Dan81

CK One Shock was indeed shocking for me.
CK One Shock didn't remind me of CK One at first. Albeit Shock's ingredients are vocal and stand out more, I do think the overall "lightness/easy to wear" that CK one had is still present in Shock despite Shock's greater longevity and silage. And it is Cardamom heaven! The gorgeous Cardamom reminds me of La Nuit de L'Homme, it's seductive, but takes a turn towards Tobacco and Musk, hence it is Cardamom 02 for me. Usually some lavender and cucumber on top but I can't smell Clementine. I love it, I am addicted to the opening and want to keep sniffing it. I may spray this on clothes as well as skin as I like to enjoy the top notes last longer.

Unfortunately, my wife does not like CK One Shock. Along with SpiceBomb Extreme, she hates CK One Shock. Something in there reminds her of her father using the bathroom apparently. Travesty. What does one do when your partner does not care for specific scent? It's a question. I keep my CK One Shock in my office drawer, occasionally bring it up and sniff it, waiting for Fall and Winter to wear this gem.

This was my first official encounter with Versace. I think 90's was an era of appreciation of freshness, led by CK One and Acqua Di Gio. Versace's take was to combine it with sweetness and it was a hit! For me, in high school at the time. The name, the delicate but not over the top bottle, and the cheerful top notes with base notes of vanilla and musk. It was designed to be casual and go with your blue jeans, it was perfect for a teenager. Unfortunately, I came across another Versace soon, the Dreamer. Once the Dreamer came out with more mature presentation of Tobaco smell and airiness that fit the name of Dreamer perfectly, my interest in BlueJeans never recovered. I still own a bottle of Dreamer to this date (reformulated) and Bluejeans will always remain in my memory as my Dreamer's shadow.

Bvlgari pour homme was my signature scent in late 90s when I was a teenager. A girl I used to date loved this fragrance. The scent is a well mixed sophisticated flowery tea. Of the many listed notes, with enough sniffing I can detect (or imagine?) certain delicate citrus, flowers and cedar/musk that surrounds you close to skin. I could never smell the aldehyde before but now that my bottle has gone bad, the top notes are almost gone except the aldehyde. Interestingly the heart and base notes appear to be the same from what I recall in my memory. Later when I smelled a tester I confirmed my suspicion, but a side-by-side comparison may reveal more differences.

Back to the scent: I had two issues with him. First, he is not very masculine. He is versatile in warm weather and certainly not offensive, but lacked enough character. Second, and major issue was that the scent is TOO delicate. Body lotion or hair products with any scents will easily overpower this guy. Worst case for me as a smoker was that the combined smell of this perfume with cigarettes was not pleasant. Obviously cigarette smell (not tobacco but the ash-like aura of smell from smoking) is not very pleasant but this combo was something else. While I have many fond memories, I no longer use him and there is no plan to re-purchase him. He is officially retired and hanging out in my retired display collection for occasional trip down the memory lane.

I came across Bvlgari Black when it first came out in late 90s. I was taken by the edgy urban vibe (rubber/tire) that was dark (vanilla), yet still sophisticated (powdery). It was (and still is) futuristic that I imagined metropolitan inhabitants like New Yorkers or people in Tokyo would wear scents like this. I had forgotten about it for a while until Bvlgari started to produce many Black series for men, which are in my liking but it made me want to go back to this original gem. So I blind purchased it. It has been about 9 months since he arrived. I smell him quite often at night, but I may have only worn it twice.
The initial kick of powdery rubber still intrigues me and I still like the vanilla dry down a lot. When I sniff him I get lost in my own futuristic imaginary NY-Tokyo world, but I never reach out to wear it. He is not a loud one, the performance and sillage is not strong, which makes this fragrance all the more personal, but I also do not want to wear this in close encounter. I simply cannot think of an occasion that this fits. Sadly, even if I am in NY or Tokyo I probably do not feel like wearing it considering the other options I have. I still like the scent so I have not completely retired it but it is turning into a wall flower.

I had been eyeing the Pegasus for a while now. I always liked Herod from PDM, but recently fell in love with Layton, hence it was hard to make up the decision about Pegasus while I enjoyed sniffing the 2mL sample of this aromatic gem. What pushed me to purchase Pegasus was the fact that the perfume is so well put together that I appreciate different notes and vibe depending on the day, sometimes it is sweet almond with heavy resins that stand out, other times it has a bittersweet almond in vanilla which is alluring. And then I purchased Tom Ford's Fucking Fabulous on eBay as I was running out of my 10mL atomizer. Unfortunately, or expectedly, the item was fake. Packaging looked weak, the logo looked like a stamp not placed in absolute center, and the scent was weak. Interenstingly, it did smell a little similar to Fucking Fabulous, but much waeaker and when I tested it side by side it was clear as night and day. The reason I am writing on and on about this Fabulous fake is that the weak?/fake fucking fabulous notes of amber and vanilla totally reminded me of Pegasus. As I said before I came to realize it was definitely a fake when I smell-compared it side by side, but it was this weaker or imitation Fabulous that reminded me of the association between amber and vanilla. The real Fabulous has leather and plastic-like potent smell that are addictive in its own right, but I much prefer Pegasus' well blended, cuddly and romantic scent cloud that gives a bit of playful or even arrogant vibe. I am not thinking of replacing Fabulous with Pegasus but wearing Tom Ford's Fabulous does not necessary make me feel fabulous all the time. FF makes me imagine of an overly sexualized beast wearing a bondage leather with sweat dropping down the forehead, breathing heavily to devour the prey. A beast in other words. With Pegasus I feel playful, charming and romantic, maybe a bit cocky but well mannered. No bondage or sweat association. So while I still like the raw-animalic vibe of Fabulous, I feel Pegasus is a great replacement for a more casual wear and intention.