Armani Code and Paco Rabanne XS

Double review time.

I wore Armani Code last night. I'd consider it a double date. Went out to a local pub with my girlfriend, my friend and his girlfriend. It was quite a delightful time. we sampled four different beers from local breweries and had a wonderful dinner. They had the most amazing tasting hot wings. Usually hot wings don't have any taste in my opinion. They just hot but these were a little sour. I swear they used Worcestershire sauce. I need to go back again, it's been a while since the last time.

It's only been maybe a week since I've started to wear cologne again. I haven't really received comments directly. I don't like to but I sometimes force comments from my girlfriend by deliberately holding my wrist in front of her nose when she leasts expects it. She really likes Armani Code. It was recommended as a "romantic" fragrance but I decided to wear it out to a pub.

On the notes there are olive leaves. My girlfriend, her name is Sabrina (so I can now stop calling her 'my girlfriend'), really likes black olives. I'm wondering if her preference for olives was reflected in her fondness for Arnami Code.

To me it smells synthetic. I do like the tonka bean as a base note. It dries nicely down on my skin making it comfortable to wear. I suppose you could call it.... "safe". Despite the fact that women like it, I do not. I would, however, wear it on request but I have other things, better things, to wear. Good thing I only got a small sample.

Next review is on Paco Rabanne XS. There is a men's and women's version so naturally, being a male, I'm reviewing the men's version. I wore this all day today around the house while cleaning and fixing up things. No one was around to comment but I kept getting wafts of it.

There's a mint opening in this. I absolutely despise mint, even in toothpaste and gum. I really dislike its stinging sensation.I still brush my teeth mind you but it's a feeling I do not like (although, the prying open of my wallet when I'm at the dentist isn't that great either). It's drydown is amazing, though and it's definitely a cologne I'd wear again. I've noticed that most of the fragrances I like contain tonka bean, sandalwood and bergamot. This one contains the latter two. Great notes in a fragrance.

As a side note, I called the USA division of Penhaligon's for some samples. The lady was more than happy to send me some. Awesome. I had tried a decant of their Endymion and found it amazing: lavender, "powdery" but not "bathroom talcum powder powdery, and it smells British to me. Refined. I commented on it with the representative and she said she'd see if they'll put in more samples of that in with my request. Now that's customer service. I certainly would love to purchase a bottle of a Penhaligon's sometime for permanent use.