Finally gave Ocean Noir a full wear today. First spray was around 12:36 p.m., and I’ve been paying close attention to how it develops on my skin. 12:36–12:40 p.m. (opening): Right away, this opens soft and pleasant, with a slightly floral and airy feel. I’m not getting an aggressive marine note or anything salty. It leans blue-adjacent, but in a smooth, modern way rather than a traditional aquatic. What stands out most early on is a powdery, creamy smoothness that makes it very easy to wear. I wasn’t exactly sure what “black coconut” or “tangelo” were supposed to smell like here, but overall it feels clean and rounded, not sharp or citrus-heavy. Around 12:45 p.m.: The scent starts to open up more in the air while staying soft on skin. Still no heavy marine character, which I appreciate since those notes don’t usually work well on me. The profile remains light, fresh, and approachable. By 1:00 p.m.: At this point, it’s settled into a blue-leaning freshness without going into Acqua di Gio–style marine territory. That’s a big plus for me. It feels uplifting, clean, and comfortable, with a noticeable skin-like musk giving it a creamy, slightly powdery texture rather than sharpness. So far, this has been another solid hit for me from Michael Malul. Very wearable, crowd-friendly, and clean without being watery or overly aquatic. To me this is Full Bottle Worthy!

Is that "out loud" or "out (l)oud"? Seriously, this post is more for my benefit than for the group's, but I'm happy to hear comments and/or observations if you wish. Yesterday I posted a video from a YouTube guy that stated a bunch of facts and figures about the industry, the state of market, its future etc. See https://www.skool.com/bos/im-starting-to-understand if interested. To summarize, he cited that there is a marked increase in frag interest from users of GLPs, and being diabetic, that includes me. I placed my frag first order about 12-13 months ago on that big Canadian site and since then I've bought hundreds of frags of various kinds, qualities, etc just in an effort to learn about them and to determine what I liked. Every single person in my life has asked me what was the trigger for this sudden interest, but I had no idea. Not a clue... I've been playing golf for over 50 years and it took me 20+ years before I bought my first brand new set and about 30 years before I took my first golf trip (you know... on an airplane.) Now within one year of this frag thing, I have no clue what I've spent on this stuff and I'm going to Dubai in two weeks just to learn about oud, the industry and anything frag related. I got the House of Dubai on my speed dial for god's sake. Everyone sees this new obsession but nobody is really concerned. Anyway, this post is more therapeutic for me.