these updated videos which I will only do once and a while because I know you guys want some fresh reviews. So I am working on L'homme now , I rated it #2 behind Le Male when I reviewed it back in August 2009, I can say that is no longer true. Thanks for watching guys and I cannot wait to redo a review on a YSL fragrance that deserves a full review.

5 New Niche bottles Purchased

2010-07-28T02:34:00.000-07:00

Hi guys, just another update for you. I felt like getting some more niche fragrances so I went on luckyscent and purchased 5 bottles some blind some I have smelled before , let's check them out :

Ambre Sultan by Serge Lutens ($120)

After Chergui it was pretty hard to find my next purchase from Serge Lutens. There is about a dozen scents I want to purchase from this line but this one seemed to be the logic choice for my next purchase. I nice Amber scent with vanilla are usually my cup of tea, but this one is full of spice so I can't wait to give it a sniff.

Cuir Pleine Fleur by Heeley

Again another fragrance house that I am purchasing my 2nd bottle from. Just like Serge Lutens, it was hard to pick the 2nd bottle from the house since I did enjoy Sel Marin from this house and also interested in other scents from this house. This one did catch my nose when I tried the sample I got. This is one if not one of the best leather based scents I have smelled. Heeley is really impressing me and Sel Marin is close to being next to be purchased.

Timbuktu by L'Artisan Parfumeur

This seems to be a trend, again my 2nd bottle from a house after I purchased Tea for Two from L'artisan. Same things goes for this fragrance house I really had so many choices but decided to go with this one because it really seemed interesting. Hopefully this blind buy goes well but with the notes in this I should be pleased.

Rose Poivree by The Different Company

The founder of The Different Company is Jean Claude Ellena and I have been wanting to buy this and Sel de Vetiver for a long long time. This is one of the few fragrances that JC Ellena has done for TDC before leaving to be the in house nose for Hermes. I am truly into Rose scents lately (Rose 31, C&S no88) and wanted to add another and from Ellena this was the choice. This is a blind buy but my record with Ellena has been perfect so this is an easy choice for me.

Philosykos by Dyptique

FIGS !!!! lol Well since I enjoyed Marc Jacobs so much I decided to look further into the fig based fragrances and my search ended here. I have not smelled this before but I can't wait. This is not the first I have heard from Dyptique I was really interested in Tam Dao which I have not purchased yet. This is supposed to be the king of Fig, but I have my eye on Figuer by Heeley and I am guessing that one is up there also.

Scent of the Day : Chocolovers by Aqualina

2010-07-25T10:20:00.000-07:00

This is the same company that has done Blue Sugar and they do not stray too far from the gourmandy feel with this one either. This is what I call it the "chocolate chip cookie accord". I feel like I am a chocolate chip cookie when I wear this , now it's up to the person wearing this if that's what they want to smell like. I usually have my moments that I want to go straight foody with my fragrances , that's when I go for my powerhouse gourmand fragrances and this one actually does really well on my skin. The problem with this kind of fragrance is versatility, you can't smell like a chocolate chip cookie in a big meeting or even for a first date. So this one kinda has it's downside but hey if you have a sweet tooth take a look at this one. I do need to get this bottle for myself since the price tag is pretty cheap.

Working on.... Escada Magnetism & Lalique Encre Noire

2010-07-24T23:26:00.000-07:00

Hi fellow scent heads, I'm back with another update... what review's am I working on at the moment to do some final touches. Working on two fragrances at the moment. Both fairly dark fragrances . Escada's Magnetism & Lalique's Encre Noire. I think both of these are due for a review and I have had tons of requests for both. Since summer is at it's half way point now, I believe these reviews will be ready once I am back in September perfect timing for these two since the cooler months will be ahead. I really enjoy both of these and I'm sure you have seen Encre Noire in my Top 25 winter fragrances & Magnetism in the Top 25 winter & top 10 Spring fragrances. So both will be in high regard but will either hit the exclusive 10 out of 10 rating or will they lose a few points and be in the heavy popular 8-9 range. We will find out in September.

Designer Shopping Spree Haul : 15 New Bottles

2010-07-23T22:17:00.000-07:00

Hi guys it's been a long long while since I actually did a designer fragrance haul, I guess I got caught up in the whole Niche of things and since I didn't own any niche it was fun exploring and finding new jems, but it does get expensive. So I decided my list of designer fragrances I want to purchase was getting bigger and bigger that I would purchase a good dozen fragrances in one haul. So let's see what I got.

Burberry Sport by Burberry

Purchased this since I was planning to buy it on the bottle alone at duty free. Seen it a few times over there and decided to buy it now so I can get something else at duty free. I am not expecting the next Burberry London or Brit in this one. Just something a little better then a Chrome I guess would be just fine.

Christian Audigier by Christian Audigier

This purchased was based on a basenotes thread earlier this week. It looks like they are pulling this fragrance off the shelves because of the whole Ed Hardy vs Christian fiasco.. either way I wanted to get it before it's not available online anymore. On a side note the bottle looks cheap and tacky..

Cuba Gold,Cuba Orange, Cuba Blue, Cuba Red by Cuba

If I can count how many times I get a e-mail about Cuba Gold and how similiar it is to Le Male I would run out of numbers.. I decided to get this cheap 4 pack for 12 bucks. I have smelled these before and to be honest with you even tho they do knock off some good fragrances these things are cheap for a reason... they don't last.

Eau de Lalique by Lalique

Well since I love encre noire I decided to try another Lalique fragrance this time the unisex called Eau. I hear great things and I have to thank my fellow reviewer Bizzy for putting me on to this one, hopefully I get the same reaction as everyone else that has tried this.

Black Jeans by Versace

I can't believe I bought another Jeans fragrance. Remember when I swored off these things, well times have changed Blue Jeans was a pleasant surprise, and I am closing my eyes on this one and hoping for the best lol. The bottles aren't the nicest but this one is discontinued and I got it for 20 bucks so it's worth the blind buy.

Eau de The Vert by Blvgari

A tea based fragrance by Blvgari, green tea to boot !!! Who made this stuff ? Oh it's JC Ellena , great bought it right on the spot. I am looking into the other tea based frags from Blvgari and this one should not dissapoint.

L'anarchiste by Caron

One of the most requested viewer mail I get. I had my eye on it for a while but finally I got it. So everyone that requested that I get this or review it well now you know the review is coming. I don't know much about the Caron house to be honest, I know basenotes raves about this brand but in my eyes that means nothing, but we will see what the fuss is about.

Kenzo Jungle pour Homme by Kenzo

Probably the last really good Kenzo fragrance I needed to purchase was this one. I heard some good and some bad, I like the Kenzo house and I'm sure this one will be above average.

L'eau Bleue by Issey Miyake

I have been seeing this bottle in duty free for about a year. Always looked at it but never bought it. So I thought this is time to get another Issey fragrance. I actually never smelt it but I would assume it will be pretty good.. hell it's a Issey fragrance.

Aqva Marine by Bvlgari

Talking about most requested bottles to purchased by the viewers on youtube. This one is right up there. I still think Aqva is the better fragrance but we will see once I smell this one. Love the bottle just like the original so I bought it so I can put them side by side.

CK Free by Calvin Klein

I was due for another CK fragrance. This one I heard is below average juice, but I had to get another CK fragrance since I still have over a dozen still left to purchase from this house so I did eeny miny mo and picked this one.

Eau Concentree d'orange Verte by Hermes

Oh another Mr. Ellena fragrance. Hell ya !!! I was trying to choose between this one and the original. I heard this one lasts longer so that made my mind up right away. Can't wait to smell this one.