REVIEW II, 2023 Oct 29:

Well, here’s something I haven’t felt the need to do before… come back and drastically revise a previous review.

After my last review, I decided to give this juice more of a chance. It certainly was far from bad to my nose, and had so many strongly positive reviews, that I decided to stick with it for a while, give my other favorite scents a rest. So, I put a little of this on every day.

By and large, I wouldn’t describe the scent in different terms than I previously did. How can I put this? Most of the time, I like barbershop scents. I think Paco Rabanne is lovely. Even cheapo Brut aftershave is appealing. I formerly felt this was similar to those kinds of scents, but perhaps a bit too safe and inoffensive. Either way, nice, but nothing to write home about.

But it really came into its own for me the day I left the house and ran some strenuous errands.

I came back, not exactly sweaty, but I’d had a few hours an exertion for sure and my skin was not dry. And then, I smelled it. This stuff worked with my body chemistry. It lost a little bit of the powdery/white floral thing and, I don’t know, just smelled mild but thoroughly masculine and not at all a scent I would be opposed to frequently smelling like.

Since then I’ve gained an appreciation for it. This is an extremely serviceable scent, entirely suitable for daily wear or as a signature scent for someone who wants to smell good without smelling cheap nor make a giant, attention-grabbing olfactory splash.

Think of it like starching your shirts: Nobody is going to compliment you on it, but you’re just going to look a little better.

I would kind of like to layer it with something to give it just a little bit of a unique edge, but only once I can figure out what will really work with it. I might try a touch of my secret weapon Al-Rehab Sultan Al Oud with it. But I’ve come to appreciate how well composed this is, I’m not just going to splash pine needles and rocks and seaweed on top of it and think that that’s going to improve it.