The EDT is probably the one to try first yeah. There's often confusion over the differences in general; I started out thinking EDPs were better overall and so cost more, but I've read that whilst EDPs have better longevity, EDTs generally project more before the dry down. The only example I have of both is CN Scent Intense; the EDP is already a bit of a beast, lasting all day, but the "Parfum" edition with something like 40% perfume oil and added myrrh lasts literally days on my skin. It came packaged with a string of big black beads. Great for a lonely girl I guess. She won't stay lonely for long wearing this stuff! It's still my favourite fragrance. And yeah I purchased the shower gel too.
Yesterday a combo pack of Encre Noire EDT showed up with showergel. The juice is weak... so weak. Instant skin scent straight out of the bottle. I like it, all vetiver and blonde woods and even the faintest after hint of ragù (seriously... I'm reminded of Italian cooking). A shame I have to press my nose against my arm and inhale like Tony Montana to even smell it. This is one for cozy intimate dates at home. I even wondered if it were fake juice in a real bottle, but it's unlikely Encre Noire, being somewhat less popular
and inexpensive, would be faked, right? I hope not...
Anyway the shower gel is
amazing. It's
exactly like the nappa smell in my regretfully sold E89. I must have spent a half hour showering just to bathe in that damn nostalgic leather smell. If only the juice smelled that good... You're right about scents creating very strong associations. One whiff and you're transported back a decade or more. It's cool to create new associations that way, except you risk creating
bad associations that way too. Spray your favourite before a really sh!tty date and suddenly it reminds you of sh!tty dates whenever you spray it, ha. I actually have Ambra Aurea (liquid insence & amber) which I only wear to church (and so only to funerals, being an atheist in a Catholic family. I also haven't been to a wedding in years) and it's a shame, bit of a waste really.
I hear ya on Creeds being overpriced. GIT is essentially a non synthetic Cool Water (which itself used to be a lot richer and less synthetic decades ago, I'm told). Given the choice, I'd get the GIT yeah, but for the price... Still, I have a Creed Asian Green Tea sample (long story short; my very first frag was a Tesori d'Oriente Thé Verde, ultra cheap- nine years later the bottle still has juice. I wanted a "luxury" version and thought Creed looked promising) and the stuff smells rich as hell. Ultra high quality green tea leaves. Won't be getting a full bottle though, as it's not the same as I was looking for - a "better" version of my cheap juice. Funny how that works. Best bet is to take my bottle to a niche frag store and ask them to find me something similar. I had a hefty discount in a boutique which I let expire last year... kicking myself now but I simply wasn't in the mood to buy anything at all back then.
Niche stuff is always gonna be non cost effective. I have samples of Fvmidvs and Metal Chypre inbound; even if I love them it's not like I can responsibly spend hundreds of Euros on one full bottle, not for now anyway. And yeah I did pull the trigger on the A*Men, lol. It's "boylike" from what I remember (smelt it once, a year and a half ago) but I only got the 30ml/1oz (was a decent price), and it seems I might have bagged one of the older, heavier tar formulations from the box. Fingers crossed.
