Hi all,

I just wanted to drop by quickly and thank for all the wonderful reviews and comments here. It would be so hard for me to find a new scent otherwise. I don't have enough patience, and I always feels like the local fragrance retailer is more interested in up-selling me rather than finding me something interesting. I think I lost interest 10 year ago. But last year I tried to go through that again and came home with the '17 Gentleman Givenchy. And that one became boring so very quickly, I'm really disappointed. Taking a gander online it appears that can't be helped.
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So I finally got fed up with all that and did what I wanted to do for over ten years: after searching and waiting for a few months I found an almost full Givenchy pour Homme. I still like it, maybe a bit too fruity orange-ish now, but this one still appeals very much to me.

I'm still looking for a more basic daily replacement, but I'm getting some good hints here. Its strange though, smelling Givenchy I would think everything is being tuned down. But I just sampled some new Mugler and JPG perfume and while not my taste, it is certainly not 'tuned down'. I have a new sealed Givenchy Play Leather. But given what my nose thinks of the Play or current Gentleman lines I'm afraid to open it.

Anyway now I have my old GpH, and a new Al Haramain Homme Mystique and love it, but it is slightly too distinctive which I don't want to wear that too much. But what else. I think I'd even love to find my other EdT's from 10, 15 year ago again at some point: Armani Mania, maybe Hugo Boss Soul or even Van Gils.

I was really surprised with Guerlain Vetiver. I could not have imagined the effect when applied. And to my nose the new sample is not so far from a vintage bottle, ie. no issues with 'reformulations'. Not sure if I can pull off wearing it every day. I'm also testing:

- Acqua di Parma Colonia, very pleasant although longevity seems to be an issue to my nose with AdP. Well except with Colonia Oud Concentrée, which sure is an "interesting" one.
- Baldessarini, maybe some other Boss line.
- Habit Rouge, this reminds me of a classy new-age shop 20y ago. I love it, not sure how often I'd wear this.

The other highlight I think is Givenchy Xeryus. I dont dare test the vintage, but I find it an addictive sweet conifer scent, old school without the barber shop man. Not sure about the rouge variant yet. Maybe that is too subdued for me. I hope to sample the new formulas for those, but I'll be sure to get a tester first. LAter.

I tried some other old skool, but after Pierre Cardin and Aramis (Havana) I think I know where that is at. Probably no Azzarro or Puig for me either. I have some Mugler cologne to test next but the top notes I'm getting are far too hard and loud. Also I have something smelling really horrible made by Dior on my wrist right now, which seemed like not too bad bergamot-vetiver before. Well at least its good to know what all the fuzz is about. Even if only to avoid it. I even bought a 100ml Fahrenheit, its a mix of memory and fascination. If that doesn't help avoiding people, I don't know what does.

Well, that is the short variant of me getting up to date last year. Today wasn't the greatest sample day, and I think I'm going to scrub now. But especially the Guerlain was a very pleasant find.