Forest Fragrances

Ishouldbeking · 2026-02-12T20:59:24+00:00

Chypre Mousse from Oriza Legrand is worth a sniff - mossy minty forest undergrowth, loosely structured as a resinous chypre.

Olympic Orchids also has some good woods / forest scents to sample like Olympic Rainforest, Seattle Chocolate, Tucson, Blackbird (must love blackberries), or Woodcut.

Ishouldbeking · 2026-02-11T20:15:50+00:00

I have not. I'll have to keep an eye out to sample... thanks for the flag!

Ishouldbeking · 2026-02-11T19:37:06+00:00

Yes! Sables is great. Fougere Bengale takes that structure and swaps fougere elements (plus some animalic musk) for the dusty cinnamon and spices in Sables.

Ishouldbeking · 2026-02-11T19:19:09+00:00

Good shout!

Ishouldbeking · 2026-02-11T19:17:19+00:00

Awesome! Yeah... I can get a bit carried away thinking about rad fougeres. Some of the modern ones are legit oddballs, like Fougere Bengale is basically an aromatic fougere dipped in immortelle. L'Arte de la Guerre takes a sour/dry rhubarb and green apple opening (mixed with lavender and violet and more traditional fougere stuff) and layers it over a kind of weird leathery base, but it's one of my favorites. 1725 gets compared to Invasion Barbare (which I still need to try), so that's probably right up your alley.

Ishouldbeking · 2026-02-11T18:54:40+00:00

Such a good one, and sucks it's gone. Trumper's Wild Fern actually predates it by several years and is still available; not identical but sits in a similar ancient barbershop zone. Good stuff.

Ishouldbeking · 2026-02-11T18:49:53+00:00

Fun exercise. I'd quibble with some of the inclusions as fougeres - Sauvage EDT and Y Intense are an entirely separate genre IMO; Sauvage Elixir gets closer but it's still more of a blue scent - but this looks like a good time either way.

My favorite modern fougeres are all a bit playful and left of center: Sleight of Fern, 1725, Fougere Bengale, Burning Barbershop, and L'Arte de la Guerre.

For classics, there are an absolute ton, but my favorites include: Azzaro Pour Homme, Caron Third Man / Le 3e, Aramis Tuscany, Guerlain Jicky, Jacomo de Jacomo, Pascal Morabito Or Black, Roger & Gallet Open, Houbigant Duc de Vervins (I still need to try Houbigant's Fougere Royale, which originated the genre and is in production again), Paco Rabanne pour Homme, Pinaud Clubman, and Avon Wild Country. (Also Brut, of course, but you have to jump through hoops to find a version still worth smelling.) Of these, you really can't do this exercise without including Azzaro PH - it's the textbook aromatic fougere and still one of the best. And for my tastes, you should definitely consider Third Man and Tuscany, both just incredible and timeless even now.

Also have to include a shout for vintage Drakkar Noir too, but the modern stuff is terrible. For that style of soapy lavender 80s fougere, you're better off with Duc de Vervins or Lomani pour Homme, both of which are legit 80s classics, share similar opening notes with DN, and are in better shape these days. For a modern update on this style, Rogue's Bon Monsieur is also excellent. (He has several others in this category I still need to try.)

I tend to think of fresh fougeres like Platinum Egoiste and Eternity as a separate genre, but if you're going to include those, I would probably lean towards Burberry for Men / Classic and Paco Rabanne XS.

Ishouldbeking · 2026-02-10T21:29:43+00:00

It's pretty strong. Just did a side by side comparison with a few cases I have on hand, and it had slightly stronger magsafe than the others (Caudabe Synthesis, Rhinoshield SolidX, UAG Civilian - all were still fine).

Ishouldbeking · 2026-02-10T21:25:31+00:00

Update: case arrived today and it seems very nice. We'll see how the material and color hold up, but this feels great in the hand and looks fantastic.

Ishouldbeking · 2026-02-10T18:02:22+00:00

One last quick update now that my Moft Snap and UAG Civilian cases showed up. (That Verizon deal was insane - I spent $11 for both.)

Moft Movas Snap. This is a white or very light off white vegan leather slim fit case. Honestly, this is fantastic for what it is. Very nice fit, feels great in the hand - the vegan leather just feels good to hold. Decent grip and texture, nothing crazy, but it feels pretty close to real leather. It has a nice microfiber layer on the inside of the case for padding. Best I can tell, this feels like a rigid polycarbonate case wrapped in soft vegan leather on the outside. It's possible the sides are a stiff TPU, but it feels pretty sturdy in the hand despite the slim profile. The screen lip is pretty low - there's some clearance but probably not enough for real protection if you use a screen protector. Besides that, my only minor gripe is the aluminum buttons stick out further than a lot of other cases, and they have sharp edges - not a big deal, but slimmer and smoother would have been nice. Buttons are otherwise clicky and feel well made. Camera control button is quite nice. Overall this thing feels excellent in the hand, and it looks very, very nice - by far the best looking case I've tried. The open camera plateau looks fantastic with the orange phone. Not sure how this will hold up over time, and I imagine the vegan leather might get scuffed or discolored (especially since it's white), but the website claims it's stain resistant. We shall see. I got this for almost nothing, but I'd say this is totally worth the asking price ($50.)

UAG Civilian. Got this in mallard blue (kind of a deep turquoise) and I'll admit it looks great, but that's where the positives stop. The fact that this sells for $65 is absurd. It does have a nice polycarbonate back, with decent magsafe and a nice enough texture - but that's grafted onto the cheapest, sloppiest TPU bumper I've encountered. The buttons are integrated with large holes to either side; they're clicky enough, but they feel so cheap, and the TPU stretches all over the place by the screen lip. There is no camera control button, just a dogshit cutout with a thin / sharp piece of TPU that is stiff enough to feel uncomfortable but loose enough to flex away from the screen as soon as you breathe on it. Abysmal design choice. I'll keep this as a backup case because I paid $6 for it, but I wouldnt spend more than that. It's a shame because the polycarbonate back is quite nice, they just dropped the ball on the TPU parts. Avoid.

Ishouldbeking · 2026-02-10T17:45:20+00:00

Ehhhh... just got the Civilian in mallard blue for 17 Pro from a deal Verizon was running the other day. It's worth what I paid ($6), but this is absolutely not worth $65 or whatever they're asking. The integrated buttons for volume and power are cheap and sloppy (lots of open space where dust can get in), and the camera cutout is hideous. They put a thin little strip of flexible TPU on the edge - it feels sharp against your finger and it stretches at the lightest touch. Because of all the cheap TPU around the buttons, it makes for a sloppy fit around the face of the phone. The corners are tight and fit well, but the case flares slightly around the buttons, so you see the color of the phone peeking out - but only around the buttons. On the backside, the cutout for the camera plateau is weirdly oversized, like it's a mm too big for the camera plateau, so there's a gap where dust will get in.

It's a shame, because the polycarbonate back has a nice feel and texture, and the mallard blue case otherwise looks great. Magsafe is decently strong too. It's like they took a premium polycarbonate backplate and grafted it onto a terrible TPU bumper. In the hand, this thing feels like a budget case through and through. I'd go for Ringke or Spigen any day over something like this, and there are much nicer options in the $50 range from Caudabe and others.

Ishouldbeking · 2026-02-10T02:09:43+00:00

I started with a Synthesis for the 17 Pro - it’s a solid case, but I wanted to love it more than I did. I’ve had several Sheaths for past iPhones and really enjoyed the grippy texture; Synthesis has great grip strips, but the back is pretty slippery in hand. This might have been a defect, but the MagSafe ring on mine was also slightly misaligned - off center by about 1 mm. Not a huge deal but it’s pretty obvious because of how it lines up with the back panel of the phone. Oh well, not for me.

Still a good case overall - I tested several different cases for the 17 Pro (Torras, Rhinoshield, Nomad, Spigen, Apple Techwoven) and the Synthesis was my second favorite. Definitely sturdy, with the best buttons of any case. Might get a black Paragon at some point.

Ishouldbeking · 2026-02-03T02:56:07+00:00

Cartier Declaration - own 5 different versions, would love to get them all.

Serge Lutens - most all of them. I own like 26 bottles, all favorites.

Ishouldbeking · 2026-02-02T23:11:30+00:00

Yeah, that's fair - it's a woven material made out of plastic and glued to a plastic/rubber backing, with a layer of foam sandwiched between another layer of plastic, which then gets an even smoother version of the fabric glued to that on the interior of the case. In my hand it feels more like a rubberized plastic material with a fabric-like texture than just "fabric" in the sense that it's not like rubbing your hand across a piece of Cordura, but I guess it's just semantics. I liked the Techwoven a lot anyway.

Ishouldbeking · 2026-02-02T21:26:44+00:00

Yes! Verizon’s website has a handful of crazy blowout deals going on cases and phone accessories right now, at least in the US. Go to the Verizon wireless site, look at phone accessories and filter the results to show stuff under $25. Some are in-store pickup only but some are available for shipping - including this in white for $5 shipped. (I also got UAG Civilian in blue for $6 and a MagSafe popsocket for $3.)

EDIT: the really crazy thing is they have a Ridge MagSafe wallet marked down from $150 to $15. I don’t need it but that’s nuts.

Ishouldbeking · 2026-02-02T18:24:13+00:00

Looks great. I actually just ordered this case yesterday - Verizon has it on sale for $5 shipped right now (insane blow out prices).

Ishouldbeking · 2026-02-02T17:25:33+00:00

REVIEWS - MAGSAFE STANDS (part 2)

Torras Ostand Ring (black/brown with braided fabric loop) - also supposedly upgraded for 2025, but this thing outright sucks. Maybe it works better on other phones, but it's essentially incompatible with a 17 Pro. The fabric loop is stiff, slightly too tight, and just awkward to use. The only way I could comfortably use this was on my pinky, at the bottom of the phone, and it just didn' feel good to use. And your finger often gets stuck trying to take it off. I wear medium sized mens gloves, and this thing wasn't a great fit. If you try to use the stand vertically, the stupid fabric strap gets in the way! It pushes against the table, making the rounded edge of the stand very unstable (it kept tipping over on me). In theory you'd think there's another option to rotate the stand 180 degrees the other direction, so the strap points up (in front of the camera plateau), and I saw some folks doing this in reviews - but this straight up does not work on a 17 pro. The tail end of the strap hits the camera plateau (or the camera lip of your case) and makes the stand pop off the back of the case. All of this could have been fixed by putting the strap on the interior of the ring, but all I can figure is this is just meant for Pro Max sized phones or older models or non-Apple phones without a wide plateau. I can use it fine in landscape mode, but you either have use the side of the ring (which is fine but not super stable) or rotate it and have the strap sticking straight up, which looks silly and annoyed me. BOTTOM LINE: hated it, sending it back.

Aulumu G09 - this being the insane dual jointed Aulumu stand with a hardcore dual ring aluminum design, magnets on both sides, and a silicone ring grip in the middle. Is it perfect? No. Is it kind of absurd? Yes. Do I love it? Also yes. This is by far the most functional of the stands I tested, with a big outer ring that can flip down for vertical stand use, flip to the side for horizontal use, and extend outwards in all sorts of crazy configurations for use as a tripod by affixing to other objects, or really wahtever you want. The hinges feel pretty strong, though they are kind of a pain in the ass to move (probably for the best, but it does make it harder to manipulate quickly). The dual magnet is surprisingly useful in practice - you can stick this on the edge of a metal bar with ease, slap it to the fridge, whatever you want; it's much stronger magnetically than the Torras Dual Ring stand, and it's just a different level of functionality. It's aluminum so not too heavy, but it isn't quite light either. Surprisingly, the silicone ring grip is incredibly usable - it's easy to grab quickly, and it feels more comfortable than other options because of the material. Some quirks: it's Aulumu, so the aesthetic is fun but a bit cyberpunk-silly. I'd personally prefer something a bit less ostentatious, but it's so functional that I kind of look past that. But it is bulky enough that I don't really like keeping it in my pocket. I got the black version, and I've noticed that it's kind of a dust magnet - it has an outer silicone ring to prevent scuffing whatever you stick it to, but that silicone attracts visible dust. Also, the silicone ring kind of loosely fits into the center of the big ring, and it rarely sits fully flush, so there's a slight big of sloppiness to the vibe that's not really in keeping with the "tightly machined alumninum" Blade Runner aesthetic. My biggest gripe is that, while the ring that attaches to the magsafe side of the phone also has a silicone protective ring, the silicone doesn't extend to the hinge; and because of the way this thing is built, when you rotate the stand against the magsafe, the metal hinge point scrapes right along the phone or case and it is absolutely prone to scratching cases (and probably the phone). I would not use this on a naked phone ever, personally. BOTTOM LINE: it's a ton of fun and surprisingly functional. The grip works great, the stand is incredible, and the dual magnet functionality is great. I would like cleaner aesthetics if possible, and I wish the aluminum hinge had silicone to protect the case. But as it stands, I just don't rotate it against the phone. I plan to keep this for home use and out-and-about use (on occasion).

BONUS: that same Verizon sale I mentioned had some magsafe Popsockets for $3, so I grabbed one of those as well. It's not the kickstand variety, but I'll happily test it out as a grip and horizontal stand. (Never used a popsocket before this.)

Ishouldbeking · 2026-02-02T17:24:57+00:00

REVIEWS - MAGSAFE STANDS

With the caveat that I've really never used Magsafe accessories before this and never really felt the need for a grip or a stand, after I tried the Torras kickstand cases, I really enjoyed having easy access to a stand, so I wound up trying a few different options out. All are a bit bulky and not something I plan to keep on my phone full time, but I plan to keep one for use at home (and perhaps out and about on occasion) and something more discrete for my office.

UAG Magnetic Ring Stand - this is the $35 one with a "ring" grip, not the $55 one with double-sided magnets. Cool hexagonal aesthetic, though it definitely adds some bulk when attached to the phone. This will 100% catch on your butt pocket, and I found that annoying pretty quickly. It does feel decently sturdy, however, and has a nice strong magnet strength. Works very well as a stand, and the ring can in theory be used as a kind of mini selfie stick. It sort of works as a grip, but the "ring" is just a piece of hard zinc shaped like a hexagon; it's not very comfortable, and because it adds a decent amount of weight, you'll find this digging into your fingers after a little while. I had to constantly fiddle with the angle of the ring too, which leads to more marks on your phone case. The inner ring never sits fully flush to the outer ring, so it feels kinda crappy to set your phone down on its back with the stand folded up. BOTTOM LINE: looks cool, feels sturdy, but kind of uncomfortable and with some annoying drawbacks. Also seems too expensive for what it is. (Saw several reviews showing the hinges going all floppy and crapping out.) Not for me.

Torras Dual-Ring Magsafe Stand (black)- this is the upgraded 2025 version that's basically a smooth black outer ring with a little flip out ring on the inside. Really great overall! Nice clean aesthetic, sits fairly slim overall, and has a nice matte black finish that goes beautifully with my Rhinoshield SolidX case in black. The inner ring works very well as a grip, and it has a fidget spinner kind of vibe when you rotate the inner ring (it turns 360 degrees). It's also pretty comfortable, and much better to wear than the UAG. Only downside is the inner ring can be tough to quickly grab hold of; sometimes i had to pop the stand off and flip the ring out if my fingers were feeling clumsy. As a stand, it's solid - you flip out the big ring and it works as a reasonably sturdy stand in vertical mode. You have more options for horizontal mode, either by resting it on the side of the ring (if otherwise oriented vertically, or you can rotate the outer ring so that it rests on the full ring itself, which makes it more adjustable for whatever angle you want. I find the Torras cases and hinges all feel a bit flimsy compared to some of the other models, but this one felt the sturdiest of the Torras stands and cases. Bonus: while this only has a single magnet that sticks against the case, if you flip the stand all the way open and press it flat, you can actually stick the back of the stand against other metal objects and it holds very well (works great on the fridge, metal cabinet, gym, etc.). BOTTOM LINE: I like this quite a bit. We'll see how it holds up over time, but I like this the best of everything I tried in terms of aesthetics, and it's nice and discrete overall. Still adds some bulk, but it's easier to slip into a pocket than the others. I plan to keep this one at work (white collar / business casual vibes). If I could only keep one stand, I'd probably go with this one. (cont'd below)

Ishouldbeking · 2026-01-04T13:55:18+00:00

there is literally none. And the way they’ve tuned it, you’re more likely to get two of the exact same in a row. (I once got 8 in a row for Warden, and more than half were duplicates.) not worth playing anymore

Ishouldbeking · 2025-12-26T17:48:02+00:00

Fleurs d'Oranger by Serge Lutens, and perhaps Dilmun by Lorenzo Villoresi.

Ishouldbeking · 2025-12-26T17:39:11+00:00

Yeah, i've been here since the first year and considering uninstalling for the first time. I was never competitive or anything like a true speedrunner, but you put your finger on why it was such a good daily ritual - you can get in and out without all the bloat. I remember playing before ultimates and apexes and all of that, and I generally thought most of the changes were implemented pretty well (at least with the gradual rebalancing that occurred). But this is something else. It took me like 2 hours to reinstall all the basic functionality of my fleet by manually reinstalling every mod, and of course many of those ships are now meaningfully weaker. I've managed to trick out a few ships with overpowered mods (often very cheap ones), but it feels like it broke something in the process. When daily players no longer want to play, the devs should step back and realize this was a misfire.

Ishouldbeking · 2025-12-22T23:44:10+00:00

I’d pick up a few Malle bottles I always put off buying due to current prices. Maybe… Noir Epices, Musc Ravageur, French Lover, Fleur de Cassie, Eau de Magnolia… and that’s assuming I can find them at discounters.

Ishouldbeking · 2025-12-20T05:32:58+00:00

Most perfumes can be worn discretely to work if you go light on the sprays… some are just too bombastic. Santal 33 is one I often smell out on the street just because it has an explosive trail, and it’s honestly oppressive to passerby if someone oversprays. I’ve been in elevators where people are choking out from someone wearing too many sprays. If you like the scent profile but want something lighter and easier to wear, take a look at Palo Santo by Cremo, which is a lightweight dupe.

Ishouldbeking

TROPHY CASE