Kreisquadrat

Take a seat and bring some time with you.

Hissing on the skin: immediately good quality! No ugly phase like so often with many Arabic perfumes. Good fragrance oils right from the start.

A green undertone and a lot of sweet resin. The impression of menthol, however, very discreet. Fir balsam can be specifically sensed here. It's time to breathe, deep fresh, cool air fills the lungs.

Incense-like, a bit clerical, but not overwhelming, rather transparent, it continues with nuances.

Seaweed without the sea, without salt, which relieves me, as it is finely woven.

Only later do I notice the pepper as such. Nice and spicy, but not dominant.

What a beautiful work, that immediately and without circumlocution harmonizes optimally with my skin.

On the test strip, the composition appears significantly more transparent, a bit sweeter. Here, the woods can be sensed more directly, and subtly the oud can also be perceived. Pleasantly garnished with that coarsely ground pepper.

An aura of classicism and concrete masculinity. Very self-assured, affirming, and uplifting. Positive masculinity.

Elegant, old Gelder style, exalted against all the unrest of this world. Decelerating and uncompromisingly sovereign.

Gradually, the composition merges into harmony.

My test gave me no aquatic notes. But deliberately pulling this theme before my inner eye, I can sense what might serve. Over time, it definitely acquires something maritime without becoming exhaustingly blue. Here, the Aquarius actually becomes subtly salty. Seaweed becomes more pronounced without overwhelming anything.

I am a Northman under the pitch-black night and starless sky, without the intention of navigation.
Barefoot, cold sand presses between my toes.
A warm breeze, almost comfortably warm, embraces me and softly carries the conifers with it. Only the sea reflects dancing streaks of light, a neon blue shimmer, as is customary at full moon, on that deep black. Where it comes from is irrelevant and unimportant.
Bearded white, the Northman’s cap, firm and secure. Navy blue, fine twine on bare chest hair. Linen pants dance loosely around the legs.

A masterpiece for me, that I have not yet had under my nose. From the first spray, fanatic! Enthusiasm, at first completely without limits!

At dawn, the woods reveal themselves, dry, sweet Palo Santo-like. A gentle oud accompanies, completely without animalic notes. Sweet, gentle styrax shimmers balsamically. Sacred warmth.

A deep and complex composition.

The packaging seems kitschy from a distance, but close to the heart, pure white and pretty blue.
Surprised by the lightness of the bottle, almost lifting a carpal tunnel syndrome.

Regarding this whole design theme around astrology, one might call it marketing, I can't say much. The bottle is adorned with a turquoise stone simulation. As far as I know, it is supposed to be the stone of Aquarius. Otherwise, everything is nice to look at in terms of ornaments and decorations. To me, it is quite secondary.

I prepared myself for the worst with this blind buy. Yet, I was completely surprised to experience a solid and vibrant wow effect from the very beginning. It's been a long time since I felt such enthusiasm regarding a perfume.

Clearly, one should not lick honey from my words. A blind purchase is not for everyone. The composition seems more suited for lovers and, without stereotypes in terms of fragrance profile, a niche. Not pleasing, pleasing.

And this is the overall composition after the drydown, significantly more pleasing than this wonderful dream play knows how to create at the beginning. After such a large kaleidoscope, it dries down to a composed, sweet-resinous composition. Everything is super harmonious and balanced.

Only here, towards the end, do I recognize the unisex potential of "Aquarius." A lush femininity, with an engaging and sympathetic authority that radiates reliability and familiarity.

To me, it becomes a bit too sweet, too soft from here. The pronounced masculinity experiences a limitation. The scent initially deceives with a complex tough guy facade and then finally reveals its soft core.

Despite all the sweetness that humbly makes me step back from the impression of having found a complete fragrance, it does not change the fact that I happily let "Aquarius" enter my life with joy, refreshment, and delight.
There remain fir, balsam, resin.

Unexpected start, beautiful first impression. Fresh, woody, briefly leather-like, deep. Then floral and lovely, pleasing. Shifting between roasting aromas and dark resins and equally dark sweetness.

I soon perceive roasted coffee beans and a gentle smokiness. The scent of caramelized rice from childhood or caramelized sunflower seeds on the palate.
It is by no means a gourmand, merely my personal association with its resinousness.

Less interesting is it after the drydown with its sweetly lovely floral notes and somewhat ordinary sweetness.

The woody spiciness is rather discreetly perceptible. More creamy, unless a subtle soft-bitter leather shines through again.

For the asking full price, I wouldn't have indulged in the successor, but the Parfumo-Souk is always good for a fair price find, and as a collector, I didn't want to leave my "Toy Boy" standing alone.
As outstandingly unique as the predecessor, the EdP fails to become. A bit disillusioning.

Here, marketing has trimmed the lawn strictly according to statistics. Accordingly, less creative. However, it is somewhat better than its competitors.

Compared to its predecessor, it is less complex, significantly more pleasing, and can be placed in the "Phantom", "Victory", or even Initio universe in terms of craftsmanship. You can definitely sense the synthetics here.

Nonetheless, it is less densely packed and, in terms of progression and composition, more interesting ...and successful. It offers a circulating exchange within its fragrance notes and varying impressions.

It is an evening perfume, suitable for pleasant, sociable coffee bar visits of an intimate nature. No controversial sensually wild marketing representation like the predecessor. Yet the well-groomed man, who knows how to dress neatly, will also know how to use this one in his leisure time, as well as for seduction.

Trigger: Deluxe box sentences!

The listed fragrance notes that the online perfumery presented to me at the time were coriander from Russia and pine from Siberia. Along with the familiar-looking color scheme of the bottle, they convinced me to take the plunge on this blind buy.

The bottle feels high-quality. Velvety milk glass, encased in matte black metal. Vibrant turquoise, embraced by frost crystals. Elegantly and functionally illustrated typography that does justice to Porsche Design visually.
Overall, it’s a feast for the eyes and a delight to the touch. However, the lettering is also the only thing I associate with Porsche. I didn’t think of the vehicles or the associated image. A benefit, I believe.

Quote: "Sizzle!"

Familiar aromas, undulating, from a distant past, enveloped me with a sense of security.

The Siberian pine (aka Swiss pine) immediately catapults me, without any detours, through the coniferous forests of the Altai Mountains, directly to the summit of Belucha (the highest mountain in Siberia). My face gently brushed by the pine needles, like by a Banschtschik (sauna master), whose Wenik (bundle of birch twigs) spreads the impression of a subtle birch tar aroma as a companion. Fresh, woody, clear, cool air. Essential oils of resin and wood cling to my face. Soothing, relaxing. Clarity of thought.

So here I stand, like a Soviet Übermensch propaganda cutout of a mountaineer, on which traces of effort and the redemption of having reached a summit goal shine like earned honors. I stand there, facing an epic and imposing nature. Conqueror, overcomer - man, land, nature my subject? Hardly!

The Russian juniper, intense and pronounced, refreshingly lively, clean, and clear green. At the same time peppery-aromatic, with a certain sweetness that gently gives the sharp and resinous notes a pleasant, balsamic accent, making it clear to me that I am not the master here, but rather a subject of nature.

Opening my eyes, I realize that I am encased in felt, surrounded by herbs and balsam. My pride was a fall from the summit, my salvation is nature, the primitive man... an Altai shaman tends to my health.

Fruity, sweet-sour blueberries in my mouth. A warm fire illuminates the tent, permeated by incense. Realization that culminates in humility. The snow will crunch again under my feet. I will remain as close to the earth as necessary, not becoming its resident and nourisher. Recovery and relaxation in sight. Stress, effort will pass.

A very fresh and non-citrusy opening, cool and invigorating. Like a hike through a cold winter forest.
A gentle transition to lush, bright, tarry resins.
A warm, earthy, creamy-woody finish.
For lovers of forest, resin, and spice notes with a penchant for wilderness and adventure, even if only formally as an idea in a strenuous civilized workday. Be it winter, be it summer ... always right!

I can understand and relate to the mentioned criticism here (of synthetic and known monotony), however, I personally cannot share this criticism.
I am too taken by my personal impression, the preconditioning through my ideas, the associated feelings, and the images evoked in me ... and that is a good thing! What is less good is that The Essence has sadly been discontinued.

The presence of the fragrance is intense, the sillage is restrained, and the longevity is relatively good.

I myself treasured my bottle back then like a treasure when it was still available, but I realized too late that The Essence had been discontinued. Too late to at least get myself a backup bottle. I see no replacement for it.
Even though I value The Essence highly, I hardly used it. For different reasons than the criticism here suggests. For reasons I do not even know myself.

A turquoise treasure chest of memory and sweet nostalgia.

Not nearly as disgusting as I expected. Because it is a lactic-creamy gourmand ... my ultimate nemesis. But the opening is pleasant.

It starts off clearly thematically, synthetic, highly pitched. An overwhelming resinous quality as if from another world. In its own way, interestingly artificial.

Then the gourmand aspect pushes through, a kind of pastry sweetness. Warm, thick, gooey caramel. Fruit gum, marshmallow treats, only this one holds the flavor longer.

The color of the liquid fits, amber warmth. The shifting milkiness is ultimately decisive for me to leave this one behind.

Anyone who enjoys the genre of milky-creamy, ambered, and sweet gourmands will find satisfaction here. Moreover, in a relatively unusual way. It also holds solidly.

If one ever succumbs to the irrationality of wanting perfumes just for the falcon or the name, then this is, for me personally, a very appealing candidate. I associate themes like cyberpunk labs and digital graphic glitches as a means of aesthetics.

The name of the perfume, the collection itself, and the thematically fitting bottle design are already dear to me. Also, the scent itself is conceptually almost accurately executed. The previously mentioned highly pitched synthetic components are also very bearable.

What I miss in this theme is, at least, the aroma of WD-40 or something. Just as a accompanying aura to keep the cyborg joints fit.

Whoever wears such perfumes, please, for heaven's sake, do not wear it during the day and certainly not to work/school or where people gather during the day. I especially mean the Khamrah faction from which I now have a PTSD.

Quick summary after a short maceration:
"Bois & Oud" has a Cologne-like, subtly Barbershop-esque, classic vibe. A fragrance in the style of the 1980s, it is boozy, fresh-woody, and sweet-spicy, while at the same time, despite its lightness, it feels deep and dark.
Pascal Morabito could have also named it tabac & bois de santal, as both notes are among the most dominant.

At times, the scent reminds me of a tropical rum or a southwest Scottish pirate whisky: robustly spicy, bitter, and masculine.
In the depth, the fragrance is simultaneously dark-fruity and sweetish. The fruitiness evokes an association with plum for me. Notes of dry woods are very present here.

The citrus fruits have a fruity character. With a bit of imagination: "Italian-Zest" lemon sugar-coated candies. This is only at the beginning, very subtle mind you, and merely following my personal chain of associations. Artemisia makes it robust, slightly bitter, and herbaceous.

Saffron wafts nicely and pleasantly, making the whole thing beautifully sweet-dry. The cypress contributes a conifer-like, slightly sharp freshness. A fresh spiciness from tobacco leaves floats alongside, sometimes quite dominant even.

Oud and patchouli act as a blend. The oud aligns itself more with the sweet sandalwood shavings and has no animalic qualities. Of course, it’s a lab-created oud that is not overly perceptible here. But that doesn’t matter much. The labdanum adds a gentle balsamic touch, softly ambered, resinous. The sandalwood is another relatively dominant note.

I would expect a fragrance like "Bois & Oud" by Pascal Morabito in a dark brown bottle with the label "Whisky." And not some Le Male knockoff (I don’t want to look at one O.O--> La Rive). With "Bois & Oud," one can easily imagine the inscription "Whisky" on it, even though no spirits are present in the fragrance pyramid.

So far so good, but my first test with "Bois & Oud" was disappointing. I was met with a persistently penetrating sweetness. At that moment, it was a disappointing blind buy. I had the statements from Yatagan and Ergoproxy regarding the other flankers of the "Cologne" collection in mind and wished I had listened to their assessment. Thus came the realization.

Well, the vat of a bottle, with a whopping 200ml content, would probably have to serve me as a room fragrance instead. Who else would you gift such a cheap-looking, sandalwood-sweet fragrance with a dusty scent idea?

The rather unpleasantly noticeable synthetic quality in the sweetness can, in the worst case, come off as somewhat cheap. However, this impression does not necessarily have to prevail.

I actually own a noname perfume that I greatly appreciate, which was probably purchased by my parents in a discount store or at a flea market in the late 1990s. It is an opulent and massive scent, with a "Whisky" inscription framed by neo-baroque embellishments on the bottle. A prime example of discount aesthetics: gold plastic bottle cap as the highlight.
It is a strong, spicy, relatively synthetic whisky-rum liqueur perfume, based on an original idea from the 80s perfumes - old, classic perfumery. I am still searching for the origin and the original of this scent profile, hoping to find a higher-quality version.
With "Bois & Oud," I have found this scent profile in the broadest sense again, but more blended, which does justice to the name of its "Cologne" collection.

In principle, "Bois & Oud" has a stone in my board, as it corresponds to the scent profile I have long sought. At the same time, it is not as fulfilling as my noname "original," but very close.
Another test in high humidity was significantly more pleasant. Although it remains a relatively synthetic perfume that, depending on perspective, comes off as cheap to inexpensive. But for €13, it is a good cheapie. The price-performance ratio is relatively okay to good in relation to the end product.

Further tests performed significantly better, and the penetrating sweetness was no longer present as such.
The scent is simple, likable, and pleasant in its enveloping, warm atmosphere. It reminds me of a wood-paneled gentlemen's room or the office of a business mogul, complete with a marble or crystal lump ashtray. A hint of aftershave lingers in the air. Some slightly eccentric men around 40 or older. It exudes a kind of Ruhrpott-rich-Texas-romance, with notes of plum and cherry liqueur, nuanced to remind of syrup sweetness. Rum and whisky on dry wood and amber on top.

The scent is ideal for:
• Strong, masculine guys in jeans and leather jackets.
• The trendy net surfer with whisky beard oil in his mustache.
• The mature gentleman in a blazer with an open shirt button and a luxurious vintage gold watch.

Bring a bit of irony with you when testing. ;)