Onto part II of this series. I’d been waiting a while to actually be able to wear this, considering the scorching weather we’re dealing with in Las Vegas, but I saw that sample lying about, and said “fuck it, I got nothing to lose”, and that led to part II of this review. And right off the bat, I was thoroughly impressed. One similar thing i’ve seen about the DNA from Jordi Fernandez, is that the openings always have a little bit of everything in the scents, including the base notes. I noted this with Silver Ceremony, Oud Maracuja, and Cuir Infrarouge. It can be borderline overwhelming because you get a lot of everything in the openings. The opening has an accord i’ve never smelled before, which is an accord of pineapple ice cream, something you wouldn’t expect. But it’s so well done, that you can completely see how it would smell so. It’s vanilla-like, creamy, slightly gourmand, and has a light, almost tropical punchiness to it with a sharp pineapple note. Mixed in with that, you get spices, incense, and fresher elements. Saffron and incense provide that foreshadowing and bridge to the deeper, more resinous base, while also blending with the more fresh, lighter elements. Honestly that’s how I think Jordi is able to get that, “every note is present in the openings” DNA, because even the opening notes provide a bridge to the deeper notes. Eventually, time passes by, and the opening notes descend into a rosy, floral heart, of three different notes: Bulgarian and Turkish rose, and Turkish rose absolute. The Bulgarian rose provides a light, fruitier and airy floral, which connects to the opening notes quite well, while the blend with the Turkish rose gives a jammier, richer depth to transition to the base much smoother. The addition of Turkish rose absolute was smart in my opinion, as it helps to balance the lighter and fresher elements like the pineapple and bergamot out with the heavier, woodier bases. It’s honestly how you’re able to blend two contrasting notes so well, by giving them a proper bridge.

Blockade / Mind Games — back with this gem today, can’t get enough of the tomato/lavender/amber & Oud

The more I look at the fragrance market, the more I believe clones are not the only issue. People love blaming clone houses, but designer and niche brands do their own version of recycling ideas too. They just package it better, charge more, and call it luxury. Sometimes it is the same scent profile being repeated. Sometimes it is the same perfumer using a similar style for different houses. Sometimes it is a successful DNA getting copied, twisted, polished, and resold at a much higher price. Look at Baccarat Rouge 540. That airy saffron, amberwood, sweet-musky, almost cotton-candy mineral DNA became one of the most copied fragrance profiles in modern perfumery. After BR540 blew up, we started seeing that same general direction everywhere — from niche to designer to celebrity scents. Ariana Grande Cloud, Burberry Her, Zara Red Temptation, and many others get brought up because they live in that same sweet, airy amber world. Then you have the Aventus-style lane. Creed Aventus became so successful that pineapple, bergamot, smoky woods, musk, and oakmoss became its own market. After that, you had fragrances like Montblanc Explorer, Mancera Cedrat Boise, and Nishane Hacivat constantly being compared to Aventus. Some are not true clones, but they are clearly in the same successful masculine fresh-fruity-woody lane. Another example is Ganymede and Bois Impérial. Both are by Quentin Bisch, and while they are not the same fragrance, they share that modern mineral, woody, airy, slightly metallic style. Ganymede is more abstract, saffron-mineral, leathery, and niche. Bois Impérial is more affordable, fresh, woody, and aromatic. But you can smell the perfumer’s creative fingerprint. You also see it with Delina and Atomic Rose. Delina made that tart fruity rose style huge — lychee, rhubarb, rose, musk, vanilla, and woods. Atomic Rose is not the same scent, but it lives in that same loud, modern, powerful rose category. Once a DNA works, the market keeps circling around it.

Back to back cooler days. I sprayed MS yesterday and i already knew id spray Deified today. Such a wonderful fragrance and i think i would add em both to my collection. This is the closest ive gotten to a “signature scent”.

I have been going through my collection. So I have been collecting since 2010 so going on 16 years or there about. I am at 950 bottles of all shapes and sizes. Don’t get me wrong I love my collection, but With this large of a collection now I am finding myself lately not being able to give proper time to a new fragrances. I dove head first in being a completionist for quantity over quality. If I had it to do again, I probably would have done things a little differently. I probably if I had to do it again knowing what I know now would have attacked things differently. With everything starting to smell “the same” or a twist of what was popular for a different brand. Stick to 1 or 2 designer house for an everyday wear YSL or Chanel Stick to 1 or 2 clone house that I wear the most French Avenue or Afnan Stick to 1 ir 2 Niche house for Winter, Fall, Formal Parfums de Marly or Michael Malul Just wondering if you guys would think to manage you collections differently. This is for new collectors too, I would say have a game plan and disciplined. Both very hard to do in this hobby. LOL