MajorTom

Atkinsons. James Atkinsons. Was the similarity of the name to the 007 actor intentional? Of course, the company founder was the inspiration for the name of the fragrance, but the first name is somehow applaudable. A rogue who thinks evil of it. As if they wanted to draw some kind of link to James Bond, it could be good for sales ;-)

The bottle stands somewhat shy and reserved in a display case in my favorite perfumery, if only because of its color. Not one to catch your eye, but it's always the inner values that count.

So spray it on first, take a look around, let it take effect. Then put your nose to the scent and - yes, what actually? At first, I was disappointed. I have the impression that I am testing a fragrance from the last millennium. It could be from the late 70s or 80s. That doesn't necessarily have to be negative, quite the opposite. But for a fragrance that is actually modern, the result is somewhat sobering in my view.

I make my way back to the office and initially forget what I'm wearing. Only after an hour do I start sniffing again and I have to sniff, because James doesn't make itself known - the result remains the same. For me, this is a representative of the green, spicy and earthy range. In positive terms, you could say it is an elegant, unobtrusive, easy-to-wear fragrance with slightly woody and minimally fresh accents. In negative terms, the wording would be: unspectacular, uninspiring, somewhat irrelevant, slightly old-fashioned, interchangeable, moderate durability and even more moderate sillage.

And sol leaves me somewhat perplexed. Although not a bad and certainly not repulsive fragrance, it ultimately has too few arguments to make me want to buy it. No man will get bad reviews with this fragrance, but is that good enough? For me, a fragrance doesn't have to fog the entire floor, but it should have a certain power of perception. In my opinion, this is a missed opportunity for Atkinson's to follow up a big name with an equally big fragrance. It's a shame really, as it could have been more.

Finally, in the drugstore with the large perfume department, I noticed the large number of golden-brown packages and testers in the Boss section. Boss Bottled Elixir, Parfum Intense Natural Spray. I have to say in advance that Boss Number 1 was my first fragrance ever; it laid the foundations, so to speak, for my later enthusiasm for fragrances. And I had the complete range back then: eau de toilette, shower gel, after shave. Then, for a long time, nothing came from the Metzingers that would have been interesting in any way, until Boss Bottled entered the scene over a decade later.

Boss Bottled is still an outstanding fragrance for me today. Of course, it became a bit mainstream, but I literally bathed in it. My consumption of bottles and shower gels reached worrying, astronomical proportions. I loved this fragrance and could recognize it from five metres away. It was only finally at a class reunion that a colleague was severely irritated when I said "you're wearing Boss Bottled, right?". The answer was yes, somewhere between embarrassment and surprise. Boss Bottled is an extraordinary fragrance with an absolute and high recognition factor. One that you can almost always wear, that always fits. In the office anyway, but also for shopping, for a cappuccino in the sun, for dinner in the evening.

I never really warmed to the typical flankers after a success. For me, none of the big brother's wingmen were a real asset. In this respect, my expectations of the Elixir were correspondingly low. Nevertheless, you want to know what's available on the market, so I grabbed the tester and scented my wrists.

Elixir opens smoky and spicy, but I was surprised to find that it was even slightly fresh on my skin, which I blame on patchouli. Over the course of the first hour, I am really very taken with the clouds that move into my nose, the fragrance becomes a little darker, I find it very masculine and yes, I would also give it slightly animalic and aphrodisiac notes. Pure eroticism for hours as a couple or for the single man's appearance in a club. The blend has a high-quality, not at all cheap feel and is therefore pleasantly different from typical poser fragrances that turn the corner with synthetic would-be oud blends or ambroxan bombs.

After about an hour and a half, the twist begins for me, the fragrance loses its strong initial character and the obviously abundant labdanum gains the upper hand. This makes BBE warmer, I think I detect a certain vanilla note, even some floral hints, all in all simply softer and also sweeter. This is actually less my cup of tea, because it also takes away some of the masculinity of the fragrance, which I think is a shame. The longer the elixir lingers, the sweeter it becomes, before fading away rather unspectacularly hours later.

And so BBE leaves me in two phases: a brilliant opening and a somewhat disappointing dry down. Nevertheless, Boss has succeeded in creating what I consider to be the best flanker to date; the dry down is simply a matter of taste.

THE fragrance for evening events, whether with the lady or the boys. Heavy, dark, masculine, striking. Labdanum-driven sensuality.

Longevity and sillage above average, my on-skin test delivered very decent results. But what a perfume should be able to achieve, apart from that. On the skin, the fragrance gains massively in intensity compared to the test strip and really leaves an impression.

The bottle: Why should you forcefully try to make something really good worse? It is and remains a Boss Bottled, the recognition and affiliation to the family is clearly recognizable and that's perfectly fine. I think the color scheme is extremely successful, fits the fragrance perfectly and also looks simply classy.

Value for money: At a time when some manufacturers feel they can get away with anything (e.g. Creed, where they now like to charge 190 euros for 50 ml), the prices here are reasonable. Normally, the elixir has a price tag of 110 euros/50 ml, but with a little skill you can also find offers at around 70 euros - and that is very fair for what is on offer.

Conclusion: The best Boss Bottled after the unique and unattainable original. Recommended for anyone looking for an evening fragrance. Perhaps too much for the opera, but perfect for an intimate dinner and a glittering club night. A fragrance that will go its own way and find its wearer.

You can never please everyone in life. That's neither good nor bad, it's just the way it is. Because each of us (fortunately, otherwise there would only be one kind of person, what an idea!) has their own preferences, their own ideas, their own goals.

How often have I read here (and also written myself) that a fragrance has a moderate longevity, but even more often a rather weak sillage. If you're looking for a real howler in this respect, well, boys and girls, here you go: BOCCANERA. A fragrance you will never forget. If only because you can hardly get rid of it :-)) This is exactly what some of the previous speakers have criticized the fragrance for. Too strong, too long-lasting. Well, as I said above, you can never please everyone.

But back to square one. The sample I received comes in the form of a bubble, which has to be broken open at the top, nice to look at, but in the smallest way hinting at what is hidden inside. The handling is, to put it mildly, semi-optimal, because when I bend the predetermined breaking point of the bubble backwards, a good portion of the contents spills out onto my desk and over my fingers. I take some speed to clean up the mess and disinfect my hands with the antivirus liquid that is standing around. Nevertheless, the "damage" is done, because after (the really clinically pungent smelling) disinfectant has dried, my fingers smell exactly the same as before. The Tempo is soaked with Boccanera and begins to relentlessly perfume my office. I leave my office and wash my hands. When I come back, the scent bomb has already taken hold and my office has mutated into a single temple of fragrance. I can hardly believe it and dispose of the soaked Tempo at a safe distance. Back in the office, the scent continues to linger in my nose, but why? I sniff my fingers and realize that a second and maybe even a third wash cycle would be necessary to remove it. Holy shit, this stuff has endless oomph and a durability I've never experienced before. So let it "stick" for now and look forward to the further development.

What kind of fragrance is Boccanera? My first association was somewhat in the direction of Intoxicated by Kilian, which offers a similar performance but is sweeter overall. Both have a darkness in common that is second to none.
Boccanera gets off to a tremendous start, I can't say it any other way, this thing almost knocks me out of my chair. I have the feeling that everything that has been packed into this fragrance literally bursts out again in the opening and buries me under an avalanche. I hear coffee, chocolate, pepper, cinnamon, resin, wood. Everything dark, very, very dark.

After half an hour, the brute force of the beginning is somewhat over and I still don't know whether I think it's awesome or just bad. But I find myself sniffing myself again and again. A little bashfully, as if it were forbidden. But everything that is forbidden is exciting. My head says no, but my stomach wants to know. You can't live with it, but you can't live without it either. This thing is masculine, animalistic, promiscuous. On the other hand, dirty, repulsive, somehow disgusting. A very strange combination, very strange.

Hours later, the overall impression hasn't changed. I still find myself in a dark (fragrance) cloud. Which has become much better than it was at the beginning, but which performs just as it did at the beginning, in other words, everyone, really everyone, notices you as you walk past. You can literally feel the glances that follow you, people are irritated by this fragrance, just like me.

It has become dark. And the darkness suits the scent perfectly. As I step out onto the street, another waft hits my nose, it's incredible. At home, noses are wrinkled at the table, the comments are not quite ready for print. In a video, a continuous beep would probably be necessary to block out adult language. On the subject of social acceptance. Anyone who does Boccanera should know what they are doing and should be able to live with the consequences. The thing is certainly not a crowd pleaser.

That reads quite negatively, especially in the last paragraph. Nevertheless, the fragrance is incredibly appealing. It is a divider, a polarizer, a black and white painter without shades. You either love this fragrance or you hate it, there is nothing in between. The sillage and longevity are from another universe, simply galactic. Nomen est Omen, Boccanera lives up to its name.

My problem with the fragrance: I don't even know when I should wear it. In the office? Not in life. On public transportation? Fucking hell, never. In sports? If you want to get thrown out of the gym, please. On a shopping trip? Would probably embarrass your wife/girlfriend. In a club/bar? Most likely, but what are you going to do the next day, that thing easily lasts 12 hours!

The fragrance is extreme, in all directions. I admire perfumer Gualtieri for his courage to create such a grenade and show what is possible in the industry - and reward this courage with an extra point. Whether you choose Boccanera or not is a question that everyone has to answer for themselves. I don't know anyone who wears this fragrance. Standing out is guaranteed. Comments too. A high level of self-confidence and mental stability are further prerequisites for a potential wearer. Not for everyone..

The 80s were my youth. This decade shaped me in many ways in terms of style and fashion and was also partly responsible for my penchant for fragrances. I couldn't miss Hugo Boss, Cool Water came a little later, I thought Silver by Aigner was the madness par excellence, Azarro in its original form and of course Antaeus by Chanel, the top hit per se. Many didn't survive the turn of the millennium, but some did and still adorn my console above the bathroom sink today. Of course, a few new fragrances were added in the noughties, but I still love some of the classics.

What does this have to do with ginger? In the end, I sprayed Antaeus on in the morning and my little one told me that "the scent smells old". Me: What do you mean "old"? Answer: Well, that's just how old people smell, you've got better ones. That was one of those in-your-face moments. Of course, I remain loyal to my beloved Antaeus, because first and foremost I wear a fragrance for myself and not for others. But yes, admittedly, a lot has changed in the industry in recent years. We had so many oud fragrances in the 2010s, the market was flooded with them in an almost inflationary fashion. Today, it's often ambrox and other artificial bombs - you don't have to like it, but people obviously buy it. And then there's ginger.

This fragrance starts with a slight spiciness, although I cannot clearly distinguish whether this is due to the ginger or the pepper. Nevertheless, a freshness is also perceptible from the start and after the spiciness has faded a little, I feel like I've just been washed, in other words, somehow "clean". Ginger is a very clean and pleasant fragrance, but the longer it lingers on me, the more feminine it seems. It would look great on my little girl. You can't accuse it of being overpowering, both the sillage and the durability are at an okay level, but without shooting the lights out at the top. The bottle itself is nicely made, somehow fits the fragrance, no great excitement here either, rather a clean appearance, temporary design in modern German. Due to its fresh and fruity design, I see the fragrance lasting from around April-September, i.e. rather in the warmer months, as it loses a lot of its effect when it gets cold.

It is a modern fragrance, in my opinion for younger ladies who want something about them that appeals, that doesn't scare them off, that is simply there and envelops them. Discreet, contemporary and yes, definitely with a certain chic. In terms of price, however, the thing is already relatively high up and therefore perhaps too high for generations y and z. Unless you get it as a present or are a daughter by profession, of course. Test recommendation for the fair femininity.

My 100th review was for a fragrance that was really worth describing: Brunello Cucinelli. After this small, personal anniversary, I was curious to see which fragrance would tempt me to write a review next. Because in all the years since I've been on this portal, sometimes more sometimes less active, my demands regarding an EdT and / or EdP but clearly changed. Everything has risen. My demands on fragrances. According to my feeling also the prices for fragrances in general. The sheer number of annual new releases anyway. And in my perception, the number of people who in the morning with what also always more or less audibly eindieseln.

When I then in a men's magazine (Tweed) came across a number of scents unknown to me, it was clear that Cinematic of "The Scent".

Cinematic sounds modern to me from the word. Somehow digital. According to the perfumer "...notes and chords that wander back and forth...dynamic and airy...". Well, paper is known to be patient, at the end of the day it's the end result that counts and that pleases or not.

Unboxing. A sturdy cardboard box protects the contents during transport. Very unexcited the box comes along and the bottle itself does not knock me out of the chair now in the first moment. A kind of cube, provided with a sticker. This is already very very simply made, but purists would break out in cheers and call the design super clean. I just find it cheap, it doesn't catch me at all, sorry. If I have to pull the trigger on 120 stones, I also have an expectation of the bottle. At least, the cap has a magnet, which works cleanly and similar to the Louis Vuitton fragrances a certain high quality can be seen. The spray head also does a serious job and distributes the contents in an emphatic mist.

The fragrance. First impression: wow, quite spicy! I waver between pepper and ginger, the fragrance pyramid makes it clear that it is the herbaceous plant root. Fortunately, the spiciness doesn't last too long, as it quickly gets the company of citrusy notes. Still irritated by the sharpness to the prelude I can also do little with the newly formed combination, somehow reminds me of a smell between toilet stone and bathroom cleaner. So I give the whole mixture time to develop and devote myself to other things. 30 minutes later, I like Cinematic much better. The irritating hints at the start are gone, what remains perceptible in my nose is a mixture of essentially ginger, lemon and a spice (the fragrance pyramid leads cardamom). And yet the fragrance now somehow comes across as softer than at the beginning, I imagine I can hear vanilla notes. Vanilla is a thing, I'm not necessarily a big fan of it. I don't like coffee that is infused with vanilla, caramel, or any other flavorful accessory. I also have my difficulties with Tom Ford's Vanille Fatale or Tobacco Vanilla, not to mention YSL's Black Opium. Why? Because too strong a vanilla note comes across as very sweet, floral and feminine and that's just not mine. With Cinematic, however, I find the vanilla perfectly balanced with the ginger, one appreciates and accepts the other, in fact I'm inclined to say both complement each other wonderfully. Hours later, not much has really changed in terms of the basic character, from my point of view a pleasantly spicy but by no means aggressively appearing journeyman. Not entirely surprisingly, the lemon becomes weaker and weaker as the hours pass and the existing spices, held in check by vanilla and musk notes, remain before the fragrance gently fades after hours.

Sillage: Yes, I must say, the initial Wumms of Cinematic is not from bad parents. Comes clearly more audible around the corner than I would have expected. However, the appearance is not long-lasting, after about two hours there is not much left. A test on the clothes I have not carried out, here I suspect a clearly longer performance.

Durability: The goes fully in order. 7-8 hours, so you can live, if you consider that many citrus fragrances already say goodbye after 3-4 hours.

For whom and when: to answer this is not so easy for me. First, I see the fragrance clearly unisex. For this reason, point deduction, I'm just more on the macho-HauDrauf-corners-and-edges-HierKommI-UltraMaskulin rail like Fetish of Roja perfume or Antaeus of Chanel. Cinematic is a softie and as perfumer Miguel Matos already indicates, "...base that cushions you." That's actually very much to the point, because the fragrance envelops you throughout the day, maybe even lulls you. It is your companion, it is just there, but unobtrusive, fine, beautiful, high quality.
More latte macchiato than espresso. More cashmere sweater than leather jacket. More Ugg boot than cowboy boot. More office than sports. More ICE than subway. More jazz than techno. More vanilla than chili pepper.
I see the fragrance coming into its own perfectly in the months of October-April/May, due to the warmth it radiates. You have to be able and willing to wear it. He is a charmer and quite also in the corner compliment fishing well kept. For younger gentlemen from my point of view nix, with ladies already rather the complete range.

Conclusion: There will be days when I love him. And there will be days where he will be too soft for me. Definitely not a blind buy candidate. But just as definitely an exciting addition for those who thought to have everything already at home.