halfwhiteboy

Tom Ford doesn't seem to add as many fragrances to his Signature Collection as much as he does to his pricier Private Blend Collection . So when Metallique came out in 2019, I was curious. The eye-catching bottle, with its perfect combination of metallic gold and silver, only fueled my interest. It's but fitting for a fragrance named as such. 

Chinese Oud is yet another Areej Le Doré release that sold out in no time. My wife and I were late to the rush and were expectedly doomed at any chance of scoring a 30ml bottle. We did snag a 10ml travel atomizer, though, so it's still good. Besides, the carved wood casing looks really stunning. It doesn't even look like a perfume atomizer at all! Never mind that it doesn't have even the flimsiest of boxes. As with Slumberhouse , that's forgivable because the juice more than makes up for what piece of cardboard it lacks. 

The other half of a duo of fragrances and released two years after the original men's version in 1999, By Dolce & Gabbana Woman has also achieved "unicorn" status in the fragrance world, with eBay sharks commanding prices upwards of $300. Save for the leopard print, it sports the same bottle design as By Man .

I was clueless about By Dolce & Gabbana Man until I was offered a partial bottle more than a year ago. Turns out it's a so-called "unicorn" in the fragrance world, something highly sought after after having been unceremoniously discontinued. I'm not a fan of the zebra print bottle but it's fine. I also snagged its partner,  By Dolce & Gabbana Woman , which comes in a similarly-designed flacon except for the leopard print.

Bois d'Encens is one of the first releases under Giorgio Armani's Privé Haute Couture Fragrance Collection . This was back in 2004. This practice of coming up with a high-end, exclusive line marked by uniformly designed—mostly boring—bottles has since become de rigeuer among designer houses. Everyone from Chanel to Christian Dior has one. At least Armani put some thought into theirs. The squarish bottle with that irregularly shaped cap looks really sleek and sturdy. 

About a year ago, I blind-bought Irae by V Canto  primarily because I was curious about how "iron" and "rust" would smell like in a fragrance. For something that's not exceedingly expensive, it's presented beautifully, its slender, velvet-covered bottle encased in a hard box that opens from the middle like a wardrobe. It's also the only fragrance box I own so far that's secured with a string.