...Totally agree. Sometimes even fragrances that have very similar note breakdowns can smell very different. And "if you like this, you're going to also like that" is even more subjective. At the end of the day, it's just one person's opinion.

...Pegasus Exclusif is exceptionally classy. I'd pick that one, if I'm allowed a collection other than PDMs. If it's just one PDM fragrance for life, I'd pick Haltane as it's more versatile.

...@Adrideparfum Reflection Man is more fresh/floral than powdery/woody but it is definitely worth trying.

...Depends on the fragrance. I'll take a few full wearings before reviewing a particularly complex fragrance. And there are some simple/generic fragrances where I write a statement within 5 minutes of applying because I know where the fragrance is going, and there aren't really going to be any surprises.

...Musk Khabib Extrait de Parfum is probably my favorite animalic. Soft cozy deer musk along with some woody/sweet notes.

...It's expensive, but Reflection 45 is the best in this category imo.

...I would suggest getting decants/samples of a lot of the "hyped" niche fragrances to see what you like in the niche world and narrow your interests down further. Also, it would be a good idea to explore different houses. I'd suggest for a complete niche beginner (I left out the two you mentioned, Layton and Angels' Share):Creed - Aventus, Green Irish Tweed, Royal Oud, Silver Mountain Water Parfums de Marly - Percival, Sedley, Herod, Oajan, Pegasus Xerjoff - Naxos, Alexandria II Parfum, 40 Knots, Tony Iommi Monkey Special, Erba PuraNishane - Hacivat, Ani Extrait de Parfum, Wūlóng Chá Extrait de Parfum Maison Francis Kurkdjian - Baccarat Rouge 540 Eau de Parfum, Grand Soir, Oud Satin Mood Eau de Parfum, "Gentle fluidity (Silver) | Maison Francis Kurkdjian" Amouage - Reflection Man, Jubilation XXV Man, Interlude ManRoja - Elysium Parfum Cologne Eau de Parfum, Enigma Parfum CologneExcept for a couple of these (Alexandria II and Interlude Man), these fragrances are pretty easy to like and enjoy, and I think there is a good mix of challenging/mass-appeal in here, with a focus on the latter.Oud is its own world. There are so many different interpretations of oud that they are almost different notes. I'd start off with more spicy/woody interpretations like Haltane, Oud Wood Eau de Parfum before moving on to the more challenging medicinal/smoky interpretations like Ombre Nomade, Oud Extrait de Parfum, Opus XIII - Silver Oud, Oud Rosewood Eau de Parfum, and lastly if you like all or some of those you can try real oud from brands like Ensar Oud, Bortnikoff, Areej Le Dore, etc.Lastly, if I were you, I wouldn't restrict myself to a certain scent profile. I personally like woody, resinous, aromatic and fresher scents the most in general, but there are so many amazing gourmand, fruity, or floral fragrances I would have missed out on if I only restricted myself to those scents.

...I'm a hobbyist perfumer, and from what I've researched on how to store raw materials, it actually may be damaging to them to keep them in too cold of an environment. I bought a temperature-adjustable mini-fridge that I keep at 55°F to store them but that is only because my materials are in a garage that gets very hot. If I kept them in an air-conditioned house I would just leave them out.

...It originated in hip-hop culture to mean "original gangster" but is now simply used to refer to the original version of something rather than a variation that came later, for example: "He drives an O.G. Dodge Charger," meaning he drives the original version of the Charger from the 60s rather than the updated look that's been around since 2005. The way it's usually used in the fragrance community is to differentiate the original fragrance from its flankers or reformulation/update.

...Imagination, Silver Mountain Water, Winter Palace, Wūlóng Chá Extrait de Parfum, Gris Charnel Eau de Parfum, Earl Grey & Cucumber,

...Closest thing I have to a signature scent is probably 4. Montabaco Parfum but I like to use my fragrances pretty equally

...I will tag the fragrance in question for anyone else who wants to answer your question, since there's a lot of flankers to Comme une Evidence: Comme une Evidence Homme Though I haven't personally smelled that one, I'd start by checking out the "similar" list on this site, which includes Déclaration d'Un Soir (which is fantastic, by the way), Terre d'Hermès Eau de Toilette (another very good one), and F by Ferragamo pour Homme Black Eau de Toilette.If you enjoy Earl Grey tea, I'd check out Earl Grey & Cucumber, that's one of my absolute favorites.

...Spearmint oil and its constituent aromachemicals (most notably menthol) are very volatile, meaning they will evaporate quickly and last for a short time, so it would be difficult to achieve a minty base note. That being said, I think the best spearmint fragrance would be Enclave. Eros Eau de Parfum has a decent minty freshness too but it is not as potent and prominent as Enclave.

...You should try "17/17 - Symphonium | XerJoff". It smells like lightly orange-flavored chocolate. It does have a bit of vanilla sweetness, but it blends well with the woody oud in the drydown. It's probably my favorite gourmand fragrance.

...Tony Iommi Monkey Special, "Oud Stars - Luxor | XerJoff", "Coffee Break - Golden Green | XerJoff"

...There are differences between older batches of Amouage and newer ones, but the reformulations were made before the packaging change, I want to say around 2019.Also, Bracken Man has been discontinued (I believe Beloved has too, but not sure about that one), so I don't think it exists with the new packaging.

...I think the shortlist fragrances are pretty similar in what they do, even if they don’t share a lot of notes. Basically what I’m looking for is a modern clean and fresh woody scent built around something like cedar or sandalwood. Maybe some citrus/neroli to amp up the “clean” effect, but not enough to overpower the woods. Also something that has a unique DNA that I can make an association with rather than something like an Aventus clone, etc. I also posted this in a Facebook group and got suggested Silver Mountain Water which is also a strong contender now.My plan is to get samples, either online or in store but I want to see if there’s any suggestions people have that I can sample as well. I definitely won’t buy something like this blind. Thanks for the suggestion @Johnjssmith!

...It's similar for me in that I only want to buy a full bottle of about 5-10% of what I test, but the result for me is the opposite; it makes me want to try even more to see which fragrances I'm going to love enough to make a commitment. The reason might be that you are basing your choices on what to test on what others have liked; generally, I've found that the higher rated something is on average (thousands of ratings and 8.0+), the more "basic" it's going to be. It's going to be a "common-denominator" fragrance; one that everyone likes, but no one really loves. Aventus, Layton, Imagination, "XJ 1861 Naxos | XerJoff", Herod all fall into this camp for me. Designer/department store fragrances also pretty much fall into this category with a few exceptions, so I generally stay away from those. The fragrances I tend to really love sometimes have ratings as low as 6, but the ratings are split between people who gave it a 10 and people who gave it a 1.I did end up selling about half my collection a year or two into my journey, so that makes sense. I had bought many bottles that were merely "likes" that were cheap and easy to justify buying. Nowadays, I sample 20 or 30 perfumes before buying even one. I definitely think it's ok, and maybe even preferable to have high standards.Maybe if you were to post your "loves" here we could suggest some similar fragrances for you to try or predict what genre/brand to explore next. Also, I'm curious to find out what two fragrances you tried that were so horrible they made you lose interest!

...Baptizing my son in a few weeks and looking for something classy but not overpowering that will fit the occasion. Evening, indoors, formal (black tie), late winter/early spring. My shortlist is currently: Reflection 45 , Amyris Homme Extrait de Parfum , Burlington 1819 But I'm open to any and all suggestions up to $500. TIA!

...Probably Opus XV - King Blue or Le Gemme - Kobraa