To celebrate passing my remote pilot's exam, I used a little bit of my tax return money and picked up Tom Ford's Black Orchid Reserve. I've been in love with it from the first day it came out, but have been biding my time waiting for it to hit discounters and for a good deal to happen. JomaShop happened to be doing their Father's Day discount sale, which brought the 50mL to the lowest price I've seen it since it was released. I picked it up for $125 with free shipping and used some of my credits to bring it down a couple of bucks farther. I am super happy, and it ties with the original EDP as my all time favorite winter / fall fragrance. I know I can't really wear it for a while, but at that price, it was too good to not pass up, and I had a good excuse. My big surprise, though, was that one of my biggest clients, who has supported me through multiple CEOs and multiple job roles sent me a gift for passing as well. They sent me a GIANT 200mL bottle of JPG Le Male Elixir Absolu, along with three 10mL travellers of JPG Le Beau, JPG Le Male Elixir, and JPG Divine. I am gobsmacked at the gift. I'm not the biggest JPG fan, but these are incredible, and the thought and intention behind it blows me away. I did a test of Elixir, since that's the one everyone raves about, and I am sold on it. Wow! I'll be doing some comparisons and wearing them at home, and I'll follow up. But so far, Elixir is absolutely everything that everyone says it is. I'm hesitant to try the Absolu while I'm at the studio since I have shoots this evening, but I will definitely be comparing and taking notes.

Ive been finding a lot of good deals on r/UKfragranceswap. Picked up 2 more things from there. They finally arrived today. 2 fragrances that i absolutely adore. Im slowly trying to expand my collection while keeping each fragrance unique. So a lot of frags from my collection will have to go. The prada is a 3 year old tester and its nuclear. I need 4 lifetimes to finish the bottle. But im glad i got them.

Recently picked up Jeremy Fragrance, Fragrance One Date for Men. I must say this is one of the cheapest feeling and looking fragrances but it's the juice that counts. Also I got it while on sale so being a cheap feeling presentation is okay. Also excited to add another niche scent to my collection.

Finally got my hands on this beauty. Loved it from the first sniff. Of all the TDHs this one was my favourite. Metallic, fresh, zingy and everlasting. Got it for a steal at r/UKFragranceSwap. Got a few more coming that i picked up.

As we head into the summer months, I needed to round out my warm weather collection with a few grab and go cheapies. Sampled both of these outstanding Rayhaans and just knew I had to pull the trigger. - Adonis Icarus: Juicy, super delicious orange. I get a touch of woodiness and light musk in the dry down, mostly this is just a citrus bomb. Unless I’m going nose blind, I get about two hours of very good projection, two hours of soft projection, then it’s a delicious skin scent for a few more hours. This scent just makes me happy. I’ve got a decant of afternoon swim — I haven’t worn them side-by-side, but this is definitely very close to it. And it’s got a magnetic cap! Impressive value for the 30 bucks I spent on it - Aquatica: tangy, lightly musky delicious lime pina colada. I’m still getting to know this one, but I really like it. I’ve never sampled virgin Island water, but I hear this is a close inspiration of that one. I threw some on last night before bed and I could still smell it on me this morning as light skin scent, but I couldn’t tell you yet how long the projection lasts. But this one is also super delicious.