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It once happened at the time, long before the lockdowns, that you could still travel undisturbed and explore the world. So one or the other of us may have had the opportunity to visit a stalactite cave and look at the sometimes beautifully illuminated splendor of these cave systems. Whoever has dared to descend into the depths of such a cave and search for the mysteries that might be lurking behind the many rocks, will perhaps also remember how the surroundings around one have changed abruptly after a few meters of descent. Outside, where it might be warm and dry, you are now descending into a world that seems to grow colder and colder with each meter of depth, more and more humid, more and more gloomy. Perhaps smells also come to your nose that we are not used to on the surface and rarely get to sniff. This is exactly the journey Zoologist Bat (2020) took me on when I tested the scent.

In fact, Bat in its 2020 version is the first fragrance ever that I've tested from the Canadian perfume house. In order to be able to put out my feelers for the creations of this brand at all, I once bought the entire Discovery Set with small bottlings and can now gradually get an impression of this brand. Bat made the beginning. The original 2015 version is yes discontinued and was not present in the set, so I have absolutely no comparison.

At the first spray, there was first ne strong portion of tropical fruit bomb in the nose, not at all penetrating but almost overdosed. Nevertheless, the water ran together in my mouth first, because it was wonderfully strong. However, I quickly understood why this fragrance smells the way it does and why the name "Bat" fits me like a glove. Ultimately, this fragrance is supposed to be a concept fragrance, so to speak. You can sense that perfumer Prin Limros spent a lot of time and attention to detail here to olfactorically package the natural environment that bats can call home in a bottle. The sweet powerful fruit is quickly underpinned by a light smokiness, presumably from the incense smoke, which gradually balances the scent along with green notes. This is joined by a damp murky smell that I can't describe more specifically but it totally reminds me of damp stones covered in some moss. This made me think of the Cuevas del Drach (dragon caves) in Mallorca, which I have visited two or three times. More specifically, that smell of bat triggered memories in my mind of that stalactite cave - dark, cold, rocky, slippery, mossy, damp. So much going on at once, complex yet intriguing.

With Zoologist Bat, so I felt it, I found after a long time again a fragrance of which I could say "That's exactly what I love about perfumes. That you can create worlds of fragrance with a lot of creativity and attention to detail, in that the perfumer can use and combine all his skills to combine "perfume raw materials", aroma chemicals etc. in such a way as to let the wearer travel into such a world of thought." Bat finally made me feel euphoric again, after my last visits to common perfumeries (and that was months ago, after all) where I was inwardly despairing by the newer designer fragrances of the last two-three years. Finally, once again a fragrance with its own character!

The impression that Bat leaves is that of a total work of art. This perfume is by no means in a clear category to divide, let alone describe with one or two adjectives. It really has it all: sweet, fruity, aquatic, stony, earthy, mossy, dry, green, smoky, woody, floral. The whole thing, however, not in a way that everything together becomes an unbearable wild brew, but each of these nuances is felt parallel or alternately perceptible.

While it's hard for me to say what occasions this fragrance is wearable for. But even if he is nothing for one, I think you have to appreciate the creativity behind this fragrance, because the find unmistakable.

Dutch fashion brand BALR., founded by former footballer Demy de Zeeuw, ventured into the perfume world a few years ago. In the meantime, the brand, which calls itself a "luxury lifestyle brand", has released four men's fragrances, with the super-creative names "Homme", "1", "2" and "3". Looking at the fragrance pyramid of BALR.2, it sounds like a chic men's fragrance at first. At 55€ for 50ml and 80€ for 100ml, the perfume is already priced at the higher-priced designers.

BALR writes on its website about the fragrance, among other things: "From driving the fastest cars to sailing the Mediterranean on a stylish yacht, every experience gets better when you wear BALR" - sounds like something for wannabe celebrities and not exactly elegant... Furthermore it says: "[...] this Eau de Parfum mixes bright aromas with warm base notes and leaves an impression you won't soon forget." - well, we'll see in the end...

The composition, which I smelled immediately after spraying it on, surprised me to zero. A brand that has a sporty background and calls itself a Luxury Brand probably can't do better than 0815 shower gel scents. And BALR.2 totally lived up to that expectation! It totally reminds me of Adidas perfumes I wore every now and then as a teenager. Fresh, uncomplicated, synthetic and somehow smelling like "sports". Basically, could have named this fragrance "Sport", then you'd know what you were getting into right away before you bought it.

The scent progression is as monotonous as the name. From the beautiful to look at fragrance pyramid is in my nose a nasty mishmash that smells like everything and nothing and does not change with time. The durability is poor for an EDP on my skin, more than four hours was not in it.

So? - No, with BALR.2 I certainly do not want to cruise the seas of the world with my imaginary luxury yacht or turn fast laps in my sports car. If I could ever afford something like that, I'd be poor if my scent taste was only good enough for BALR.2. This has absolutely nothing to do with luxury fragrance. The supposed warm base notes only leave me with an impression that I want to forget this perfume as soon as possible. Lucky that I have only one bottling of it

In order to write a proper commentary on Aaron Terrance Hughes "Animalix" in the first place, I took plenty of time. Time that, in my opinion, is also necessary to get to know this fragrance in all its glory - on the one hand, to perceive it as a perfume in its own right, and on the other hand, to apply it as it is intended: for layering.

On YouTube, Aaron Terrance Hughes explains the concept of Animalix in a two-and-a-half-minute video in an understandable and precise way. This creation was conceived as something that the wearer should not apply independently as a day or evening fragrance, but as a base to push his own weaker or more boring fragrances, to give them body and above all to make them last longer. For the development of Animalix, he exclusively used typical base notes of an animalic nature (as the name already suggests). That first of all the starting point.

In fact, I didn't find it entirely easy to think about how to construct this commentary. First, let me say that my bottle of Animalix is based on the first batch and the old transparent bottle, not the current matte black design. Perhaps I'll start first with my very first thoughts and impressions of Animalix, which I had after first applying the scent to my skin independently, without layering. After the very first spray on and sniff, my insides first screamed "STOP! TOO BRUTAL! STOP, STOP, STOP - everything back to square one!" as my nose was almost overwhelmed by heavy, animalic notes that felt like they were destroying everything around me. Such brute force of perfume (one of my first thoughts was also whether this even qualifies as perfume), was just too much to take in all at once. So I had to gradually feel my way to what was there on my wrist at first in great waves of scent floating around me. I closed my eyes and thought of the first association that came to mind: it was night, cold and wet, mist hung over the gentle slopes and between the trees of the dark forest I was roaming. Without suspecting what dangers I might encounter in this forest, I decided to go on and explore the surroundings, especially not only with my eyes, but also with my nose. Then suddenly I smelled it, it had to be very close. The smell that came to me all at once, so strong that a shiver ran down my spine, stood for all that I then saw with my eyes - a big, hairy beast. So when I imagine what a mythical creature looks like in the form of a big, hairy and aggressive beast, Animalix is just that realization of it in the form of a perfume. Beastly, with long-haired, dirty, wet fur - yep, that's what came to mind.

The question, of course, is whether you want to smell like that. I'll say this, if you're really really brave, you're welcome to try it, but you should be prepared to quickly chase away the immediate area with your presence, just as a big beast probably would.

Instead, I've taken the last few weeks to just layer all of my fall and winter perfumes with Animalix. Why just fall and winter? Because the light spring and summer fragrances against Animalix have not the slightest chance, I have already given up after a few attempts. Fresh scents last a few minutes, then it's over and Animalix completely displaces them. For the experiments with my autumn and winter fragrances, I would now like to make a list of the perfumes that I have combined with Animalix and describe what I found on my skin. I won't go into details about the individual fragrances, otherwise that would go beyond the scope of this article. The layering was done in a ratio of 1:2 - one spray of Animalix and 2 sprays of the other perfume on top. Rather, it should be a kind of guideline to describe from my subjective point of view, which fragrances could be combined well with Animalix and which not. In doing so, I follow no particular order, but simply list them one after the other:

- Mugler Pure Havane: Works well, takes sweetness something out and makes the fragrance more masculine
- Davidoff Amber Blend: Works great, it creates an interesting incense note
- Roberto Cavalli Uomo: No chance for Cavalli, is slain by Animalix
- Aaron Terrance Hughes Chocolate, Rose & Oud: too brutal, the scents almost cancel each other out
- Rasasi La Yuqawam: Beastmode Mal 2, harmonizes well, possibly an indication that leather scents are a good fit
- Tom Ford Noir Extreme: Surprise - Noir Extreme beats Animalix after a while
- Tom Ford Noir EDP: alpha combination, but Noir disappears steadily after 2 hours
- Montale Chocolate Greedy: no, no and no again - does not fit at all together
- Margiela By the Fireplace: fragrance becomes smokier, woodier, light incense impact
- Margiela Jazz Club: less sweet, slightly animalic, very masculine, pleasant
- Mugler Pure Tonka: Very dark, slightly animalic, beastmode times 2
- Valentino Uomo Noir Absolu: hardly noticed any changes, can be let
- Dunhill London: has no chance against Animalix
- Swiss Arabian Shaghaf Oud: well, too much of a good thing, stresses you and the environment
- Fragrance One Date for Men: Date drowns out for a long time even Animalix, so that Animalix is hardly to smell. After that, it harmonizes well and throttles the sweetness. Strong thing, Jeremy ;-)
- Mugler A*Men: A*Men is Beastmode and drowns out even Animalix
- Montale Ristretto Intense Cafe: Good combination, harmonizes
- Salvatore Ferragamo Uomo: Although Ferragamo is Beastmode in itself, it is slain by Animalix
- Calvin Klein CK Shock: Unharmonious, especially in the opening
- Gucci Intense Oud: Does not fit well and takes Gucci the "elegant"
- Polo Green: Polo Green more dominant than Animalix, but with unpleasant touch
- Bond No.9 Success is a Job in New York: good harmony, woody, dark
- JPG Ultra Male: leave it, will nix
- Penhaligon's Sartorial: no, not harmonic
- Armaf Craze: mix of bitter animalic and creamy dark, quite good together and Beastmode
- Valentino Uomo EDT: nope, no chance
- Jacques Zolty Severo: no chance against Animalix
- Gisada Ambassador for Men EDP: not harmonious

Well then, so that's my list, maybe it's a little help. I emphasize again that this is a purely subjective assessment in combination with ATH Animalix. Clearly, holdability and sillage are mega. One thing strikes me though, now that I've owned Animalix for a few months: The beast seems to be tamed a bit, meaning that that brutality from the beginning isn't there as much anymore, instead it seems sweeter and more balanced to me now too. Still, I wouldn't wear it alone.

Do you have to have it now, the Animalix? Not necessarily, but who wants to dare the experiment, can quietly treat yourself to a bottling. On a second purchase, however, I like to do without, but recognize the thought and the idea of Aaron Terrance Hughes definitely :-)

Valentino's bottles are basically an eye-catcher, as it were chic and a little decadent acting. With Valentino Uomo EDT is but also not only what good to see from the outside, but also what good in it.

The first spray is very fresh, almost sporty bergamot you get to sniff, but also completely evaporates within seconds. Very quickly it then becomes clear that there is this kind of perfume already several times on the market - namely by the Dior Homme and Prada L'Homme series. This very quickly reveals the lightness and powderiness that this fragrance conveys and can thus be considered a direct competitor (similarly, the Eau de Parfum version, Noir Absolu on the other hand, is knitted differently). Basically, the fragrance pyramid of Dior Homme EDT is not so different.

Valentino Uomo remains a long while a very creamy and powdery fragrance without corners and edges. This fragrance remains throughout and seems almost unisex. A gourmand touch with a hint of latte in my nose spreads. I have never tried gianduja cream. Seems to be some sort of nut nougat cream. To me, this implies that Valentino Uomo should perhaps have some chocolaty notes - alas, I look for them in vain.

An elegant woody base allows the fragrance to fade over time. A strong durability should not be expected, on my skin it was at most 6 hours, the sillage rather mediocre. Nonetheless, this fragrance is all around great. If you are looking for an elegant date scent, either for yourself or as a gift, you should definitely grab this one. It is definitely recommended if you want to get into the Valentino Uomo perfume series

I've been looking for a good scent for a while now, a scent that I can wear either in casual settings or in the office, a scent that is clean and fresh and at the same time doesn't fog my surroundings too much. Preferably something floral and not citric and also unisex.

A classic on the market for an office environment is from the designer corner ja Prada L'Homme, lovingly praised by the German YouTuber "JF" as "best soap fragrance on the market with a luxury touch". Yes, Prada L'Homme smells great, but is zero on my skin, so my search for a fragrance with a similar profile began. With Montale White Musk I might have found what I was looking for. But the scent DNA of White Musk and L'Homme is by no means comparable, a glance at the scent pyramids is enough to understand that. But what they are comparable in is the "type" of fragrances: gentle, pure, floral, like freshly washed laundry.

How musk smells in its pure form, I don't really have any idea. I even read that some people can't perceive musk at all. Again and again, perfumes have musk in the base note and I always wondered what exactly musk smells like? White Musk seems to enlighten me a bit, because (white) musk is supposed to be in here a lot. First of all, the fragrance is very clearly white-floral in its character. The linearity of the scent doesn't seem to bother me, which makes White Musk as a perfume easy to understand. Although Montale, especially because of his affinity to oriental scents, often brings real powerhouses on the market ( -> Oud Blablabla), White Musk belongs to those who are rather reserved. However, reserved doesn't mean directly skin-tight, at least for the first one and a half hours the scent still projects noticeably well on my skin.

By a sweet-floral and very subtle animal note, that's how I would describe this musk, the shelf life of Montale White Musk is noticeably extended up to 8 hours (that's about 8 times longer than Prada on my skin). Exactly this note makes the fragrance a unisex fragrance for me, too, which is basically feminine with flowery and soapy nuances, but I would definitely wear it as a man