Today I went with Lamar by Kajal, and this is one of those fragrances where just looking at the note breakdown really doesn’t tell the whole story. Right from the opening I get this big, juicy pineapple, but it isn’t the bright fresh pineapple you normally associate with a summer fragrance. This feels sweeter, richer and almost caramelized. There is some apple and red berry underneath it, along with enough cardamom and coriander to give the fruit a little spice and keep it from becoming straight-up tropical candy. As it starts settling down, the roses come forward. There are actually a couple different roses in here along with jasmine and magnolia, but I don’t find Lamar overly floral. The fruit stays involved and blends into the florals, giving me this sweet, almost jammy pineapple-and-rose effect. The drydown is probably my favorite part. Everything gets warmer and smoother. I start getting the woods, musk, amber sweetness and that almost burnt-sugar/toffee effect underneath the fruit and rose. There is also that airy modern sweetness from the ambroxan, which is probably why some people make comparisons to the BR540 family. I understand the comparison, but I don’t think Lamar smells like a BR540 clone at all. The pineapple, spices and heavy rose give Lamar its own personality. This is sweet, rich and definitely noticeable, but it still smells polished. I also wouldn’t consider this strictly feminine. The rose and sweetness may lean that direction to some people in the opening, but once the spices and woody base start coming through, I think this wears perfectly well on a man. For me this is much more Fall weather than extreme Arizona heat. I could also easily wear it during our COOL months, especially going into the evening. PERFORMANCE: This is not a weak fragrance. I would expect roughly 9-12 hours of longevity, with strong projection for the first 2-3 hours before it gradually settles into a noticeable scent bubble. Sillage is strong, especially early in the wear, and it leaves a very recognizable fruity-rose trail.

I’m going out for a fancy dinner tonight and so I threw on some Lucius. Applied a bit more than usual because I needed to get a haircut first a few hours before dinner and didn’t want it to die down too much beforehand. My Lyft driver was like “Brother, you smell good! What is that?” And at the barber I was sitting near a fan and two barbers were going crazy because it filled the room - they were like what is that it smells fantastic! They apparently both collect cologne and had never smelled Lucius before. Theee compliments in 1/2 hr?? Overspraying Lucius for the win! Thanks to @George Hernandez for putting me on to this one, it quickly became one of my favorites

After burning through a decant of this delicious cool weather fragrance, I ordered a bottle that came over the weekend. The bottle and presentation are elegant - I love the look and feel of the bottle and juice color, and the packaging is simple but classy. The scent profile is kind of similar to Babycat - to me, Babycat is sweeter and has that creamy suede backbone, whereas this one is less sweet but more warm spicy. But they are both non-gourmandy vanilla monsters. This one opens with a lightly sweet vanilla, hint of woody red pepper, and warm non-screechy saffron. Into the mids the sweetness dies down a bit and some nice warm woods come out - there’s a hint of dusty Vietnamese Oud that is not at all barnyardy (I get the same effect from the new Sauvage Extrait), some earthy patchouli and smooth myrrh. I got a few hours of moderate projection before this turned into a lovely ambient scent that lasted another few hours, before becoming a beautiful dusty woody vanillic skin scent that went on for another few hours. At like half the price of Babycat, I think this is a good value and scratches the same itch — it’s probably a bit redundant to have both but I was looking for a non screechy less sweet saffron forward scent and this one was a winner. I also suspect this could be a good layering scent to add in some warm spicy vanillic sweetness. Very happy to have it in my collection! Anyone tried Serenite before?

https://www.instagram.com/p/DdcJwctiJDP/?hl=en. And here https://www.instagram.com/p/DdKIO1UCcH7/?hl=en Just curious, is this your type of perfumery? I did lots of research and love the Niche/artisinal houses!!!

Good Afternoon, Brotherhood! On the run today as I have the privilege of serving at church, so I wanted to wear something special and a little different. I reached for one of the true jewels of my collection—Black Oud Attar & Velvet Bloom Attar by The Perfumist. This beauty is maturing incredibly well. I’ve stored it properly, and I honestly don’t remember it projecting like this before. Today, this thing is absolutely NUCLEAR! Rich, commanding, and radiating beautifully—it should have no problem carrying me well beyond service today. Sometimes proper storage and a little time allow an attar to reveal another side of itself, and this one is definitely showing out today. Be blessed—and be a blessing. 🙏🏾