Club de Nuit Intense Man ArmafEau de Toilette

I had Insurrection Pure II for a while, until I just got bored of it. The opening was like a milky pineapple, and the drydown was a simple, acrid birch. But this one is a little different. Right off the bat, it hits you hard in the face with chemicals. BLAM! POW! MOOT! I don't know why I think of Batman, but...Anyway, all of the notes just merge into a single synthetic mess at the top. On paper, the top notes are far more discernible - lemon (obvious), pineapple and blackcurrent - but on skin, they disappear almost immediately. After 5 minutues, it gets WAYYY better. The birch comes out strong and smoky, but I can't say that I detect any florals. Add some patchouli and musk in the base and you've got it.

Basically, it's a more saturated version of Insurrection Pure II with a muddled opening and a super strong and super smoky birch - so you can imagine the performance of this sucker. Yeah. It's damn good. Every time I wear it, I feel like I'm invading someone's personal space. The bubble it creates is massive and doesn't seem to let up, especially in the heat. But the overall scent is just ballsy. We're talkin' Bruce Wayne, alpha male, cunning, domineering, in-charge, quarterback, rugged, sly, confident and a whole smattering of testicular derivatives. Sure, it's less refined than Aventus, but honestly, I prefer it because it's simpler, cheaper and does the same job. In fact, since the sillage is usually representative of like 30% of a fragrance, it might as well BE Aventus. Add a little pineapple from Demeter and voila.

But who cares anyway? CDNI is effing amazing on its own. It's powerful, memorable and superbly masculine. The strong and complex birch is reminiscent of a forest and the patchouli and musk give it a down-to-earth feel. But be careful on the trigger! I remember the first time I sprayed this, I strangely went anosmic to it almost immediately. I thought it was the scent, until I found out it was just me. People were like HOOOOLY cow bro - simmer down, that stuff is BEAST. And you know what? It is. It TRULY is.