When I came over to the Oz, I left my bottle of CK One with the lovely Futura drawing back home so I needed to get something new. So this presented a perfect opportunity for me to dig around and find something good. My previous fragrance experiences revolved around trying out friends’ stuff or receiving them as gifts. I only got the CK One because I’d used it before and they had that Futura and Delta thing going. So I went and did some research and considered what I wanted and found Basenotes to be an excellent resource. From there, I picked out a few based on checking forums, best of lists and reading reviews plus checking what notes the fragrances were comprised of. Till that point, I didn’t even know what a top/middle/basenote was, so at least one step in the right direction.

Then I went down to David Jones in the city and also a chain store called Perfume Empire to check out a few fragrances. I tested on paper and wrist, waited for the drydown and was extremely pleased with two, and promptly stumped up my card for Hermes’ Terre d’Hermes and Dior’s Dior Homme. The former was incredibly earthy, like soil but with a citrus top and a more spicy middle. The drydown was particularly impressive, like what a dry but cool desert might smell like. But my crappy analysis does it no justice. Read this review by Now Smell This instead.

Dior Homme was a completely different fragrance. It smelled completely unoffensive, not too strong or in your face at all. It was pleasant and definitely felt incredibly modern and atypical. Probably because it was flowery, which isn’t something you’d naturally associate with a men’s fragrance. But it comes across as almost an edgy kind of softness for me, which I really enjoyed. Again, check out the Now Smell This review for more insight. The review actually feels that it doesn’t really go against the grain but I’m still very much of the opinion that Dior Homme is completely different to what 90% of guys would wear.

Now that I’m getting the hang of it, I’m really getting pretty interested in this little fragrance adventure. Heck, I even ordered some samples of fragrances by Comme des Garcon and The Different Company from Luckyscent, which basically stocks more of the niche stuff. Can’t wait till I get it all to test, just rubbing my nose in anticipation.