Victorioso Legend

Top accord is NOT Fresh Spicy. Fragrantica should create an accord called ‘Dark Marine’. Anyway, that’s not why I came here, it’s just something I just noticed. What I came to say is that since I’ve gotten this, I’m not as enthusiastic about marines anymore. You know how they say ‘this ruined that for me’, as in it is THAT good. Yeah, it’s that good. But it hasn’t ‘ruined’ marines for me. It’s that since I’ve gotten it, I feel satisfied. I am no longer in pursuit of more marines. There are probably a few more that I wanna get my nose on, but other than that, I’m satisfied. I remember the ecstacy of the first time I sprayed a replica of Invictus which made me fall in love with this genre. The high, the amazement, the beholding of something truly beautiful and being engulfed in it. I sound soapy and melodramatic but haven’t you felt something like that since you got into this hobby? Some fragrances are like that.. they’re transfixing. The have the power of suspending time. There should be a word in the English language for ‘overwhelming, but in a good way’. That’s what it was. It also smelled and felt.. electric, and bright. Myth smells the opposite: it’s almost depressing, and exhausting, as if it’s sapping your energy.. but it, too, is also beautiful in its own way. Some snob or another out there will disagree. They will scoof at how I’m describing this sub-$50 perfume. There are those among us that would like to think they’re better than you. They buy niche and reserve this type of language for obscure, ‘artisinal’ perfumes. They could never allow themselves to love a designer cologne, let alone a replica. They tie their taste with branding and, more than anything else, what they’re sold is a feeling of superiority. They don’t care what’s in the bottle.. in fact, they’re almost incapable of experiencing a perfume as is if nothing else is telling them how they ‘should’ feel about it. Their judgment is ready-made and pre-packaged for them. They just need to be told a beautiful lie that soothes them: most people wouldn’t ‘get it’ and you’re so special for ‘getting it’. Getting to them to give an honest, favorable opinion of a popular or cheap cologne is like asking them to shit in their own bed. It’s not that rich people have poor taste.. it’s that rich people have no taste. You can disagree with me on this one, and you can be into niche all you want, but if you don’t have a single ‘cheap’ or ‘popular’ fragrance in your top 10.. well, do I need to say more. I didn’t mean for this to get derailed into a hit-piece.. snobs are just easy to make fun of. Anyway, (a replica of) Invictus started my marine journey, Victorioso Myth/Legend might conclude it (itself a replica of Invictus Legend— I’m genuinely just realizing they’re both an Invictus!). I’m not saying these two have between them everything there is to love about this genre.. if that was the case, people wouldn’t still be making and buying marines. It’s just that I no longer feel the urge to try every marine out there, which is the feeling that Invitcus left me with when it opened the door to all the possibilities out there. Maybe I haven’t yet smelled what would’ve became my favorite marine.. and I am okay with that. This thought struck me today: what if it isn’t the man that chooses the perfume but the perfume that chooses the man. It’s not like we can try everything that is out there so inevitably fate must be involved. And us trying and blind-buying a cologne after another is but a mere attempt at outrunning or outperforming fate. Call it addiction or have you but aren’t we living the lie that we CAN try everything? Maybe its the perfume that chooses the man and we should let fate decide. For all you know, the perfumes you already love are the perfumes you’ll ever love the most. And if not, how many more must you try? I don’t know about you but I’m happy about my marines.. I also have a citrus that I feel the same way about. I’m now mainly looking for my oud, iris, vanilla, and aquatic. I’m not restricting myself.. on the contrary, I feel free and unshakled. I am no longer a prisoner of my own desires and hopes and fantasies. A YouTube video I watched some time ago was talking about how in art people experience a “jolt of recognition” or something like, when something truly connects with them. It’s as if you ‘recognize it’. I’m now reminded of that notion. Now if I get a whiff of something stunning that stops me at tracks and I ‘recognize it’, I will get it as long as I can muster up the courage to follow a stranger and ask them what they’re wearing. That’s also fate.

There’s a certain beauty in fragrances that aren’t too eager to please.. fragrances that just exist with their own distinctive appeal that just say: “hey, I’m not for everybody. This is what I am and you rock with me or you don’t.” Not to say that this is some ultra out-there niche or anything... Here’s what I mean. I was shopping for this one today and I ran across Khamra Qahwa, which (I guess) is supposed to be a toned down and coffee-accented Khamra— I haven’t tried the original so I don’t have that frame of reference. I was a little impressed by it, for sure, but it was clear that’s what it was trying to do. It was hellbent on having me - having everybody - like it. What’s interesting about it was buried under a heap of sweetness, like an insecure precious kid afraid to nerd out about his Lego collection and instead pretends to have seen last night’s football match so he would fit in with his friends and wouldn’t stand out and be judged for it. The sweetness wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t ‘itself’. And maybe they’d kept it because it was a unisex scent and they felt the need to not estrange the ladies, but it would’ve been bolder and more fitting to see the brilliant vision to its natural conclusion. This does exactly that. It is focused and has character. It isn’t pretending to be what it isn’t for anyone’s sake and it isn’t bothered by stepping on anyone’s toe to be what it is. What does it actually smell like? The ocean floor. The opening of another clone (different brand) of the original Invictus smelled like jolting crashing waves.. this smells like the calm, dark, deep ocean just beneath. It will not wow you at first spray (too alcoholic), but give it a few minutes and the scent will emerge, and then it will slowly deepen and darken as if you’re being pulled down by a heavy anchor to the bottom of the sea. It is deep, and dark, but not in the way you’re probably thinking. It isn’t heavy or potentially cloying; it just runs its theme to the ground in a daring, self-assured way while being admirable and attractive. This isn’t your typical aquatic, marine, fresh fragrance.. these are the categories it would naturally be associated with, but that’s not really its camp. It isn’t bright or refreshing. It’s not summery or tropical. It won’t remind you of fresh laundry or vacation. It smells more like sitting at the beachside at night and gazing at the sea in deep thought. To me, it’s a season-less nighttime (or cool/cold hazy, cloudy daytime) fragrance that calls for adventure. It is a marine take on the nighttime perfume ‘genre’; instead of vanilla, or oud, or some other tired note.. how about the ocean instead. Quite a remarkable beast. Despite (or as proof of) everything I’ve said, I hesitated to put it as ‘love’ because it throws you so little bone. Like I said, it isn’t in the business of trying to appease people and I respect that. I believe it’s the type of fragrance that grows on you with time. I think it works best with high body heat. But, generally, the performance on skin hasn’t been great for me. But this has happened to me more than once with different fragrances where other people notice it and I don’t, so take this with a grain of salt.

#13 Review of My Fragrances Collection Its a cheapie fresh fragrance, dupe of Invictus. I get it Rp255.000 (5-16 Dollar) and with discount voucher so Rp217.000 (13 Dollar). A very good fresh, aquatic, citrus fragrance, its fresh fragrance but have good longevity and project better than any of fresh cheap fragrance out there. This is just Amazing fragrance. Scent: 8./10 Longevity: 6/10 Projection: 7/10 Price Value: 8/10

I blind bought this fragrance with some doubts in my mind so when I sprayed it on me, completely blown away by the smell and the atomizer performance. Whatever doubts you have in your mind, remove them. It also lasts very long and I could still smell it as I’m walking which is rare for me since I can’t smell any fragrance on me after 2 hours. Honest opinion? Buy it and don’t think twice about it. It’s that good.

Feel like I need to mention just how much my mother loves this on me. Everytime I spray it on, she says I smell phenomenal. Says it smells expensive (Dior Sauvage/YSL Y level), to her inexperienced nose. Performs beastly for the first hour then mellows down to an arm's length for 7-8 more hours. Puts my YSL Y EDP to shame. And to think I got it for $17.