Fragrances
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Came across a London based fragrance house recently named Roja. Have their Elysium which is my daily now. Very wearable.
God has blessed you richly, so get down on your knees and thank him. Don’t forget the less fortunate or God will personally kick your ass. I’d love to do it for him, but I can’t be everywhere. Willie Nelson
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I picked up a dozen or so samples recently, mostly those discussed in this thread. Some of my favorites:
CDG Black Pepper. Very wearable. Pepper is strong and then everything sweetens after the dry down. Picked up a full bottle for daily wear.
CDG Conrcete. Similar to black pepper, but more "milky" if that makes sense. Still in sample mode. Pairs great with black pepper.
CDG Copper. I call this the fuck you fragrance. Super in your face copper scent but dries down to something totally unique. Projection is big time. I went through 2 samples and bought a decant because F you.
19-29 Chronic. This one smells great after the dry down. Might get a bottle eventually. I think its musky. Someone more knowledgeable could describe it better.
19-29 Purple Haze. My dad wore something like this all my childhood. I don't recall the dominant scent, but it goes really well with the chronic when you combine them
CDG Celluloid Garabanum. Soapy smell. I really like it. Might get a decant. Ive paired it with copper and it works well together. An F U fragrance.
CDG Odeur 71. Reminds me of copper, the base notes are similar. dust on a lightbulb is a good way to describe the scent. -
@jdwaid some great recommendations and appreciate your take on all of these. I got the CDG sampler a while ago and after spending time with all the scents the one I keep coming back to now is Black Pepper. As you said, it’s very wearable. Need to try some of the others you mentioned
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@SKT appreciate the feedback
Luckyscent was where I went to find the samples. -
As @Chap says, Roja Elysium is so so good. You have to pay for the privilege though
at the other end of the price spectrum the Lalique Encre Noir range is brilliant - dark, earthy, dry and woody. Very masculine and niche quality fragrance for next to nothing price wise. Roundabout £30 for 100ml here in the UK.
For the obsessive compulsives among us (I’m thinking that may be a few) the Parfumo app is great, keep track of decants you’ve tried, leave yourself notes on each, create a wish list etc. I understand that this is next level geekery but yeah whatever. Enjoy
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Encre Noir is really great. I couldn't believe how cheap it was when I came across it — no idea what's going on there but I'm not complaining haha...
WTB
IHSH-IHG-BLK XXL
Sugar Cane Coke Stripe SS L charcoal -
@popvulture I know me either.. I usually prefer more fresh/citrus stuff to be honest and read all the hype for Encre on Fragrantica so ordered some decants. A bit out of my comfort zone at first but ordered a full bottle of the original and the extreme version on the third day. Insane quality for the price. Zadig & Voltaire this is him is in the same vein but a little more expensive and may be perhaps even better for me. Same perfumer too
(thanks fragrantica) -
One super old school citrus one I've always liked is Guerlain Imperiale. It doesn't have much staying power but it's really fresh and nice. And pretty damn cheap.
WTB
IHSH-IHG-BLK XXL
Sugar Cane Coke Stripe SS L charcoal -
@popvulture @DeeDee85 I had Encre Noire a few years and love wearing it in the rain, currently pulling out my winter scents, tonight Tom Ford a tobacco
Oud and have also been wearing Serge Lutens Chergui, which is a beautiful Tobacco and Hay scent. During the day I’m wearing Frederic Malle, Monsieur, nice autumn Patchouli. Manuel Cross Rogue Perfumery based in New York does some amazing vintage inspired stuff, no synthetics and he does not follow IFRA guidelines so uses real oak moss, beautiful stuff
After denim perfume is a huge passion of mine and have around 120 bottles now 
I see it as food for the nose and love the search of new smells -
@popvulture
Encre Noir smells like fresh railroad ties , but in the best way. -
@popvulture guerlain is a fantastic house! Very affordable too
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@DeeDee85 try Bergamask by Orto Parissi, its a strong enough dark citrus scent that you can wear through winter
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@popvulture @jiminstitches thank you very much for the recs, will make a note of these for when I next order some samples.
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Edit: This is much more text than I realized. My apologies.
I think some of you might be much more experienced in this area than I am, so I wanted to throw out a couple observations and a question or two. I don't have many people in my day-to-day who care at all about denim or cologne, so this is as good a place as any to start.
I've been wearing Versace Pour Homme for probably 10 years on and off, and actually another one of my favorites is an inexpensive scent from C.O. Bigelow (Barber). These are both very light, "blue" style colognes. I've been dabbling recently to explore and find a darker scent or two, and got into Tom Ford. I picked up a couple sample packs and found that OUD Wood is my favorite of all of them. Funny enough, Ombre Leather was my least favorite until today when I gave it a chance on the body for the first time and it completely changed my opinion. I actually really like it (and so does the wife). Luckily I have 3 sample bottles that will last a good while with occasional use. Turns out I like Noir Extreme as well, but haven't tried Tobacco OUD, and didn't like Tobacco Vanilla or Soleil Blanc much.
Anyway, back to OUD Wood. I love it, but have to apply it 3x a day to even notice it up close at the end of the day. It's kind of ridiculous. I know they changed the formula on the EDP and nuked the longevity, then released the Parfum at double the price, which is basically just the original OUD Wood for more money. Now I'm looking for something similar. I've seen a couple recommendations, but not completely sure about where to get them. Happy to get any recommendations on that.I've seen you guys talking about some other fragrance houses for other scents, but was unsure where to start with those. If anyone wants to share a link for a starting point for a sampler or anything I'd be very grateful. Thanks!
Well worn denim & leather is a journal of life.
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@indigo_fades if you like the Tom Ford oud I think you would like the Diptyque equivalent too. And it’s longer lasting than the TF one.
It’s being discontinued but they are making a new version to replace it.https://modesens.com/product/diptyque-oud-palao-eau-de-parfum-25-floz-white-99439442/
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@indigo_fades I would recommend Carved Oud by Thameen as an alternative to Oud Wood. Only issue is that it’s now suffering from the same longevity and projection issues as OW and is nearly the same in that regard.
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@indigo_fades Love Tom Ford Oud Wood, just re-upped yesterday. We compared it to a few different versions and my wife and I hands down prefer the Ford to the others. The new Oud Voyager works well on the wife, and we tried the Creed Oud Zarian, which was nice too. The Fucking Fabulous is also great by Ford, but works better for me during the warmer seasons. Same with the Soleil Blanc.
Also picked up the Creed Centaurus, which I'm super hooked on. It just get all up in your nose and stays there hahaha, in a good way.
The thing i realized about fragrances is that samples are a MUST due to the fact that they smell different on each person they touch. For this reason, its really hard to recommend anything. But...you say what you like, i say what i like, and maybe its worth a sample!
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