This is the latest from the house that brought my favorites Book, Tonka, Gold, Velvet and Milk into my life. Commodity has the Spice. This was nothing like I thought it was going to be, but instead is an aroma storm in three variations: Spice-: a personal 1:1 level of the fragrance where aromatic spices are suspended in Skin Musks leading to intimate moments. Spice: Saffron, Allspice, Nutmeg, Cinnamon Sugar, Cardamom, and Clove with the warm comfort of Chai and Suede. Hanging out with a few friends, someone notices and you smile while they ask, “What are you wearing now?” Spice +: Rich, decadent, and bold leather with gourmand spices that include Safraliene; a high-impact synthetic aroma molecule created by Givaudan that mimics the warm, spicy, and leathery scent profile of natural saffron. You’re at the company holiday party, and your co-workers are aware of your command-like presence. I can’t wait to get the full sizes!!

The fragrance opens with a crisp and refreshing green apple accord, accompanied by subtle floral undertones. The apple immediately provides a bright, juicy freshness, while the florals introduce a softer dimension underneath, giving the opening more character than a straightforward fruity composition. At around 15 minutes, the combination of green apple and florals remains at the center of the fragrance. What begins to stand out, however, is the complexity of the floral accord. Rather than presenting as a single recognizable flower, the florals feel layered and multifaceted, weaving naturally through the freshness of the apple and giving the fragrance a distinctive personality. By 30 minutes, the green apple begins to soften considerably, allowing the fresh, fruity florals to move into the foreground. There is still enough apple remaining to provide brightness, but the fragrance now feels increasingly floral, airy, and refined. The transition is smooth, with the fruit and florals blending seamlessly rather than competing for attention. At around 60 minutes, the apple becomes lighter and more restrained while the florals continue to provide the heart of the composition. A distinctly clean and aquatic quality begins to emerge underneath, adding an almost airy freshness that rounds out the scent profile beautifully. This stage feels particularly balanced, with the remaining fruit, florals, and aquatic nuances working effortlessly together. The dry down settles into a clean and understated combination of aquatic freshness and soft florals. The brighter green apple character from the opening has mostly faded, leaving behind an airy floral composition that is nicely blended and wears very comfortably on my skin.Overall, this fragrance moves gracefully from crisp green apple into complex fruity florals before settling into a clean aquatic finish. The floral accord is the most interesting aspect of the composition, providing more complexity than I initially expected from the fresh, fruit-driven opening. While I would have preferred stronger overall performance, the scent itself is fresh, polished, and very easy to wear. Performance: Projection is okay, creating approximately a two-foot scent bubble for around two hours. Sillage is good, leaving a noticeable three-foot scent trail for approximately two hours. Longevity is more moderate, lasting around 5–6 hours on my skin and becoming a skin scent at approximately the three-hour mark. My Rating: 7/10

So I thought I’d spin the wheel and try out the new re-release of JPG Fleur de Male. Woof, it is absolutely not for me. And I think… it’s not going to be for everyone. What I can say is it is very well balanced, relatively complex with a lot going on that all work together, but is just wholly unappealing to me. I’m not the biggest fan of florals (I’ve tested Le Beau Narcisse and Flower Edition and reacted pretty negatively to those) but was wondering if I’d like this one based on the interesting note breakdown. The florals in this don’t work for me the same way they don’t work for me in Le Beau Narcisse - something about the orange blossom has an edge that doesn’t sit well with me, it’s less smooth and less crowd pleasing than say what you find in YSL Myslf. But on top of that, there’s some really weird stuff going on in this new release - a fair amount of bright powdery green, with a hint of pine that I do like, but a dusty earthy undertone (maybe from the hay or tobacco note?) that to me really takes this in an unappealing direction. In the air it’s not terrible - but up close it’s not appealing to smell which is a must have for me (if I’m not sniffing my arms like a monkey all day, it’s not a keeper…). There’s kind of a retro feel about it as well, in a nod to the OG I think this will appeal to fans of the OG and maybe people who tolerate florals or more interesting : challenging designer compositions - but unfortunately this one is not for me. Anyone here tried the new one or love the OG?

I like to keep an eye on pending TMs for perfumes to see what's coming up. Note there's no guarantee all of these will be released. My boy Ralph Lauren once had a whole line of flankers planned around Polo Explorer series and scrapped them, much to my disappointment. Tom Ford TOM FORD WHITE LACQUER Tom Ford TOM FORD NOIR NOCTURNE Tom Ford TOM FORD CASSIS LOVER Le Labo HINOKI 37 Le Labo MANDARINE 26 Armani Privé MANGUE CARNAL ARMANI/PRIVĒ Armani Privé VERT JADE ARMANI/PRIVĒ Armani Privé THÉ LAPSANG ARMANI/PRIVĒ Hermès Hermessence FOIN PADDOCK YSL YSL NU DARING CYPRESS YSL YSL LIBRE NUDE COUTURE Ralph Lauren LIFE BY RALPH LAUREN Ralph Lauren POLO YELLOW Creed ABSOLU SILVER MOUNTAIN WATER Ralph Lauren also has US TMs pending for Polo Earth Sea Salt, Pinewood, and Rose. These have been released in China and pending US TMs indicate they may see US release as well. I have these and the Pinewood and Sea Salt are excellent, the Rose is fine, probably be a hit for rose lovers. There's also a Polo Earth Verbena that released a few weeks ago in China, but no pending US TM for that one - I've got a bottle on the way. I reached out to RL CS (both US and EU) and they couldn't tell me anything about them seeing a US release. RL US didn't even know they existed.

D&G The One Elixir and that amber glass with the dark wood cap gives it a whiskey decanter energy before you even know the notes. 🥃🟤 Notes breakdown: Top: Cardamom Middle: Whisky Base: Leather Vibe Score Card: Warm Spicy, Sweet Rum, Amber, Woody Short and direct note list, but each one hits hard. Cardamom opens it up warm and spiced, whisky takes over the heart for that boozy, rich character, and leather settles it into a deep, masculine base. This is The One stripped down to its most intense, concentrated form — exactly what “Elixir” implies. Perfect fall/winter fragrance, built for evenings and colder weather. Elixir formulations tend to be stronger and more concentrated than the standard EDT/EDP, so expect heavy projection and excellent longevity. Price: usually runs around $110-140. @dolcegabbana 🥃