I kept hearing how the gent scents x Michael Malul keep showing up at TJ Maxx. So I decided to go in and try my luck. To surprise my local store had two bottles of South Slope and West Loop each for $29.99. So I decided to take one of each home 😋

Silver Mountain Water by Creed is a crisp, refined fragrance that opens with bright citrus and transitions into a clean green tea and blackcurrant heart, evoking the feel of fresh mountain air. It wears smooth and sophisticated, settling into a musky, slightly woody dry down that fits seamlessly in both professional and casual settings. The scent stands out for its distinctive, slightly metallic freshness and understated elegance. While highly unique and upscale, its projection and longevity tend to be more subtle than some expect from Creed’s lineup. That said, it’s not a bad fragrance, however, I’m glad I decided to take a test drive by only purchasing a decant sampler.

I was reading a post by @Henry Clay a few days ago about going through and wearing some samples this month so I decided to jump on the train. I have a ton of them that have been sent over by @Jamal Moore @George Hernandez @Raul Olveda @Mark DiCiero @David Myers and a couple of other brothers. There’s one or two that aren’t with us anymore for whatever reason. I decided to start with Ferragamo Signature today. Salvatore Ferragamo Signature is a smooth, and masculine fragrance with a very clean and confident vibe to it. It opens very fresh with citruses and pink pepper. I’m also getting some of the cinnamon here. You’re also able to start picking up on the cypress after a few minutes. As it starts to settle down you get a very smooth and almost creamy leather and hints of coffee also. The dry down is soft and I get the woods and tonka bean. Overall, it’s a pretty good scent, it’s versatile, and it’s easy to wear. I feel like it’s a great choice for work, casual evenings, or anytime you want a classy, understated scent I would say the longevity is around 5-6 and it pushes out pretty good for the first hour or so. The price is also good at around $38 for a 100ml I don’t think you can go wrong with this. It’s a budget fragrance that I would definitely recommend.

Sorry for being awol. Life happens. Passing of one of my best friends.

Today I attended a niche fragrance testing gathering and breakfast. Always nice to meetup with like-minded fellow fragrance enjoyers! Got to try out many of the mor epopular niche fragrances I haven't tested. There was plenty to go around, but here's the new ones for me that stood out, considering I tried them out from strip only: 1. M.Micallef Notorious XO. Been enjoying M.Micallef fragrances, but had not had the chance to try this one out. Didn't think I'dlike this one seeing plenty of gourmandish notes, but the boozy and spicy nature goe swell above the sweets on this one. Very nice, will be including a decant of it on my next haul. 2. Initio Narcotic Delight. Amazing. My focus went directly to how the declared fruitiness (cherry) blended with the sweetish tobacco and the spiciness. Absolutely decanting next as well. 3. Wasn't very impressed by the rest of the Torino line. I knew 21 only, and 22-25 didn;t impress me, the better one to my nose being 25. 4. Bond No.9 Lafayette Street. Not going to lie, this was very impressive to me. Now that's a fresh/sweet fragrance I can really enjoy. Floral notes not very prominent to my nose, it comes out more spicy/sweet to me, with citruses freshening it up. 5. Fragrances from the Mexico Perume Museum (MUPE). Three of them I found so good: Agave Mexica (green and citrusy, just a tad boozy), Coral Mexica (salty marine, coconut and very uplifting) and Chocolate Mexica (dark chocolaty, creamy, but very nicely balanced so it is not cloying or as gourmand as you'd think). Amazing. I understand sadly, that they're a yearly release, and once they're gone, they're gone. These were released on 2024. They can also be found in Fragrantica for a better idea. 6. Creed Original Santal, and OG Vetiver. I had never tried them nor was looking for them, but were actually pretty good! Very brighten-up sandalwood on the first, and vetiver not as prominent on the second, with citruses and fresher notes taking the stage. But the best of it was two guatemalan perfumers coming over. One I already knew, bringing some amazing summer scents based on banana note. First one being called Banana Young, being the fruitier, sweeter of the two, and Banana Summer, which my best way to describe is Virgin Island Water with a banana note and minus any booziness. Both were absolutely excellent. Extrait de Parfums... but me? Out of budget right now 😅