halfwhiteboy

I discovered Shiro fragrances while visiting heaven (a.k.a. the fragrance section) of a department store in the Shibuya district of Tokyo almost two years ago. I consciously sought out brands I haven’t heard of or simply hadn’t had the chance of trying. Japanese brand Shiro caught our interest; and being the fragheads that my wife and I are, we took our time. In the end, we brought home a bottle of Shiro Marvellous Star . The bottle’s design echoed the simplicity of the general Japanese aesthetic. I was, however, a little disappointed that it didn’t even have a box. But anyway, that’s how the brand chooses to be. The fragrance greets your olfactory senses with warm, creamy coconut and vanilla. I can’t make out exactly what else is there but the scent is redolent of fragrant sticky rice, much better than ELDO Fils de Dieu (which, to me, is marred by a stronger-than-necessary ginger and lime). Marvellous Star is also sweet but done just right, so it’s never cloying. It’s a very comfort...

It’s always a joy getting my hands on vintage gems, let alone fragrances that I wasn’t even hunting down to begin with, just like this partial bottle of Versace L’Homme . If my interpretation of the  Raiders of the Lost Scent ’s article is correct, this is a second era, 1993 bottle. Even though newer batches still carry the old design, the atomizer's style is reflective of what was in vogue at the time. As for the bottle itself, it has its own character, aided by the frosted glass leaf accent on each side. The fragrance opens with a lemony citrus, underscored by a green bitterness and a mild peppery-like spiciness. It's not as bitter as Rogue Perfumery Fougère L'Aube , however. It's still generally aromatic in an old school way, marked by a faint, sweaty accord that I suppose is due to musk. A few minutes in, it develops a very mild powdery nuance, reinforcing the fragrance's layered composition. Before long, a nondescript sweetn...

Back-to-back typhoons mean persistent rainy days. Living in the tropics, this is probably the closest we can get to cold weather days. However, the office air conditioning knows no bounds, hence this comfy outfit of baggy pants, a pullover, and a fleece hoodie. And it doesn't hurt that the colors are coordinated, right?

Every time I wear this shirt, people at the office mistake it for a Barong —save for the very first time I wore it, tucked in black pants. I guess it’s because the buttons don’t go all the way down, stopping just below the chest. But here, since it’s tucked in, no one would question if it’s a shirt.

I don't know if it's just me but I no longer see much fuss over  Oud for Greatness by Initio Parfums Privés  nowadays. Yet just a few years ago when it was first released, it was quite the hit among fragheads, appearing frequently in posts in our Facebook fragrance groups. Somehow, that ubiquity made me lose interest in it, much like how I never cared for Creed Aventus  at the height of its popularity. However, I was drawn to the bottle’s striking design. There's something about that flashy combination of black and gold that just appealed to my tastes, so eventually, I gave in.  Sadly, just like most frags in our stack, it's rarely used. But thanks to the recent string of rainy days, I made a conscious effort of browsing through our collection for options that suited the weather, and Oud for Greatness was one of the few that I plucked out of hiding. The actual bottle does look good; sturdy and moderately heavy. I can’t quite tell if the ...

Was going through my photo gallery and saw these pictures from last year. When I wore this outfit, I took a chance on this boxy, cropped, short-sleeved shirt , not sure if I would look good in it. It’s from a local brand called ab clo. & lifestyle  that I discovered through persistent Instagram ads. I do like their general aesthetic of vintage-inspired pieces of cropped shirts with boxy fits, really baggy jeans and trousers, and whatnot. This piece here alludes to uniforms of diner waitstaff, and I’m really digging the vibe. At the time, the blue striped ones were really popular, so I went against the flow and picked this red one instead.