Got my Amouage samples today

[SculptureOfSoul]

Homage and Windsor? Wow, now that's an expensive brew!

It sounds good though, at least once both scents reach the heart notes. How do the tops of those two blend? Also, can't wait to hear your take on Al Andalus. The notes list of that sounds phenomenal - I'm a rosemary fiend.. please do let me know if it's prominent in the blend.

And irrbloss, I too am with Oslo in that I prefer Ciel as a fragrance, although I think with my general look and attitude, Silver may fit me more. I really do enjoy Silver but it's just.. too.. hmm, safe? I don't know. There's nothing that really juts out in a truly unique or challenging way and thus I don't think I'd find my interest in the scent to be maintained over a long period of time. I think, in some ways, it suffers the same problem as Chanel's Bleu - it's fairly complex and actually smells really good but seems over engineered to fit a business type setting, and thus feels a bit lacking in the soul department. Ciel is just so damn vibrant and lively, and the vetiver in the drydown is one of the best renditions of vetiver, ever!

[Addict]

SoS, I wasn't trying to brag (-:

There are lots of people here who spend tons more money on fragrances... I used to, too (-:... and I am far from being rich, while I'm doing OK"-ish" (no debt at least, which is a big thing in our age).

I tend to wear cheapish clothes and very expensive perfumes. Well, you can't have it all.

I am circumspect about buying "new" stuff, as even some good ones - or general favorites on BN - bore or worse annoy me before I even finish a sample...

I rarely buy a whole bottle of anything, nowadays. I perhaps have ten bottles in my wardrobe altogether, or only nine, which for BN collector standards is laughable. (In the '90's I was buying lots... and then shamelessly gifting them to different friends, not an entirely nice gesture, I'll admit. I was trying to get some credit, while getting rid of stuff I didn't want anymore. I am talking about many dozens of bottles here.)

The real quantity of fragrance a quality-oriented guy can use daily is quite limited... so I go today not so much for a compromise between quality and quantity, but for quality period. Once I like something BADLY, not because people say it's good, but because I'm really in love with the thing, and I know I am so without outside influences, in a weird way I don't feel it's expensive to get it. The perfumes I REALLY like I feel they're "cheap," subjectively speaking. (OK, not that I hope for their price to increase, I may be odd but I'm not crazy.) Perhaps Clive Christian and a couple of others seem really out of my reach, but then I never liked them enough (even if I did like quite a bit 1872 and X, not No.1 -- the new CC or something I didn't even try yet).

Going back to Homage... I feel now it's even a better deal, the above considered, than Windsor. That's harsh, from a Creed fan (-:.

[SculptureOfSoul]

Oh, I didn't think you were bragging at all. I hope that I never come across that way, either. I am actually in a lower income bracket - I just don't drink/smoke/go to the bars/etc. and will save my money and cut out frivolous expenses to purchase scents. It's gotten to the point where it's more about experiencing scents as art or as ways to evoke or augment moods than it is about impressing others - although I suppose I haven't gotten to the point that I'd wear something 99% of the population finds absolutely repulsive just because I love it (well, ok, maybe - if 99% of the world hated Reflection Man! )

And I totally agree with you on the "if I really love it, it's ultimately rather cheap" angle. I calculated out the cost per spray of Reflection Man (or any 100ml bottle in the $300 range), and it's something like 18 cents per spray. Given that I often get 18 (or more!) hours of enjoyment from a single spritz of Reflection.. well, 1 cent per hour?! Where else can you get enjoyment or entertainment at that price?

It's funny - I too wear relatively inexpensive clothes, drive a very very modest (that's an overstatement) car, etc. Maybe that's selfish - I'm not looking to impress others with my clothing, car, or even my - from an outside perspective - sometimes expensive perfumes. The money goes into that which is personally uplifting and fulfilling, with little regard for outside opinion. Selfish.. or just true to self? Hmm..

[SculptureOfSoul]

Regarding Amouage samples, I went back to my sample of Dia Man today and am giving it another wear. While I no longer hate the top notes (they used to smell just like those nasty orange 'circus peanut' candies to me), I can't say I love them; even saying 'like' might be a bit of a stretch. The heart is impressing me more than before though. The orris note is excellent and is framed by a wonderful sort of coppery-hued amber.. labdanum (which smells to me of the color ocher) + peony (smells pink to me) + cardamom (brownish) + a hint of plum (purple) = a coppery smelling amber. Well that sounds rather odd I suppose.. it makes sense to me, at least .

I think it deserves 4 stars objectively, as it is obviously of high quality (its got some really nice orris, for sure!), but there's just something that doesn't fully agree with my nose, so I'm only upping my rating of it from 2 stars to 3 stars.

Also, while I understand it is meant to be smooth and soft, I think it may be too smooth and soft. A bit more counterpoint - perhaps in form of a dash of nutmeg, some mahogany, or perhaps a dry papyrus note - would be welcomed by this nose!

[irrbloss]

Once again I wore some Ciel to bed, and this night too I woke up and felt that beautiful smell. Now I'm ordering it! Never happened before that a fragrance wakes me up because it smells so beautiful.

[Leo the Zen]

Wow, I was having buyer's remorse, and you just convinced me. I really love Ciel, but so I did Ubar and Reflection, and later ended up selling them online because I bored with them...the truth is that I had ordered Ciel before and I changed my mind to Reflection and called Amouage and changed the order...What a mistake!!!... so here I was again ordering it and changing my mind! Now I was considering Aventus!...Well I will just go for Ciel and enjoy it as I should...I have gone through like 6 samples, and it is about time. Thanks for your posting!