Invasion of the Barbers by DUA

When I decided to do in-depth reviews of fragrances I love (or just like), one of the hardest decisions was... which ones do I review first? Does my order imply importance, does it convey a sense of reverence of one bottle vs the other? Then I realized...I was over-thinking it (again) and I should go with the flow and perhaps review the one that has been on my mind for a while or at the moment of sitting down, smelling it, enjoying it... and trying to put my thoughts into words for my readers....and this is how I arrived at Invasion of the Barbers by DUA. If you haven't read my review of Tonkalicious, you should, because I talk about the company and what they do, giving you some insight into what DUA is about.

What is up with that name? Invasion of the Barbers, nostalgic me thinks of high-end barbershops where everything smells of very fresh lavender and leather seats tell a story, however, I also get reminded of Sweeney Todd and the feel of a single razor removing stubble, weird, I know. Invasion of the Barbers is a play on the name of the fragrance this was inspired from, Invasion Barbare by Parfums MDCI. First, a history lesson: Parfums MDCI Invasion Barbare was founded in 2003 ("MDCI" stands for Marchal Dessins et Créations Indépendantes") and it was created by perfumer Stephanie Bakouche. Their bottles are a thing of beauty, pure art, sculpted stoppers, the glass, everything about this brand is beautiful, but alas, with that beauty comes the expense and the hard-to-find aspect of the bottles. I tried searching for the bottle and getting it after learning Luca Turin reveres on his book "Perfumes", and it was an exercise in frustration for me. The bottle would cost me upwards of $250 and I could not find a place where I could get a sample for a good price, meaning I would buy a tester for way too much money just to see if I like it! I decided to get the DUA inspiration after reading and hearing good things about it, oh boy, was I in for a surprise.

Let me address the elephant in the room, many people consider what I'm doing to be wrong, they believe that by me purchasing inspired expressions, I am collaborating in what they see as an insult to the individual creators.... as though there is some sort of reverence to be held for that creation... I just don't see it that way, sorry about that. I find art in my different things and these fragrances, for me, are never exactly the same as the original and that's why I enjoy them. For example, I bought 2 different "clones" of Creed's Green Irish Tweed.... I didn't like any of them, so I got the real thing, because the inspirations were lacking something for me but the original was perfect in any way that I cared about, but, my son prefers one of those clones on his skin to the real thing!. In some bottles, I actually prefer the inspired expression because the longevity is better, or the projection, in some cases, getting an inspired expression makes me realize that owning a bottle of the original would be a waste of money for me as the fragrance doesn't lend itself to be constantly used by me... what I'm saying is...do your thing and think less of the labels and more about how the fragrance complements you!

Back to what's important now, the review. This fragrance is considered an oriental fougere (pronounced foozh-air), fougere means fern in French, built on a base of lavender, coumarin and oakmoss, these fragrances are characterized by its sharp herbaceous and woody scent. What fougere means to me is lavender! Mind you, not your typical "candle smell" lavender, something more complex but with that fresh / clean shaven & groomed vibe. The opening of this fragrance is lavender, ginger with a slight note of vanilla.... but they mix in a creamy way. Cardamon is also playing here but every note here is so perfectly executed that its hard to just pin-point one at a time. The drydown, my favorite aspect of this fragrance, is a lot of the notes from the opening but now musk and patchouli play main violin, and the character of this bottle really comes through. This is clean, complex, fresh....yet....its not powdery (like other fougeres tend to be), it's not piney, it remains close to you skin and really complements you, it's creamy at best and fresh through-out. I often get asked if a fragrance is masculine or feminine, I find that funny, I think scents have no gender and you should wear whatever works for you. This fragrance reminds me of being clean shaven and well groomed so perhaps that invokes things in my brain that say "it's masculine" but that's silly talk, my immediate memory should not deter a woman from using this and trust me, it's a beautiful scent you don't want to miss on!

In conclusion... I am sorry I could not compare both fragrances and give you an honest opinion of the comparison, in exchange, I've reviewed this fragrance by itself and determined how it stands by itself...and it does, it delivers. This fragrance makes me feel better immediately after putting it on, it makes my outlook on the day to be more positive, it truly complements me.

Until next time, you can follow me on Instagram for my almost daily scent of the day and shorter reviews!

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L'Envol by Cartier

 In the world of fragrances, there are names that evoke a feeling of prestige, names that by just hearing them, you might think the fragrance is special. One of those is Cartier, the name itself conjures wealth, beauty, fast expensive cars, expensive parties at hotels, jewelry, watches, well dressed humans, shoes, boats... all of that and then some. Fragrances though...what does the name Cartier conjure in your mind? I tell you what it does for me.. it makes me think "old", mind you, not old as in lame, old as in "I'll wear Cartier when I turn 60 because I'll do it justice", however, I decided to try L'Envol, for the record...I'm 41.

L'Envol was introduced in 2016 as a men's fragrance in both Eau de Parfum (EDP) and Eau de Toilette (EDT) variations. A little note on EDP vs EDT, most people will tell you that EDP is always better because it's more concentrated, and that, technically, is true (the second part at least). EDP has a higher concentration of essential oils to water, ranging from around 15% to 20%, whereas EDT lingers at less than 10%, this means EDP tends to last longer because the oil takes longer to evaporate from your skin, but, does that make it always better? I've found that on my skin (pale latino guy that sweats a lot and burns red like a lobster when exposed to the sun), EDT tends to work better, why is that, I don't know...but it's true (I am investigating and I will get to the bottom of it eventually!). So, with that preamble, why did I choose the EDP of L'Envol? Simply put...because it smells better, I compared both and the EDP takes the cake against the EDT, let me deep dive and explain what I mean.

Honey, the sweet and viscous food substance that was depicted as being foraged by humans at least 8,000 years ago in Cuevas de la Araña, Spain, honey is well known to all of us, the sweet substance is liked by arguably everyone....but what does Honey smell like? Would like you that smell on you? Would you bathe in it just to preserve that aroma? Although bathing in it is a thing we are lucky enough to live in a time where Mathilde Laurent used it as the main ingredient of L'Envol... and it turned out beautiful. When describing fragrances, its tough to say in words what you are feeling, when it comes to L'Envol, one word comes to mind: Character, L'Envol does not try to be modern, or cool, or liked by everyone, L'Envol knows what it is and demands that you either appreciate it or look away, the sweet honey opening is accompanied by Iris and Lavender, but lavender is subtle here... you can feel it, but its not the main character, it helps reduce the sweetness a little and move those florals into your attention span. The opening is so different from other honey-based fragrances which I attribute to the Iris on the mix...don't get me wrong, the honey is there but its refined honey, its honey from a long haired guy that named all of his bees, it's cared for, its unique and hits you with the elegance you expect from Cartier. Once this fragrance starts to dry-down, you get the Guaiac wood and the powdery aspect starts to become persistent, yet the honey remains, even if playing softly on the background...and when I say this, I go back to my previous statement, the honey stays on the background and helps the fragrance maintain the character that it started with. That's the ticket with this fragrance, it changes but remains its character and that is something I admire about it.

L'Envol evokes the feeling of drinking good scotch by yourself, by a fireplace, enjoying all the little intricacies and aromas, you do this because you like it...not to make others think you do. That's the definition of character in L'Envol.

Compared to the EDT: I only own the EDP version, but, have compared it against the EDT, note, this is a fragrance to be tested on skin...not on a piece of paper or cardboard (don't insult it like that), this needs to be experienced by burying your nose in it, by closing your eyes and letting your brain fly for a second. The EDT loses the complexity and its, in my honest opinion, watered down to the point of losing it's character and it just becomes "something to wear" rather than "something to enjoy"..

Compliments factor: Dear reader, as you'll learn from my journey, I am not about the compliments, I am not the sharpest dresser (I blame Eddie Bauer for my "tactical fashion"), I'm an introvert, I live in Seattle, I work with introverts, Im 6'2 with a big beard...people don't really walk to me and compliment me, specially on softer fragrances, it's not a thing, I wear this because I feel better when I do, it complements my day, it complements my mood for the day, it brings a smile to my face when I first wear it. I asked my daughter, a foodie, what she thinks and her response was "that is so different...it's like its sweet but not edible, I like it".

Conclusion: Cartier might evoke class, jewels and that 1% lifestyle, but this fragrance evokes character, being proud of who you are, as a scent, it commands you to take it seriously and not second guess it. I highly recommend this fragrance, my journey has taken me to different scents and I never thought honey was one I cared for...until I tried this. A solid 8/10.

Bonus: Did I mention the bottle is beautiful and feels very solid on your hand? Also....it's refillable!

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Tonkalicious by DUA

Today I review a fragrance from the house of DUA, but first, a little explanation about this house. In the fragrance world there a lot of "houses", there are (1) Designers (Calvin Klein, Armani, etc) that do fragrances as part of their extensive portfolio of products, (2) Non-Designers (Mercedes Benz, Jaguar, Ferrari) that are brands that also go into fragrances to extend their lifestyle brand, (3) Niche (Mancera, Roja, Creed, etc) who only do fragrances and then there are the (4) Clones, often seen as a bad word because they try to recreate the fragrances from the groups above with less-than-stelar ingredients that can create a cheaper version of the fragrance (Armaf, etc). However, a "new" group has emerged, a group of oil-based fragrances that seek inspiration on the fragrances of the other groups but then add their flair to the equation, they take what they like about the fragrance and expand it to create their own version with perhaps a stronger base, or a different opening, this is where DUA lives and shines. Founded by Mahsam Raza, DUA creates both inspirations and original creations, all at a Extract de Parfum concentration meaning they are usually very strong and long-lasting, they also rely on high quality ingredients instead of cheaper alternatives. DUA is very polarizing in the fragrance community, some people hate them because they "copy", others adore and desperately wait for their next release with Mahsam being a folklore hero on their Facebook group. Mahsam, a charismatic guy, subscribes to the idea that everyone has an art, and his is the art of bringing beautiful fragrances to people who would never even try them in the first place... because he often seeks hard to find bottles, country specific releases or extremely expensive ones, and creates an inspired expression from them, meaning you get the same DNA from the fragrance, even if at the end they are not exactly alike. I can get behind that and at the time of this write-up have a total of 13 of their fragrances! Today, I concentrate on one, Tonkalicious, an inspired expression of Tonka Imperiale by Guerlain.

Through my journey in fragrances, I've realized and accepted that Guerlain is a brand I adore above them all, they have a dirty DNA to them that I just can't find on other brands. I own many of their fragrances, sometimes even the same fragrance in EDT and EDP versions just because I can detect the subtle differences in them. Fragrances, like many other sensory experiences, are very biased by definition, so, what I find amazing, others might not, and that is why I love them so much, they force us to make a decision...to like it or not, there's no friend zone in fragrances, there's committed or not, and I , for one, am a fan of that. Tonka, a wrinkled legume from South America that is often described as smelling like vanilla, cherry, almond, cloves... or even cinnamon! (some people swear unicorn horn dust is a main ingredient) tonka beans are actually illegal in the US since 1954 (for consumption) so I've never tried them in my granola, but oh...I love their smell. They bring this gourmand aroma to fragrances (gourmand means that is a perfume consisting primarily of "edible" ingredients), this does not mean all the ingredients fall in that category, it just means thats the impression it gives you, like its edible. I tend to navigate towards gourmand smells and Tonka is one of my favorite scents (Pure Tonka by Mugler comes to mind) so I decided to give this one a shot. For the record, I don't own or have ever smelled Guerlain's Tonka Imperiale, the price point to get it on my front door is beyond what I can stomach, so this review is based on Tonkalicious as a stand-alone product.

Tonkalicious starts....well....with TONKA! Now, this might sound obvious, but, that's not the case on all fragrances, the opening can go in a completely different direction from expected, not this, Tonkalicious makes your mouth water almost immediately, you can almost taste the flavor of Tonka.... but it's dirty, and this where I love this fragrance, it has that Guerlain DNA of avoiding sweet and instead going for dirty. When I say dirty, I don't mean dusty.... those are 2 different things, rose is dusty and feels dry to your nose, Guerlain is dirty.... meaning (for me) that it has that wood base always, that earthy undertone that never goes away. I detect Vanilla and almond almost immediately, what is that...cloves? I think so, but then it's cut with something, something makes it bright and pop...perhaps bergamot? It's hard for me to detect because my mind is all happy in tonka land but that could be it, again, Im in tonka land here. The drydown remains heavy on tonka but opening itself off for Cedar, the performance is above 8-9 hours on my skin and it projects very well for at least 2 hours. A common comment was "I can taste your fragrance in the air", Now, I never thought I would say this, but I will, this is better than Pure Tonka by Mugler and that's crazy because Mugler is my signature fragrance house and that was my go-to tonka-based fragrance. I can't attest of how close it is to Guerlain, only thing I can say is... if you gave me this scent on a bottle with no sticker and told me to guess the house, my mind would go for Guerlain. One common question on fragrances is: Did you get a lot of compliments? I wear fragrances because they complement me, because I love wearing them, because smelling them during the day brings me peace and transports me, having said that, my wife said "yummy" if that helps..

Conclusion: my take on this: This is a 9 out of 10 for the fragrance itself, if you like gourmands, you will not go wrong. The performance is crazy good, the sillage and projection are also crazy, notice: sillage is the scent trail, projection is what people around you get. So that's it, a great fragrance that will become a staple of my collection. If you think houses that seek inspiration on other scents are wrong for the world, dear reader of my review, I can't criticize that, but, I think you are missing out on some beautiful fragrances out there.

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