Daniel Tharp :: Blog

Today was a good day.

Okay no that’s all I’ve got in relation to Ice Cube. Today just went about as well as I could ever hope for a day to go. Woke up with no pain or stiffness in my ankle, got out of bed refreshed and sat in front of the new 32″ monitor (the computer hasn’t acted up in almost a week now), some Brian Eno playing as the creative juices stirred and I found myself completely caught up on my reviewing. Well, so I say, I’ve still got a bit over 30 reviews to go but I’m caught up in the niche experiment.

I’ve been in the process of trying to move up within the Office Depot company; it’s been unsuccessful but not for lack of effort. I’m currently in what’s considered a Level 1 position, and the next step up is (surprise) Level 2. One of the major conditions for working at the store I’m at currently is that I would be able to be promoted to this Level 2 position fairly quickly. Sure enough, about a month into my tenure there a spot opened up. I was told, yup, we’re all set, just gotta key you in for it. Fast forward to a week later. Nothing. Fast forward. Nothing, it never happened. The position simply isn’t there now, they chose not to fill it at all.

That wouldn’t have bothered me too much except that I was continually being led to believe that I was getting this position. If you’re not gonna do it, tell me you’re not gonna do it. Combine that with the fact that the manager in question is not what I consider a model leader (I’m wording this carefully), and it becomes pretty clear what my course of action was when I saw another Level 2 spot open up in another store in Louisville.

Turns out it’s just a bit further out, and the staff there is arguably the most highly respected in the city. Their store manager has a tremendous reputation with every manager I’ve talked to, and one of their department managers and I used to work together back at the Paducah store.

I visited the store for the first time today, it is about 5 miles further but the roads and traffic are such that the time difference is negligible. It’s also easily the nicest looking store I’ve ever been to, pictured above. Talked to the managers and everything went fantastic, I think I made a good first impression. Decided to leave and let them discuss it, went home and cooked lunch, gave them a call back around 3:30.

Here’s the situation in a nutshell. My current manager has the opportunity to match this new store’s offer; that is, either I get the promotion and raise here, or get it there. It’s entirely up to my current manager. If he realizes my worth he’ll keep me but I don’t think he does. In all truth I’d be happier at the new store so no great lost, I take a great deal of pleasure in proving people wrong about me.

Something about today’s given me a much-needed spark that’d been starting to fade. I’m more upbeat about tomorrow, confident in what I need to do and really just a hell of a lot happier than I was a week ago. Now I can only hope that everything goes as expected.

Wish me luck.

Tags: Life, Work by Daniel
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In my initial ratings just smelling the vials, my commentary on Cereus No. 7 was “I got a big old whiff of Green Irish Tweed right off the bat.” I was so confident today that I’d hit on something that I skipped the solo wearing and wore it side-by-side with the Creed offering. Today’s an important day too, I’m in the middle of possibly making a job change and wore the fragrances in hopes of putting my best foot forward with my possible new boss.

More news on the job hunt to come but let me say that as rarely as I make correct predictions…I was spot on with the comparison to GIT. Before the Creed fanbois start sending me hate mail, read on.

Cereus No. 7 starts out with a very familiar soapy opening, the same one I smelled just off of the dipper from the vial. Surface appearances, however, are only a little bit of what No. 7 offers. It takes a little while for No. 7 and Green Irish Tweed to start differentiating, about an hour. While Green Irish Tweed stays fairly linear, Cereus No. 7 adds a pepper note that, in my opinion, does wonders for the masculinity of the fragrance. Let’s face it, GIT is a linear soap-inspired scent evoking cleanliness and a gentle demeanor. Cereus No. 7 is a more roguish creature; while GIT might be the well-to-do businessman on the black-tie date, Cereus No. 7 is the well-dressed young romeo with an adventurous side. It’s more contemporary, it’s just slightly dirty and it does a fantastic job of setting itself apart from Green Irish Tweed by a minor adjustment that appeals to a whole different clientele.

There’s another issue, one I make frequent mention of on here and that’s price. As niche goes, Cereus is very reasonably priced. You can get a 75mL bottle for $125 which, if I recall correctly, is better than what you’ll expect to pay for Creed in a retail environment. What’s better, when I placed the order from Luckyscent for the 1mL sample I got a little bit larger vial, for the same price.

I was very careful in buying my bottle of Green Irish Tweed. While I own a 120mL bottle, I bought it used and there’s at best 30 or 40mL left. I didn’t pay terribly much for it either. Cereus No. 7 is, to me, preferable to Green Irish Tweed. This was the first time in the niche experiment that I went in with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. Sample worthy and, if you like good clean fun with just a hint of a wild side, bottle worthy.

Tags: Fragrance by Daniel
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Wrapping up the L’Artisan reviews today with Méchant Loup, French for Bad Wolf (think like the Big Bad Wolf). Reviews for this one have always been promising, hazelnut and honey on smoky incense. The nose is Bertrand Duchafour, who I’m starting to respect more and more as a gifted artist. The nut and honey are again reminiscent of another creation of his, Jubilation XXV. However, that’s the extent of the similarities. One thing that doesn’t seem to get touched on with this fragrance is the fact that it has a clean side too, the smell of camphorous leaves is faint but detectable and provides a good contrast to the dark, “dirty” tones of smoke, honey and leather.

In many respects it’s quite excellent, it’s a quality composition, it doesn’t take a very refined nose to appreciate it, and sillage is quite good. The only issue with it is longevity, which is to say it was just average. In niche perfumery I would call that a major transgression as everything else I’ve tried thus far has lasted and lasted. I got about 6 hours with it which is my personal dividing line; I’m not very likely at all to purchase a fragrance that doesn’t at least last that long (the Hermessence comes to mind immediately).

Out of the niche fragrances I’ve tried thus far this would be one of the best ones. L’Artisan has plenty of offerings though, and they cover the whole spectrum, so it’s looking promising for future experiments with this house.

Tags: Fragrance by Daniel
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I was amazed it took so long for the random number generator to land on one of the By Kilian fragrances; after all a full quarter of them were Kilian Hennessey creations (Straight to Heaven and Cruel Intentions reviews forthcoming), so A Taste of Heaven gets it’s turn in the barrel today.

The opening blast is sweet, and I say that in the “sugary loaded wtf” sense moreso than the “super amazing awesome” sense. It’s probably the sweetest fragrance I’ve ever encountered, knocking off such contenders as A*Men, The One for Men, Ambré Narguile, Rochas Man, Blue Sugar, anything I can think of this thing has beat. The main player is cinnamon, to the point that I was instantly reminded of the Cinnamon Toast Crunch I used to eat as a kid. While I’m wearing this in 95 degree weather it should be absolutely godawful stifling, but it managed to toe the line and be bearable even when exercising.

There is a redeeming quality to it, one that I can’t readily identify but there is a masculine tinge to it that saves it from being too effeminate. It’s actually rather pleasant in a sweet tooth sort of way.

I could see this as being useful for a party situation, where you want to project that sort of thing on unsuspecting girls but that’s about it. It’s really sweet and I don’t know it I can recommend it as anything other than an excellent example of a sugary-sweet gourmand. It’s loud, it’s sweet to the point of being over the top, and it’s a bona fide sillage monster. I personally won’t be buying a bottle, it’s pleasant but not outstanding enough to justify the price tag. $245 for a 50mL bottle? No thanks, I’d take the outstanding Herméssence Ambré Narguile far sooner which is more tastefully done to me.

Tags: Fragrance by Daniel
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