u/Adventurous-Leg-8947

Curious to hear which lines are most trusted by the clone community. Every brand has different lines within them ie. Club De Nuit or Odyssey in Armaf, Hawas or La Yuqawam within Rasasi. Is there one in which almost always seems to hit for you?

For me it's what I would consider an obscure line that doesnt get that much talk about it. The Nayel line by Arabiyat Prestige. There are only 4. That I know of, so the odds of having a miss are pretty minimal. For me, these are all hits. This particular line is cloning YSL. I have only smelled 3 of the inspirations briefly in the store and own 1 of them, but I have smelled or own multiple interpretations of the 2 more popular profiles.

Nayel Queen - Babycat. A warm, leather, vanilla. 100% unisex imo. I am not the biggest leather fan and I love this stuff, so don't let that scare you if you are not into leather. This did take a couple of months to really smooth out. Mine is almost 2 years old now and is one of the smoothest well blended vanillas I own. Great for cooler weather. Especially like wearing this on cold nights. Moderate projection for several hours, leaves a great scent trail. 8 hours before this dies down to a light skin scent.

Nayel Oud - Tuxedo. My favorite out of this line. Its a vanilla Patchouli bomb. This is my go to fragrance for any formal event in cooler weather. Not a huge projector, but a few feet scent bubble for like 5 - 6 hours at least. Decent skin scent for 10+. This is one I highly suggest getting your nose on. Especially for Riffaqat fans. This is so much better. Imo. Leans heavily masculine.

Nayel Her Majesty - Black Opium. I have the original, and I actually prefer this one by quite a bit. Its lighter, and a bit sweeter. This one does not have the longevity that the other 2 have, but performs well while it lasts. Around 8 hours total. This leans on the feminine side, but a man could definitely pull this off.

Nayel King - Supreme Bouquet. I held off on getting this one for a long time just because of the name of what it was cloning. Supreme Bouquet just sounds like the most floral thing you could imagine. Man was I wrong, sort of. It is definitely very floral, but it is also fruity, sweet, vanilla with a little bit of spice. This stuff is so good. It leans feminine, but this is not something I would be afraid to wear. Loudest projecting in this line, people will smell you. Decent longevity as well, at least 8 hours as of now. I have only had this one maybe 2 months.

To me I think this will be best in the spring transitioning into summer time.

Thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings. What are your favorite lines, and have you tried any of these? What are your thoughts on them?

Wore this out last night to go watch fireworks. This is similar to Nitro White, just amped way up. Not quite as sweet, a little fruity, a dark boozy note and a spiced vanilla. I like this a lot. Extremely good performance. It was pretty warm last night, so maybe the heat was helping it out, but this stuff projects. I'm about 10 hours in and it is still a pretty strong skin scent. If you are a fan of the original then you should definitely check it out. This is a cooler weather scent, so you could wait until the price hopefully comes down.

Picked up some new releases along with some that I have been wanting to try for a while. These are all relatively new, so just initial impressions.

Summer In Dubai by Anfar. A citrus, aquatic. Great for high heat. Exceptional performance. Only wore it once, stayed strong for over a 10 hour work day. Being in the sun really bring this out. Very interested to see how this one matures.

Marasi by Arabiyat Prestige. First off the cap sucks, it snapped the atomizer off in shipping and I have to position the sprayer just right for it to spray. The fragrance is kind of strange, definitely unique. Fresh, a little green, and dries down to woods. Performance is not good. Around 4 hours right now, then it seems to be gone. Very light projection. Going to let this one sit for quite a while before I wear it again.

Chai by Aroma Concepts. This stuff smells amazing. Sweetened, spiced, black tea. Not something I would wear on its own, but I'm going to figure out something to layer it with. I keep spraying this stuff in the air because I want my house to smell like this.

Midnight Frost Tangerine by Anfar. This to me smells like the original Hawas with a bright tangerine opening. Great performance with this, most Anfar perform very well.

Odyssey Soda Pop by Armaf. This thing has a ridiculous amount of notes, just to make it smell like a soda. It smells like a soda that sat too long and became flat. Its missing that bubbly, effervescent quality that a real soda has. It still weirdly smells really good, not something I would ever want to smell like, but it smells nice. I haven't worn it, but it has lasted for like 2 days+ on a tester strip.

Side note to the person who stripped down their Liquid Brun bottle. French Avenue definitely saw the traction your idea got and ran with it for their new release.

Midnight Hour is easily my favorite from Banana Republic. It is perfumed by the same perfumer as Blockade. Banana Republic is under the same parent company as Mind Games. It is obviously a cheaper version of the much more expensive perfume, and does a pretty decent job. When I came across the extrait version at Burlingtons for $12.99 it was an instant cop. I actually grabbed 2 because they are only 30 ml.

I can not find any info about this online. No notes, the box does not even give you a perfume oil percentage. Where the original Midnight Hour gives me Aventus with mango vibes, the extrait version gives me Aventus Absolu with Mango vibes. Its just a deeper, juicier overall scent profile. Performance is better than the original, but still not the best. A Hour to maybe two of modrate projection. Like 2 to 3 feet. Lasted around 5 - 6 hours for me. I get around 4 from the original with similar projection. The scent is fantastic, and the price is fair. For you Burlington hunters, this is one I would be on the look out for.

I jumped on this hype train and picked up some Mykonos before they sold out. There has been a lot of influencers saying that Inception is pretty much 1 to 1. I have tried a ridiculous amount of Imagination clones, and none in my opinion are close to a 1 to 1. Inception feels really close to Marwa. Had that spicier opening, tea heavy. Theres also a little bit of funk to my nose for the fist 10 - 15 min when smelled up close on skin, luckily it goes away prerty quickly. Overall It is.a good fragrance and its obvious what it is going after, but there are others that get a lot closer. Performance is good. A few feet of projection for a few hours. Total longevity of around 8. My bottle is only a week old so maybe a smoother opening and better longevity will happen with some maturation.

I added Fantasme to this post because it is another recent pick up and it caught me by surprise. I never have very high expectations for any Maison Alhambra releases, but the Jean Lowe line has been pretty solid. This in my opinion is their best work by far. It is very apparent they put a lot of work into this one, and I think that is why they were so late to the game. It was worth the wait. In my opinion, this is one of the closest interpretations out there. It gets close to replicating that creaminess that other clones just dont have. Performance is also decent. About 3 hours of moderate projection and around 7 hours total longevity. This bottle is bout 3 weeks old, and if maturation helps this with performance, it may become my favorite clone for this DNA. If this follows suit with the other Jean Lowe's and drops to the $25 range then I would highly encourage fans of this profile to pick it up.

Dreamscape has been touted as this crazy good GOF dupe. It's nice, but its very similar to all of the other clones out there. This to me smells identical to Riffs Gemini. Gemini is a bit rougher in the first 5 minutes of the opening, but after that they are indistinguishable to my nose. Airy, fresh, tart, and not as sweet as other GOF clones. Performance is on the light side for me. Couple hours of mid to low projection. Completely gone around the 5 maybe 6 hour mark.

All of our noses are different. Would love to hear others experience and thoughts on these fragrances.

Recently picked up Arabiyat Prestiges new Lutfah releases, and they are pretty interesting profiles. I have no idea what either is trying to clone, or if they even are cloning anything. One thing I thought was kind of strange is the blue bottle has a pressurized atomizer, and the black bottle has a pump atomizer. I haven't given either of these a full wearing, but I placed several sprays of these on opposite wrists. Its been about 4 hours and both are still going pretty strong.

Litfah Beyond Forever - this only has three notes listed on the box. Raspberry, Rose, and Leather. I am not the biggest fan of any of these notes. This seems like something I should really dislike, but this stuff is beautiful! Opens up with fresh, juicy, sweet raspberry and a little leather in the background. It says there is rose, but I can't really pick up on any. I hope it is just blended in so well that it is just adding whatever magic it is doing to this blend, and not going to show up with maturation. This stuff is perfect how it is. Very linear scent for which I am grateful, because it opens so nice.

Lutfah Ever After You - notes are Basil, Thyme, Akigala Wood, Vetiver, Patchouli, Ambroxan. This is easily one of, if not the most earthy fragrance in my collection. Not a dupe of it, but definitely gives off Encre Noir type vibes to me. I grew up on the river, and this reminds me of the trees and foliage that grew along the banks mixed with the wet earth. Instantly a very nostalgic pedfume. Its not listed in the notes but I get like a cold mint wafting on the air here and there.

I wonder if these might be cloning some other Gissah fragrances. 2 of the 3 previous Lutfah were inspired by Gissah, and the bottles are pretty telling. If anyone happens to know, please share. I would love to sample the originals these are based after.

Le Parfum is my favorite from the Y lineup. Unfortunately the old formula has been discontinued and a new formula has been released under the same name. I have not tried the new one, but the notes are completely different from the original. These are the 2 clones that I know of.

Yeah! Man Parfum by Maison Alhambra. Not necessarily a bad fragrance but far from the original. It's like it opens up in the late dry down of the original. It is missing almost all of the fresh apple the og has. Mainly florals and woods with a trace of citrus and apple. Does not project very much but has decent longevity. Around 6 hours. Bottle is around a year old. Can be found on discounters for $19

Connoisseur Man by Armaf. I used to think this was very close, but when tested on skin it is not as close as I used to think. I mainly wear on my clothes, and I think on fabric it resembles Y more. Probably something to do with my skin chemistry. This opens up closer to the og than Yeah! Man, but it is not nearly as bright, fresh, and juicy as the original. All the same notes as the original are noticeable, but they are muted. Somewhere between the 2 and 3 hour mark Y and this become a lot more similar, after most of the fresh fruitiness of the OG has died down. This projects ok for the first hour or so, then rests a lot closer to the skin. Total longevity around 6 - 7 hours. Bottle is closing in on 2 years old. Can be found on discounters for $25

After testing these against the original my stance on Connoisseur Man has changed, and I dont think it is a good replacement for Y anymore. I'm not saying it is a bad fragrance. It is good in its own right. It just doesn't stack up to the original. The original is extremely fresh, apple and citrus in the opening that sticks around for quite a while. Projects for 4+ hours and last easily over 8. If you are a fan of this, I would get this while it can still be found at a few discounters. The price has already risen significantly. The cheapest I have seen it is around $140. Hopefully someday a better clone house will release a higher quality dupe.

I can't stress enough that your results may differ from mine considerably. Too many factors like PH, environment, batch variations, and olfactory senses play huge roles in our own personal experiences. Take this review as well as others with a grain of salt and try them for yourselves. My least favorite might just be your favorite.

Maturation has been debated in here as well as other sub reddits numerous times. There are the believers, and the stout deniers. I can only speak on my personal experiences. When I first picked up Al Nashama Caprice well over a year ago, I really disliked it. It was very screechy and had this metallic note that ruined it for me. This got put away and forgotten about for over a year.

While digging through some boxes I came across this and decided to give it a try. This is now my prime example of why I believe in maturation. This is a lavender and cardamom bomb on initial spray, with a little spiciness from the ginger and some freshness from the citrus. It is beautiful, no more screechy metallic note. Just an excellent blue lavender that dries down to a woody base with the lavender and cardamom hanging around the entire time. I never gave this a full wearing in the beginning to be able to comment on performance, but when I recently tried this I got around 3 hours of good projection, a nice sillage trail, and around 9 - 10 hours of total wear before it became a faint skin scent. This fragrance went from something I couldn't stand, to now one of my favorite blue fragrances. For those that say maturation isn't a thing, I highly disagree.