SunnySmiles

Musiqa Oud and I didn't have a good start (except for the impressive packaging).
Sprayed on and directly perceived the cowshed grassy - earthy and dirty - full on the twelve. I don't know if it was an overload of my olfactory centre or the very high price, but I had a big tear in my eye ;)
Fortunately the scent was sprayed onto a garment which could be immediately quarantined...

Room ventilated, time passed, thoughts of others dominate - so I come home again and PUFF!

"What's that smell? Is this bad or good? Definitely pleasant and unique"
There was definitely some scent in the air.
My first thought: "Shit, has another rehearsal run out? (L'Air Suisses *SCHNIEF*) or do I still have a test strip lying around somewhere...". It really took time for my head to even allow this so much better scent to be associated with the contaminated garment, but it was like this.

The smell was sweeter in the meantime, although still a little dirty.
He was sooo much more pleasant that I could take the garment to myself and really wanted to sniff it. It was like some kind of forbidden addiction. I knew it wasn't good for me, but somehow I couldn't help it...

Musiqua Oud doesn't want to be mainstream and I can't compare MO with any other fragrance from my collection... It smells very realistic like "real" Oud and does not hide this smell behind other notes. Oud dominates and wants to be smelled, but as soon as you get into it and accept the dirt he shows the melodic addictive harmony hidden deep inside him.

No fragrance for everyone, so I can't follow the top ratings.
I'd say that the scent was more like the

Before perfume became my big hobby, I had another weakness.
Not less burdensome for the wallet, but far more unhealthy the love for a certain (please not with sugar caramel colored) golden brown liquid flourished.

>WHISKY55% barrel strength.
Until I found MY whisky.

For a while there was a break for the wallet, THE whisky was found and I had no too much interest to try myself in others anymore. I already knew roughly what the next whisky tastes like before it was in the Glencairn - purely from experience and only on the basis of the production / maturation which can be taken from the label.

>Perfume <
Fragrances caught me in exactly this phase and made me discover a related sense organ further. The step wasn't far. And so it started with mainstreamers and I was drawn through Chypres and Oriental, from Indie to drugstore scents through fresh citric to resinous and to the Attars. And now it's like whisky.
I found THE scent for me.

><font color="#ffff00">-==- proudly presents
I have tried to convince myself that these "overpriced" fragrances cannot have any other unique selling points. As the saying goes "diminishing returns" - after a certain price fragrances can't get any better?

But Enigma convinced me of the opposite at least in this (and some other) individual cases.
Enigma starts lemony fresh, but quickly brings more complexity.
He swings into the powdery, spices you up beautifully and warms you with "savoury" cognac like a down jacket in the cold wind. Enigma saturates the air and is clearly audible. He smells noble and grown-up without drifting into the "stuffy".

Enigma was initially a fragrance I had to justify to myself, one I wanted all to myself, without making a big number out of it. A scent where I was "scared" to regret the purchase after all.

Instead, Enigma is the fragrance that makes me feel at home like I've never felt before. Familiar, good and contented. Enigma's not perfect, but he is to me. Which doesn't mean, by the way, that other fragrances don't inspire me too. You want to get out of your home, even if it's so cosy and great ;)

The only question that remains is whether my nose can surprise me after all, or whether the next meaning will be explored.

In the wide world of scents there are always new individuals who make it their business to test scents for their audience. Some meet this undertaking with over-the-top Top 10 maximum videos, some evaluate fragrances quite neutrally and some create a cinematic experience for which the big and small companies would have paid (and have?!) good money

Especially in the American world of things there are some reviewers who are dedicated to reviewing niche fragrances in different price ranges (there the good trump has not yet imposed a penalty #meinarmerbourbon).

So these reviewers are producing videos every week and enjoying our common hobby fragrances in different ways. They are often so talented at talking "tasty" that the American niche traders are sold out immediately after the video is broadcast.
Of course, that attracts attention.

This is where "House of Matriarch" comes in.
The HoM is a "House" founded and run by Christi Meshell which is dedicated to the production of very expensive perfumes, often from fragrance oils that have matured for decades or simply rare ingredients. In addition, these usually consist of over 95% of purely natural ingredients.

In order to touch the advertising drum, Christi Meshell usually relies on cooperation with various "influencers" such perfume reviewers mentioned at the beginning, who "pitch" your idea accordingly and play the advertising character with your name and face.

One such (happy) person is Timmy Vangtan from Imagine Scent.
Timmy is a sympathetic Youtuber originally from Alaska, who writes his videos (if he uploads some ;) ) in English. But Timmy is not alluding to his Alaskan homeland with this cooperation, but to his genetic roots in warm Thailand.

The fragrance is a fruity and very sweet cocktail of various tropical citrus fruits and immediately gives you the beach and summer feeling.
To be honest, I had imagined Virgin Island Water when I didn't know him :(

Especially the lychee, which I have dedicated myself to both in fruit and perfume form (she Delina) stands out for me. If this fragrance had a nutritional value table then sugar would clearly be the king of the hill and in the list of ingredients it would only have to assert itself against the combined forces of fruit juice concentrates.

I don't know any scent that smells like this and all previous testers (I admit there aren't many) seem to see it that way too.

What the ears listen to the conch is for the nose Toukka Ta Tao.
For me this scent is a holiday at the sea for the nose and while testing you should definitely close your eyes to enjoy the imaginary excursion.

But come back again - life calls! ;)

Still one of my favorites...

A few years ago, still at the beginning of my fragrance journey, on my way to the capital of the happy Swabians - Stuttgart:

It was a lukewarm winter/spring midday and the cool breeze had done the rest to perhaps visit the safe warmth of a few more stores than usual. So it happened that the drugstore "M" around the corner not only had the already longed-for energy drink (which had so often cheered me up after a strenuous night) in stock, but on the way to it also the perfume assortment was not unimpressive for me as a layman. So I took the time and tested some scents...

With one of these probably new and highly praised fragrances, the shop was well filled, I unintentionally (*wink*) drew the attention of a young woman at my age to me, who wrestled the fragrance pouting out of my hand and claimed it for herself. This fragrance was Armani's EdC which quickly captivated me with its spicy green ISO-E-TEE. But not only me, but also my companions I met later that day seemed to be enthusiastic about the scent, which meanwhile came from my left hand.

All right, that night back in the "M" and purchased a bottle of this green elixir.

Also today several years and many scent samples and flacons later this is a "stack" in my scent arsenal.

EdC knows how to please without coming across too much like the BLUE mainstream fragrances a la shower gel.
EdC warms me up and makes me smile when I see people around me sniffing at the ISO-E-Super cloud that I can't see anymore.
EdC is one of my most complimented fragrances and also after all (fragrance) escapades simply mine.

Yesterday the winged little horse from the stable of the dear "Noche27" reached me in a nosedive.
One spray on the forearm and he gallops directly into my olfactory center.

First impression: Powdery - please not too "female"... but this impression disappears quickly.
It unfolds a wonderfully aromatic aroma of bitter almond and sandalwood.
The fragrance is relatively linear and offers an absolutely high quality sandalwood with an impressive depth and complexity.

No peppery scratching, no dusty wood shavings. Pleasantly creamy sandalwood with a bitter-sweet touch... TOLL!

Definitely on my wish list and definitely recommendable.