John Varvatos XX


Nice smell. Sweet. Apple, flowers, orange blossom, sandalwood come through the most for me. It’s long lasting, pretty decent projection.

This is a good all around cologne, it could work at the gym, club, date, dinner, work. It’s going to have a wide appeal. My only complaint is it doesn’t really stand out as something unique, but that will only be an issue if you have a big collection. If this is your only scent, I think it’s a good one.

Review: Creed – Sublime Vanille

I feel like this should be called Sublime Tonka Bean. Not that I’m complaining, I love tonka bean. Definitely feminine but a guy could pull this off easily. Behind the tonka bean, the vanilla comes through strong. It reminds me of Givenchy Pi but way smoother and more pleasant.

This would be absolutely perfect for a date. It’s very sexy and alluring. And also for dates, and dates and dates.

Girls get this.

Review: Creed – Spring Flower

This has a very flowery smell, unsurprisingly. It has notes of jasmine and rose, but the rose is really what stands out. A little bit of peach and melon come through. It really smells like a rose and melon perfume.

This is for an older woman, I would say approaching 50’s and above. Definitely not a youthful scent. Good for dinner parties, outdoor events, summer time. Has massive projection, I wouldn’t wear it during a date or in an office at the risk of it offending someone.

Rose is not one of my personal favorites but if that is something you like, this is definitely as well blended version of rose, and melon takes some of the harshness away that rose can have sometimes. If you are a big fan of rose, this will probably be one of the best versions of it you have ever smelled.

Review: Creed – Spice and Wood

This has a wonderful masculine smooth spice and wood smell. This is one of my new favorites from Creed. The blending is masterfully done.

The cedar comes through with oak moss to mellow it out, and is backed up by some fruity notes, apple and citrus. At first I didn’t even recognize how much fruitiness was in this because they are such a good compliment of the wood, enhancing the wood, but after looking at the main notes, the fruity notes become apparent.

I think this geared towards someone in their 30s and up, it has a very sophisticated scent. This is great for a date, dinner, or evening event. Not sporty. Definitely could be a signature scent, office wear would be good too.

Love this.

Review: Gentle Elsatys

This cologne smells like the same kind of generic soapy stuff that every so many colognes smell like these days. It’s not bad smelling all but you’re just buying the same kind of thing you’re going to find all over the place.

I feel like I need to make some standard post I just paste in whenever I run across this kind of cologne. I feel more and more these days if you want unique scents you got to got back to older fragrances. There are exceptions of course like my last review.

I don’t want to come off like these are terrible, they smell fine, it’s just in my goal to see what unique touches each perfume has it’s disappointing to not get much new.

Review: Black Storm Private Collection by Lomani

When I smelled this on the paper it had a very powerful black pepper smell, more pepper than I have ever smelled than other cologne. I love black pepper in general so I was immediately interested in it. After trying it on my skin, I immediately felt like I didn’t like it as much and was pretty disappointed. After letting it dry down for about an hour though it started smoothing out and smelling more natural. It lost the sharp pepper smell which developed into a smooth pepper smell, dark.

I ended up being a fan of this, but you might want to put it on an hour before you leave the house so it has a change to mellow out, depending on your skin chemistry. Skin chemistry can be dramatically difference for everyone which is why it’s so important to try it on your skin before you buy.

This would be good for dinner, dating, clubbing and that sort of thing.

Review: Initio Parfums Prives – Addictive Vibration

Very strong floral notes, my first thought was jasmine but looking at the ingredients apple blossom and orange blossom are at the top. My initial thought when I first sprayed it was negative, too acrid.

After letting it dry down for a couple of hours, it’s not as harsh, but it’s faded considerably and I still don’t like the core of this scent. It’s the kind of scent you feel assaulted by when an old lady walks into an elevator with you. I don’t recommend this for anyone. I don’t really have much more to say about it.

Review: Valentino Uomo Born in Roma For men

This is a nice spicey fragrance, very slight floral, I don’t see anything listed in the ingredients that would suggest this, but I feel like there is a hint of fruitiness. It does have a bit of a synthetic smell, but still very nice. There is a aquatic feel to it as well.

This is definitely for a younger man, would be good for a date, club, bar, party. Projection isn’t very strong, along with the smooth scent, you’re not going to offend anyone with this.

This scent isn’t going to make you stand out of a crowd, but it’s pleasant. I do think there are better things out there for the price.

Review: Chypre – Palatin

This reminds me of bubble gum right after putting it on. Very quickly flowery notes start to come out. Gardenia and Jasmine start coming through after it dries down, Oak Moss, some fruitiness. It is a pleasant smell, I would say it’s more feminine but as always people can wear whatever they like.

There is a very large list of diverse ingredients, it gives this a very sophisticated feel to it. Elegant might be a better word. Timeless, all ages could get away wearing this. I think it would be most appropriate at night, at parties, dates, outdoor events. It has very good projection. Definitely not office or gym wear.

If you’re looking for a unique scent that is also amazing this would be a good choice. This would be especially good if you have a large collection of perfumes, this will be it’s own scent. Good lasting power, and people will notice you. This really makes a strong statement.

Review: Alaxndia II by Xerjoff

Smooth, sweet and woody is how I would describe this. Some fruity undertones come up. This is very good smelling and smells expensive, which, it is. This is one of those scents I can’t imagine would be offensive to anyone. I think this would make a good signature scent, you can wear this in occasion, day, night, gym, club, dinner, party, inside out, etc.
This could work great for both male and females. Normally one thinks of wood as being more on the masculine side, but the flowers and fruits balance it out. It leans a bit more feminine.

It is long lasting and has ok projection. As it dries down you really begin to smell how complicated it is. There are a bunch of different ingredients and it’s interesting how they got them to all work together. This is definitely something to check out.