Glad ordering your bundle, the atomizer is fabulous. Style and quality reminds me on French fragrance houses, which we both like 😄
Flacon, packaging very elegant 👌 sprayer also fine.
Protagonist, I like much. Pleasant, but special, fresh and sweet in my opinion at the same time. Versatile to me, but also Classy. I am wearing it for business, but also casual meanwhile. Unique blend.
Most important to me, I like the fragrance DNA. Hard not to like the scent.

Antagonist, although it's edgy, it's still good wearable. For me it's leathery, bit sweety with a hint of oud. Well done 👏 But personally this kind is not my style. Maybe when I grab out my leather jacket, which seldomly happens :)

Please keep on doing fragrances.

Unfortunately, my experience with the Forte Series Protagonist set wasn't great. I purchased the set but was disappointed with the Antagonist fragrance. It smelled like just another generic, woolly fragrance, offering nothing unique. I decided to return it for that reason.

As for the Protagonist, I initially enjoyed the scent; however, I encountered a major issue with the atomizer. The first spray was fine, but the second was inconsistent, and the third didn’t work at all. The atomizer was completely unreliable, which made the fragrance unusable for me.

Regarding the scent itself, it wasn’t bad, but it felt unremarkable—similar to Dior Sauvage. Considering the three years it reportedly took to develop, the result felt mediocre. The fragrance seemed to rely heavily on synthetic ingredients, and the quality of the oils used felt cheap.

While it’s not a terrible scent, I wouldn’t recommend blind-buying this. It’s just too much of a gamble, especially with the quality control issues and the lack of originality in the fragrance.

I am a collector myself and have always stayed away from influencer fragrances, but I took a chance on Alex’s creation because I knew he wouldn’t cut any corners and it wouldn’t just be a money grab. putting his name on a fragrance and throwing it out there type of thing. I use and like most of the other Forte products, so I said, Why not?
 
Protagonist stood out to me because I’m 28 and enjoy those mass-appealing, fresh, sweet scents. On first spray, my reaction was, “Oh yeah, that’s nice.” The orange flower really stands out in the beginning and then dries down with vanilla and amberwood. To me this can be a signature scent fragrance. A grab and go, whether you’re going to the store or a dinner/night out. It lasted about 5-6 hours on me; after that, it became a skin scent.
 
To end this, I’m happy I took a chance on it. Alex and his team did a great job.

When I heard another influencer like Alex Costa was releasing a fragrance, I was skeptical. Quality and price are common issues with influencer colognes. But then I saw the note breakdown, presentation and the $119 price tag. I was intrigued.

To start, the price tag on Protagonist is more than fair. Designer fragrances (with the exception of Versace) are actually typically more expensive at retail for a 3.4 oz bottle. You're looking at $130-160 for a similar quality product.

When you combine the pricing with excellent presentation, Protagonist becomes an attractive buy.

Regarding scent, the opening is sweetly floral, slightly aromatic & spicy from the bergamot and cardamom and orange flower. The orange floral notes are a bit strong for my liking, but that in no way makes Protagonist a bad scent. And as someone who collects and owns 15 other colognes, I can smell the quality and love in this right away.

The mid and dry down are pleasant with a mixture of geranium, vanilla and amberwood. While this is definitely a masculine-leaning cologne, there are aspects to this (coming primarily from the vanilla and floral notes) that make this unisex fragrance too. That's not a bad thing but any means. But it's something worth noting for guys that want something hyper masculine like a Dior Sausage, Aqua Di Gio Parfum or Versace Dylan Blue type cologne.

I personally see myself wearing this more in the fall and spring time. Those seasons are where this fragrance will excel. But the marketing isn't wrong in this being an all-season cologne. With fewer sprays, this would work in hot heat and in the winter there's enough depth here to push through the extreme cold. But there are better hot weather and winter colognes out there.

In terms of where I would wear this, I see myself spraying this on if I'm going out or meeting up with friends. You can also dress this up, but I wouldn't wear this to a black tie event myself. It's not quite formal enough for those occasions in my opinion. But it wouldn't be out of place if you did. Just don't spray on too much as this cologne is fairly sweet.

All in all, this is a high quality fragrance that can be worn in a variety of situations and seasons. This is a swiss army knife fragrance that could easily be someone's signature scent. It's original enough where you'll stand out from the crowd.

The only gripe I have with this fragrance is the addition of the orange flower which isn't my favorite note as it can lean somewhat feminine/unisex. But it's pulled off well, despite it not being my personal favorite.

To wrap this up, I want to congratulate Alex and team on this cologne. Thank you for offering a completely priced and quality cologne on the website. Nicely done. If the fragrance community ever finds out about this I wouldn't be surprised if Protagonist gets high marks.

**Summary**
Price: 4.5/5
Presentation: 5/5
Scent: 3.5/5
Projection: 3/5
Longevity: 4/5
Originality: 4.5/5
Versatility: 4/5
Overall: 4/5