Okay, so a few might remember that me stumbling upon
@Sonic Boom of the South posting Qaed Al Fursan inspired me to grow up, retire the BBW body sprays, and begin my cologne journey. So far it has been a total knock out of the park. These are all from the Lataffah house.
Qaed Al Fursan - The scent that started this. I love it, but I knew I would because I'm a stan of all things pineapple. I also love the saffron scent that accompanies it because it adds a maturity that stops me from smelling like a straight up can of dole. I really like it. It's simplistic in its smell, so I can see why advanced wearers like to layer this, but I still like it solo. I know there's an "unlimited" version that is the coconut version, but I'm hesitant because some people have been saying its trash. 8/10
Khamrah - This one is absolutely incredible. Sweet and spicy without coming off overtly feminine. The reviews for this are top notch, and one sniff made me instantly recognize why. I read this is like "Angel's Share", but inspired by rather than a duplicate. 10/10
Oud for Glory - A replica of Oud for Greatness. I'm wearing it right now at work. It's very sharp and masculine. I am not good at describing smells yet, but there's nothing sweet about this. This one more than any other makes me feel like I'm on some grown man shyt. Love it. 9/10
Asad - This is supposed to be Savauge Elixir, and I love it. It smells quite....mainstream and typical compared to the rest? Safe, but undeniably pleasant. I think this is supposed to be a "blue" scent, so lighter. This could potentially be my "signature", but I prefer more exciting stuff, so it'll probably never be my favorite. But I love it for sure. 9/10
Eternal Oud - This one is supposed to be similar to MFK's Gran Soir, and I tell you now brehs, this shyt is fukking AMAZING. I'm 33 and read some saying this an old head fragrance, but they can kiss my ass. Sweet and smokey and wood-sy AF. This could be my signature forreal. 10/10 EASY.
Beyond thankful that my first order of scents was such a success, especially considering they were all blind buys. It's reassuring to know that I don't have to break the bank to smell good. Really can't see myself getting expensive colognes when these houses are making high level duplicates and inspirations for 20% of the price. I'm all about logic and efficiency when it comes to shyt like this.
Up next for Lataffa, I'm looking to check out Sublime, Amethyst, Honor & Glory to complete the Baed collection, and I want to get "Vintage Radio" too.
After getting my Lattafa collection, I started looking into some other scents and heard a big buzz about something called "Jack of Clubs" from Fragrance World, which is supposed to be a replica of "YSL Bleu Electrique", but that it doesn't exist anymore in the states, so I figured I'd blind order that...
...only to discover there's an Ace of Spades, King of Diamonds and Queen of Hearts as well. The collector in me felt compelled to cop them all
I read King of Diamonds is "Vertus Narcotic" and Ace of Spades is "Margiela By the Fireplace." I felt pretty secure in me liking Fireplace, but I heard Narcotic was on some different shyt: smelling like Mangoes, Coffee and WEED! As I said earlier, I like unique, different type shyt, but I didn't wanna burn my cash if Ir ended up not liking it, so I remember you guys mentioning a place to get samples called "Scent Split", so I copped both and tried em.
By the Fireplace smelled exactly as I thought, which was woodsy AF and an easy cop (Starting to realize I fukk with wood scents and sweet, spicy ones the most). Narcotic I absolutely hated at first and was about to write off, but then I smelled it on me an hour later after the dry down and fell in love. It's weird as fukk, but uniquely cool. So I went and ordered Ace, King and Jack. Hopefully I like Jack (Blue Electrique), but I've read that one is the safest of the three (Are blue scents generally considered safe and accessible?)
That's my update for the first two weeks of being a fragrance collector. The first cologne sample I ever got was Tom Ford's Oud Wood, and I fukking loved it. I found out it got discontinued, so I def need a good duplicare of that one.
I'm also interested in checking out YSL Tuxedo and Babycat.
nosefragrances.com
ministryofscent.com
