Milone

My sister is probably the most difficult person among those I know to impress with a perfume.
She has a very sensitive nose and reacts immediately with headaches to the slightest hint of synthetics, sweetness, fruitiness, etc.
I saw it as a challenge to find her a scent that she likes and can wear without any problems.
Now that the review is under this fragrance, you can probably guess which scent my search has ended with:

“The Time” is incredibly well made.
Synthetics are never even hinted at.
The tea notes harmonize beautifully with floral components, so while individual notes are clearly recognizable, none of them stands out too much.
The iris integrates very well into the fragrance without making it powdery or soapy. It does give it a slightly clean note, which is certainly supported by the musk in the drydown.
The sillage is not strong with this scent, which I consider fitting for its character. From the very beginning, it is more of a skin scent, but it unfolds beautifully there.
The Time is worn for oneself.
The fragrance experience is special:

Freshly showered, you reach for this unbelievably beautiful, heavy bottle, spray a bit on your wrist and neck, and simply enjoy this wonderful, rounded, and noble touch of freshness.
A bit of luxury that you treat yourself to because you deserve it.
You don’t expect compliments anyway, as it goes straight to the freshly made bed after the evening reading.

To finish the story:
My sister has found her fragrance and has been able to call this bottle her own since her birthday (thanks to a very generous, exemplary, and extremely good-looking brother).

What was not planned is that my father also fell in love with this scent during the showcase. His 10ml sample is already empty, and soon another bottle will be moving in.

This year's Black Friday was the moment. My first own Xerjoff was allowed to move in, and of course, it had to be ordered directly from Xerjoff for pride reasons.
Along with a nice discount, there was, as always, a free sample kit included.
Since I had already tested my way through the range in advance, I decided on scents that are usually not so much in the conversation. And so the
"Shooting Stars - Cruz del Sur II | XerJoff" ended up in the selection.

"Something good happens unexpectedly."
This saying probably describes it best and is likely even an understatement!
The scent starts with a super authentic mango, but a really ripe, juicy delicious one that makes your mouth water! In the next few minutes, it gradually moves into the background and the scent becomes creamier. - Milky-creamy. Along with it, there is a truly delightful fruitiness that gives me the association of a fruit milkshake. As it progresses, the scent (thankfully!) hardly changes and remains so creamy.

This juicy mango in the opening and the fruit milkshake in the drydown make this scent incredibly attractive. Definitely not an everyday scent, but on a date on a moderately warm summer evening.. You would have me immediately.

"Sex in a bottle"!

Another chapter in: YouTubers hype a fragrance so much that you fear missing out if you don’t try it. Statements like: "Absolute blind buy for the cold days,"
or: "the best Le Male," make you very curious.
"Fomo," short for "the fear of missing out,"
spreads and describes the phenomenon quite well.
So, into the souk, confirm payment, and wait.

When the sample arrived, I sprayed the fragrance on my arm and waited eagerly.
What followed was pure irritation over the scent development and consequently, over the numerous positive reviews.
It starts with a beautiful, Le Male-typical fruity fresh & intense top note, but it only lasts for a few seconds.
Immediately after that, the fragrance takes on a spicy character that becomes stronger over the next few minutes. After that, I get about 1 to 1.5 hours of full-on oriental spiciness. Coupled with the strong projection that cannot be denied, I thought to myself, "Wow, this is not a crowd-pleaser?"
But that’s not all.
After about 1.5 hours, the fragrance takes a more drastic turn than the ending of Shutter Island, and the iris transforms it into a powdery, floral clean scent. The oriental spiciness only plays lightly in the background, but it doesn’t fit the overall picture and is perceived by me as a disturbing factor.

In conclusion, I must say that this fragrance gives me a headache. One cannot complain about a monotonous scent development here; on the contrary, it reminds me of a roller coaster ride. However, in my opinion, the components are not harmonious and interfere with each other. One of the fragrances where I could least understand the positive community opinion.

Paco Rabanne does not fare well on Parfumo. Almost every fragrance is torn apart in the comments as "synthetic sweet junk," which is why I feel compelled to defend the poor and weak robots.

At this point, I would like to take the opportunity to come out:
YES, I WEAR PHANTOM AS MY SIGNATURE FRAGRANCE!

So, now it's out. I would like to explain why this is the case and how one might come to choose a perfume with a rating of 5.4 as a signature scent in the following text.

First of all, many people probably overlook which target group Paco Rabanne aims to reach with its fragrances. Sweet, loud, unusual, eye-catching: This fragrance, as well as the Invictus and One Million lines, are made for the young and wild and not for the 55-year-old enthusiast.
Easy to like, without prior scent analysis, isn’t that what an everyday fragrance should be capable of?

Many also bring up the argument that Phantom is nothing new and that there is no need for this fragrance. I must vehemently disagree.
I have never smelled a designer fragrance that is similar to Phantom.

Sweet, but still fresh
floral, but still slightly smoky
extraordinary, but by no means too loud -
with very few fragrances have I received more positive feedback from those around me!

It is simply not the umpteenth blue, "office safe" fragrance. Versace Dylan Blue, Bleu de Chanel, Dior Sauvage.. If you want to play it that safe, you shouldn't be surprised that no one comments on your scent.

Phantom strikes a perfect balance for me between "standing out from the crowd" and "wearable every day without problems."
The longevity and sillage are good and carry me through the day, but without hitting anyone in the face with it.

I feel it has become a trend to criticize everything that Paco Rabanne throws on the market.
Yes, the bottle is a complete disaster.
Yes, it is a bit too expensive.

Nevertheless, I would like to encourage everyone to form their own opinion. If you are looking for a wearable fragrance with good performance that does not smell like a shower and locker room, you should definitely give Phantom a try.

In conclusion, I would like to thank you all again.
Thank you for rating the fragrance so poorly and not recommending it to anyone.
It is always on sale, and I have never met anyone in everyday life who has worn it.
THANK YOU!

There was a time when I decided to visit a Douglas store again to gather new inspirations. Perhaps over time I had overlooked something or could give one or another fragrance a new chance. And then it stood there, all the way in the corner on the bottom shelf. Pi. The bottle with the large mathematical symbol had something about it, which made it all the more surprising that I had never felt compelled to test this scent.
So here we go.
The first impression on the test strip was surprisingly positive, so I decided to try it on my skin as well.

The scent starts with the beautiful mandarin. I usually have issues with citrus notes from designer fragrances, as they often veer too close to toilet cleaner. However, nothing of the sort here; the mandarin is very soft, fresh, and pleasant. For the first few minutes, the scent is almost feminine, so sweet and soft it is.

As the fragrance develops, it maxes out at "unisex" and does not go further; the pine needles, or at least other green notes, seem to pull it in a masculine direction (according to the fragrance pyramid).
It is really not very spectacular in depth; the scent progression does not take any unexpected turns. However, that doesn't bother me, as the fragrance is truly harmonious in its composition.

Givenchy Pi is not a groundbreaking, deep scent that requires extensive analysis.
It is, however, a fragrance that stands out from the mainstream crowd and is rarely smelled on someone.
In its composition, it is very rounded and wearable; there is no note that is truly off-putting.

So why won’t I buy it?
There is no area in which it would be applicable and outshine other perfumes.
Too sweet for everyday wear, and for an evening out, there are better scents, especially since the longevity and sillage are somewhere in the middle.