I'm not going to get into my fragrance journey here. I've touched on bits and pieces of it over the past few years on this community. I'm just going to touch on what knocked me out of neutral and back interested in finding the next perfect fragrance. It started with two things; covid and my imagination. We all had too much time on our hands when we were locked down during that early time. While others may have embraced sourdough starters and banana bread, I looked at it as the perfect time to reinvent myself. I began working out again and I decided it was a great opportunity to explore the world of fragrance and see what my next signature scent would be. I already had a picture in my mind of what I wanted to find. This should have been my first clue that, even though I live in the south where it's warm nine months out of the year, I'm a sucker for a winter fragrance. Here's what I was hunting - let me set the scene. It's night. There's a winter storm outside. The wind is whipping and the cold is trying to find its way into the room I'm in. It's a big, classic, masculine study, just like you'd find in the movies. Dark wood everywhere. Bookcases filled with classics. A roaring fireplace. And a big, plush, well worn leather chair, where you smell not only the quality leather, but the history of generations who sat there contemplating life before you were born. You can still pick up the faint scent of the cigars and pipes that were used decades before by those who were there before you. On the stand next to the chair, a favorite book and a glass of bourbon. The only light in the room came from the fireplace, a lamp back in the corner by the big executive desk and the occasional flashes of lightning in the windows. That's what I was hunting. I wanted all those smells and all that vibe in a bottle that I could spray on me. I wanted the leather and the wood and the smoke and the books and the tobacco and the bourbon and the chill from the wind and the sweat and the history and the darkness. That's what set me on my journey.

Your skin: nothing will ever completely replace wearing it fully. Skin chemistry, natural oils, moisture, and body heat all affect how a fragrance develops, projects, and lasts. My testing order is now: - Skin — best for the final decision and a complete wearing. - Cotton rounds — best for comparing several fragrances and following the drydown. - Professional paper blotters — convenient for quickly screening openings. - Clean, fragrance-free cotton fabric — useful for judging longevity on clothing. - The atomizer or bottle cap — only provides a rough first impression. I recently switched to organic, hypoallergenic cotton rounds after watching Eric Coons of Kaleidoscope Index use them as his testing method. After trying them for myself and doing some research, I understand why he uses them. At this point, all my traditional fragrance testing strips are headed for extinction. Cotton rounds absorb more fragrance and act as a larger reservoir than paper strips. Their network of fibers holds the fragrance and allows it to evaporate more gradually, making it easier to follow the heart and drydown over several hours. Paper strips are convenient when testing a large number of fragrances quickly, but they can emphasize the opening, dry out faster, and sometimes fail to show the same depth later in the fragrance. To my nose, fragrances smell much more natural coming off cotton rounds. That is obviously my personal experience rather than a measurable percentage, but the difference is significant enough that I no longer want to rely on paper strips for serious evaluations. The cotton holds the fragrance better and gives me more time to walk around with it and experience how it develops. They are also extremely inexpensive. Amazon sells cotton rounds in packages ranging from around 100 to 600 rounds, so each test only costs a few cents—and often less when buying in bulk. That makes them an inexpensive testing tool that I don’t mind using once and discarding. I started using cotton rounds instead of traditional tester strips while creating perfumes. When I am evaluating different formulas, modifications, or concentrations, I need enough room to label each trial and return to it throughout its development. Cotton holds more liquid, allows me to follow the progression longer, and makes it easier to compare several versions on the same type of material without covering my skin in unfinished formulas.