my perfumes

scents have been one of my long time interests. perhaps this is the only interest which hasn't diminished over the years. i recall old days when i would almost bathe in strong 'itars' from our local 'attar' ghulam saab of bijapur bes. it would create a sillage so powerful that at times it would cause so much annoyance to girls in my class that they would go and sit away from me, or ask me to change places. i think i would have at least 20 different itars at one time until 2004. some which still bring back old memories swiftly are mehfil, bakul, jannat-ul-firdaus, khus, brute musk and best of them all- sultan. after getting the job at tech mahindra, passion for scent made me explore fashion house perfumes. the first ones i bought cost me a fortune relative to my salary at that time. ck1 and ck eternity for men were my first bottles. i purchased them from shivaji nagar shoppers stop. those smells remind me of my time at 7th floor annexe building of tech mahindra at pune. i miss those simple days. i think i started to really experiment with other perfumes when i came to the uk in 2006. i bought a few perfumes from paris in that year, and also from local high street shops like boots and debenhams. hugo boss is my only regret. i don't know why i bought it, but it's smell was very near to ink- i gave it away to one of my brothers. apart from that all others ranged from bearable to enchanting. i must say chanel allure pour homme is one perfume that suits my senses the best. right from the top note to it's die down- it is a total pleasure. it costs a lot but surely is worth. it may surprise you if i say i am mainly into aquatics. but allure is exception. aquatics collection doesn't start or gets completed without eternal acqua di gio. it is again an expensive juice- but gives a super cool feeling all day. but die down of acqua smells not so great. but no aquatic comes nearer to elegance of creed's millesime imperiale. when i was using this- i had thought 'that's it' - it is end of my search for the best. but after some time- i was drawn back to allure.we went to rome last year, and as usual , i was on watch out for some scent truly roman in nature. got one from a boutique, not so plush though, near place which was 'ancient suburra'. i never got hang of that scent until i smelled shalimar at heathrow airport en route to 'terra mia'. they have some similarity which is reminiscent of a cockroach killing spray that is sold in india- no offence intended to fans ofshalimar. but i can bet my nose on that similarity :) on the same visit to heathrow i had opportunity to sample a few tom ford ones- especially from his iconic private blend. somehow they all reminded me of the pure itars i used years ago. they bore a lot of common elements. one that blew my senses out was grey vetiver. this is a winner from all tom fords i sampled. fresh, complex, yet pleasing to even a common nose. i didn't have chance to buy one yet- but that is on my wish list. finally- one perfume that deserves mention is the dreamer from versace. it is a unisex perfume. i would just say one line about it 'one must try this at least once in life'. one mention should find place towards end of this write up - and it is my unexplained dislike for a common favourite jpg le male. my wife says it is a great scent- but my nose detects some very depressing elements which remind of camphor placed in cloths wardrobe which haven't been used for months.