Mith Universe

Thanks to Mark, I've got a fresh stash of Mith Bangkok perfume!

The best of the best when it comes to this brand is definitely "Nude." Scent Takes isn't exaggerating when she says that this is one of - or maybe the - best skin scent ever. It really embodies the "your skin but better" philosophy.

It's so popular that it's also difficult to get. 

Mark told me that when he went to the Mith stall in Central World, the staff said that Nude was out of stock. But she advised him to try to come back in a few hours since they might have a restock. Thankfully, Mark did, and he was able to get 2 bottles of Nude, plus 2 other scents.

Now, my universe of perfumes is complete.

Aesop's fables

No, this isn't a post about kids stories. 

But as a kid, Aesop's Fables was one of the books that I'd devour.

What this post is about is this recent discovery.

After smelling Aesop HWYL, it was definitely a must-buy. It has this very green and earthy scent that's easy on the nose and not too overpowering. It also has good longevity and lasted more than 6 hours on my skin.

I'm not a big fan of perfumes, so this is a big deal.

Yeah, Bois!

The gourmand in me is thrilled to have discovered this scent.

Bois 1920 is an Italian Perfume house known for their unique take on traditional fragrances. And Frammenti is one of them.

It has the right blend of sweetness and earthy tones. It's the caramel that really stands out gives this scent a sweet punch.

This is going to be a good break from the usual skin scents in my rotation.

Taking the Elevator

This is fast becoming my fave scent.

The overall vibe of "Elevator Music" is clean, quiet and nondescript. It's a skin scent that smells like the quintessential "you, but better."

Should've gotten a back-up bottle of this.

I’m Fine(ry)

Today is a fine day.

Thanks to these!

My Fine'ry loot has arrived. Thanks to Ate Lissa who bought it at Target, and Kuya Marv who brought it from TX!

The "Without a Trace" smells so good! It's a fine scent that I'm going to be using quite often.

That's so Fine(ry)

Been watching a number of reviews on Target's new fragrance line called Fine'ry.

Majority of the reviews are glowing. They're all agreeing that Fine'ry fragrances are good dupes for high end and niche fragrances, at the fraction of a price. And for $29.99, it's hard to go wrong with that.

Take me to Target, please!

From Tokyo to Earth

That's the thing about airports in Tokyo. You make it a point to arrive early. You have more than enough time to spare, and end up roaming around the stores inside NRT or HND. And eventually, you'll end up buying a thing or two, or three, or four.

Aside from my usual loot of Japanese cookies and snacks, one thing that caught my eye was a perfume called Polo Earth.

We grew up with Polo perfume around the house. Our relatives from the US would always send the ubiquitous green bottle of Polo perfume to all the guys in the family. It sort of became the signature scent around the house.

As the years progressed, they would send Polo Crest, Polo Blue and Polo Sport. So, we had the whole gamut of Polo. 

But this one is new. This one is fresh. This one is green. This one is citrus.

Needless to say, this one came home to MNL.

Sail Away

Here’s something you don’t see often:

I’ve finished a whole bottle of “Sailing Day”  in less than 2 years.

Time to get a new bottle of Replica.

Makes Sens

If you're a fan of citrus scents, (I am!), there's one brand that makes one of the best citrus scents.

Diptyque's Eau Des Sens is a light and bright citrus scent that I can't get enough of. It has the zest of citrus, but there's also a hint of floral - especially when it dries down.

Whilst it's citrus, it eventually becomes a skin scent and creates that "barely there" scent that I'm a fan of.

This goes up there with "Flying" by Replica.

Orange you surprised?

While they're known for their named scents like "You or Someone Like You," "Fat Electrician" and "Exit the King," the OG scent of this niche brand is "Cologne."

Yes, compared to its other iterations, "Cologne" sounds very plain and basic. 

But when it comes to the scent, that's farthest from the truth.

"Cologne" is an orange bomb. From the moment you spray it until it dries down, it's the orange note that pervades. From the orange fruit to the orange blossom, to dried orange peels - these all come together and create this refreshing scent.

And if you're looking for a fresh scent, you'll be surprised how "Cologne" delivers.

Second skin

Personally, I'm not a fan of perfume.

Even as a teen, when my brothers were collecting Drakkar Noir, Kouros, Polo and Gray Flannel, I didn't have a bottle of perfume. I'd have some bottles of cologne, particularly the Spanish ones that Tita Evelyn would bring from Spain, but that was it.

I'm not a fan of strong scents - which perfumes usually are. The only scents that appeal to me are the scents of the body wash I use, which are simple, clean, soapy scents - think Ivory Soap or Dove. 

That's why in those few times that I'd buy perfume, the scents I'd gravitate towards were soapy and laundry-inspired scents. Yup, my idea of smelling good is smelling like I just came out from the washing machine and dryer. Thus, my liking for scents like Clean Fresh Laundry, Clean Warm Cotton and Clean T-Shirt.

Another scent profile I'm into are skin scents. These are scents that smell so natural, it smells like your skin after you took a bath. My favourite scent for this type is Clean Reserve Skin.

Since my bottle of that scent is almost empty, I dropped by Rustan's to buy another bottle. Alas, they didn't have any stock, and didn't know when their new stocks will come in. 

But, true to Rustan's superb customer service mantra, the sales clerk suggested another skin scent for me to try. That's Dipytique's Fleur de Peau.

Whoa! This. Is. So. Good!

"Fleur de Peau" literally means "Skin Flower." It really smells like you're not wearing any perfume at all. It's just like you bathed using a nice smelling body wash, nothing more, nothing less. And what you're left with is the scent of very clean skin. Because of that, I ended up buying a bottle of this pure, skin scent.

Of course, some people would find it odd that you'd spend almost P11,000 to smell like you're not wearing any scent at all. But for me, smelling like this is already second skin.

Let it B

Before our HKG trip, I knew that shopping won't be a big part of the agenda.

Given that it was just a 3D/2N trip, my priorities were eating and meeting friends. Although my mind was already set on going to GU, thus it was the first place we went to after arriving.

True to expectations, I didn't go to my usual shopping haunts like Mongkok, Prince Edward Street, Lane Crawford Outlet and Joyce. But I was able to go to GU, Uniqlo, Citygate Outlets and IFC.

While at IFC, I had to go to the restroom, and found out that the Byredo store was just across. And with that, this was my unplanned purchase on this trip.

Since Byredo isn't easily available in MNL, I'm glad that I let myself buy this despite it being unplanned.

Scents of Christmas

Seems to me like my friends has the same thought when they were buying my Christmas presents.

These bottles of perfumes were all gifts!

Looks like it’s going to be a very fragrant year,

Or two. Or three.

Novel Novella

What 4711 is to Germany, Santa Maria Novella is to Italy.

This is one of their oldest colognes and was originally made by Nuns in Firenze in the 1600s. It became a tradition to make these perfumes, and they’re still in the market today.

The first time I tried this was during a Europe trip I. The early 2000s. I liked it back then and I still like it now.

It’s such a novel story that adds so much character to the scent.

Scent Memory - Citrus edition

Citrus scents always fascinated me.

Probably it's because my grandparents had a calamansi farm in Bicol, and one of the most lasting childhood memories I have is walking around the farm and smelling the small, green fruits from the trees.

Whenever the caretaker would make calamansi juice, the distinct smell of the peels would waft from the kitchen, which was such a fresh, clean smell.

That childhood memory makes me gravitate towards citrus scents whenever I buy shower gels, shampoos and other personal care products. Palmolive Aromatherapy Anti-Stress was my go-to shower gel for the longest time, thanks to its mandarin extracts.

Then, there's this cologne that was given to me as a gift almost a decade ago. It was Atelier Cologne Orange Sanguine, and it was a cologne with different types of citrus fruits in its top, middle and base notes.

It was such a fresh, clean scent that the bottle didn't last too long because I'd spray it everywhere. From our sheets, to our room, to my closet. 

During my US trip in 2019, this brand and scent was available at Sephora. Now, 3 years after, I find myself asking why I didn't buy that bottle. 

Hopefully, they'll still have it available in Sephora during my next trip to the US or SG.

That citrus scent still lingers in my memory.

The Smiths

Nope, this isn't about that awesome New Wave group from the 80s.

Make no mistake, though. I'm a huge fan of the group. Especially their song, "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now."

This post is actually about another Smith.

ScentSmith!

It was around 4 years ago when I first saw their store in Greenbelt 5. The shop automatically drew me in, particularly the scent that wafted out of the store. Each time, I'd find myself popping in and trying some of their scents. 

The first scent I bought was "Lemongrass Mint" and it's something that I use until now. And while I started with their perfume, I'm topping up my collection with these other body products.

Let's just say that ScentSmith is Scentsational!

Sailing (Sun)Day

After what felt like an hour, going back and forth, spraying on paper then spraying it on my wrist, I finally decided on this bottle of Maison Margiela Replica.

It was a close call between 3 scents. But after letting it stay on my skin for a couple of minutes, it was Sailing Day that ticked all the boxes. It had to be light, it had to smell like second skin, and it had to have that shower smell.

The fact that this reminds me of the Clean scents that I have was probably the deal-breaker. I'm not a perfume kind of guy, so having one that doesn't smell like perfume is a plus. Quite ironic because it's perfume that doesn't smell like perfume.

Despite choosing this bottle, the 2 other scents still linger in my mind. And if it stays in my scent memory, I might have to go back to Rustan's and get those bottles as well.

Scent Memory

There are certain scents that trigger a particular memory. It can be a memory that's recent or far back. 

Personal examples:

- The scent of freshly cut grass reminds me of childhood, spending our summers in Bicol and Lolo would ask the caretaker to mow the grass around the house.

- The scent of plastic balloon reminds me of my playmates in Tomas Morato and how we'd buy plastic balloon at Aling Ensa's store. Then we'd blow the balloon and make it burst on our foreheads.

- The scent of Nina Ricci L'air du Temps reminds me of Lola Dita since that's her favourite perfume.

- The scent of Caesar Salad dressing reminds me of Tita Evelyn and how she would make this from scratch - using anchovies, mustard, parmesan, among others.

That's how powerful scents are in triggering memories.

And that's the spirit behind these perfumes from Maison Margiela called "Replica." 

Each scent is designed to trigger a memory, aside from making you smell good. The first time I smelled this was in SG at the Margiela store, and I'm glad that they finally have this in the Philippines.

I'm actually not a perfume user, preferring colognes and clean scents. That's why I gravitate towards something like "Bubble Bath," which is a barely there scent.

Reminder to myself - buy that the next time I go to Rustan's.

Smells like H&M

Out of curiosity, I checked out the “T-shirt” Eau de Toilette from H&M this evening.

It’s awesome!

Too bad they don’t have it in big bottles. I bought a small one and feel that it might not last a month1

Scent-iments

Perfumes aren't really my thing. In fact, it's very rare that I wear perfume. Clean, of course, is the exception to the rule. Although Clean smells more like soap and laundry detergent, so I don't know if that should even qualify as perfume.

If we're going to something fancy schmancy and I need to smell decent, you'll most likely see me putting on Johnson's Baby Cologne or Baby Bench cologne.

Yup, I'm fancy that way.

That said, perfume sections of department stores are a source of dread. Whenever you pass by, there are around 5 to 10 people trying to spritz and spray perfume on you. Aside from that, the scent of all those perfume brands combined can sometimes be a tad bit too much.

But this weekend, while passing through the perfume section of SM Cubao, a familiar scent made me slow down. It was the scent of Spanish cologne that reminded me of my childhood. Particularly, the Spanish colognes that my Tita Evelyn would bring home. The cologne that my Spanish cousins would wear. The scent that would greet me whenever I'd enter their room.

The nice perfume lady saw me stop, and came to me with a bottle like this:

She said it was one of their new products - a French cologne brand with scents inspired by nature, herbs and fruits.

That familiar Spanish scent came from the "The Vert" or "Green Tea" variety. She sprayed it on a paper tester, handed it over to me, and it only took a whiff to bring back all those childhood memories.

Sold!

Now, there's a fancy schmancy looking bottle beside my Johnson's Baby Cologne and Bench Baby.