Hi all! I have been a bit silent over the last two weeks, mostly because I was busy trying dupes to fragrances I really liked. All of the below has been tested on strip and then on skin, couple of days of wear too. Incoming Montagne for Tygar and Thé Noir 29, so I will do a follow-up review as well comparing the 3 (OG, Alexandria, Montagne) Let's kick this. 1- Bvlgari Tygar / Tygar Extrait / Vibrato Sospiro (had an OG sample) / Alexandria Black Panther TL;DR: probably the easiest of the bunch: it is a plain yes, thank you very much. - The similarity between Alexandria's Black Panther and Bulgari Tygar is shockingly close. Sospiro is lighter than both, some would say more versatile. - I personally love the strength of Bylgari Extrait, and Black Panther sits between both the Tygar and the extrait in terms of strength and projection. - This does not change throughout the whole perfume lifecycle (start, mid, dry down). When the Tygar stops smelling, the extrait and Alexandria's Black Panther continues to last for a long time, easily the workday. Conclusion: this is definitely a win, scratch the itch and save the bank account - A must buy allowing me to move to another scent profile 2 - Le Labo Thé Noir 29 vs Alexandria Mystere 29. TL;DR: if you look for the dry down, it is a match. If the whole scent journey is important, it is not an exact match but maybe to your taste - Things get interesting here as I started to notice something similar to what I felt when doing the comparison between French Avenue Obsidian and Kilian Angel's Share On the rocks (see discussion here). - At first and on strip, Mystere 29 starts off with more soap and a slight acidic touch, comes very strong as a scent overall. Thé Noir is earthier, you can smell wet ground with roots, darker, less ominous. - I shifted to skin straight away, and this acidic touch disappears. You just have the extra soapy smell which may be enjoyable for some. After two minutes Mystere 29 smells more like green tea but the scent is way stronger than The Noir. There is a clear difference between the two here. - Twenty minutes later, Thé noir becomes hotter, spicier, and therefore stronger as a scent overall. Mystere 29 is floral, with a scent of dried hay, leaning more into The Matcha 26 territory, which again is enjoyable but different from Thé Noir 29. - Between 30 minutes and 2h, The Noir progressively goes into Mystere 29 direction. During that time, Mystere 29 still has this soapiness to it. - 2h later, Mystere 29 has lost its soapiness, and the dry down is literally the same with Thé Noir, albeit Mystere 29 being slightly greener. I don’t think anyone would notice the difference though, this is really nitpicking.

Given I’m entering into rebirth for the shoulder, I chose this today merely based on the description listed below, restoration. Bvlgari Man Rain Essence is an invitation to experience the unstoppable creative power of water through the transformative and restorative power of rain. Powerful and indispensable as rain, Bulgari Man Rain Essence is a unique fresh woody musk fragrance permeated with clear and radiant notes. It is given strength by energetic mineral accords that bring to mind the purity of this rejuvenating natural element. TOP NOTES: green tea essence and orange essenceMIDDLE NOTES: accord of white lotus and accord of crystalline muskBASE NOTES: mineral amber accord and guaiac wood essence

Been craving some fresher scent profiles. I’m a bit over the sweet scents currently. Grabbed this one from Maxaroma. This one is excellent. Opens up with a lime and citrus, with mint and Ginger. Smells very similar to a Gin & Tonic to my nose. This is going to be an excellent summer scent. Only draw back for me is that it lasted about 4-5 hours on my skin. Projects well for the first hour or so. This one is a spring summer/ daytime/ casual. Work safe be aware that it could be considered a boozy scent. This is my 3rd Micallef scent, I am very impressed so far with quality and the scent profiles. 8.5/10

[Edit - With links and pictures] Hey brothers! In my quest to find my cherry scent i was kindly suggested to look at this house. Since in Europe it is hard to find a 1015 counter, i ordered a full discovery set. 11 scents arrived by the courrier couple days ago, and i finally have the chance to try all of them, for now on paper. I will check the selected few on skin during the week. Out of 11, i would consider only 4-5 being really wearable by men, but I let people be judge of that with their own taste. I feel the scent profile of this house is simplicity, as in you can definitely picture one note, with many things around to just boost its effect, not perfumes that try to blend too many scents to create something new. I personally like this approach. So in order of preference: - Cherry punk extrait de parfum, and Cherry punk EDP. Now both are great and are similar to Tom Ford Cherry fragrances. The extrait is similar to Tom Ford Cherry smoke, and the EDP to lost Cherry. So the extrait has this smokey aspect, slightly synthetic Cherry which i personally love. The EDP is more natural, like a real cherry, so sweeter too. Here is really a matter of taste. The edp cherry note is similar to the note found in Armani stronger with you Powerfully, but last the whole time and is objectively much much much better. I plan on using both in a layering combo with ombre leather from TF. - Electric wood: nutmeg, chestnuts and wood done right. This is a scent i smelled so many times, yet i feel this one is a hit. I will need to make some research and take the time to compare it, because it sits at a crossroad of so many other fragrance, but for some reasons it resonates with me. - Sonic Flower. Now this one leans feminine on top note, with pear and apple. I think i prefer this trail though compared to Hermetica Appear (which is btw fabulous). The pear is here, natural and beautiful. I absolutely want to try this on skin, since the dry down feels more masculine. For my pear scent, it will probably end up being this one or Hermetica, again with some layering. - Ten Fifteen - i do not know if i like it or not, it has the same effect on me than Another 13 from Le Labo, including this scent of humid magazine newspaper in the dry down (more feminine though). This scent has iris and some other unique flowers, but this stays overall a subtle scent, something that could grow on you overtime. I am curious to try it on skin to see what chemistry it gets. - Love-o-matic / wavechild would come next, although they are very different. Wavechild is very pleasant at first with watermelon, pepper and some other freshy smell, but becomes extremely synthetic in the dry down on paper. Here we are in woman territory, and trying it on my skin would make little sense. I will ask my other half to try it out for me 😉 Love-o-matic is more your orange/citrus scent with light flowery notes. Inoffensive in top note, not very great on dry down. I will try that one on skin just to go down the rabbit hole, but I would not replace any of my citrus frag with this one as it lacks some omph. Too common, and maybe again more feminine.

I’m trying to train my nose beyond ‘this smells good.’ What helped you most early on comparisons, note breakdowns, or just wearing fragrances over time?