Hey guys, Joe A. here with today's Scent of the Day : I Am King by Sean John - Day 374. Parfumo lists it opening with cranberry, orange, tangerine, and lemon, followed by currant leaf and seawater, over cedar, labdanum, sandalwood, vetiver, and oakmoss. It’s bright, fruity, fresh, and easy to wear, but even after winning Men’s Prestige Fragrance of the Year, I’m still not sure it belongs in the royal court. First Sniff: like winning the crown because everyone else missed the show. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/xz1vl1v113I

Hello! It's been a while. Apologies for inactivity, I have a lot on my plate. Some mild familial troubles, though nothing new, and trying to figure them out, along with some big stuff. My life is hitting a major transition period, as I've been called to serve a mission for my church (LDS), and I'm preparing to begin training and go on my mission in just a few weeks! I got called to California, speaking the Hmong language, so much of my time has been spent on studying, scripture reading, and studying this beautiful language. In my free time though, I spend a lot of time working on perfumes. I've started really falling in love with making them, though I still have a lot more to work on before making anything that doesn't smell too muddy, I've hit a potential gold mine, and I won't have to worry about them smelling generic. Below I've attached a little rough sketch I've been working on for my logo. The letters need better alignment, and the logo is just a pre filler sketch my friend designed for me, though I plan to make it more golden ratio-esque and slightly more minimalist, as the mollusk design I engraved on each bottle and cap. I've designed the bottles, packaging, story cards and storytelling, and currently have around twenty concepts in the works, with four being currently developed by *yours truly 💅*, and the more I do this, the more I'm realizing this is a career I want. I've also spent a long time locking in on different tastes and building little profiles for a lot of the brothers here, and so when I start releasing my stuff in a few years, you'll find things that are a little curated to your guys' tastes ;) Still an enormous thank you to Mr Centeno and this community for getting me on this journey! After a lot of time, work, effort, and money, I'm hoping to break through eventually, however long it takes. Currently we don't have any socials, but I am working on a website in its bare bones, and when I return in the two years, I'll start having these finished up, and prepared to continue the designs. I will be so happy to share this progress with you as I continue on.

I think we are going to see a lot more coming out of Asia over the next few years, especially in niche and artisan perfumery. As someone who enjoys exploring beyond the usual houses, this interests me. We often talk about French, Italian and Middle Eastern fragrances, but China, South Korea, Japan and India deserve a place in that conversation. These countries have their own scent traditions, ingredients and talented perfumers, and more of those creators are reaching an international audience. The growth forecasts are substantial. Grand View Research projects the Asia-Pacific perfume market reaching approximately $18.9 billion by 2030, compared with $11.5 billion in 2024. That is a forecast, but it gives you an idea of the opportunity companies see in the region. Here is how I see the different countries fitting into this: China: A major market for premium fragrance, with growing competition from its own perfume houses. Brands are using Chinese culture, familiar scents and personal memories to establish an identity. Euromonitor reports that the top two companies lost some of their combined market share between 2020 and 2025 as niche competition developed. To me, that suggests buyers are becoming more willing to explore beyond the established names. South Korea: This is a market I expect to gain more international attention through its fragrance brands, packaging and retail experiences. Houses like Nonfiction, Tamburins and Elorea are bringing their own perspectives to perfume. Some emphasize quieter, intimate scents, while Borntostandout shows that Korean perfumery can also be bold and unconventional. There is no single Korean fragrance style. Japan: The direction here appears to be toward premium and niche fragrances. What is interesting is that recent sales growth has come with relatively stable volume, meaning people are spending more without necessarily buying more bottles. I see this as a market where a distinctive fragrance and the discovery experience could matter more than simply flooding the shelves with releases.

Let me start with the reviews. From all the Mind Games ive tried, prodigy clearly stands out. Growing up in south india, i often had this cold beverage called rose milk. Its sweet, creamy and lactonic with warm spices infused in it. This reminds me of an expensive version of that drink. Best performance from any MG on my skin. 6-8 hrs and medium projection. I would love to smell it on others. Unisex but feminine leaning. Not a good value for the price. Scent is 9.3/10 but overall 8/10. Next up its a first from the brand. Floris honey oud. I believe i haven’t even scratched the surface of the frag world but im already tired of the rose oud DNA. Smells like honey from naxos mixed with shaghaf oud edp. Its a Cheat code that every brands use with their own twist. Still think shaghaf puts most rose oud frags to shame and would be my top pick from this DNA. Arabians tonka is a close second. Would recommend trying but dont expect anything out of ordinary. 7.5/10 Now the SOTDs Mix of everything. High 20s and low 10s all in 2 weeks. And although the picture doesn’t show, i did try layering last week after coming across a few posts on the community. First was gucci guilty elixir. Smells a touch feminine to me now so i needed to add something. Decided to go with hero edt for the spice and woods. It was alright. Guilty overpowered this so maybe i should have tried edp. Wouldn’t recommend trying edt but let me know if you have tried/will try layering with edp. Second was y edp with cedrat boise. Diabolical stuff. Blue, fruity, citrus, soapy and leather. 2 #1 fragrances fighting for 3rd place on my skin. Idk what i was thinking but I wasn’t thinking straight. Definitely would not recommend.