“ I officially started collecting fragrances in 2001, after purchasing Gap Blue No 655 For Him,” shares paginator Marlon Forrester, who has the distinction of being the only male in SO ‘s coveted Samsung phone book able to not only determine the cologne or perfume a colleague is wearing, but can, with absolute certainty, suggest complementary notes for the wearer. “The concept of understanding your body and how to wear a scent is something that I think I have mastered. Everybody’s chemistry is different. What works for me might not work for you. For me, wearing cologne is making a statement without words… the fragrance is what they remember,” he explains. It’s no idle boast!

A New York vacation allowed his cologne collection to increase when one of his favourite uncles, himself a collector of colognes, allowed Forrester to select three bottles. He was hooked. “I was enthralled at the conversations that would ensue, the result of a cologne,” he shares. These random conversations led me to start my own research and to my second purchase a year later: Escada Casual Friday, which has sadly been discontinued. I still have those three bottles that were given to me in my collection.”

As we ready the bottles for the shoot we realise that he’s left the truly special ones like Hermès under lock and key. He flashes a wry smile as he demonstrates his knowledge of the bouquet of each bottle. “You’d be surprised,” he tells SO, “how a casual ‘What are you wearing’ can generate lively conversation and lead to lasting friendships. There are scents that, like a song, hark back to a place or certain time in my life.”

Forrester derives satisfaction in hunting down and finding a discontinued fragrance. It’s an even bigger thrill when only a handful of the discerning actually know about it.

“I think I’m now mastering what fragrance fits what mood. But I don’t really save fragrances for special occasions because every day is special.

“I currently have 68 bottles in my collection with just a few more to add. That’s what I said when it was at 50! My favourite scent in my collection so far is Invictus Aqua (2016, discontinued) by Paco Rabanne, and L’Homme by Yves Saint Laurent. But my all-time, favourite is Escada Casual Friday,” Forrester discloses.