I had a hard day today emotionally. It's been a rough start to the year with some big wins and some very deep losses and a lot of uncertainty about what the future holds. I think we all are feeling it, and it's translating on my side into fewer people wanting to spend money on things like photography for headshots and portraits and branding. On days like this, I try to remember the Taoist concept of "Zuowang" that roughly translates as "Wandering in Forgetfulness." The idea is to put yourself into a meditative state where you lose sense of yourself as an individual and forget about your worldly cares and desires in an effort to center and reframe yourself and your place within the universe. For me, that translates into wandering around physically, with no aim or plan, just pointing my feet in a direction, and losing my "self" in the experience of wandering and enjoying the here and now and what is entirely in front of me. Tonight, that led me into Louis Vuitton, LOL, where I finally sampled Ombre Nomad, Pacific Chill, Fleur De Desert, and Les Sables Roses. Ombre Nomad is by far my favorite here, and I get the hype surrounding it. It's beautiful, and I enjoyed getting to test it out. From there, I wandered into Neiman Marcus and found myself at the Creed counter. The lady was kind enough to introduce me to Oud Zarian and generously hit me with several sprays. My God what a fragrance. I made a vow to never buy Creed after reading Ghost Perfumer, but I have started to let that go with their newest fragrances post-buyout. The man responsible for much of the bullshit has retired, and the company is now run by other people and the perfumers who created these scents are receiving proper acknowledgement. It has me softening my stance, and Oud Zarian might be the fragrance that changes my mind completely. Cecile Zarokian deserves all the praise in the world over this scent. It is absolutely incredible. Oudy, chocolatey, smokey, resinous, but still somehow pleasant and bright with a little creaminess in the dry down. There's a licorice note in the base that is surprising and absolutely delicious. It's truly a masterpiece of perfumery, worthy of awards and deserving of the praise and hype being lavished on it. This might truly be one of the finest fragrances I have ever smelled.

My new pick up. Love this scent