I keep going to make threads and either the site's down or something drags me away, so here's the last three threads I've been trying to make.
Oh, M7, why couldn't it have been?
M7 was the very first fragrance that I was recommended at Basenotes, and looking at the note pyramid, and the reviews and raves in general, it seemed like one of the few "can't miss" blind buys. Fortunately, one of the fellow BNers sent me a little 1 mL sample of it to wear for a day or two.
It's with a sad heart and a frowny face that I come to the conclusion that M7 and me just don't see eye to eye. At all.
I may just have to chalk it up to my skin chemistry, but there's really nothing about it that appeals to me. The initial blast of opening notes is somewhat unpleasant to my nose, and after a little bit it dries down to the "red cough syrup" note that I heard about, and that description is right on the money. It's a bit sweet, but I don't smell anything deeper than that; I get no base woods or really anything but that single note. Four hours later, it's nearly gone and I'm wondering where the good part was. I may like it on someone else, but if I'm honest with myself, I've gotta name M7 as my worst fragrance experience to date (over such names as Quorum and Caesars Man).
Fuel For Life: Still On The Fence
Well, I'm now completely out of Fuel For Life, I went through the 1.5mL carded sample over three days of wearing, and my decision is...I dunno. It's certainly a pleasant fragrance, and it would be unique in my collection. But I tend to get two different views of it at alternating times. Sometimes I get the fun, inoffensive but still somehow rugged smell, that slight synthetic tinge that roughens the smell up in a good way. Other times, I feel like I'm wearing my ex-girlfriends raspberry body spray (I did make the comment in passing to her that "I smell like a raspberry, or maybe a homosexual.") and honestly the thought of me projecting something that outlandishly feminine is absurd.
Part of the problem, I'm coming to the conclusion, is that I was trying to wear it as an everyday fragrance; that is, wearing it to work which involves constant motion and labor. I actually noticed the Fuel For Life slowly souring as the day progressed when I wore it yesterday. But, when I'm sitting at my desk, or doing nothing much at home, every now and then I catch a whiff of it, and I just think, "Man, that's good."
I've not really had a love-hate relationship with a fragrance like this before. I may go and ask them if I can have another sample, so I can figure this out once and for all.
Aramis Havana: Initial Impressions
If I'm honest with myself, I couldn't afford Havana when I bought it (just about everyone here's had that same thought at some point on this road), but it was a fragrance that I had resigned myself to buying blind, and only when a good deal came about. It came about sooner than expected, and I got a little taste of it yesterday, and spent all of today with it as well.
Havana has moved immediately into my top 3 fragrances.
I was already wearing some stuff yesterday (the Fuel For Life from the last "thread"), but I had left my wrists alone to have somewhere to get impressions of it. The smell off the (used) bottle was very, very pronounced, spicy, exotic and somewhat pungent. The first day with it was honestly not as good as I was hoping, but the top notes were divine and it's now my favorite opening from a fragrance. I had found the drydown to be rather bare, that one, bitter note that I had smelled on the bottle and scant else, and it didn't last terribly long.
Today was a whole different story.
Instead of one shot to the wrist, I had two to the neck, one to the chest, one to the shirt, and one for the right wrist pressed to the left. I hadn't even finished spraying when I was assaulted with a very bitter note, one that I hadn't experienced the day before (cumin?). It left quickly however, and I had that same top note experience that I'm already finding addicting. It didn't completely settle down for a good two hours, and this time I got a much greater appreciation for what the scent was doing, the tobacco and (I think) the patchouli were very prominent, but I could also catch something sweet going on if I really stopped and looked for it. I think what's attracting me to it is the lack of sweetness overall, as most of my collection is noticeably on the sweet side. Platinum Egoiste is along the same lines to me, and what I'm actually considering is that Havana is somewhere between PE and Quorum, or at least, Quorum without the sweetness, possibly the Jasmine and Carnation. Longevity on it is fantastic, I'm currently on hour 13 with it. It started fading after about 6 or 7 hours, but a little water refreshed it for the rest of the work shift, but I think the magic's about gone at this point. Nobody's gonna complain about only getting 13 hours out of the juice though. Sillage is very good, got one compliment on it today and for such an oddball scent I don't think that's too bad.
That's about all for today, I think this is the start of something beautiful.
Oh, M7, why couldn't it have been?
M7 was the very first fragrance that I was recommended at Basenotes, and looking at the note pyramid, and the reviews and raves in general, it seemed like one of the few "can't miss" blind buys. Fortunately, one of the fellow BNers sent me a little 1 mL sample of it to wear for a day or two.
It's with a sad heart and a frowny face that I come to the conclusion that M7 and me just don't see eye to eye. At all.
I may just have to chalk it up to my skin chemistry, but there's really nothing about it that appeals to me. The initial blast of opening notes is somewhat unpleasant to my nose, and after a little bit it dries down to the "red cough syrup" note that I heard about, and that description is right on the money. It's a bit sweet, but I don't smell anything deeper than that; I get no base woods or really anything but that single note. Four hours later, it's nearly gone and I'm wondering where the good part was. I may like it on someone else, but if I'm honest with myself, I've gotta name M7 as my worst fragrance experience to date (over such names as Quorum and Caesars Man).
Fuel For Life: Still On The Fence
Well, I'm now completely out of Fuel For Life, I went through the 1.5mL carded sample over three days of wearing, and my decision is...I dunno. It's certainly a pleasant fragrance, and it would be unique in my collection. But I tend to get two different views of it at alternating times. Sometimes I get the fun, inoffensive but still somehow rugged smell, that slight synthetic tinge that roughens the smell up in a good way. Other times, I feel like I'm wearing my ex-girlfriends raspberry body spray (I did make the comment in passing to her that "I smell like a raspberry, or maybe a homosexual.") and honestly the thought of me projecting something that outlandishly feminine is absurd.
Part of the problem, I'm coming to the conclusion, is that I was trying to wear it as an everyday fragrance; that is, wearing it to work which involves constant motion and labor. I actually noticed the Fuel For Life slowly souring as the day progressed when I wore it yesterday. But, when I'm sitting at my desk, or doing nothing much at home, every now and then I catch a whiff of it, and I just think, "Man, that's good."
I've not really had a love-hate relationship with a fragrance like this before. I may go and ask them if I can have another sample, so I can figure this out once and for all.
Aramis Havana: Initial Impressions
If I'm honest with myself, I couldn't afford Havana when I bought it (just about everyone here's had that same thought at some point on this road), but it was a fragrance that I had resigned myself to buying blind, and only when a good deal came about. It came about sooner than expected, and I got a little taste of it yesterday, and spent all of today with it as well.
Havana has moved immediately into my top 3 fragrances.
I was already wearing some stuff yesterday (the Fuel For Life from the last "thread"), but I had left my wrists alone to have somewhere to get impressions of it. The smell off the (used) bottle was very, very pronounced, spicy, exotic and somewhat pungent. The first day with it was honestly not as good as I was hoping, but the top notes were divine and it's now my favorite opening from a fragrance. I had found the drydown to be rather bare, that one, bitter note that I had smelled on the bottle and scant else, and it didn't last terribly long.
Today was a whole different story.
Instead of one shot to the wrist, I had two to the neck, one to the chest, one to the shirt, and one for the right wrist pressed to the left. I hadn't even finished spraying when I was assaulted with a very bitter note, one that I hadn't experienced the day before (cumin?). It left quickly however, and I had that same top note experience that I'm already finding addicting. It didn't completely settle down for a good two hours, and this time I got a much greater appreciation for what the scent was doing, the tobacco and (I think) the patchouli were very prominent, but I could also catch something sweet going on if I really stopped and looked for it. I think what's attracting me to it is the lack of sweetness overall, as most of my collection is noticeably on the sweet side. Platinum Egoiste is along the same lines to me, and what I'm actually considering is that Havana is somewhere between PE and Quorum, or at least, Quorum without the sweetness, possibly the Jasmine and Carnation. Longevity on it is fantastic, I'm currently on hour 13 with it. It started fading after about 6 or 7 hours, but a little water refreshed it for the rest of the work shift, but I think the magic's about gone at this point. Nobody's gonna complain about only getting 13 hours out of the juice though. Sillage is very good, got one compliment on it today and for such an oddball scent I don't think that's too bad.
That's about all for today, I think this is the start of something beautiful.
