Introduce yourself and level-up, it's that simple! You'll get at least 5 likes (oftentimes more!) which will move you to level 2 and on your way to level 3 (these levels give you access to prizes!). What to say in your intro? Share where you're from, your reason for joining, your profession, perhaps your favorite fragrance or a picture of your entire collection! Whether you're a seasoned cologne collector or just starting, have fun engaging with the group.

I just noticed the new level 9 achievement prize. It makes sense; the change was coming. Regardless, let's keep it going, brothers.

I conducted a workshop with a large client from the finance sector today. To fit the location, my goal was to smell money, so I picked Bleu de Chanel. It turned out during the lunch break that my client, a very cool guy, is passionate about fragrances too. He is a long-time Aventus user and had fond memories of the 2015 batches.

Perfume is memory and presence. It’s a language without words. A feeling wrapped up in molecules. To create it, is to wield the invisible and something ephemeral, yet deeply personal. And so, if you’ve found yourself dreaming of starting your own fragrance brand, ask yourself first: Do I want to own a perfume brand, or do I want to be a perfumer? Because these are two entirely different roads. The first road is the path of commerce. This is where most brands—from celebrity, influencer, and indie niche—find their footing. You will partner with a private-label manufacturer, like Belle Fleur New York, and they can handle the heavy lifting. Their master perfumers craft the scents you request (and refine it to your liking), their designers curate your bottles and packaging, their regulatory teams ensure compliance. You sign off on a product, and it becomes yours. This is the road of marketing, of storytelling, of business. And it is a valid path. But the second road is the road of the perfumer. It is something else entirely. It’s not glamorous. It’s long hours hunched over beakers and scales, chasing the ghosts of scents that only exist in your mind. It is learning the alchemy of raw materials, where a single miscalculated drop can turn brilliance into disaster. It is understanding that every fragrance is built on a razor’s edge of precision, where some materials exist at only 0.01% yet hold the formula together like the final brushstroke on a masterpiece. You could take a shortcut. There are formulas floating in the ether. Some carefully reconstructed dupes of popular greats. You could follow those, pouring and mixing like a bartender with a set recipe. But that is not the perfumery I’m talking about. That is replication. If you want to create something that lives and breathes, something that whispers a story on the skin, you must learn why materials behave as they do. You must become a student of scent, of chemistry, and of structure. Because perfumery is not simply blending; it is architecture, geometry, and poetry in equal measure.

Mine is probably JPG Ultra Male or Dior Homme Intense