Spencer89

Hello everyone,

i am the Jill "Sun Men (Eau de Toilette) | Jil Sander" . No, not Ofarim. I'm not that famous, although some people might know me. However, I don't make music. Instead of going into the ear, I prefer to go into the nose to stimulate it in my own way. A few brief words about my wardrobe. Unlike many of my competitors, I'm not so keen on showmanship, glam and glow. I prefer to dress simply and cover my core behind frosted glass. I only like it a little more extroverted up top and have dyed my hair red. I am slim in stature but still have a square "edge".
Now you probably want to know a few details about my character, don't you? I'm solid and down-to-earth. I prefer it fresh, creamy, slightly sweet and with a dash of citrus to start, which I get with a splash of bergamot. True to the motto "cobbler, stick to your last", I appreciate what I have and stay true to it. Ok, over time my secret love for wood creeps in, but only very subtly. At the end of the day, I pull myself out of the affair in an inconspicuous, round and slightly synthetic way. Some people might say I have a bit of separation anxiety or think I'm not very exciting or multi-faceted. So what? I'm just a loyal soul. With me, you quickly know where you stand and what you have in me. I'm not really into surprises. "It's love it or leave it. I'm also keen to cause as little offense as possible. I don't stick my elbows out. And I don't screech wildly like a barker at the morning market. If you want to understand me, you have to get closer to me because my voice doesn't carry that far. And don't call me "Chicks Terminator"! That doesn't suit me at all. Oh yes, before I forget: I'm quite sensitive to the weather. I like the warmer or even hot days of the year best. It's too cool and I quickly lose interest. But in summer, that's when I come out of my shell the most.
So folks, my time is up. I have to go. If you want anything more from me, you'll have to do it again. And don't worry: I don't hold grudges.

Let me take you into a little scenario that I'm sure will sound familiar to many of you: it's Sunday afternoon. Your parents have invited you to have coffee with the family. You step over the threshold and are warmly greeted and hugged by your mother. You enter the cozy kitchen, where your father is already sitting at the coffee table, smiling broadly and beckoning to you. You take a seat and your mother arrives with freshly baked Belgian waffles. Fresh from the waffle iron, they are still steaming hot. You load up your plate. Now the toppings that turn a waffle into your perfect waffle are still missing. Your mother approaches the table again. This time she brings a pot full of hot cherries and powdered sugar. You inhale the aroma of the cherries, which fills your nose. You take a bite in anticipation of the upcoming palate-pleasing spectacle. A generous dollop of hot cherries on the waffle and the snow-white powdered sugar on top. You're ready to go.
Well, who can feel it too? And what can I tell you? The "Ambre Tabac | Daniel Josier" was able to trigger this exact thought process in me when I smelled it for the first time. Why? Because I actually got this impression of a wonderfully aromatic, gourmand scent like hot cherries with an extra sprinkle of pleasant, glistening sweetness like powdered sugar. So familiar, so heart-warming, so nostalgic, so wonderful. It's hard to tell from the fragrance notes listed, and yet I always get this association again when Ambre Tabac comes into play.
Incidentally, I don't want it to come across as sticky with sweetness. That is by no means the case. In fact, the sweetness recedes a little as the fragrance progresses, allowing the Ambre Tabac to gain spice and warmth in return. Now I can also gradually make out the tobacco that ultimately gives the fragrance its name. Nothing seems bumpy or artificial here. On the contrary, Daniel Josier has succeeded in creating a perfume that is extremely rounded and perfect. Genuine niche quality and, what's more, at a more than fair price. The bottle also shows no hint of red pencil. It has a confidence-inspiring weighty appearance, is elegantly shaped, with its fancy spray cap even creates a real feeling of luxury in handling and also knows how to impress with a neatly performing atomizer. The fact that it also performs well, lasts a long time and is well perceived makes it an absolute blind buy recommendation for me. Ambre Tabac is just crying out to be worn in cool, uncomfortable weather. In any case, it is perfect for fall and a not-too-cold winter. A fabulous cuddly fragrance with class that knows how to seduce.

Anyone familiar with the history of the Farmacia SS. Annunziata can put the headline in the right context, as we are dealing with a time-honored Florentine pharmacy that now also has various perfumes in its portfolio. The "Anniversary | Farmacia SS. Annunziata" is a birthday present from the brand to itself for the 460th anniversary of the company. My respect. Someone has to imitate them first.
Now to the fragrance itself. I bought it blind at the time because, on the one hand, the fragrance notes were very exciting and the Anniversary received a lot of positive criticism on social media. Another decisive factor was the comparison with "Tobacco Vanille (Eau de Parfum) | Tom Ford" which I had the pleasure of smelling at a friend's house and which I thought had a certain similarity. All in all, enough reasons to take a shot in the dark and buy this perfume.
Let's approach the outer packaging first, as in the onion layer method.
This looks minimally glamorous and maximally pragmatic. It is a plain cardboard box. Not even color is used for the imprint. The box itself contains a black fabric bag, which in turn contains the bottle. Before anyone rolls their eyes because they would have expected more for their money, let me tell you that Farmacia is following the consistent path of sustainability here and using recycled materials to keep the ecological footprint as small as possible. I think this is very commendable, as I at least dispose of all outer packaging after a short time and would only generate an unnecessary amount of waste and expenses if I were to do so. But admittedly, you really don't buy the Anniversary because of the presentation.
Let's go one step further and look at the bottle. This is where you get a better idea of what you've paid your hard-earned money for. The body is made of confidence-inspiring thick-walled glass. Plant leaves and flowers can be seen in relief on the sides. A beautiful detail. The cap is unspectacularly made of black plastic and its shape reminds me a little of the cap of a medicine bottle. The company logo can be seen at the top.
Now let's get to the fragrance. Take off the lid, press the sprayer (pleasant pressure resistance, very fine atomization) and let the first impression sink in.
I have to come out of the closet here: Apart from the tobacco, minimal leather and some nutmeg and saffron (?), I can't really make out any other notes. It may be that I lack certain points of reference for comparison in this respect. I will therefore try as best I can to describe the fragrance from my point of view. When I first smell it, the fragrance seems slightly fresh to me and there are other associations such as warm and spicy, somewhat sweet, deep and slightly balsamic. If I had to assign a consistency to the fragrance, I think it would be somewhere between liquid and syrupy. It would flow rather than drip. I find the overall olfactory construct to be tightly and beautifully interwoven. The chords function more as a common unit than as egomaniacal individual players. Occasionally, the thought flits through my mind as to whether the olfactory bouquet wouldn't also suit a cough syrup. Not exactly, I think. Nevertheless, the scent has something of a health drink that I would like to sip. I find the all-over aroma here to be quite special, giving the Anniversary a unique selling point. However, it is not particularly similar to TF's Tobacco Vanilla. I know other fragrances that do this more clearly. In the drydown, Anniversay loses its initial freshness, becomes somewhat sweeter and milder and appears more orderly. Yes, it's a beautiful thing. I don't regret this blind buy.
You also get something in terms of longevity and radiance. Not beast fashion, but not a child of sadness either. I would describe it as adequate in terms of price. Especially within the first hour, the projection is really good and even after four hours, the aroma of this fragrance still occasionally wafts around me. I completely agree with that.
Last but not least, a little tip from yours truly: try the Anniversary on before you buy it. I was probably lucky with my choice. It is a little too unique to pass as a blind buy.

Nectar and ambrosia for the gods, the "Naxos | XerJoff" for me. Although I'm sure the gods would have liked to have had a sniff of it too, as "delicious" as it is.
"Oh man, another hymn of praise for this fragrance?" Yes! So full marks to the connoisseurs of this fine fragrance. Come on, tastes differ. And Naxos hits the bull's eye for me. Over time, I have developed a preference for honey and tobacco-based fragrances, not least because of this scent. I won't hide the fact that it has left a lasting impression on me.
First of all, there's the citrusy-fresh florality that Naxos exudes immediately after spraying it on, which wins me over as soon as I say hello. Normally, my nose is somewhat sensitive to lavender accords, which can quickly be too much for me. But that's not the case here at all. The opening is simply incredibly flattering on the nose, very slightly velvety and yet with sufficient emphasis.
And the real star of this fragrance is the one who enters the stage directly with the opening: the honey. This honey, people. Not a light, crystalline, gritty honey with a diabetes-threatening sweetness, but rather a dark, amber-colored forest honey: aromatic, deep, gently flowing, with just the right degree of sweetness. Yesterday I was still wearing the Naxos and I found myself repeatedly turning my nose to the back of my hand to sniff this great honey note. Just so delicious, old steward. And as time goes on, the second leading role of the cast increasingly draws attention to itself, namely tobacco. But not with timpani and trumpets, but with tact and sensitivity. It seems to beckon one last time to the citrus and lavender notes, which gradually recede into the background and disappear from the limelight. The tobacco proves to be an absolutely capable team player in the drydown. It gives the honey its space and underpins it with its warm, pleasantly mild spiciness. In this way, it adds an additional layer of depth to the fragrance. I do not perceive tonka bean and vanilla directly, but I attribute to them a rounding, completing and therefore not irrelevant supporting role in this wonderful fragrance progression.
Now a few words about the performance of this Xerjoff masterpiece: I am very impressed by how skillfully Naxos is present in the air, draws attention to itself and yet still manages to never be annoying and thus overshoot the mark. I believe that this is primarily reserved for "accomplished" fragrances. In any case, I don't know what I would do differently to optimize Naxos. Even after about six hours, the fragrance is still clearly perceptible on the back of my hand, even though it has moved a good deal closer to my skin. This is a formidable achievement on my skin, which I don't consider to be too easy a surface for perfumes.
I don't need to say much more about the outer packaging. Xerjoff has also driven this chapter to perfection. This is a luxury product which, in my eyes, does not have a single weakness. The fragrance itself, the presentation, the bottle, the quality of the spray head - all top notch! And as far as I'm concerned, you don't even have to pay "rainbow prices" to get this real pleasure. It's certainly not cheap, let's be clear here, but it's absolutely worth the money.
In any case, I can no longer imagine my collection without the Naxos.

For me, Versace's "Versace pour Homme Dylan Blue (Eau de Toilette) | Versace" is clearly one of those inexpensive, egg-laying milksops. Sport, work, leisure, going out - it has it all. I would only use other fragrance profiles for partying and dating. Otherwise, it's an easy grab that I would almost put on a par with "L'Homme | Prada", although the latter's powderiness and soapiness make it even more sophisticated, but also somewhat more restrained/serious. A matter of taste.
With Dylan Blue, you get a fresh, spicy, citrusy fragrance that is not at all aquatic to my nose, but which cannot be denied a certain synthetic quality. A brief interjection on my part: the term "synthetic" does not automatically have to be off-putting, as it can be quite well made in olfactory terms. I would say the same about Dylan Blue. It doesn't bother me at all, but fits in well with the overall impression that the fragrance makes on me. In the opening, I perceive a certain citrusiness, which makes itself felt through bergamot and grapefruit in a tangy and slightly "sharp" but very fitting way. In combination with the aquatic notes, this creates a vitalizing, fresh opening that I simply love. The spiciness of the other components, especially the ambroxan, can already be clearly sniffed out in the background. I would also say that I can still detect some incense, pepper and patchouli. As the fragrance progresses, it gains some warmth (musk/saffron). If I wanted to, I could imagine that Dylan Blue would also become a little sweeter, but only in a very restrained way.
The bottom line is that it develops relatively linearly for me and does not deviate excessively from its initial impression in the drydown. I expressly welcome this here, as I really like the opening as described above.
What this fragrance is not, however, is overly deep, distinguished or strongly morphing (changing). There are better addresses if these attributes are at the forefront of your needs.
Otherwise, Dylan Blue is a super solid no-brainer with a fragrant price/performance ratio, which also does not have any downsides in terms of durability and sillage. However, you shouldn't expect any miracles here either, i.e. with one or two sprays you are more likely to fly under the radar, with four to five sprays it looks a little different again. The radiance of the fragrance can also be regulated to a certain extent. Moderate use makes it absolutely suitable for office use in my opinion.
The flacon is simple and without any great flourishes, but of high quality. The deep blue of the glass body appeals to me visually and goes well with the fragrance experience that Dylan Blue offers. You can buy this without hesitation. Worthy of a blind buy? Absolutely.