Open Letter to my Subscribers

Well hello there everyone. I felt the need today to address my recent blog of a week ago about me leaving youtube.

First I want to address one thing, the reason I left. Some people still don't understand the reason that drove me away from youtube which was nasty personal messages attacking myself as a person, not a difference in opinion. I welcome all comments and discussion on the juice itself when I review it. Example of this is my most recent review on Eau Fraiche, you can see in the comments that there are some that love it and some that don't think it's something special. It's the people that take it a step further and send me a personal mail which has nothing to do with the juice itself. Usually I just ignore it, but some things that were written hit home a little bit.

I want to say Thank you to everyone that wrote comments on my blog, on my youtube wall in a personal message and of course in video form. Once I decided to leave I made this blog just for the few people who follow it (20 or so ppl) , and I did not realize how much it would affect the youtube community. I guess I did not know it would get this big. I thought I would leave and a few people would say a thing or two but most would not notice. Well I was wrong you guys really showed me what my videos do for you. I hear you guys loud and clear now.

The video that Brandon did about cologne vs perfume, where basically everyone chimed in as far as reviewers really caught my attention and I really wanted to post a video which made me realize I can't be done doing this since I still have that youtube bug. All the youtube reviewers really backed me up and all my subscribers really went above and beyond and let me know how they felt. So yes I will be back in April , not missing a beat.

Things you guys should look forward to in April from me, if your a subscriber since day 1 you know I have things up my sleeve always looking to do different things and introduce new features on my videos. This time is no different I have been working hard to do something special for you guys, I am spearheading a collaboration video which will include all your favourite reviewers. Not only that but I am adding two new features on my reviews, just like I did last time with how many sprays and where ? and the buy try or pass feature ... and I am excited about these new feature which will give it a more personal touch on my reviews. I am also looking around to purchase a bottle or gift pack for a new giveaway (if you guys think of a good bottle to purchase let me know) . As far as reviews go I will be tackling a few favourites including A*men, Gucci Pour Homme II, Armani Code, Joop Homme, Burberry London etc...

So keep in touch guys and I am really excited for April.

3 new Bottles : My first taste of Loewe and Czech n Speake

Well I had my eye on czech and speake's No. 88 for well over a year now. I just could not purchase it with it's high niche price tag. It first hit the market in 1981, and this is another unisex fragrance. This is a masculine floral and the thing that hit me right away when I was thinking of purchasing this is the description of a wet crushed dark red rose would smell like. I was sold, it took me a while to find a price i wanted to pay for a 100 ml bottle but i found a good price and I believe this might , just might be my best blind buy yet or it could just be a disaster. We will see once I get home .

Loewe's newest cologne is from there best selling to date which is called Solo. Not only did I decide to purchase the original but also this flanker called Intense which came out in 2008 . The comments on this one is a fresh floral fragrance, can't wait to experience it.

Next up is the original Solo. I had a subscriber which would not make me forget to get this one, well I got it !!!! Now leave me alone !!!! lol Just joking. This stuff is pretty pricey itself. Which usually when a subscriber asks for me to look into a fragrance I was not thinking this was going to be that much. Actually I only got a good deal because I bought this one and the flanker . This one looks interesting to say the least, I see fresh and warm notes in this one so this might be a good candidate for a all-season fragrance. We will see what the final verdict is once I actually smell this thing.

February Haul : 8 New bottles, summer time !

Hi guys, so it's been a while since my last big haul. I kinda missed doing them so here it is. I decided to get some spring/summer fragrances this time since I have much much more fall/winter fragrances in my stable. Anyway I wanted to look at some that where intresting to me and these have been on my checklist for a bit. Most of them are from my favorite houses. I usually don't want to spend much of summer frags because to me it's like burning my money. I just don't see the reason to purchase scented water that won't last on my skin. Most of them are laid back flankers from the original which means water down fragrances. Anyway enough about my gripe about summer frags, I decided I had to take a look at some more and here they are :

First let's start off with the Issey Miyake house. I was looking at Issey Bleue then Issey Intense... then I found Bleue Eau Fraiche. That sounds pretty summery to me ! I did'nt even know they made this until a few days ago. Consider it purchased.

Clinique Happy for men. Well well well I finally found a bottle of this stuff. I have been looking high and low for this one. My very first bottle from this house, probably the last unless this blows me right out of the water. I hear it's a good summer scent so why not.

Rochas Aquaman. That's right !!! Awesome name and this oozes as a summer scent already. I love the Rochas house ever since I was into cologne, but never bought any other Rochas then Rochas Man. Maybe because they are so hard to find these days, this one took me almost 6 months to find.

Hermes... oh JC Ellena how can I just buy every single bottle you make. I got Jardin sur le Nil a few months back, well this is Jardin apres la mousson. I can't say enough about Nil so this one should be equally as impressive. Thinking this might be more of a spring scent then summer but we will see.

Paco Rabanne how I never noticed this house until One Million came on the market is beyond me. Here we are with Ultrared, I have Ultraviolet and decided to purchase his partner in crime.
L'eau de Paco. Paco Rabanne again but this time I decided to go with his summer scent. We will see what this brings to the table, I have not be dissapointed by this house yet but this might be the first.

Kenzo's L'eau de Kenzo. Another summer scent here. I love the Kenzo brand and decided well if I'm going to go with weak summer scent might as well target my favorite houses.
Kenzo again but this time it's Kenzo air. Yea the bottle is cool looking and I am hoping for some serious juice inside and not just some air. I feel that this fragrance will be as light as it's name states.

BTW these are all blind buys , let me know what you think, anything else I should try for the summer time ?

My 2 New Purchases : One Creed and One Bond No 9

My purchasing lately has not had the pizzazz of a 10 bottle haul , I don't even remember I last did that (probably January lol) . As I stated earlier I am in the market to grow my Creed collection and also my Bond no 9 collection (my brooklyn bottle looks so lonely) ... today I decided to pull the trigger on an expensive 2 bottle purchase. I blind bought these... yes you heard me I have huge cojones. I am in the market for summer scents and I decided to into these fragrance houses to appease my need. First let's start with my 2nd bottle from the Bond house :

I decided on Fire Island as my 2nd bond fragrance. This from what I can detect may be one of my fav. summer fragrances. Yes i have not smelt it, but the reviews make it like it should be a great one. Imagine being at a beach house beside the ocean... this is what this should smell like. I really want to love this fragrance house and I have chosen carefully the bottles I purchase from them, I really think I might of done well with this one.

My next Creed was a no brainer. I have purchased most of the popular Creeds and this one was next in line. Hey it's a summer frag to boot. This will challenge my Silver Mountain Water and Virgin Island Water for the king of the Creed summer frags this summer. It's going to be interesting to see which one comes out on top. Millesime Imperial has the reputation to could be one of my top 5 summer fragrances this year.

As far as my subscriber's go on youtube that do check on my blog.. I want to thank each and one of you for the support since day 1, and still you all want to hear more and continue on this journey together. I will continue to update my blog here overseas with my purchases and such, as far as youtube goes I stand by my decision but I will fully take my time and decide for myself if it is for me to return to the tube once I am home in April..

Youtube : No More

I want to address my fellow subscribers. Since I am away I cannot make a video which I wish I could to let you know how it is.. I decided I should not keep quiet about my decision. I have e-mailed most youtube reviewers that I deemed I had to address out of respect since they have been working with me and I feel it was needed to let them know beforehand. They respected my wishes to keep it quiet and I truly truly appreciate how cincere they were with me.

I am announcing today to my most loyal subscribers that I am at this point retiring from doing youtube reviews on cologne. As you know I am on hiatus at this point overseas but my return home in april will not mean a return to reviewing. I am grateful to my followers.. all 800 and so of you that have been deticated to my channel, you have been great and always supported me even with some choppy camera work and terrible audio. I wish all the best to the rest of the reviewers and I have e-mailed them accordingly letting them know to continue on. The reason behind me leaving this behind is not because I don't love it, I love collecting and no I will not stop collecting fragrances, the passion is in me and I am purchasing bottles as I am typing this (new bottle of bond no.9) . I was really enjoying the feedback early on when I was doing videos. It was great that I was helping people and they truly loved what I did and I had a goal to review as many bottles as I can. At this point it has turned sour for me, the last few weeks before I left for overseas I felt like I owed my subscribers all these reviews before I left, I was trying to churn one out and another. I believe it finally hit me with the last susbscriber's choice when I did terre d'hermes and I was getting hate mail for reviewing that instead of Dreamer. I actually got more hate mail about that video then any positive mail. Hence me feeling bad and doing the review on dreamer anyway a week later.

It has become a job not a hobby anymore. Some may understand , some might not. I am not making any money with youtube, I am a partner but 99% of my video cannot have advertising since I use copyright material ( songs at the start of every video) and I feel the music at the start is a part of my reviews and I can't remove that of the sake to make a buck. I have been approach by websites but I never wanted to advertise a certain site to help me make money. I have spent my own money on my first giveaway and I didn't mind that. I truly enjoyed everything that giveaway ment , I felt like it made a difference. I have noticed my buying was less about me and more about what bottles my subscribers wanted (ed hardy bottle purchase etc ). Not that I hate that, I love hearing what you guys wanted and I found some real jewels with some purchases, but it's time to step back and take a breath of fresh air. I am at the moment keeping the blog and the youtube channel and no my old videos will not be taken down, I will still be lurking youtube and perhaps in the near future you might see a new video from me.. who knows

If you want to talk to me personally you can always pm me on youtube, I am always open to chatting with any of you. I hope everyone is well and I hope you all understand ..

Thanks ,

Marc

Time to Double Up my Creed Collection

Time to double up my Creed Collection. I decided to buy some Creed's. I was thinking of going crazy and just buy whatever I am missing from the Creed house. Today I actually wanted to save up for different bottles from other brands, so I thought getting 4 bottles of Creed made the most sense. I already have if you don't Know Green Irish Tweed, Himalaya, Silver Mountain Water & Virgin Island Water. I was looking at Tabarome, Original Santal, Original Vetiver, Millesime Imperial and Erolfa. If any of you want to name others I am missing please let me know. I am looking into other niche houses, I am thinking of getting a By Kilian bottle & my first Amouage bottle. Before I get ahead of myself I am going to stock up with the 4 Creed bottles then move to other houses.

Purchase Alert : 2 New Bottles.. let's get some Chanel

I decided to purchase a few Chanel's on my travels. The duty free shop is the perfect way to make sure I get a real Chanel Allure bottle. So I decided since I never had the urge to purchase the ever so popular fragrance, today I felt was a good time to add it to my collection. Allure Homme is not a great fragrance, well I can't say it's not great but it sets the bar as far as fragrances go. I guess it's what a fragrance should be without really standing out in a crowd. I love it either way.

Next on the list is Platinum Egoiste. Another Chanel hard hitter. When I spray this I think Fierce from A&F. Pepper is there in bunches but done well I must say. I did run into PL. Egoiste a few times in search of fragrances and did test it out a few times but it never gave me that omg I need to have this. It's done well just like Allure Homme and I would say a must have if your a collector like myself.