Bravas

Well, now I am bemused. A note by note comparison of BRAVAS and BASALA with the pyramids provided here on Fragrantica reveals that they are... the same fragrance?!? (with the negligible exception of clove substituted for carnation & pine in place of fir in BRAVAS) So... what's going on here? Same release year. Same nose. Same notes in top, middle, & base order. But do they smell the same? BASALA was an EdT and BRAVAS, being to the extent of my knowledge only produced up to an EdC concentration, leads me to believe that BASALA was briefly released to the international market whilst the lighter BRAVAS was intended as domestic merchandise as Japanese manufacturers, regardless of product, are often wont to do; always differentiating between "here and over there" and has forever since been in production for the Japanese and East Asian market. I do not know when BASALA was discontinued, nor have I ever had the pleasure of smelling it - in fact, in 25 years visiting Japan I've never even seen a bottle of it in the flesh. BRAVAS is still widely available today, across Japan - and East Asia, in corner shoppes & chemists though most usually in a confounding plethora of cosmetic emulsions including, but not limited to: hair tonic, lotion, "hair liquid", "hair brilliantine", gel, "hair stick", skin conditioner, hair spray, "hair cream oil", shaving foam, & after shave lotion... although the Eau de Cologne itself is somewhat more rare to come across in brick & mortar vendors. For every 25 cosmetics & toiletries shelves displaying the BRAVAS line, 1 will include the EdC. Reading the rapturous reviews over on the BASALA page one is led to believe this combination of notes makes for an excellent, warm & spicy, complex, near-masterpiece of a by gone era... that I would of course be keen to add to my collection. BRAVAS though, from my own experience, is none of these things, save for being reminiscent of older, clean shaven gentleman who were run-of-the-mill salarymen at the height of the dizzy, heady & hedonistic Bubble Years. This is not to say it is a bad cologne. On the contrary, I find it utterly decent, dependable, and pleasant; nothing spectacular, but certainly worth having as a value for money work horse, après-le-bain all over splash. A 120ml bottle of BRAVAS EdC retails for all of 10 quid over the counter and can be had for even less online, that is, if you're in Japan. I get the impression it's rather more dear overseas. That's all to say it's perfectly good - however unremarkable - stuff, but I'd love to be enlightened further as to the tantalisingly mysterious relationship between BRAVAS and his long lost (twin?) brother, the much celebrated BASALA. Happy hunting, friends! ★★☆☆☆