Mugler Pure Malt Review

Hello ladies and gentleman! I hope everyone is doing well and smelling great! Today I have a full review for Thierry Mugler's Pure Malt from the A*Men line. My favorite from Mugler. Let's get into it!

Notes:

Top- Fruity Notes, Bergamot, Orange

Mid- Malt, Patchouli, Coffee, Cedar, Whiskey

Base- Peat, Vanilla, Amber, Musk


Pure Malt...There are so many things to say about this one, but I will try to keep it relatively short.

This is a masterpiece to me. Yes, it has been reformulated. I still get a good 8-9 hours with it and solid projection for up to 3.  It's not as boozy as the original, but it's still a great fragrance.

Sweet fruits, whiskey, coffee, and chocolate.  Gourmand, sweet, and a good dose of booze. The fruits make it sweet. The coffee adds to the warm characteristic. The standard chocolately patchouli that the A*Men line uses. This is a sweet boozy gourmand. It does that well.

One of my favorites in my collection, even in its reformulated state. Don't let the exaggerated reviews of it being weak dissuade you. It still performs very well. Just not as well as the original.

This is for colder weather only. Even now, this fragrance still packs a potent punch and would be super cloying in the heat. To me, this one is more casual, but it could be worn with business casual clothing. It's not safe for work for me, it smells too boozy. It's a great night out fragrance in the fall and winter.

Thank you all for the support once again. Hit that blue follow button if you'd like to support my work even more.

Top 5 Cheapie Fragrances for Fall
https://musingsofafraghead.blogspot.com/2018/10/my-top-5-cheapie-list-for-fall.html

Veteran's Day Special Part 2: My Top 5 Fragrances for Depression

My cooking crew at our Christmas party. I am on the bottom left.

Hey ladies and gentleman! This is part 2 of my "Veteran's Day Special". These are the fragrances that helped me the most during days of depression. Some of these are more recent acquisitions, but they help if it pops up again.

First off, thank all of you for the tremendous support on my last post. It really means a lot and I am glad that my writing was able to reach and touch some people. I am truly humbled that you let me into your lives, even if only for a brief moment!

"I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think."- Socrates

That quote sums up why I made this blog, not really to teach as the title suggests, but to make people think about them in a different light.

Onto the fragrances now! I will only give a description of each one relating to how it helped me with depression. I will do full reviews on these fragrances in the future if I don't already have one, which will include notes, performance, etc.

Honorable Mention: Mont Blanc Individuel

The reason why this one is only an honorable mention is it doesn't illicit powerful emotion like the rest, but it's still very nice. It smells like clean laundry with a touch of sweetness. That is always a good emotion to smell clean things. This one does that.

Number 5: Burberry Touch for Men

This happens to be one of my favorite fragrances. The reason why this is on here is that it has a very powdery violet leaf note in it that is super relaxing and calming to me. I wear it to bed to help me relax to sleep sometimes, I love it.

Number 4: He Wood Rocky Mountain Wood

This is the one that I was talking about smelling like a forest in my previous post. It smells like the mountains. Trees, rocks, all of it. Accented with a beautiful ozonic violet note that gives it a feeling of the mountains and forest after a nice light rain. Takes me back to some of my hikes through the Appalachians.

Number 3: Rochas Man

Yes, you could laugh at this one just due to the bottle design and that would lift your spirits alone. I like to keep it family friendly here so I will talk about the memories it invokes. It smells like a sweetened vanilla latte with some lavender. So, it reminds me of a coffee shop. I love coffee shops and the way they smell. This one just brings a smile to my face thinking about coffee. It says "Man" on it, but I think a confident woman can pull this off.

Number 2: Bvlgari Aqva Amara

I know the picture is bad, but it's hard to get a good pic with this bottle design.

This one is the beach one I mentioned in part 1. I think of this when I smell it. You are sitting on a dock with an orange juice. You can smell a little bit of the wood. The air is salty and you can smell the waves crashing against the rocks. If that isn't a happy place, then I don't know what is. It is still topped by my number 1.

Number 1(Tie): Alfred Sung Hei

Many of you probably haven't heard of this one. It's a really great one. This fragrance evokes the feeling that you are doing a daily meditation in the middle of a bamboo forest in China by a stream, the water gently flowing and surrounded by a meadow of jasmine flowers. 

It's a very peaceful and serene fragrance. Somewhat resembling a floral bar of soap with a slightly woody undertone. This one is unisex to me as well, even leaning slightly feminine, but men can certainly pull it off.

Number 1(Tie): Zegna Uomo

I am a self-proclaimed pluviophile. Which means I love rain. In fact, it's raining while I write this. This smells like the rain on a beach after a thunderstorm. That wet air smell that lingers after the rains. It's beautiful and understated. Rain calms me and so does the smell of it. I absolutely love this one. If you love ozonic fragrances, this is a must try.

Rochas Man review
https://musingsofafraghead.blogspot.com/2018/10/rochas-man-review.html

Burberry house review
https://musingsofafraghead.blogspot.com/2018/11/burberry-house-review.html

Rocky Mountain Wood review
https://musingsofafraghead.blogspot.com/2018/10/surprising-sleepers-2-dsquared-he-wood.html

Zegna Uomo review
https://musingsofafraghead.blogspot.com/2018/10/surprising-sleepers-3-ermenegildo-zegna.html


Thank you, everyone, for the support. It means a lot. Feel free to hit the blue follow button to support me even more. Let me know what your favorite uplifting fragrances are in the comments! Have a great day!

Veteran's Day Special: Fragrances and Curing Depression/PTSD

My cooking crew in the Army. I am at the bottom left. Photo Credit: Julia Mathis Ebenboeck

Hey guys. Today is Veteran's Day. A day to celebrate everyone who has served in the US Military. I served myself from 2005-2013. This is going to be part of my story of how fragrances helped me with PTSD and depression and hopefully how they can help you if you struggle as well.

During my 8 years in the military, I did a tour in Ar Ramadi, Iraq. I won't go into detail as to what happened, but it took it's toll on me mentally for years. From being afraid of a simple Coca-Cola can in the road to hating fireworks. From paranoia of crowds to thunderstorms. They all stressed me out. Anything that was loud or reminiscent of things that happened there. It put me in a deep depression. Always worrying about what happens next.

It started getting better with time, but it was never completely gone. That is until I found fragrances. They took me to a better place. Instead of taking me back to the smell of smoke and carbon they could take me to a beach with the smell of the salty air and a fruity drink. They could take me to a forest with such intense smells that I could hear the mosquitoes buzzing. They could take me to a coffee shop with the smell of freshly brewed coffee and the first taste to wake you up in the morning. They could take me a mountain top with the mineral smells of a rock baking under the hot southern sun overlooking the Blue Ridge forest. They could take me on a hayride in the fall, with that first taste of cool crisp autumn air after a hot summer. Also, memories of campfires, snow, marshmallows, and scrumptious sweet food. They could take me anywhere...away from the memories.

Was it a crutch? Perhaps. It helped me get started into fragrances. It soothed me. It helped give my mind a break. It allowed me to overcome. Well, fragrances and some Jesus.

Thankfully these two things had my back. Now I am much better than I was. It does rear its ugly head every now and then, but I have some backup now.

Fragrances are strong emotional tools. They can put you in a better place. They can help you free your mind and focus on better things. It's a step by step process of replacing one negative thing with something positive. Day by day it gets better. Before long you notice the change and you work harder because you know you can get better. You can do it.

I think fragrances are a viable solution to help with depression. I know everyone is different and it won't work for everyone, but it did for me. Now, I enjoy fragrances even more now, even though I don't use them for that anymore. It started me on a road of passion and I didn't even realize it at the time. I am super thankful to all of the content creators and friendly people in the Facebook groups who helped me learn and grow. They say Veteran's Day is for veterans. Well, I say this Veteran's Day is for you kind folks. From a veteran, thank you.

Tomorrow I am going to post a fragrance list of some that helped me during this time. So, stay tuned and hit that blue follow button if you want to support me. It is greatly appreciated!

Let me know your stories in the comments and if you agree or diagree. Feel free to PM me on Facebook if it's private or shoot me an email on here! Have a fantastic day everyone!

Cerruti 1881 Review

Hello ladies and gents! I hope everyone had a fantastically fragrant day! Today I have a classic fragrance review for you, Cerruti 1881. One of my favorites in this genre. Let's get into it!

Notes:

Top- Lavender, Carnation, Galbanum, Cypress, Bergamot, Juniper, Elemi Resin

Mid- Vetiver, Ylang-Ylang, Rose, Lily of the Valley, Cassia

Base- Musk, Sandalwood, Patchouli, Oakmoss, Cedar, Pepper, Pine


As you can probably tell from the note breakdown, this fragrance is a classic one. Originally released in 1990. Cerruti is an Italian house and it's evident in this fragrance. It comes in a frosted glass bottle at the front and back with "1881" stamped on the front, with a smooth glass on the sides that says "Cerruti 1881". The cap is plastic. The atomizer is very good and distributes a good amount of fragrance.

The opening is what you might expect from these notes. A green aromatic fougere. It smells like an Italian forest, Yes, it does have that old school dry oakmoss vibe, but this one is not aggressive and in your face. It has some barbershop qualities to it, probably coming from the dry oakmoss/juniper and the spices with a powdery effect. It's not cloying, it somehow maintains a class to it while being relatively strong. This one does have a spicy aromatic composition and is very masculine.

As I said before this one reminds me of an Italian forest, granted I have never been to Italy, but this is what I imagine they would smell like in the summer. You can smell the oakmoss, cedar, lavender, and the pine very well. It's a great fragrance if you want to reminisce about walks in the forest.

This one lasts about 8 hours on me and projects for 3. it has a large scent bubble that lasts most of the life of the fragrance. People will smell this on you.

This fragrance is casual, but I think you could make it work with business casual, just not something formal. I would say that this is for more mature men, in both age and mentality. It has a classy old school vibe to it. This fragrance is best on warmer days, but you can make it work in the winter as well. I find it to be pretty versatile.

Overall, this is my favorite fragrance pre-2000s outside of Green Irish Tweed/Cool Water/Aspen or Moschino Uomo. I think it has stood the test of time, even though it does have a somewhat dated vibe, I think it still holds up well and is perfectly wearable today and I don't think it gets much love anymore and it should. One of the most underrated fougeres on the market.

I hope you enjoyed the review folks! Be sure to hit that blue follow button so you will be notified when I post new content. I have some stuff in the works very soon that you will certainly want to be following my blog for! Have a great day!

Parfums de Marly Herod Review

Image Sourced from Fragrantica.com

Hey folks! I hope everyone had a great day! Today I will be reviewing one of my favorite tobacco fragrance (tobacco is one of my top 3 favorite notes). So, let's get into it!


Notes:

Top- Tobacco, Pepper

Mid- Osmanthus, Tobacco, Incense, Labdanum

Base- Vanilla, Cypriol, Cedar, Vetiver, Iso E Super, Musk


This fragrance opens up like cherry cough syrup with a slight metallic bite, sort of like the smell of an unlit cigarette. It quickly tones down that metallic smell and dries down to a sweet cherry tobacco with some vanilla and cinnamon. It smells intoxicatingly good. When it dries down the cedar and a bit of smokiness pops up a bit stronger, but the cherry tobacco with vanilla and spices are still there. It's very well blended and I have a hard time picking out each note outside the ones I listed.

I really love the sweetness that this one has. It's blended so well and it's very smooth which makes it classy.  Best in class for niche tobacco fragrances. I do like CK One Shock more, but it doesn't smell like this one. This one is a real compliment getter and it generally mass-pleasing.

I get around 6-8 hours on this one with a solid two of projection. The sillage leaves a heavy scent bubble for most of the life of the fragrance.

This one has a bit of class, but can be worn casually. It's pretty sweet and not for everyone. Colder weather only. This thing gets sickly sweet like cough syrup in the heat.

If you are looking for a smooth cherry and vanilla fragrance that is masculine and has some class, check this one out.

Thanks and have a great day! Hit the blue follow button if you want to support my work!

Burberry House Review

Hello everyone, sorry for not posting for a few days. I hope everyone had a great weekend! Today I am going to give you a review on one of my favorite houses: Burberry. I have not tried all of their offerings, but I will include a short review of each one I have. Enjoy! As always feel free to hit that blue follow button to show your support!

Burberry is a British house founded in 1856. They are most notably known for their trench coats and signature tartan patterns. They were granted a royal warrant to make clothing for the royal family. They didn't create their first fragrance until 1981.

Now onto the fragrances...

Burberry London

I have mentioned this one in another review for my top fall cheapies of 2018. It's still an amazing fragrance. Sometimes I get the smell of wet leaves in the fall on the opening and other times I get a port wine type smell. On the dry down it smells like a Christmas tree sometimes and other times it smells just like Christmas memories. It's hard to describe and it's amazing how one fragrance can conjure up so many memories. This should be in every man's collection for the holiday season.

Burberry Touch For Men

This one I consider my signature fragrance. It's an easy dumb reach that works all year and for any situation. You can dress it up or down. Casually or formal. In the heat or in the cold. This one does it all.

A beautiful powdery violet leaf accented by some spice and soft musk. Clean, classy, and a workhorse. It's not original or groundbreaking, but it's an excellent fragrance for anything and a great one to start a collection off with. As a bonus, I get 8-9 hours with this with 2-3 of solid projection and a nice scent bubble until the 7th hour. I will keep this one in my collection forever.

Burberry Weekend

This one was not pleasant when I first purchased it. It was a blind buy and came off as a citronella cand;e (You know the ones that keep mosquitoes away?). Then I looked at the notes and saw it had ivy and lemon...and it created that vibe. While I don't find it as intolerable as I did at the start. It grew on me, but I still think it's the worst from the house (that I have tried), It's a decent summer casual scent for a barbeque or running errands. Weekend is a fitting name. It's also synthetic. It lasts about 5 hours for me. Overall not impressive, but not horrible either. I will not be repurchasing this one.

Burberry Brit(not pictured)

A spicy powdery rose. Slightly sweet, but still remains elegant. A nice fragrance overall. I plan on getting a full bottle soon. Like the others on this list...nothing groundbreaking, but still a solid fragrance. Longevity was around 7 hours with 2 of projection and a small scent bubble. Ladies seem to love this one.


Overall, Burberry is a great fragrance house that is often overlooked. London has some hype around it and Touch has received a bit as well. For the price paid on discounters they are very good value for the price paid.

London
https://www.fragrancenet.com/cologne/burberry/burberry-london/edt#142002

Touch
https://www.fragrancenet.com/cologne/burberry/burberry-touch/edt#147655

Weekend
https://www.fragrancenet.com/cologne/burberry/weekend/edt#120285

Brit
https://www.fragrancenet.com/cologne/burberry/burberry-brit/edt#133498

Thanks everyone! Have a fantastic day! Let me know in the comments your thoughts on any Burberry fragrances you have tried!

The Most Overhyped Thing in the FragComm

This image is owned by me. Credit goes to yanhongbin / 123RF Stock Photo

I hope everyone is having a fantastic start to the fall season! Today I have a somewhat controversial subject that I know many will disagree with me on it. That is fine, these are just my thoughts on it. I hope you enjoy this article.

I was thinking about the most overhyped thing in the FragComm...Trying to think of the fragrance that is talked about the most...then it hit me...It's not a fragrance at all. What is it then you might ask? It's longevity and projection. Also known as performance.

Now, before you get angry at me please hear me out. What is the one thing that you see the most on SOTD(Scent of the Day) posts on Facebook? It's not "What does this smell like to you?", even though some do ask that. It's usually not an opinion of the fragrance itself. It seems that there is always someone who asks "How is the performance?".

Now, performance isn't a bad thing, not in the slightest. Let me play "Devil's Advocate" for a bit on this one. So, why is it that we are more concerned with how long a fragrance lasts? I mean, if one only lasts for 2-3 hours, then that is obviously a problem. Why are people so enamored with it? If I want to wear Sauvage(just an example) to work that day, then come home and wear some CH Men Prive to go out with the boys that night...then Sauvage and its inability to be scrubbed off before 12 hours certainly poses an issue in achieving that.

On another note, why is projection so important? Do we have to announce to the world every day that we are wearing a fragrance and force everyone to smell us? I think in certain situations(ie. on a plane, a close quarters restaurant, in a movie theater, etc.) this could be considered as rude.

Why are fragrances like D&G The One and YSL's La Nuit de L'homme considered to be poor performing? Because they don't last 8 hours and project? I think part of the charm of these fragrances is due to them being seductive. To just give you a faint whiff to draw you in closer to experience it more. Yes, I am aware that the original formulations of La Nuit de L'homme were much stronger. It's like the difference between "Rock you like a Hurricane" by The Scorpions and "Killing Me Softly" by Frank Sinatra. They both have their places and situations and neither one is superior.

Another thing to take into account is going anosmic to the fragrances. Just because we cannot smell them does not mean others cannot. I go anosmic pretty quickly to Sauvage, but I have received compliments 10 hours into the life of it before. Same with D&G The One. Some people say it lasts 3 hours on them, well I have garnered a compliment 6 hours after applying before. Yes, I know skin chemistry plays a lot into this, but still, it's better to test with someone else's nose than your own.

One last thing I want to touch on. Just because someone doesn't say anything doesn't mean your fragrance didn't bother them. I know as for myself, I try not to say anything unless it is kind or constructive criticism. About 2 months ago I walked past a guy who probably did 8 sprays of Sauvage. I could smell him about 20 feet away. I didn't say anything to him, but it gave me a massive headache. That goes for any fragrance guys, if you spray 20 sprays of Versace Eau Fraiche then people are going to view you as the "guy who wears too much cologne". I don't care what fragrance it is. I think you should go no more than 5 sprays on anything. If it's a fragrance like Sauvage, one is enough. Be courteous to those around you.

Once again, I am not saying performance is a bad thing. I even mention it in my reviews because I know people want to know about it. I am just saying that I think we should look at the overall picture the fragrance is painting and not just how long it lasts or projects. I know I am probably in the minority here, but these are my thoughts.

If you are someone who values performance and that is how you enjoy fragrances then keep doing what you are doing. Love fragrances the way that you do. I am just trying to give an alternate view to possibly open someone's mind to a different way to enjoy fragrances. As I said, I was playing "Devil's Advocate" here.

Be sure to let me know your opinions in the comments!

I hope you enjoyed the article. If you like my content be sure to hit that blue follow button to show me your support. Have a fantastic and fabulously fragrant day!