I know i am not the rant guy, but I am really annoyed at something I saw today. So the two new Bond no. 9’s were released, their new oud scents. They are starting at $600. This is just ridiculous, first we know they are not using real oud and second they are bond!!!! Yes we all have our favorites that we love and many of their bottles are really good, but we can all agree that they are not worth their retail price of nearly 500 already. Almost all of us only buy them at discounters. This along with the recent PDM prices and even the new BDC release, these designers and one step above designer releases are asking too much of us lately. Even my favorite, Tom Ford, is getting out of hand. I have never fully been in the never buy retail camp completely, but I think I am now. I feel like we should maybe make our stand and maybe stop buying from them. I don’t want to tell anyone how to spend their money, but I do want you to maybe think about it. The customers have to make our wishes known, and I know our group is relatively small, but maybe we can spread the word a bit more. You do you bro and sis, but thanks for sticking with my rant.

Learned that term from watching Ash - seems pretty fitting - a clone of a dead fragrance. I was in Burlington yesterday picking up a belt and I said to myself before I went - "Don't even walk by the fragrance section - you have enough" but we all know how that went. So - to cut to the chase, I picked up a bottle of Lattafa Habik for men - a clone of the discontinued JPG Le Male Essence de Parfum. I gave it a quick run last night and I'm going to give it a full run today. Initial impressions are that it's spicy, peppery, slightly powdery opening that dries down quickly to a powdery, leather with a touch of sweetness. It seems more niche smelling than designer, not your usual fresh/sweet blend of most modern frags. Performance initially seems moderate. Definitely a cool weather scent. Didn't really blow me away but it isn't redundant to anything else I have.