This is another long time member of my collection that I never wore before. People compare it with Gissah Imperial Valley, but is not necessarily a dupe of it. Definitely an Oriental DNA, but very delightful. A beautiful blend of citrus, leather, florals and oud that is very alluring and delicious. A hidden gem!

I saw this on YouTube, and thought it might be fun to do here. The idea is to talk about your adventures with blind buys. Talk about 2 that were successful, and 2 that weren't so good I'll go first: Fail: 1. French Avenue Liquid Brun - I avoided buying it because I knew it was a hype trap. But then I tried PDM Altair in the store while waiting for my dinner date, and was really impressed by it. My date liked the scent, and so I put it in the back of my mind. A year later, I found Liquid Brun at the rack store and decided to pick it up. I don't think it smells anything like the PDM. Maybe it's a bad batch, or I just need to let it mature on the shelf for a bit, but every time I've given it a chance, it's proven to be too sickly sweet for my taste and has a weird chemical smell underneath it. I've compared it to other Liquid Brun samples, and it's the same, so I don't think I have a fake. But this was a big disappointment. 2. Lalique Pour Homme Lion - Got a TON of hype online as one of the best daily wear office fragrances. It was only like the 4th or 5th fragrance I ever bought, and one of my first blind buys. Completely forgettable. I just sprayed it a few minutes ago, and I can't tell you what it smells like anymore. I've tried to give it away twice, and each time, it got returned back to me, LOL Triumph 1. Mauboussin Star Pour Homme - bought as a blind buy after a recommendation from TPG on YouTube. The notes sounded good, but the price - $25 - was even better. It has become one of my all time favorites for date nights and colder evenings. I think it rivals Faragamo Signature Uomo and Mercedes Club Black for best masculine vanilla scent out there, and the price is an absolute steal. 2. Lattafa Vintage Radio - I had never heard of Initio, much less Paragon. Had no idea that I would like plum notes so freaking much. I bought it at the same time as Lalique, otherwise, i probably would have quit buying fragrances at that point. It's still one of my favorite fragrances and one of the best plum themed fragrances on the market.