While not a review, I feel the sudden urge to stream of thought some words down about revisiting old favorites in the perfume world. All too often as our collective collections grow, we forget all the ones that came first. All the fragrances that we looked up, researched, and sampled in order to start up our fragrance collections. I know for a lot of my fellow reviewers this process started out with a few blind buys, maybe even some that they regret. But not me. I was diligent in my methods. I scoured the Internet looking for websites, forums, anything really where I could read up on my newest infatuation: "Colognes."
For me it all started when I was tired of wearing Axe body spray every day, so I started to wear the only fragrance I had ever bought, Armani Code. Code was a night out fragrance, a scent that I would never wear with any actual regularity outside of when I had first bought it and I would wear it to school for a while. As I wore it, I wanted more. I wanted more variety like I had with the Axe body sprays (I would have 3-6 cans going at one time easily). So, I bought 1 Million while I was at Macy's, and tried out HM by Hanae Mori and liked that a lot too but didn't have money for both I ended up getting the HM later, and wore that rotation of scents to death for a whole summer.
Fast forwarding a bit, I had finally found Basenotes while on a trip up to New Hampshire with a friend a few years back and I was hooked. The community was so friendly, and some of them had 20,000+ posts! I knew I could entrust them to guide me through the world of fragrances. As my collection started to grow, I picked out some that I really loved. Aventus was a big hit, and I remember getting a sample of Chergui from someone nice enough to send me a little of their personal bottle so that I could test it (I couldn't afford to be buying a bunch of samples at the time). Both of these were huge loves for me, and I eventually bought a bottle of Chergui and a large decant of Aventus Z01.
In fact, it is Chergui that inspired this vomit of words that is being typed out right now. It's wafting into my nose with each keystroke, building a layer of hay, tobacco, and just a slight hint of powdery cherry with each successive breath. It's been a long time since I last wore this, instead always favoring my newest endeavors into the perfume world, what some might call the more "daring" side of perfumery, filled with musks and extraits and brands few have heard of. I guess I've started to become a fragrance hipster in a way, and I don't wear that self-label proudly. No, I'd rather consider the fragrances I've nearly left behind. The ones that I've loved for years but don't often reach for. I long for those sweet days of naivety where I knew nothing of the notes, the subtleties that go along with fragrances. Of course, this is just a pipe dream, as I feel I've learned a lot in my few years of exploring, but it's a nice thing to think about from time to time.
So, maybe it is time for me to revisit some of my first loves. Back when sparks flew and my eyes glazed over when I discovered something truly special. Sure, these days I am still discovering exceptional fragrances, but there is nothing quite like that old friend to comfort you and bring you back.
--Andrew
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