This Is Us! Zadig & Voltaire 2021

For months, I have been looking forward to the day when this little potion would arrive at my doorstep. I had everything prepared. A text, garnished with the best lines from my favorite song by Die Ärzte (Wie es geht). This was supposed to be the ultimate praise. This combination of fragrance notes practically screams my name. What’s going on? Sprayed away with one puff. Blown away by the wind. Nothing. Done and over.

The fragrance notes were so seductive and exactly my type. I mean, what could possibly go wrong? For a few months now, I haven’t been as adventurous with testing and prefer to spray a test strip first before applying it to my skin. This was also the case with This is us. The first moment is a sweet punch of vanilla and sandalwood. My nose is used to grenades, but this was a bit too much of a good thing. And yes, there is actually something that smells like dill. My thoughts ranged from "Hmm" to "Well, actually not bad," "Ugh, I don’t know," to "No, sorry." But I don’t just give up easily. This is THE scent, the one I had already envisioned as my new signature. I can’t accept how this is going right now. So, I gave it some time. And there it was. Over time, a soft, vanilla musk scent developed and settled in. There it is! Just how I imagined it, and I sprayed it on my wrist. But what’s happening now? The sandalwood is being too generous or feels way too comfortable. It picks up a club and keeps hitting with full force again and again. In between, the vanilla gets its turn, and it goes back and forth like that. Eventually, they come to an agreement and work together. They show you who’s in charge here. "This is us," "Us against the rest of the world," but not with me. The two of them retreat briefly after their ruckus, and then the scent somehow... yes, how do I describe this now... becomes hollow. It’s missing something. It’s not getting weaker, that’s not it. It’s becoming somehow discordant now, and then, after a short breather, the sweet punch returns. As I said, not with me. Where is my savior in need? Where is the patchouli? Intimidated? Not interested? Otherwise occupied? Something better to do?

The longevity is (as with all scents that you don’t particularly like) of course fantastic. The test strip is still scenting the room (since this afternoon), but showering at least put an end to it on the skin. The bottle is also not a highlight. I really wanted to like it, but that’s not happening. Today, I was harshly brought back down to reality.