halfwhiteboy

This was one of my first purchases, along with Pink Pepper Leather , shortly after ScentSmith Perfumery opened in 2018. While apple and geranium aren't necessarily associated with masculine scents--I mean, a fruit and a flower: how stereotypically virile can that be--ScentSmith's Apple Geranium is marketed as for men by this house. And although such ingredients do figure in the composition of certain men's fragrances, I don't think they're ever given such prominence. The fragrance is unisex right off the bat with its very affable green apple and floral combo swirling in a light syrupy sweetness. I remarked before that most of this house's releases tend to have an ambery sweet base , and it couldn't be truer in Apple Geranium's case. A faint hint of citrus accompanies the opening but it literally is gone in an instant. I know there are other players working in the background but they're negligible in the scheme of things. The scent is rounded...

More than a month after I copped a vintage bottle of Ralph Lauren Safari for Men , its significant other somehow landed on my lap without warning. A friend brought it along for me to try and with a single spritz I was smitten. Long story short, I went home with the bottle. Although different in shape and design, the Ralph Lauren Safari for Women flacon has that same liquor bottle aesthetic as the for Men 's, as if it's something that holds expensive bourbon or brandy instead of perfume, more so since the juice is considerably darker than its masculine equivalent. And despite missing a metal crest by design choice, I actually find it more ornate, stately even. It simply has more oomph, even if both are commendable bottle designs. Safari for Women opens with a bang, greeting you with a heady mix of florals, a light sweetness, and the faintest trace of citrus. It also carries with it some green nuances although it's really the aldehydic beauty of the flowers that shine...

I was fortunate to cop a partial bottle of Ralph Lauren 's famed Safari for Men , now sadly discontinued. I know many people are often bewildered as to why brands decide to phase out fragrances that are beloved by many ( hello, 70s Gucci pour Homme ! ) that people often resort to scouring the internet for bottles which prices are jacked up to the heavens just because they're no more. Safari is one of them. But is it worth pursuing at all?

I've only learned of Parfums de Nicolaï sometime last year from an Instagrammer I follow and whose taste in fragrances I trust. I've read that its founder and owner, Patricia de Nicolaï , hails from the Guerlain family and has managed to successfully carve her own path in the world of perfumery. Although blind-buying is never advisable, I was eyeing New York Intense for my first bottle from this house but ended up with Cuir Cuba Intense instead because the former wasn't available. Thinking I may never be able to consume a 100ml flacon, I picked the 30ml one. It's so tiny and cute! It's also (relatively) not that expensive (USD 66; USD 195 for the 100ml). Despite this, presentation is never sacrificed—yes, even for a teeny weeny bottle.

I've long thought of doing this after seeing someone on Instagram create a mini-tower of his Tom Ford Private Blend bottles some months ago. The uniformity of their shapes and their flat, square caps proved conducive to stacking them up. I thought, a "Christmas tree" shouldn't be that far-fetched of an idea then.

I've always been intrigued with Joop! Homme  that I occasionally find myself reading up on it, only to be confused by conflicting reviews. Some praise it for being a classic and a monster performer while others berate it for its sickly sweetness. Admittedly it's the latter that's been holding me back and I don't think the hot pink presentation helps either. Yet somehow I ended up with a partial, purportedly vintage bottle. I couldn't verify the batch but the box is a little worn out already, so it must be old.

For quite some time now I've been meaning to get a bottle of Grey Flannel , that 1970s Geoffrey Beene classic that's so (stereo)typically old-school masculine, but for some reason it's always bumped off by other fragrances. A colleague even beat me to owning one. And then out of nowhere I just ended up with a different Geoffrey Beene fragrance— Bowling Green .

Fille en Aiguilles is yet another Serge Lutens fragrance that I love, like it's almost inconceivable to hate on it. It's a scent a lot of people online are relating to Christmas, and I agree. There's a certain warmth to it. It's snugly and comforting, perfect for cold weather although personally I think that it also works in warmer temperatures, provided it's not too hot and humid.

This one just fell on my lap somehow. I wasn't seeking it nor have I ever heard of it. Yet when I saw someone put this up for sale in a Facebook group and read the words " oakmoss " and "discontinued," I was in, knowing how everyone is pining for this ingredient that IFRA has restricted to oblivion. Maxim's pour Homme was commissioned by the famous Parisian restaurant of the same name in the late 80s. It was created my renowned perfumer Dominique Ropion .

The higher the price, the higher the expectations. I don't know if you also subscribe to this thought but with the prices Roja Dove commands for its fragrances, I'm pretty sure I can't be faulted for expecting more from this bottle of Risqué pour Homme Parfum than I would usually do with other houses. That its presentation is so extra is almost a given already but more than anything, it's really the juice that should justify the price.

Patchouli is one of those notes for which I have developed a liking. I'm not sure if it was an acquired taste after getting acquainted with many fragrances over time or if I've really liked it from the start. Either way, when I saw someone offering a bottle of the now-discontinued Javanese Patchouli by Ermenegildo Zegna , I immediately jumped the gun.

Neandertal is a niche perfume brand with only two offerings to date: Neandertal light and Neandertal dark . Both are EDPs that come in identical, craggy, stone-shaped ceramic bottles, the former in white and the latter in black. Either one would definitely look great in anyone's collection. I'd like to have both although I have to contend with just Neandertal light for now.

I first came across Diptyque 's Kimonanthe at their shop in Rockwell, Makati a few months ago. The bottle was different from what I'm accustomed to seeing at Diptyque counters. It was a boutique exclusive, I was told by the SA, along with Benjoin Bohème , Ôponé , and a slew of other goodies that apparently are part of the house's La Collection 34 . Choosing which bottle to get was hard but we went home with Kimonanthe first.

New stuff from ScentSmith Perfumery Homegrown brand ScentSmith Perfumery just launched half a dozen new fragrances to add to their already extensive line of eaux de parfum, room scents, toiletries, and more. Of the 6 new EDPs, 2 are for the ladies, 1 for the guys, while 3 are labeled as unisex. Here are my first impressions.

I've tried Francesca Bianchi's Sex and the Sea at a sniff sesh with fellow fragheads and was instantly smitten. We soon got a bottle but it seems quite different from how I remembered it.

I got this as a freebie and I thought, well, might as well try it. Although I'm aware of the brand, which features a host of presumably tobacco-based cheapies, I haven't tried anything from Cuba Paris yet until Cuba Blue .

This one doesn't seem to be getting as much love as the likes of Aventus, Green Irish Tweed, etc. but Royal Mayfair proved to be quite the surprise for me (I blind-bought it). I couldn't care less about the stories Creed is peddling about their fragrances but I believe this is an underrated gem from the house.

The concept was intriguing: creating two different scent profiles using the same set of notes. Sure enough Gentle Fluidity Gold and Gentle Fluidity Silver turned out to be two very distinct fragrances. And while we ended up getting the Gold edition shortly after the duo hit our shores several months ago, I was happy to be given a 5ml sample of its Silver sibling to try further.

Affinessence Paris has an interesting concept for its Collection Notes de Fond (Base Notes Collection), its only line so far. It focuses on base notes, or rather, essences that are traditionally used as base notes. Because it's "all about the base," you'd think that each fragrance will be downright linear as a result. In reality, however, there's a noticeable development in each of the six eaux de parfum the house has so far. Here's a rundown of each one.

I feel like car-branded fragrances don't get that much love despite some really good releases that are worthy of praise, like Bentley for Men Intense and a couple of others from Ferrari . Mercedes-Benz also has several noteworthy scents, including those from their 2015 Mercedes-Benz VIP Club collection , where they partnered with some celebrated perfumers who also lent their names to the uniquely curved bottles. I got hold of a bottle of Addictive Oriental by Alberto Morillas . I admit that I was enamored by the name probably more than anything. The heavy, purple bottle doesn't hurt either. Although I didn't care that much about them at the start, later in my fragrance journey I've come to recognize a few superstar perfumers, Morillas being one of them. He single-handedly restored my faith in Gucci with his gorgeously dry and very masculine Gucci Guilty Absolute .