Well, today I had to go to another wake, this time, just as a quiet distant relative. Since I was driving to the funeral home right after applying my scent I chose a beautiful but discreet aroma. This one is a well regarded scent within the community, a sweet, powdery, ambery, and woody aroma. It’s a simple, subtle, inoffensive, classy, ​​luxurious and refined aroma, that works as a signature scent, for any season (IMO) and occasion, with average projection and long lasting. HOWEVER: IT'S NOT FOR ME! It deserves a spot in my collection for occasions like today. But it is too subtle for my taste, therefore, I never crave it. Website Notes: Amber, Patchouli, Iris, Sandal wood, Roasted Tonka beans.

We're down to the final 12 fragrances in the tournament, which means something has fundamentally changed: every bottle eliminated from here on is still a fragrance I can see having a place in my collection. Match #65 in the second-chance bracket is Chanel Platinum Égoïste versus Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male Elixir—and these two couldn't be much more different. Platinum Égoïste is a timeless classic. Aromatic, spicy, green, and sophisticated, with lavender, rosemary, geranium, oakmoss, vetiver, and woods. It's mature and refined without feeling stuffy, and remarkably versatile for a fragrance with such an old-school personality. Le Male Elixir comes crashing through the door from another universe. Vanilla and honey dominate, backed by tobacco, tonka, lavender, and woods. It's sweet, powerful, loud, and unapologetic—a cold-weather fragrance that wants everyone in the room to know it has arrived. Different fragrances. Different seasons. Different occasions. And I absolutely want both of them in my collection. But the tournament demands a choice. If I could reach for only one of these two today, I'm going with the big vanilla-and-honey bomb. Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male Elixir survives. Chanel Platinum Égoïste is eliminated from the tournament. We've reached the final 11—and from this point forward, there are no bad fragrances going home. Only painful decisions.