What was the one fragrance that started your journey? Maybe it’s the first one you picked up as a youngster? Or maybe something you smelled on your father uncle or grandfather when you were younger? Something you sampled in a department store perhaps that stood out more than anything you’ve ever smelled? For me it was Prada Paradigme. I was working in the press box of my local independent league baseball team. One of our celebrity co-owners came in for an in game interview on the TV/Radio broadcast and MY GOODNESS as soon as he stepped in the room filled with an aromatic aura of elegance! I never got to find out what his fragrance was as he was in and out very quickly and I was swamped with work. But that experience peaked my interest in finding something that I can use to help me smell good and feel good. Not long after, I found myself at Nordstroms sampling everything I could before I experienced nose fatigue, hoping I can find what it was he was wearing that night. I never did find what it was but I did take note of many other fragrances I tried that tickled my fancy. Prada Paradigme was at the top of that list so I saved up the little extra money I had and bought a 100ml bottle as soon as I could. Since then I wanted so many more as I watched a lot of fragrance content and learned about the olifacfory pyramid, different notes and accords, and communities like this one. One thing I’m very thankful I found was the world of clones/dupes/inspired by’s. As someone who is on the lower end of the income spectrum, all the fragrances I wanted seemed so out of reach until I learned about these. Now I feel like I can match a fragrance with my budget and have a well rounded collection I am very happy with and that continues to evolve with my taste and knowledge on the subject. What was your “Gateway Fragrance”?

Has anyone else had issues with Jomashop fulfillment? Twice in the last four months I've ordered a bottle that was listed as "Usually Ships in 5-7 Business Days" but then a couple of weeks later, I got an email saying it is actually out of stock and will be another 3-4 weeks. I emailed them about it this time and the customer service person tried to put it on me, saying I ordered it when it was listed as Out of Stock. I know that's not the case, but I'm not making a case out of it. But twice in the past 4 months makes me hesitant to order anything from there again. Let me know if this is common for Jomashop?

I’ve always been a fan of fougére (aromatic barbershop-y) fragrances. It always takes me back to my days before I was bald and would get a haircut at the barber shop, and would leave looking good, smelling good, and therefore feeling good. Two of my favorites in my collection are the classic Guy Laroche Drakkar Nior, and Lalique Por Homme (lion head). Drakkar smells wonderful, much like a fresh shave with the green barbisol cream turned up a notch or two. But the performance sucks ass. It’s there then it’s gone. Lalique Por Homme was great to me because it was an affordable version of Creed’s Bois De Portugal (very similar). Way more mature than Drakkar and a much woodier drydown. Lasts much longer and projects much more than Drakkar Nior. The other day I experimented with layering the two and HOLY MOLEY it took two very different scents from that fougére category, mashes them together, and combines the best parts of both into one barbershop powerhouse! By spraying the Lalique on first and then spraying twice as many sprays of Drakkar on top, you can clearly smell the different scent profiles of both at the same time, while allowing the Drakkar to project further and last longer. I had someone stop mid sentence while talking to me and say “wait a minute, hold on, you smell fantastic. What is that?!?” If you like these types of fragrances as much as I do, pick up these two classic affordable colognes and layer them and see for yourself.

What fragrance has a permanent place in your collection? Like if you used it up, you would replace it? Or if it was reformulated or discontinued you would buy multiple backup bottles. For me, that would be Tom Ford Black Orchid and Byredo Gypsy Water. What’s yours?

I was just doing my normal weekend hunt. I am starting to believe the guy doing the ordering for Burlington is into fragrances too. Here is a picture of the latest ones that they had in stock. I am going to call him the dupe king now lol Hawas Overdose Hawas Highness Hawas Black Hawas Elixir Nitro Red Nitro Blue Aromatix Sun Kissed French Avenue Royal Blend Mango Ice Vulcan Fue Rayhaan Pharaoh Afnan 9pm Khadlaj Shiyaaka snow Khadlaj Shiyaaka shadow Khadlaj Island Dreams Hugo Boss Bottled Night Tumi atlas Tumi Continuum