¶ Fragrance Journey With Chris (Frag-Mental)
Hello everybody , Welcome to the Cologne Podcast .
I'm Mike and I'm Ryan and we're two best friends usually , but now we're three best friends going on a fragrance journey , talking to Chris Fragmental about 100K subscribers and his journey through YouTube land .
Hey boys , Good to see you Good to hear you .
It's been a little while . It has been Ryan's getting tired of me talking about how you and I are such good friends and how me and him we've kind of just hit this lull in our relationship and possibly being replaced .
I'm just having a little moment here because I've been . I listen to every episode you guys put out and you mainly , are accompanying me through my workouts , through the gym , so I'm usually I'm usually lifting some dumbbells when I'm listening to your voices , but to hear you announce the podcast with with me also involved , it's a proud moment . Thanks .
Well , I tell you what if Ryan drops a ball two or three more times ? I know how good you've been on a podcast , so replace me really quickly .
Well , congratulations , man , on a hundred thousand subscribers . That is incredible .
Long journey .
You're coming up this year , actually November , so , mark , is it seven years that you've been doing this ?
Yeah , yeah , seven years . You've done your research Well done .
I have , and I also realized that you've uploaded and I don't know if you know this number yet , but you've uploaded 905 videos in that time- Only 905 ?
God , it feels like more .
Dude , there's no telling how many countless hours of footage that is that you even had to cull through to make that . But then , just thinking of the million viewers that you've had over that span as well , there's no telling how many hours have been watched of just your stuff . Thousands of hours . Yes , that's incredible .
It's got to be an incredible feeling that you have that kind of following .
Yeah , it's kind of crazy to hear other people say those numbers . Actually , and when I do go back through the back catalog of all the videos , all the places that I've filmed , all the different types of videos that I've done , the bits of creativity I've tried to weave in there , I'm really proud of what's out there on the channel .
And you know , if I quit YouTube tomorrow , then it's quite satisfying to know that all that hard work is just right there . It's going to be there for a long time in the future , probably going to way outlive me .
So it's kind of nice that a body of work that I've created like on my own , it's kind of nice that a body of work that I've created like on my own it's just me . I've had people that I've had collaborate with me in videos along the way , but every single video , every single idea , every single edit is all me . I quite like that .
I can just look at the numbers on my channel and think , yeah , I did that . No help it was me .
Well , just like in the gym . I mean , you've got so many reps now You've got quite an ability on that edit man . I see some of the things that you're pulling off and it's impressive . Well , cheers , mike .
One of the things I mean . You asked me to sort of think about some of the best experiences that I've had , some of my favorite moments , and one of them is learning how to edit .
I could edit okay I think before I started the channel , but editing pretty much literally every day for seven years , I feel like I've learned a lot about comic timing , about how to tell the story , about which breath needs to be lost there and what second needs to be trimmed there to make that little moment of comedy land .
So it's been a real journey to learn the edit , but it's something I enjoy . I just enjoy being creative . I did a few little editing things before I started the YouTube channel , but this really allowed me to really go at it and hopefully become a decent editor .
Well , and you script too right A lot of these . You have an idea or a good amount of script laid down for what you're going to kind of say .
Yeah . So I've kind of changed things . I started off without any scripts and I would just wing it in front of the camera , and I think you can tell that on those earlier videos you can see that I'm rambling a bit and they're not as tight . I wanted to become more concise with what I was saying in the videos .
I wanted the moments of humor to really work , so some of those have to be written . Some of those come naturally in the moment and even if I write a script for a video , it's sort of a guiding point . I don't always stick rigidly to it . Something may just pop into my head and so I'm ready to go and freewheel with something if a thought comes to me .
So it is scripted , but not rigidly scripted . But recently I've been feeling like for some reason I've got less and less time and it would take me a whole morning or an afternoon so half a day really to write a script for , say , a top 10 video .
And I've just been thinking surely I know enough about fragrances now , after seven years of doing this , to not have to spend half a day writing what I want to say .
So I've been experimenting in the last kind of month or so with making a few very small notes about notes and in the fragrances , and maybe a couple of words about what I want to say about that scent . But other than that I've been trying to do them non-scripted and I've been enjoying it because it feels a little more natural and I get them done quicker .
My record time is more like 30 minutes per video rather than 60 minutes plus per video , because if I'm trying to remember words I've got to remember them in sections . So each section I'm trying to remember words , I've got to remember them in sections . So each section I'm trying to learn the next section . So there's big pauses in the video .
I'll just leave the camera rolling when I'm doing it , but I'm just trying to keep it fresh . I'm just keeping myself interested and I keep trying new things , because if I don't then I think it'll just get stale for me and then I really will enjoy it .
I mean you never come across scripted . So I do want to clarify . I know from working with you on the stuff we did in Milan a few times that you had the script , but it just never feels that way . But I feel like you do take advantage of every little moment to throw something funny in there .
You have a little pun or a little joke and you can tell that takes at least the reps or the effort or the script to be able to wedge those in properly and keep it still flowing and it's a lot to be commended , yeah .
Thank you .
I'd like to also just add to this . We were talking about it before . I was just like I hopefully don't get offended here but I kind of consider you , kind of like the godfather of the YouTube fragrance community . You put the most effort into everything . Comparatively , I don't see anybody that's put as much effort into their videos as you .
They're entertaining because it's fragrances , right and we are enjoying them , but you do make it very digestible and it's very entertaining . But you do make it very digestible and it's very entertaining . You're not afraid to make a little fun of yourself , be a character and it just brings everything to life .
And , man , I just thoroughly enjoy watching them and I just have to commend that . All that hard work , all that repetition has paid off . Your edits are great . The videos are awesome . I still watch them to this day Probably one of the only few that I actually watch . That's true . It's just because it's fun . You've kept it .
You have kept it fresh , so commend you on that that's really nice to hear .
Thanks , ryan I . I the effort sometimes doesn't , uh , translate into views . Yeah , there's not always a direct correlation there . Sometimes the minimal amount of effort can just be enough . It can get you the views . As , as an example , this summer I went to Portugal on a family holiday family vacation and I decided I wanted to .
I like to use the nice places that I am , the nice locations , to create something that is visually very different from what anyone else is doing . I don't need to do that because it doesn't get me any more views . I like to do that Artistically , creatively , fulfills me and I need to keep myself fulfilled to enjoy doing the content .
But the example was that I decided to shoot two videos whilst I was there . One of them was the Armath comparison between Milestone and Creed's Millicent Imperial .
Oh yeah , I would love that one .
Yeah , that was probably my most ambitious video yet , I would say , in terms of the editing and the story and the script that I wrote for that and the locations I filmed in . So that took about a week to film and then it took about two to three weeks to edit . So that took pretty gargantuan effort .
And the other video I filmed while I was there was one that I shot on my iPhone . It was five awesome fresh summer fragrances or some bollocks like that , and it took me an hour to film and probably an hour or less to edit and that has done twice the amount of views .
Jesus , it's the way it goes right , that's on about 20,000 .
And I think the one that took the massive effort is on about 10,000 . Wow , but yeah , that's the way it goes .
See , and that's the thing when I think about you and those , like that comparison video with like the melons and stuff , the whole thing , man Just kudos on that , because that was so great .
I kind of entertained myself while I was coming up with those ideas and when I was shooting it .
You know , just like in the one shot where the stuff's hitting me in the face , it was my kids just throwing wet juicy watermelon , slamming it into my face in slow motion , and they're just literally like Daddy does a job , where he gets me to whiz watermelon at him in the face and the more I throw and the harder it hits and splats on him , the better .
I love my dad's job . So it was . I'm so glad that I did that video . And when I embark on those big projects I've got to make peace before I upload them . I've got to make peace with potentially accepting that they're not going to get the views that the effort deserves . You're not always going to be rewarded with the views .
But those videos I think well , I kind of do those for myself . And you see it in Hollywood , don't you ? You see big actors . They'll do one for them and one for the studio , and the big studio film gives them the payday and then the personal , smaller project creatively fulfills them . So I just look at my channel like that .
Really Just a nice mix of both things .
Yeah , you do well at balancing that out , because I feel like you have what you'd expect from a fragrance channel that type of content that keeps it going and keeps new eyes coming to the channel , and stuff like that . Obviously , with your growth , you're doing well at that .
But then you do have these little passion pieces that you make that are just a real joy to watch . We oftentimes will come to the studio and that's the first thing we're talking about is this video that you did . It's great because it actually , like Ryan said , it keeps us watching fragrance content , because a lot of it just gets so redundant after a while .
But pieces like that we really do enjoy .
Yeah , I've always thought that I want people to , when they click on one of my videos , to not know what they're getting , whether they're going to get stupid Chris doing some weird performance or just a regular top 10 video . But you hear a lot of people talk about YouTube videos .
This is what's quite challenging , really , and this is why I try to get the balance that we get a lot of criticism . You fragrance YouTubers that oh , you know he's pandering to the algorithm , which is basically where the views are , so that's what people want . But you get criticized for just pumping out oh , it's another top 10 video .
Oh , you featured that fragrance in your autumn list last year . We've seen all these videos before . It's boring content . So you try and do something different . You try and think out of the box and bring something fresh into the space , and people don't want to watch it as much . So you get criticized for doing the same old thing .
But when you try and break that mold and do something that isn't the same old thing , then not as many people want to watch it . So you can see why people just do always do the same old thing , because why put the effort't doing stuff that creatively fulfilled me ?
So it's a lot of that is for myself and that's fine if it doesn't get the views , but I've learned something and I'm proud of the piece of work I've put out there , then I'm okay with that . Yeah .
That kind of brings us to Sorry , no , go ahead , you ask it . We were kind of talking about that before we jumped on here . We were wondering , because if you go back to our catalog you'll see plenty of times where , like we're shutting this son of a bitch down , we're quitting . I'm always like no , guys , no , don't do it .
Have you ever got to that point where you were about to hang up your hat , and if so , what kept you going ?
The money . Yeah , I mean , that's an honest answer actually , because when you create a YouTube channel , you've probably got another job and you're just doing it
¶ YouTube as a Job
on the side . But I always and I worked in a gym , I was a personal trainer for 11 years and I always said if I ever get to the point where I can make YouTube earn me as much or more money than what I'm earning as a personal trainer , then I'm going to go and make videos for my job . Because why not ? Because I can be my own boss .
And I remember the day I reached that tipping point where the wages came in that month and I earned more from YouTube than I did from the gym . And I wrote my resignation letter and marched it down to the office and proudly stated I'm going to be a YouTuber now . And it was an amazing and in the next month it did nothing . Oh yeah yeah , yeah .
But I had to make a commitment that I was going to give it my best shot , that if I was going to , because I've got food to put on the table for my kids , so I needed it to work for me . So you do that and I continue to grow the channel and enjoy it . But then it does get to a point where you just get sick and tired of it .
You wake up on a Monday morning and you're like I've got nothing , I've got no ideas . I don't know what top 10 video I'm supposed to make today , but I'm not feeling it and you really don't want to do it . But if you don't do it , you're not going to create the income stream that you've become reliant on .
So once you're in and once that has become your job and you need that income if you suddenly stop doing that , youtube is half my income , so I'll just lose half my income . I can't do that . You build yourself this situation , and it's not just in the fragrance space , it's in all of YouTube .
You start something and then if you get sick of it and you do not want to do it anymore , then you've got to . You've got to carry on doing it because you might need the money .
So that's why I try to do things that keep me interested , because if I didn't , then it would be harder to get out of bed and turn the camera on and talk about frags nearly every day of my life . There is some truth in the money situation , but I look at what I've created . It's a business From nothing nothing but my own hard work and perseverance .
I've created myself a little business , and if someone had said to me seven years ago if you want to start making videos on YouTube and talk about fragrances , if that brings you half your annual income each year , then would you take it , and I would have said , yeah , I would have bitten someone's hand off to do that , and so I'm proud .
It's my baby and it's also there's the matter of pride , you know , just to give up something that you created that has become pretty successful . Why throw that all away ? Just try and find new ways of keeping it interesting for yourself and for the viewers .
I've got to say that was a great answer . I am so glad that you were With the feeling of that . We've gone back and forth since we've started this thing . It's like we've made things harder for ourselves doing it . And then I'm not to try to get into a lull here , because it's really not , it's commending what you just said , because that was .
A lot of people are afraid to say they want to make money at some , but it's a lot of hard work , even as a hobby , whatever you want to do here . So to commit to that and you're entertaining all of us you know me , mike , any of the fans that you have , and we'll continue to grow here .
It is a lot of hard work to keep up with and to assume that you need to do it for free . It's just insanity To have that transparency and so lackadaisical not in a bad way here , but carefree about it . Man , commend you for doing that Because I feel like it takes pressure off of the rest of the community by being that way .
Yeah , I don't think there's any shame in that , because people start YouTube because , well , maybe it's not always for the money , but it's because they want to be seen . It's because they want to share their opinion about something , and that's why people want views .
If you weren't bothered about views and making a little bit of money , then why would you go on the internet and talk about it to potentially thousands or millions of people ? You can just knock on your neighbor's door and go and have a chat with them , but everyone's in it to grow a channel and to get views .
Maybe some people transition to making it their living and some people don't . Like Steve , he was doing it as a side hustle .
He's got to quite sensibly , got another job so he doesn't have to rely on YouTube , but that did mean that he couldn't perhaps be as consistent as he wanted , and then perhaps he got to a point where it wasn't worth the effort he was putting in for the small amount of money he was making .
That sort of maybe brings me on to another little point , and I would give some people advice of . Maybe brings me on to another little point , and I would give some people advice maybe think really carefully about the subjects that you choose to create a channel about on YouTube .
Because if you choose one of your favorite hobbies , you have to be prepared You're going to turn that hobby into a job , which , on the one hand , is great , but everyone gets sick of their job at some time or another .
So if you take something in life that you really love and you turn it into something that you ultimately become sick of and you don't want to do it anymore , then you're potentially ruining something that you love . So , potentially , try and choose something new , something that you maybe have an interest in but isn't a fully fledged hobby .
I feel like , luckily , that's what I had with fragrances . Every guy growing up has got a bit of an interest in smelling good and wearing fragrances , and I was on the cusp of getting a bit more interested when I started my channel . I never was and still I'm not an expert in fragrances .
My channel was just about some guy who didn't know very much about fragrances going on a journey and sharing going on that journey with other people , and it has become what it has . But , yeah , choose wisely what your subject matter is . Don't destroy any hobbies that you absolutely love .
Well , let me ask you this because , getting back to all the feel good here , you've grown this massive audience . Now I'm sure you're recognized in places . Can you think of one of your favorite moments where somebody's pointed you out Could be in your neck of the woods across the world , where they recognized you from YouTube and you met a fan in real life ?
Yeah , there's a couple of really nice ones actually , Obviously going to Essence . That's a place where I'm bound , you know , when the public , on the day the public come in , a few are bound to recognize me , and that's great because you don't often meet people face to face who tell you that they enjoy what you do , and so that's .
That's always lovely and I've always got a lot of time for people who want to chat . There was a one time when I was in a local supermarket to where I live it was a Sainsbury's and I was just walking because I can park in that supermarket .
So then walk into York town centre and I was walking back from town and some guy just was driving through the car park sorry parking lot and he wound the window down .
And he didn't stop the car , he just wound his window down , shoved his arm out the window , gave me a thumbs up and went his window down , shoved his arm out the window , gave me a thumbs up and went Fragmental , just watch your latest video , Brilliant . And then he drove off . I don't know who that guy was and that was a few years ago actually .
It was a nice moment . And then there was another cool one . I was visiting Venice last year with my family and we were just sitting outside in this gorgeous little square eating a pizza and this guy comes up to me as we were leaving our table and he said oh , Fragmental , can I just say that I love your channel , I love your videos .
I was like hey , man , thanks Great , yeah , Good to meet you . I always like to ask them their name and ask them what they're wearing and what their favorite scent is , because it's something .
Rather than just taking the lovely words that they want to give to me , it's nice to just turn it on them and have a little bit of a two-way , make it a two-way thing , rather than them saying , oh , I love you , man , Because there's a little bit of feeling uncomfortable with that . So if you can turn it into a bit of a conversation .
And then he said can I have a picture with you ? And he gave his phone to my wife and she took a picture of us and I was like wow , it's like I've come to Italy and people are recognizing me from the video . So it's always nice to meet people out in the public .
It doesn't happen that much , but every now and then someone will come up to me , or sometimes people don't even come up to me and then I just get a comment on the YouTube video and they'll say , oh , you walked past me in the street the other day and yeah , I just wanted to say I didn't stop to say hi , I didn't know what to say , but I just wanted to
let you know I'm like , right , yeah , yeah . Well , a lot of people walked past me that day , so I guess you're not one of them , but thanks for letting me know .
That's funny . Well , you would have been recognized in Texas as well , because my doctor's son is into fragrances and he was showing his dad my doctor fragrance videos and one of them was yours , from Milan , and I was in it . And he goes that's my patient in there . He goes are you sure , dad ? And he's like , yeah , I noticed the tattoos and the bald head .
He's like that's my patient , that's so funny so even uh , even out here they're , they're watching you .
So for sure , yeah a fragrance is scenario that everyone , that a lot of people have got a bit of an interest in , and I guess that spans the whole world , doesn't it absolutely ?
well , let me ask you this really quick . You kind of alluded to it prior to here . We were saying congratulations on 100 000 subscribers . You were saying at one time that would be a lot . Is that something you want to expound on now and kind of tell us what you're kind of meaning by that ? You always want more .
¶ YouTube Milestones and Fragrance Growth
That's just human nature , I think , like when I started my channel , when I hit 100 subscribers , I actually did a little video where I said here's to 100,000 . And in my mind I was sort of thinking , well , there's a chance , but it's probably unlikely that I'll get to that point .
So when I put that video out I was thinking , man , if I ever make it to 100K , then that's going to be pretty special . Well , I can quit , I'll have earned enough money , I'll have saved a fortune , I can just early retirement . But as you start to get closer to it , you hit the 50K and you think , oh , maybe there's a chance here .
All I've got to do is another few years of doing the same thing . And I should get there . Because that's the great thing about YouTube If you're always putting the videos out , you're always growing the channel . And I'm not going to lie , 100K is a sweet number . I think it's that first milestone , it's the first trophy that you can get from YouTube .
I've sent off for my YouTube email made to say , oh , do you want your silver play button ? So I said , damn right , I want my silver play button . Damn right , that's in the mail .
But then once you're sort of approaching that and quite a few other people have busted through that and a lot more in the fragrance world , because when I started I don't think maybe Jeremy was the only one who was beyond that but most channels , even channels like you know , Gentsense and Sebastian the perfume guy they were all well under 100K , yeah .
So at one point it was like , wow , if I can get there , that's going to be pretty amazing . And quite a few of these creators that started before me got there a few years ago . So it was just a case of me just plodding along in the background and just hoping to get there one day . And then I did and you've got it then .
But then you're like , well , what next ? I'm never going to go for a million . I'm not sure I could ever manage to hit numbers like that . So in terms of milestones , that might be it . For me , 100K might be the one , it might be the big one , the last big one . Really , it's quite sad when you think of it like that , but I just don't think .
I can't think of it that way for you , I feel like Well listen , it's taken me seven .
Yeah , he's almost half a mil , isn't he ? But it's taken me seven years to get to 100 . So I don't think I could get to a million before I died , if you do the math .
Well I was going to ask does it generally do like once you got the first 10,000 , it was easier to get the 20,000 ? And once you got that it was easier to get to like 40,000 . Did it escalate like that for you ?
It does . Yeah , it does a little bit . I think for some it's more , for me it's kind of exponential . So I remember it took I think it took just under four years to get to 50K but then just over three years to do that next 50K . So it didn't speed up massively but it did speed up a little bit .
I was watching a YouTube channel it's not fragrance related Guy called Potato Jet . He does cameras and text .
Oh yeah , we follow him oh yeah , oh yeah .
I love his channel and he recently hit a million subscribers and he did a video to commemorate this and thank everybody . And he said in the video he said oh , it's been a long , hard journey , it's been a slow journey . I've been doing this for three years and I'm only just hitting a million .
So many other people have got there before me and gone way beyond , but you know , it's still nice to get there and I'm thinking , man , I've been doing this for probably double the amount of time you have and I'm only on 100 . But it's all relative , isn't it ?
For me , 100 is great , for him , a million is great , but he felt for him to get to a million it was a slow plod , whereas what am I then , if his was a slow ?
plod . Well , I think this is like the stereotypical journey versus the mountain peak sort of a thing , right when it's like it's really more about , as Miley Cyrus says , the climb .
It's not necessarily where you came from where you're going , but it's that journey in between that's full of all the fun and the excitement , because once you kind of get to the peak , it's just a moment there , but while you're there enjoy the view as much as you can . But now you're already looking for the next mountain to climb .
So just a reminder even to us now to slow down , enjoy the process , enjoy the experiences .
For sure and keep in mind , I feel like fragrances have been around forever , but I feel like this era of what's been happening with the community has honestly been peaking the last couple of years . I think we're going to see it get nuts . I really do so . I think you're going to see this climb . Ron's an expert about this stuff .
So he's been , you know , he's had his finger on the pulse for decades .
I just feel like it is seriously crazy , because now I'm turning around and I'm telling him I'm like I didn't even know this other fragrance person existed , yeah , and it's like they're massive and I didn't even know they were there .
It's like little pockets too , because it's like somebody on Instagram . You're going like there's half a million followers and we've never seen one piece of content by them Not one piece .
I'm like where do they come from ? So I do think there is where Fitz is going to see even more growth in this sector , if you will .
And Jeremy Fragrance was on Vice on one of their videos . Good Lord Following him around the streets .
Well , you know what , guys , I am enjoying the view . I couldn't think of a better view than staring at two Texans in front of me right now . It Couldn't think of a better view than staring at two Texans in front of me right now . It's a beautiful sight .
Well , just so you know , I'll put you on the spot here . You are always welcome if you can figure out how to get here . We have a place to sleep , we have a refrigerator , we have a kitchen . So come here one day , have you a little ?
week or so , creeping him out . First you're calling him the godfather , now you're calling him the godfather now . You're like asking him to come sleep in your bed , which , by the way , it didn't start out as godfather . I was like ryan , maybe you should say godfather .
So he's calling you the frag daddy for the longest time I was like so stop calling him daddy .
That just it's getting weird yeah , well , that's kind of cool though that you think of it like that , ryan , because when I started there was Gent Sense was doing it , we had Max 40, . Obviously , jeremy there was . I'm probably going to name some channels that you'd never even heard of now .
I think they quit before you even got into the fragrance world , but you know Timmy from Imagine Sense . Of course , george , the Fragrance Apprentice , was putting out a lot more videos . So I felt like I was at the time .
I felt like I was coming to the party a little late , but when I look at how it's sort of blown up now and there's so many channels and so many people , maybe I was still kind of on the early side of things .
I was one of the first few to really start going at it with the view to growing the channel , to making it a nice little business for myself and a few . I've seen people fall along the way . There's been many channels come and gone but there are a lot of channels cropping up .
But I think because of that now , unfortunately , people start a new channel it's quite difficult for them to get traction and grow because it has become much more saturated . I think I was lucky at the time that I got in .
I think there was two or three other people in the UK doing it consistently and seriously Mr Smelly , peter Fragrance View but now there's just so many people doing it that it must be hard to grow .
Well , along your way I know you smelled God . You probably couldn't even count how many fragrances you smelled , but what's been one fragrance I get ? Should we say this year , sure . What's something this year is kind of celebrating this 100,000 ? What's a fragrance that's really surprised you and maybe even changed your taste in fragrances a little bit this year .
Changed my taste in fragrances . Hmm , let me think what has blown me away . What have I really enjoyed this year ? Well , the fragrance . I'm not sure it's changed my taste , but the fragrance I'm wearing right now is the latest , from Killian . I think you've smelled it . Oh , yeah , it's old fashioned . I knew that that was going to catch your attention .
You got the dry down . There you go . Yeah , I love a boozy fragrance . I love the Killian brand . And when I saw oh , I love an old fashioned . And when I saw that was getting released , I thought that's going to be something that , if they get it right , it's going to be a banger . And it is , it's . It's a hell of a scent . I'm really enjoying it .
I'm going to be I think it's probably going to be my signature scent for this coming autumn . Anyway , I thought they did a great job with it . I think it's Angelshare was lovely , fantastic , but this one is even better . I think Angelshare was a little sweeter , perhaps a little more sickly sweet , more gourmand .
This is more refined , it's classier , and I got it around the time that I hit 100K . So I'm thinking I'm tying it all into that . That's sort of my celebration fragrance . So I bought myself a bottle of Old Fashioned to celebrate , and I'm glad I did , because I'm bloody loving it .
It is nice . I do feel like it leans a little bit more masculine Than Angel Share .
Than maybe like Angel Share barrel , the whiskey infused wood of an oak barrel . Really it captures that so well and throws in some spices in there as well , and it projects quite nicely too . It's not a beast , it's not obnoxious . Angel Share was maybe just bordering on being a little bit too loud , but man , old fashioned , it's a beaut .
I'm looking forward to hearing your guys' episode when it comes to talking about that one .
We got to get . They didn't have any carded samples for us at the time . I did get to spray it on in the store and then bring this back and we did kind of like a little sniff for our Patreons to hear . But yeah , I can't wait to . I mean , I don't think I've run anything here . I would definitely buy it . I think it's a fantastic fragrance .
Yeah , fantastic fragrance . So , yeah , probably my favorite release of this year . I would say , of all the new ones I've tried this year , I think probably all this one is my favorite were you shocked a little bit by the versace eros energy ?
one at all a little bit .
Yeah , I thought it might be just well . I was hearing that it was a take on eventus , but I didn't really get too much of a similarity . I did have similarities , it's not . It's not something that I would smell on someone else and say , oh , are you wearing Aventus ?
It's too far away from the Aventus DNA for me to think that I get why people are saying there are similarities . But it was nice . It was a nice juicy kind of fragrance . I feel like maybe it could have had a bit more backbone , a bit more woodiness , just something in there that balanced out just this massive blast of citrus . But it was a nice fragrance .
Let's ride out on this . You've reached the mountaintop . You're seeing more peaks and valleys . You've achieved your goal here of hitting 100,000 subscribers . What do you see for Fragmental going forward ? Do you have any idea of some goals you're creating for yourself , either for the brand or for outside into your regular life ?
What are some goals that you have coming up ?
¶ Maintaining Integrity on YouTube
Well , the sales of my Spray Hard t-shirts have been going very well recently , as modeled wonderfully by Mike at the gym with his massive guns .
Did we put that on a main episode ? Did you hear us talking about it on the main episode ?
I think it was on the last episode that you put out , okay , good . Shout out to the Spray Hard T-shirt I was chugging away .
I can't pitch it hard enough .
That is probably my favorite T-shirt in my collection Literally we were going through your YouTube channel that day looking at stuff and we saw that you had a shop to buy shirts and stuff and we were scrolling through them and the moment he saw that he's like I've got to get that , he pulled his phone out and literally that second bought it Immediately , bought it
Impulsive buy , but it's one that I'm very proud of and he wears it a lot around here yeah .
Well , when my phone pinged and that t-shirt got its first sale , I was like yes , some dumb fucker bought it . I think you know you can be very proud that you're the the one person in the world that owns the spray hard fragmental t-shirts . That's amazing .
I'm absolutely proud to own it , for sure yeah , cross paths , he's gonna have to bring it with him and get it autographed yeah , oh , yeah , yeah and take a picture with you while wearing the shirt . Well , did ?
did I tell you the idea that me and ryan were joking around about ? We wanted to do like a spray hard with a vengeance or something like that ? Yeah , where we basically did , uh , you know , like die hard two or three or something like that , and made that a t-shirt as well , with obviously your uh , well wishes behind it .
I could wear that one . I can't . I loved the design . I was really proud of the design I made on . Like it's all a bit of tongue in cheek . Obviously it's a , it's a bit of a comedy , but , um , I was like it came together really nicely . But I thought I can never wear that . I can never walk around with a t-shirt of my own head on it .
What kind of person would I be if I did that ? So I'm glad that you're getting some wear out of it , mike , and but if you two did one , absolutely I could wear the shit out of that hell yeah , look , I'm not gonna lie , I'm a very introverted person , but I do have a shirt from my childhood that I went to ripley's , believe it or not .
back in the day they have like it's like a fake museum , if you will . I don't know when I say fake , but they had a part where you could stay in front of a green screen and take a picture but you could choose the shirt designs and they would put your lightness on the shirt .
And there's one with all these super hot uh nineties models like in swimsuits hanging off this bodybuilder and I purposely , I'm like making sure I'm looking at one and I and it says too hot to handle on it and everything , and I , when I was in really good shape , I was not afraid to wear that all the time .
Amazing oh time .
Amazing . Oh , do you still have it ? I absolutely do See . That's the difference between you , chris , and Ryan . You have scruples and Ryan doesn't .
Yeah , well , yeah , definitely make one . Make a sequel . Die Hard Frank T-shirt boys . I think that'd be great . You're talking about plans for the future . That was a plan at the time . I thought , well , I've got an audience , shall I try and capitalize on that and make some merch .
And even if only a handful of people buy it , it's money that I wouldn't have otherwise had . So why not ? It didn't really , it's not really sold very much . I think you bought a t-shirt , I think Steve bought a mug for his coffee and I think , yeah , that's about it , but I gave it a go , but it's not something that really .
So I don't think I'll be going . I've not got any grand plans for the merch anytime in the future . I just want to keep the channel going , keep it fresh and keep enjoying just setting up my camera , turning on my lights , lights and having a voice that people tune into . You've got to appreciate that .
I think it's hard to have people listen to something that you've got to say . I'm not saying that I've got anything massively important to say , but there is an audience there and they tune in and I like it . So I'm going to keep on doing that . I'm going to keep trying to find ways to innovate , to keep it fresh , to try to come up with ideas .
That , like the Holy Grail video , is one where I come up with an idea that is different , it's creative , it fulfills me , artistic , but also it hits that damn algorithm as well .
So the hard work is rewarded . I'd argue with you , chris , that you do have something really important to say , just because of how different your content is from what everyone else is making .
Now I know that , like you said , you've got to play nice with the algorithm as far as some of these top 10s and stuff like that , but I feel like when you really do pour your heart into something , you tell it's this passion piece .
It's so needed out there because it's content that really is unique among contemporary content creators , in this niche at least , and so I think it's extremely important .
Yeah thanks and I want to try and keep my integrity . I feel like it's like walking through a field of landmines trying to maintain your integrity . Being a YouTuber , there's so many opportunities to mess up and I've come closer a couple of times .
I feel like I've learned how to be me , be true to myself , maintain my integrity always , be honest about what I'm talking about . That means not always going a slightly more commercial route . That means not accepting a lot of deals Not the term , I guess , is selling out to just make more money .
I could you know , if I did a sponsored video every time someone offered me the chance to collaborate , then I'd be a lot richer than I am now . But that's not . I don't feel comfortable . I don't enjoy making that type of content , because you're making something that someone else has to , then okay , and you're making something that you've been told to make .
I'm not saying that these brands will tell you exactly what to say and they'll let you , but they obviously don't want you to trash it .
And sometimes you get yourself in a difficult situation where and maybe this has happened once or twice , but not for a long time , because I've learned how to deal with this , but maybe you accept a fragrance and they're going to pay you to make a sponsored video and the fragrance is nice but it's not something that is mind-blowing .
But you've got to then try and put out a video that remains honest to me . I'm not going to go out there and say , yeah , this is the best fragrance that's been released in the last decade . I'm not going to say anything like that . So there is a fine line you can walk , but it's hard and it's uncomfortable to do that .
So I'm just pleased that I can keep pushing forwards . Just doing me , just doing a mix of design or a mix of top 10 , a mix of creative stuff . That's kind of me . That's where I'm at and that's where I'll try and remain . I think . Not a massively exciting answer about crazy future plans for FM , but I like where I'm going with it .
I like that I by and large avoid any major frag-com dramas . Just keep my head down , work hard and enjoy what I'm doing . So that will be the future of Fragmental .
And that's probably the biggest challenge you've seen along this way anyways is continuing to be consistent . Whether you have the motivation and inspiration or not to get out there , continue to make great content and just do it over and over and over again .
There are some hurdles that come up along the way , but the thing that most people fail at is that they just don't continue in it .
Yeah , it's the grind , and sometimes the grind is hard and you don't want to do it and those days are tougher .
But then some days you wake up and you have a nice little idea and it's something that you feel quite passionate to talk about , and you turn on the camera and it all just flows out beautifully and naturally and you feel really proud with what you've managed to shoot .
And then you edit it and you put it out there and you're like well , that was a good one . So there's days where you grind it out and there's days where it just flows naturally and you enjoy it a bit more . So as long as there are still those days to offset the tougher days , then I can keep going .
But yeah , you do have to give yourself a bit of a talking to some days and go well , if I don't make a video today , then is that this channel starting to slowly slide away ? If I don't commit to it , to what it needs to be , then essentially am I giving up and I'm not ready to give up . So you just got to take the good with the bad .
Well , you're definitely an inspiration to us . On the fragrance side , the content creation side , we've had some great talks , you and I , in a sense even to the point where I'm like you inspire me to be a better dad , because I see all the effort you put into that too . So it's not just your content .
You can tell you're out there just pouring yourself out into everything , and it's a huge inspiration to me , I know , to us , and we couldn't thank you more for taking the time to hang with us .
Well , I appreciate that , guys . But , mike , hey , let me say you know , just to return the compliment , you know stuff that you've told me I'm like . I think you know you're a hell of a dad and you're a hell of a guy . So you know , don't forget that You've inspired me in some ways too . It's some of the things that you do as a father for your family .
So it sounds like we're appreciating and inspiring each other with that . So that's lovely . But the content too , like you guys have some you've been told this many times , but you sound great . What you edit and what you put together is fantastic and valuable for the people , for your listeners , the listenership that you're growing steadily when you talk about .
Maybe should you continue . Is there a place for the podcast ? That's up to you guys , but I would be very sad and it would be a little cologne podcast shaped hole in my life , if you didn't continue . So I love what you're doing . It's great , it's unique . There's nothing else like it . I tune in every week , never miss an episode .
So I'd be very happy if you decided to continue .
That's our plan as well . We're looking in the direction you are of just doing the best we can , being as consistent as we possibly can and enjoying the ride as long as we can .
Yeah , man , again , thank you for coming on the show today , taking out this time and talking to us . Man , it's been a real blessing and for real , we could not be more excited . It was the first thing that came to our mind . We were like , man , he just hit 100 . Reach out to him . Yeah , see , if he wants to come on and celebrate that .
So I get , in a way , happy birthday , so enjoy this moment and you should be exceptionally proud of your hard work and you got fans Well it's a pleasure and an honor to come on and talk to you guys .
I just hope your regular listeners don't mind having to listen to a podcast about me for an hour .
You guys talking about the latest one night stand or we're only doing this to milk your audience away from you , Chris . You haven't figured that out by now ?
I knew . I knew there was an interior motive . I know what you Chris . You haven't figured that out by now . I knew there was an ulterior motive . I know what you guys are . You come off as these nice guys , all happy and smiley , all giving out the compliments , but really you're just businessmen .
You're cutthroat ruthless .
You don't care who you step on to get to where you want to be . I know people like you .
Well , chris , thanks , you guys , thanks for listening and , of course , until next time .
Spray it up y'all . Spray it up y'all .