A friend of mine was cleaning out her mom's closet. They are moving into a smaller home now that they are retired, and she's been decluttering. Lo and behold, she found a box of perfumes that had never been worn, and her mom told her to just throw them away. Knowing that I love fragrances, she offered me the opportunity to go through the box and take first dibs. There wasn't much of interest, and what was interesting I already had a bottle of. But there on the bottom, was 15mL bottle of Hermes Oud Alezan, one of my favorite rose and oud fragrances, and a holy grail on my wishlist. The 100mL bottle is nearly $450, and it does not show up on discounters very often. The mom said it was her least favorite from the discovery set she had bought, and that she had never sprayed it after opening it for the first time. Just like that, it was mine. I've had lightning strike twice in the last week. Maybe I need to buy a lottery ticket.

I said what I said. It is 114 degrees today with 80% humidity, and not a cloud in sight. The AC in the studio gave out this morning before one of the biggest shoots we've had all year, and even with a portable AC unit and enough fans to fly us to Europe, it climbed over 90 degrees in there today. I wore Givenchy Gentlemen Only thinking because I would be indoors, but it might get warm, that I would be good, and I'm glad I did. It stayed fresh and clean without being overbearing, and did a great job being a supporting player. Even as i sweat, I still smelled good. It was the last little bit from my 10mL decant, but I have a 100mL bottle on the shelf that I'll start using now. I feel like we are now battle brothers. It has earned it's permanent spot on my shelf. And seriously, if anyone wants to move here, don't. Go live in Wyoming or Colorado or Vancouver. We get like 30 days a year that absolutely perfect, and then the rest of the year we either boil or freeze. I swear to god I'm medium rare. Going to take a share and go to bed early.

I am a huge soccer fan, so the World Cup was a big deal in my home. Naturally, when Alexandria Fragrances announced their World Cup collection, you can imagine my excitement! They featured 12 different fragrances representing 11 countries—the USA, Mexico, Spain, Brazil, Germany, Egypt, Morocco, Colombia, Portugal, France, and Argentina, plus "One World." I decided to buy two that sounded interesting: Let’s Go Mexico and Let’s Go Egypt. They are actually pretty good, but I was really hoping for original creations. Instead, it seems like one is a clone and the other is a hybrid. Let’s Go Mexico: In my opinion, this turned out to be a clone of Roja Elysium. It’s a great, easy-going "dumb reach" summer blue scent. Perfect for the San Antonio heat, but unfortunately, it wasn't anything new for my collection. Let’s Go Egypt: This one is a bit more interesting. To me, it feels like a hybrid of Creed Aventus and Xerjoff Naxos. It opens with that sweet, juicy Aventus vibe and quickly transitions into honey and subtle tobacco. The combination actually works really well, but unfortunately, I already own plenty of fragrances with this type of DNA (both originals and inspirations). I’m not sure if I’ll keep them both, or if I’ll eliminate them from my collection, Much like the countries they represent were eliminated before becoming champions.

eCosmetics.com has 40% off with Code Flash40 in case you’re looking for a designer fragrance. Hope some of you can take advantage of the sale.

What is everyone favorite scent DNA / Profiles at the moment? Popular DNA that are getting cloned currently or from the past?