Hunter Jungle Armaf 2023

For a few years now, I've afforded myself the luxury of a small monthly gambling budget. Some people put this money into their Bitcoin casket, some invest it in wine or cigars, while I spend it on all sorts of nonsense that promise me a little amusement on an ad hoc basis, depending on my mood. Sometimes I'm right on the money, other times it backfires big time. Mind you, this play money still exists alongside my regular perfume budget. And so it happened that during my morning stalking through a few online outlet stores (digital leftover ramps), in addition to sporty shoes for me and sensual lingerie for my floating peach blossom, I got stuck on heavily discounted perfumes. I'd never heard of the fragrances before, but the bottles magically attract my attention like a massive pile-up on the highway. Armaf and Lataffa are not the very bottom of the drawer, so you can buy half a liter of perfume for a low double-digit amount - including shipping, of course.

What the hell! These were my first thoughts when unpacking. A green box, the hinted jungle foliage in a harmonious olive color. Hunter and Jungle on one side, the word Bullet next to stylized bullet holes on the other. The fragrance must be a big seller among the foreign legionnaires in French Guiana. Inside is a solid glass bottle in a beautiful poison green. I also like beautiful drinking glasses in all sorts of bright colors, so I'm promptly thrilled. However, I'll have to consult the specialist literature again to find out what they're trying to tell us in terms of design with these different cylindrical shapes. However, the association with the safety lever of my assault rifle from my military service days comes to mind. The bottle is partially wrapped in a rubberized artificial canvas in poison green, on which a plastic 9mm cartridge dangles from a leather cord. Unfortunately, dangling is too much of a promise, as the cartridge is glued into a canvas flap, so you can't even hang the cartridge around your neck as a decoration. However, this whole canvas-leather-cartridge-grit should be removed immediately after unpacking, thanks to rivets and eyelets this is very easy, because otherwise you can't really get the greenish shimmering light metal button off the atomizer. In day-to-day use, this decorative accessory is a real pain in the ass, and is likely to quickly fall off, so get rid of it. Unfortunately, the atomizer offers an uneven and asymmetrical spray pattern, not ideal for the ambitious hunter or soldier. However, you have a good grip on the bottle to compensate for these inaccuracies with a steady hand. I would love to share this beauty with you in a few pictures, but the race organizers have stopped accepting photos from me some time ago. Sorry.

The fragrance initially takes your breath away in a similar way to the bottle. First impression: artificial. But is it really? It's initially a tart green with a few sweet facets. I have no idea what I'm smelling. But in the jungle, even with good camouflage, you don't always recognize what you're looking at. It quickly becomes powdery, bright and violet flowers play a cheerful ringlet with finely ground spices. It becomes earthier, but also more leathery and woody, yet always relatively light and sweet, never dark, sinister or serious. All in all, the overall impression always remains clearly masculine, even if the boundaries between male and female become drastically blurred after a week of bivouacking with the Panzergrenadiers in the forest.

The artificial fragrance impression gives way after a while, although the fragrance is far from feigning the appearance of natural ingredients. It is a solid fragrance that you will find on the designer shelf for a significantly higher price with a much more melodious name. The radiance is clear at first, but then becomes more comfortable relatively quickly. The durability gets you well and safely through everyday office life, and the self-experiment in summer will show whether it scares away not only mosquitoes and flies but also fallow deer.

I still find myself picking up the bottle again and again. It is pleasant to hold and has a really appealing color. However, Hunter Jungle doesn't give me the urge to spray it on. I think I'll fondle the bottle for a while and then let it go for a little money. A small trophy for another perfumist.