Today I had a great time wearing this fragrance. I have about 4-5 reviews backed up, but I wanted to make the time to share my experience with Banadir's 14.

First off the quality is amazing. I've been getting REALLY good results from these Banadirs lately. I haven't tried that many. We only own 5. But so far I've had the chance to wear Banadir 34 [SMW], Banadir 26 [L'Immeniste], and now Banadir 14 [Greenley].

So far I have nothing but good things to say about this house, and I look forward to trying out more fragrances. If you guys have any good ones your interested in let me know so I can add them.

My experience:

I sprayed this bad boy at 10:30. 7 sprays (two on my back, one on my shoulder, two on each forearm and one on my chest). Right away I could tell these are good quality ingredients. Nothing synthetic or off putting about it at all.

Threw me off a little when I first put it on. I have no idea what note is it, that makes it so sour. Perhaps the bergamot. But I know from my experience with fragrances that this tends to smoothen out into something great. My guess is the green apple mixed with the musk they use.

It's very fresh, almost piney. It has a interesting blend between being fresh, musky, and woody at the same time. However it is balanced and just works. I was able to wear this EASILY in 90 degree weather.

The added moss smell in this creates something damn near perfect.

This fragrance is not linear, after about 30 minutes that sour smell went away and it began to become a very aromatic fresh green, slightly fruity fragrance. The dry down is amazing honestly.

• Top notes: Green Apple, Calabrian bergamot and Mandarin Orange
• Middle notes: Petitgrain, Cedar, Cashmeran, Pomarose and Violet
• Base notes: Oakmoss, Musk, Amberwood and Patchouli

The performance:

Sprayed at 10:30. At 12pm it wasn't quite projecting the way I wanted to, so I applied 1 more spray to my forearm, and a last spray to my shoulder. After this I smelled the fragrance in the air for the next 3 hours! Now this scent profile is not a loud one, so don't expect monstrous projection. In fact after 1 hour nobody around me could barely smell the fragrance in the air.

However the OG is very similar, I sprayed it on myself 2 weeks prior to wearing this fragrance today and honestly I may have liked it less then the Banadir I wore today.

It's 11pm now, it's been over 12 hours and I can still smell the fragrance on my shirt. Well above average.

My rating:

Subjective scent score: 9/10
Performance 7.5/10

Overall: 8.7/10

Conclusion:

This fragrance really works for me because of my extremely hot climate. I do wish this DNA had more projection. Because as much as I love the fragrance I really did not smell it as much as I would have liked to.

But because it does smell so good, and seems to last a long time as a scent bubble I did give it a really generous rating.

I want to make sure I mention buying the OG PDM Greenley to me is NOT worth it.

I recommend people try a sample of this Banadir because to me it is the perfect replacement.

As promised I have about 30 Street Origin fragrances (not all on the site yet) that I plan to review in the coming weeks. They're way too many to do full wear reviews since I have a big mix of new Hawas, Rayhaan, and everything else in between to wear and review. I will be mixing Street Origins into the mix, but for now I'd like to keep doing first impressions for those who want something sooner rather then later.

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Rise and bling, Dubai:

Super clean shower shampoo vibes. Definitely getting some strong roses in there. Was not expecting this smell with the bottle design and the name, I was thinking I'd get some oud. Never know what to expect with the Street Origins bottles. I'll be honest I am digging it a little. It might be a little loud though for me to wear , seems very concentrated.

Upon looking at the notes, I can confirm there is a lot rose in there! White musk as well, and a interesting blend between everything else in there. Very unisex.

It's really strong, I'm interested in wearing it, but I don't see it becoming a favorite of mine.

• Top notes: Green Notes, Black Currant and Peach
• Middle notes Iris, Turkish Rose, May Rose and Rose;
• Base notes: Pepper, White Musk, Orris Root, Violet Leaf and Cedar

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Manilla Glee:

Strong coconut mixed with vanilla is the first thing I noticed. Very sweet, has some creamy caramel in there I can tell. And then the blend of musk with cedarwood pops out as well in the background giving this fragrance a lot more depth. Reminds me a little of Yara.

I personally don't like coconut too much in my fragrances, but I do know it works very well for woman's fragrances so I wouldn't mind smelling this on my wife as long as it's not over powering too much. And it is a strong fragrance like most of the Street Origins as I've been noticing.

• Top notes: Mandarin Orange, Coconut and Peach
• Middle notes: White Flowers, Sweet Notes, Ylang Ylang and Rose
• Base notes: Vanilla, Cedarwood, Caramel, Amber and Musk.

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Drenched in London:

So far it's my favorite of the other 2 I've smelled. It's so smooth and easy to wear. I feel like this is a better blended version of Sillage. A little less intrusive on the opening, and not as synthetic. Leaning a little more Bergamot/Orange. It has a more subtle ink tone to it, on the sweeter side.

Can't wait to wear it, I'm very happy to have a new version of Silver Mountain Water. I'll probably wear this tomorrow to see how it goes. I'm going to be comparing this to the OG SMW, And Banadir's version of SMW. Make sure to ask for updates so I can link you to the full post I'm going to make.

• Top notes are Lemon and Bergamot
• Middle notes are Jasmine, Angelica and Rose
• Base notes are Musk, Sandalwood, Amber and Moss

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Manilla Manic:

This is such a great scent for woman. My god is it alluring. Such a creamy, candy, vanilla. The smell is delicious, and honestly not in a bad way. I'll hand a decant of this over to my co worker so I can make a review of it and report back on the longevity.

I haven't even worn this fragrance and honestly I feel I can already recommend it. That's how much I personally liked it.

• Top notes: Green Notes, Coconut, Orange and Lemon
• Middle notes: Mango, Lily, Jasmine and Strawberry
• Base notes: Musk, Woody Notes, Patchouli and Vanilla.

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Cape town grace:

Not really feeling this one too much. I mean it's not bad.. It just does not peak my interest. Just smells like a fresh clean deodorant kind of smell that you would wear to do a quick errand and don't want to get noticed at all. Seems soft on the first sprays, nothing really special to this one. Easy skip. BUT it is new and unmatured, so I guess it stilll might have a chance of getting better so don't just write anything off on my first impression account. Performance feels abysmal.

• Top notes are Bergamot, Lemon, Neroli and Marigold
• Middle notes are Jasmine, Cyclamen and Violet
• Base notes are Vetiver, Musk, Cedarwood, Praline and Amber.

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Conclusion:

This round of first impressions actually went pretty well. Of course I am selecting options that seem to be more popular because they are based on recommendations from the community. For this round I can say that Drenched in London and Manilla Manic are fantastic fragrances based of first impressions. Those are my top picks for this round. don't just take my word, sample them yourselves and see which is your personal favorite, we all have different noses at the end of the day.

I was actually recommended Nomad by someone on this sub, and I am so happy for that rec! I got my bottle from Jomashop at a sweet price of $35 dollars. Not too bad for this.

The perfumer is Jordi Fernandez who has created many fragrance for example: a few bottles for BDK, Borntostandout, many bottles for Ex Nihilo such as (Blue Talisman), Vesace and over 200 hundred other fragrances. This guy has quite the rep!

It's a Oriental Woody fragrance featuring notes of:

• Top notes: Saffron and Lemon
• Middle: Marine notes and White Flowers
• Base notes: Vanilla, Amber, Cypriol and Patchouli

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What it reminds me of:

This fragrance is one of a kind. I've never smelled another dupe like this one. You get a strong fruity, sweet vanilla that almost feels bubble gummy. Reminds me of a less bubble-gummy and more vanilla version of Safari Breeze. Something I much prefer.

Ever since I first smelled Fursan White I could not recommend it more to woman. This is like the male version of Fursan white for anyone who has smelled that before.

This fragrance also remind me a lot of Art of Universe with that particular sweetness that it has. It almost like take out the blue facets of Universe and replacing them with more vanilla & yellow fruits.

The fragrance:

Opened up with some extremely sweet yellow citrus accords. I really liked it right away. It's pretty have though, this stuff is STRONG. It's sticky in dense in a fresh way somehow. Can pretty much be worn in all seasons.

It's not a overbearing sweetness, you just have to gauge your sprays like with any other spray. I for example applied 4 sprays in 90 degree weather and it was more then enough to last me the day.

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Performance:

Sprayed at 11am. At 3pm it was STILL slightly projecting! Not by a lot, but I've been outside quite a bit today and it's a super windy day. So I'm impressed. That's already above average.

At 9pm it is still very present on my clothes and I can say it has great and above average longevity as well.

Update at 1am, I have showered a long time ago, about to fall asleep and I can still smell it on my arm.

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Rating:

Subjective Scent Score: 8.6/10
Performance 9.1/10

Overall rating: 8.9/10

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Conclusion:

Fantastic fragrance, very unique. It's not exactly a dumb reach because of it's potency and sweetness. So it's not as easy to wear as say Jean Lowe Vibe or Hectic. It's something you're going to smell all day when you wear it. I feel the same way sort of about Art of Universe, love the fragrance, but I don't wear it super often. Of course I live in a very very hot climate so this is one of the main deciding factors for me. But I also rate that fragrance a 9/10. The performance is stunning.

A great fragrance for the price, I definitely recommend grabbing a sample of it, it's not for everyone, but it definitely will impress many people!

** Disclaimer: This fragrance has had zero time to mature and it's possible that both scent quality & performance may improve with time. This is only a first impression review meant to help people who are really wanting to get some sort of information on this fragrance and don't really want to wait. **

This fragrance is a perfect example as to why we try fragrance before buying full bottles. Really liked at first, ended up not wanting to smell it anymore towards the end. Only a full wear from a sample would have allowed that.

Just got Hawas Chrome in yesterday and I could not wait to try it on. At the rate they are pushing these Hawas out I don't even know what to expect anymore. Lot of hits but also quite a few misses with the recent previous ones. And as most of you know, there is about 3 more coming out apart from the 5 or 6 new ones I just picked up in the last 2 weeks.

First Impression:

Great smelling fragrance is my first impression. I wonder if it will remain this way. (Stay tuned to my final impression at the end) When it opens it's VERY sweet citrus, mixed with some tropical fruity notes and aquatic undertones. Hard to tell what fruits are here, it's like a huge overwhelming cocktail of fruits.

Mix that with a ton of amber, vanilla and musk so it lasts all day and that's what you have. Not sure this belongs in the office, although it can be worn casually. Pretty unique smelling fragrance by the way.

2/3 girls I asked thought the fragrance was really nice, while the 3rd did not like it at all. I personally sort of like it, but it hits you pretty strong. I also think it leans pretty unisex. Smells like a woman's shampoo or something along those lines.

• Top Notes: Yellow Fruits, Peach, and Orange
• Heart Notes: Water Fruits, Mango, and Passion fruit
• Base Notes: Amber, Vanilla, and Musk

After a few hours there's honestly not too much transition or evolution.

The Performance:

Performance is the absolute best thing this fragrance has going for it. I sprayed 5 sprays on myself at 11am. Around 3pm it was still projecting very strongly.

As I'm writing this post now it is currently 8:35pm and believe it or not, I can still smell Hawas Chrome projecting from my forearm. This is VERY above average for a fragrance and dare I say this, and I rarely do, pretty beast mode/nuclear in my opinion. I mean I only did 5 sprays!

My Rating:

Subjective Scent Score: 6.9/10
Performance 9.5/10 (24 hour skin scent, 2+ days cloths scent)

Overall Rating: 8/10

(Performance really boosted the overall rating)

Final Impression:

It's one of those scents that smells great, but can become a little obnoxious after awhile and depending on mood. Honestly I do enjoy wearing it, but I can't help but think I'd rather be wearing something else.. a little more special. Even Baccarat Rouge 540 would be nicer. I def have to say first impression was better then my final impression. Maybe wearing this on a different day will change my mind.

I want to make sure I re-iterate that I was not overly impressed at the end by the scent itself, only the performance. HOWEVER YOU may absolutely love this fragrance, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. We all have different noses, and that's why I've always encouraged sampling first.

Smells extremley similar to Amber Oud Gold, and King Bharara. Very redundant to get both, and I've heard taraf bleu is a twist on this DNA. I personally really liked Taraf Bleu a lot and would recommend that one more.

Thank you for reading my review and I hope it was helpful to you!

BONUS: I'm taking pictures for this fragrance the next day, (which for this bottle with it's glaring reflection is extremely difficult), And I am STILL smelling the fragrance on my arm even after I showered yesterday. This fragrance is very difficult to get off!

** Disclaimer: This fragrance has not been given more then 1 week and a half to mature **

Feels like a more niche version of some of the other Maison Alhambras like Vibe and Azul. Less easy to like, but that's what might make it special for some. It's got some strong citric herb smells. You can really get the "green" that you see in the name lol. Smells a little sweet & grassy.

Opens with a strong lemon & piney hit with a slight sour twist. Almost feels like it wants to get candy like, but it never really does. It starts to dry down and become less intense with the herbs after awhile. Remains a nice citric fresh fragrance, just not as sharp anymore. Dry down is beautiful.

My compliments/reactions that I got were "damn you smell great! But it also smells a little weird."

My thoughts are that this a pretty good scent, but it's uncommon enough that people aren't really used to this type of profile. It's familiar but that strong herb/sour note throws you a little off.

The performance leaves you wanting a little more, but then again that's how most Maison Alhambras are. And at this point I have to imagine they do this on purpose to use more natural ingredients so that it's scent quality > performance. Idk. Still need to let that bottle mature more, but for now it get's 1.5 hour projection with like 10 sprays. And about 6-7 hours of a skin scent that gets lighter as time passes. Projections decent with a lot of spray, but longevity is pretty bad.

My Ratings:

Scent 8/10
Performance 6/10

Overall rating 7/10

Conclusion:

Well with this performance this fragrance is going to be a tough sell. However as I mentioned twice, I have not fully matured this bottle, and there's a chance it could improve. I really dig the uniqness of the scent.

As always I recommend trying this before running out and buying a full bottle unless you know this DNA and feel like you really need it. Especially at these prices of $45. Jean Lowe bottles should all be around $30 IMO.

P.S I love all the Maison Alhambras, and even though they don't all perform too good, I love collecting them. The bottles are so nice and sleek. Love the presentation and feel of putting these fragrance on. They are all such pleasurable and easy reaches.

This review is long overdue. But as promised I am doing a review of my new Street Origins Love Daze Santorini. This is my second bottle in my entire collection that reminds me of either Percival or Fierce. I'm really not sure which because I have never smelled the OG's.

What I can say is that I do own Kaaf, which is a dupe of those fragrances, and I will be able to compare it to Kaaf since I know a lot of you either own that bottle, or are interested in getting it.

Kaaf has been one of my favorite freshies for a very long time and this DNA will always continue to be even if some people may think it smells synthetic or basic. Just as many people or more are in love with the fragrance just as I am.

The review:

This fragrance does a fantastic job at performance. I sprayed it at 12:40pm and at 3:43pm it was still projecting strong. I did another check in at around 5pm because I kept getting wafts of it in the air. At this point projection is well above average. Longevity is great too, 9pm and I could still smell it strong on my skin and clothes.

Love daze is a incredibly manly smell. It's super reminiscent of walking past the Abercrombie store at the mall. For this reason, it probably gives off that impression of a younger king of fragrance. But without that association I wouldn't necessarily put it in that category. Sure it's a little playful and fresh, but this goes well for all ages. It just smells so damn good.

I feel very confident wearing this fragrance, and I know others are smelling it too. It is very easy to wear, and very well received by people around. Woman love this fragrance from what I've seen and it definitely enhances one's mood.

The profile:

It's a airy aquatic citrusy fragrance with some clean herbs such as lavender or sage. Very very aromatic, smells like clean clothes in a very perfumy kind of way.

It opens very citrusy/ lavender and remains that way while mixing perfect with those marine notes, rose geranium. There is a constant earthiness in the background from the patchouli and vetiver that I recognize making this fragrance LAST.

The comparison:

This was a little tricky to do. I want to start of by saying there's a lot of talk around Kaaf not lasting too long on some people while on others it's beast mode. I want to point out that this is my 3rd bottle of Kaaf now, and it has always been borderline beast mode for me. I'm not sure if some people are just getting unlucky or going nose blind. But luckily for me Kaaf lasts literally all day with GREAT projection.

Ok so comparing the two is difficult because they smell super similar. In the air, but when I dig my nose into the area I sprayed the fragrance I can detect clear differences in the opening.

With Love daze I'm getting more pungent citric, orange peel kind of opening. Kaaf on the other end when I really focus on it, has something more marine going on in the opening. Some type of seaweed smell or something.

I do feel like Kaaf goes in a slightly sweet direction, while Love daze evolves more into a fresher realistic freshy. Overall I think Love daze is a little less synthetic then Kaaf, but in the air they smell super similar.

They are both a great bang for your buck honestly.

Conclusion:

To me this fragrance is special, it has something in it, that makes me think of a very high end designer type style. To others this may feel like a very basic type of fragrance. I understand, it's so easy to wear after all. We are all entitled to our own opinions. But I do feel like it has something special, a composition the has some type of magic to it. I feel the same way about BDC, to me it has something special that stands out.

Overall I genuinely feel that Love daze is more well balanced, or at the very least less off putting then Kaaf. I honestly never really noticed the slight marine seaweed note in Kaaf until I did this comparison lol.

Try out both fragrances and see which one you like most, but most importantly find out whether you yourself think this is full bottle worthy or not and worth adding to your collection!

Ok, I'm really not sure what Hawas is doing with this release lol. I mean first the bottle comes out and it's like $80 dollars and barely available anywhere. And now I got to look again about 2 weeks after I got it and it's not available basically anywhere.

Either it's a super limited release and they did not make that many bottles, or people are scooping this up and trying to resell it at a ridiculous price?

I've been behind on my fragrance reviews since my friend had a motorcycle accident. I have about 10 reviews backed up. But I'm really happy to be finally posting about Hawas Thunder. It's one of my favorite perfumes that I have tested the last few days.

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The review:

YSL MYSLF L'Aboslu is my favorite of the MYSLF line. It has in my opinion the most presence and longevity of all of them. Hawas Thunder was no exception for me. This fragrance performed amazing after letting it mature for almost 2 weeks.

I received instant compliments from my 3 female employees. Woman just love this kind of smell on a man, it is very manly in a clean and fresh way.

I cannot compare what the OG smells like because it's only based on memory. But I did compare it to the famous "Nitro Elixir".

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The comparison:

Nitro has somewhere in the background it's famous sweet bubble gummyness to it blended into the fragrance. Nowhere near the level of Hawas, but you can see they put their own touch into the YSL MSLF L'Absolu DNA.

Now for some people, they might prefer this actually and consider it a improvement on the DNA. I don't feel too strongly, I think I like it just as much, but not more then the original DNA.

If I have to say which one was closer I would go with Hawas Thunder. I cannot say which one lasts longer between any of them.

But Thunder projected for about 3 hours and a half which was well above average projection. Take note that it does not project a good distance, it sits a little closer to the skin. But I could still smell it for 3 hours in the air, and that's what matters most to me.

I could still smell it on my skin at 9pm when I sprayed it at 11am. Great longevity too.

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My conclusion:

Overall, I would highly recommend this fragrance to anyone who like this DNA. This made it's way up to being in the group with my favorite Hawas!

$80 is reallyyy high up for these fragrances that you can usually find at $35 once the price regulates. At that price this is a STEAL.

Try the fragrance first,, to see if you really like it. And then I would recommend waiting until this gets a little lower, because $80 is sort of close to the OG at that point.

I'm very excited to have just received some of my first bottles from the new Street origins line! I have about 10 now with many more on the way. They fall under the Fragrance World umbrella so I'm anticipating some good stuff from them.

Out of the one's I received I picked some of my favorites out of the bunch to do a first impressions review. There is a conclusion at the end.

Very quirky and cartoony bottle designs. I see they're switching it up quite a bit. It's interesting. From what I understand a lot of these are supposed to be their own creations, so testing this lineup should be very interesting and exciting. Once I get more information about them I'll be sharing it in my upcoming posts.

I plan to do a full wear review on all of these fragrances, and I'll review as many as I can from the bottles I have coming in. Let me know in the comments if there is any in particular you want to see a review on.

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Miami Magic:

It's powdery while also being fresh, slightly fruity in almost a bubble gummy kind of way. I love that it has that sage and vanilla in the mix, it's a great mix.

It reminds me 100% of that Ultra Male kind of DNA with a nice twist. A little more playful, less serious. I'm not a huge fan of Ultra Male so my idea is that maybe I will like this more then Ultra male. I have to wear it soon and find out!

Top notes: Pepper, Mint, Lavender, Lemon and Bergamot
Middle notes: Cinnamon, Sage and Rose Geranium
Base notes: Patchouli, Amber, Musk and Vanilla

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Mumbai mc:

Spicy, reminds me a little of the most wanted. Not exactly a freshie, it has a lot of spices. Not too sweet either, more woody and smoky. Smells very manly and has some powderyness to it as well. Nowhere near as much as Miami Magic.

Top notes: Grapefruit, Cardamom, Cinnamon and Nutmeg
Middle notes: Lavender and Licorice
Base notes: Sandalwood, Patchouli, Vetiver and Amber

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Ibiza Boom:

Addicting, Sweet, creamy smooth while also being some kind of fruity fresh. Not too extreme in any direction, pretty well blended. Very very unisex.

Notes give a super interesting complexion and they come together very well. I can't think of anything that smells similar to this, kind of seems to be doing it's own thing.

Top notes: Dry Wood, Marine notes and Bergamot
Middle notes: Black Pepper, Geranium, Saffron and Apple
Base notes: Patchouli, Vetiver, Cedar, Musk and Ylang-Ylang

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Love daze, santorini Extrait:

Very manly, in your face & pungent. Right away has that Abercrombie store at the mall kind of smell., reminds me a little of BDC Exlusif somewhere in the mix. Very clean I've always loved this kind of DNA and I look VERY forward to wearing this fragrance.

Has some interesting notes and composition. As far as my favorite freshies goes this could be high up there at the top of the list. Would love to see how these competes against Kaaf!

Top notes: Artemisia, Citrus and Lavender
Middle notes: Marine notes and Rose Geranium
Base notes: Patchouli, Vetiver and Evernyl

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Conclusion:

I'm really looking forward to trying out the rest of their line I have on the way. I don't think they're all going to suit my particular taste since we all have our own preferences. But the ones I picked out to do these first impressions on are all VERY solid.

My favorite is Love daze followed by Ibiza Boom. But your experience may vary!

Try samples of the fragrances for yourself before buying because my favorite might be your least!

This just launched a couple of weeks ago, so for the most part you're only going to see reviews from influencers. That's why I want to try to cover this line as much as possible.
And of course now you have the option to try them yourselves.

* This bottle is slightly matured, but it still needs time to reach it's full potential. This is a review by Decantified *

I'm sorry to disappoint but I've never smelled the OG Ingenious Ginger. So this post will not be a comparison to the OG. Only a comparison of the 3 dupes I own to each other, and a full wear review of Aristo.

I've only fully worn Aristo so I will only be able to do a full wear review on that fragrance. But I have sprayed Ravine Ginger on skin/paper and Taif as well for this review. I'll update my findings in the conclusion.

The differences:

Smelling the 3 on the opening it's extremely difficult to tell any of them apart at first. Give it just a little of time and you start to notice the differences:

-Taif feels a little more tangy and pungent then the other 2. It also has a bit more florals then the others. It kind of does feel like the strongest right now. The bottle says it's an Extrait.

-Ravine ginger feels a little more sweeter then both.

-Aristo is probably the most ginger heavy of the 3. This is the best way I can explain the differences.

Aristo and Ravine Ginger are more similar to one another. Taif is the most different of the 3.

I think Aristo is probably the most interesting of the 3 followed by Taif. I'm not too happy about the longevity of Aristo though which I'll explain in my review.

My Review:

I sprayed Aristo at 12 in the afternoon. Let me start by explaining that one of my top 3 fragrances is definitely LV L'Immensite. I don't know why it's not mentioned more compared to LV Pacific Chill, Afternoon Swim & Imagination. But that DNA is the richest and most luxurious DNA I can think of. It smells like money to me.

Indigenous Ginger does not smell like L'Immensite, but it is very ginger heavy. Something that LV is as well. And this makes me really like the DNA as well. Aristo opens up with a VERY heavy Ginger powderyness.

It feels very smooth and high quality. Even for being a fairly new bottle (5 weeks) it feels so well blended already.

For a lot of people the ginger can be a little overwhelming. Especially in the opening. I had two girls I working with me the day I wore this, and one of them was not liking it.

My problem with this fragrance is it's longevity. It was pretty below average. I could smell it after 1 hour, but others around me said it wasn't really projecting. At the 2 hour mark it certainly was not projecting anymore and only a skin scent.

But the longevity is where I really noticed this fragrance was lacking. I couldn't even smell this on my skin by 6pm.. this rarely ever happens with any fragrance. I usually still smell them at least slightly. Nothing with Aristo.

Drydown becomes rather creamy.

My Rating:

The rating is for Aristo (the only one I've worn for a full day)

Scent score: 8.6/10
Performance 6/10

Overall Rating 7/10

Conclusion:

If you haven't tried any of these fragrances, please know they are VERY ginger heavy. Be prepared for that or looking for that if you intend to buy a full bottle of any of these.

As always I suggest trying different samples of this DNA to see which fragrance suits YOUR taste the most. For me personally I think I like Aristo over Ravine Ginger. But this new Taif is really peaking my interest. I'm almost convinced that if I do a full wear on it, I might like it more then Aristo! It's supposed to be more concentrated in oil (extrait) so I'm really hoping for some improvement in performance as the bottle matures more.

** This fragrance is brand new and it has not had any time to mature. This review was written by Decantified **

I finally got my Khamra Waha in yesterday and I could not wait to wear it!

I doused myself in a unusual amount of sprays today lol. I did about 7. And then 30 minutes later I did another 3. I really wanted to give this one a fair chance since it is a freshy and also I haven't matured it at ALL.

What can I compare this to?:

So right when spraying this, I'm reminded of so many different fragrances all at once. It's unique in the sense that it doesn't feel like a direct dupe of any other fragrances I have in my 700 fragrance collection.

But it shares similarities with Rasasi Hawas, a little with Hawas Ice with some bubble gummy aspects to it. It reminded me of Ravine Ice (Pacific Oak Moss) with it's fresh mossy-like coolness that it has. Probably in part due to it's Cucumber and Sage. I don't get any strong Cucumber note though like with Nautica Voyage.

It reminds me of some of my coconut fragrances like Aquatica by Rayhaan, and Tahira by riffs (CH la bomba). But it doesn't have that sickly coconut I dislike so much from other fragrances. Here it's VERY smooth and blended extremely well. There is no coconut in the notes, but that creaminess I detect reminds me of this.

It has some of the characteristics of Le Beau by JPG. Le Beau is just a little more heavy and stronger, while Waha is more cooler and smoother. Has some powderyness to it too.

The dry down starts to feel a little more like that classic Khamrah. The woodiness really starts to come out and hang out more with all the freshness you get on the first blast. And this is a good thing because I feel like without this, the fragrance just wouldn't last too long.

Lastly I do detect the smallest amount of Mawj moscow mule because of it's green ginger freshness, but it's very slight.

Performance and Rating:

So I sprayed my last sprays at 1pm. I was surprised to notice that this un-matured, freshy was still projecting after 2 hours. Started to die down into a skin scent after this. It lasted on my skin until around 9pm. And this was after a day of heavy sweating and being outside in windy conditions.

11pm and I can still smell it on my clothes faintly.

Subjective scent score: 8.3/10
Performance 7.3/10

Overall score: 8/10

Conclusion:

I really look forward to giving this fragrance a few more wears to get to know it better, I also look forward to letting it mature and hopefully see some improvement in performance and blend quality. It's pretty good in my opinion. Different from my other fragrances while also being very similar. I would wait for the price to drop before spending extra money on this fragrance. It's not worth anywhere near what they are charging right now because of how many other great more affordable options there are that are very similar.

Overall I do like the fragrance and I'm very on the fence as to whether I would get a full bottle or not.

Try a sample first with a decant before paying the extra tax they're charging right now for the fragrance. Or wait a month and watch it drop down to 30 is my suggestion.

I've been out of it for a few days with the flu lately so I haven't been able to do my usual posts. I'm glad to be feeling better again and back at it with a really good clone battle post I've been holding onto since before I got sick.

These are my favorite kind of posts, and some of the most useful IMO. The majority of people truly just want to find the closest copy to their favorite OG's.

These post just take longer to make then regular fragrance reviews so I can't make them as often.

The Runner Ups:

I know Dubai Nights Midnight is more closely a dupe of YSL MYSLF EDP instead of LE PARFUM. I've always really loved Dubai Night Midnight. So I'll be counting it as a twist of Le Parfum.

Lynked Freedom is compared to be a dupe of The most Wanted Parfum just as much as MYSLF LE Parfum. In fact a lot of people call it a hybrid of the two.

The only "real" clone here is bujairamis Extra Pulse.

A quick test:

Quick smell test and Ysl really has such a nice powdery freshness with a subtle earthiness and linen type of fresh going on. Some type of Blue/Green mix. It's interesting that I usually see these type of white florals in woman's fragrances. But here they grabbed it and added to it lots of masculine notes. This fragrance boasts its black pepper, orange blossom bourbon vanilla, strong woodsy notes, patchouli and amber.

Sitting down and doing another smell test, I feel like DN is more sweet and least powdery of them all. A tad bit of fruit in there perhaps.

Extra pulse is the closest to YSL. In fact its RIGHT there with YSL. The Og has just a tad bit more powderiness to it if anything on the opening.

Lynked freedom goes in it's own direction for sure. It has some similarities, and of all of them it is the most powderiest of them all. Really doing more of it's own thing though.

The real test:

I took all 4 fragrances and sprayed them all on paper. I had my workers pick the closest one to the OG and 2 of them picked Extra Pulse while 1 girl picked Dubai Nights Midnight. I think she also liked DN more over the OG!

Dubai Night Midnight is more floral and softer then the OG. The OG has a more powderyness and woodsy aspect to it. Lasted about the same as the OG. 2.5 hours of good projection and 8 hours solid skin scent.

Lynked freedom really smells like a straight mix of Le Parfum and something else. It's like completely missing the floral aspects of the OG.

Extra pulse was spot on. The girls could not pick one over the other. Longevity and performance are pretty spot on with the OG. I wouldn't say it does any better and might just perform the smallest amount less then the OG.

As time passes Pulse feels more sweeter, powdery, and woodier then the OG.
The OG leans more into is floral aspects.

The conclusion:

Woman LOVE this DNA guys. If you're looking for something to impress and seduce the majority of woman this is it.

I would 100% say that Bujairami Extra Pulse is a perfect replacement for the OG. Performance is great and it's very similar to the OG. Only time you can really tell the difference is if you really nitpick for them. In fact many will pick this over the OG because it feels more intense.

The other two are great twists and Dubai Nights Midnight is one of those underrated gems that only the OG's really know about lol.

Try them all regardless, and figure out which one is the best one for you. There's even samples of the OG's to conduct your own tests and let us know how do these dupes compare to the OG's.

* Disclaimer: This fragrance is still brand new and it needs time to mature *
This is a review by Decantified on the new Intoxicate Mystique launched by La Fede *

Wow! This opens up great! Instantly I feel like I wanna give this fragrance a 9/10 easily based on the opening alone. Thankfully, I actually got to wear it and I can give you the full scope of the review instead of a first impression whiff.

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Inspiration: Paradigme Prada

Unfortunately I don't have the OG to compare. So I really can't help out with a comparison. What I can say is it does not smell like MYSLF L'Absolu like a few people have compared it to. I can slightly see the resemblance but it def does something different.

The opening really does feel 'expensive'. More so on skin then on paper. It has a certain charm to it that is hard to ignore. It opens with a perfectly balanced fresh, bright, sweetness that is very easy to like. Almost a little resinous with the sweetness.

All 4 out of 4 people that I showed the fragrance to really liked this fragrance. It also has a noticeable amount of Vanilla in the fragrance giving this a little something extra apart from just your normal generic blue freshie. Especially in the dry down.

It's not something 'new' or Niche that I can't get enough of. But it also feels better quality then a lot of the other freshies out there.

This is where things go a little downhill. I feel like I only really got close to 2 hours or projection with it. I stopped smelling it pretty early.

By 3pm it definitely wasn't projecting anymore. And I had sprayed it around 11am. And by 6pm it was a very light skin scent.

I want to make sure I mention again this is a brand new fragrance with only about 1 week of maturation. So it really needs time like most middle eastern fragrances to mature for about a good 2 months before we can truly judge the longevity and quality of the fragrance.

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Rating:

Scent quality 9/10
Performance 6.5/10 (I think when this fragrance matures performance will definitely improve based on the fragrance notes)

Overall rating 8/10

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Conclusion:

I was VERY impressed with La Fede Intoxicate Mystique. I did not know what it was a clone of going into it. And when I wore it, I felt like I was wearing a freshie I hadn't come across yet.

I liked it so much that I kept wanting to smell it in the air, but unfortunately I don't know if it's because it's so new that it needs time to mature still, or the DNA itself is meant to be more intimate, but it did not project into the air that much for me.

For this reason I'm not sure if I would buy a full bottle or not of this yet. I need to give it more time to decide. I encourage you guys to try the fragrance first yourselves and make the decision yourselves and not based on what other influencers are saying about this.

* Disclaimer: This fragrance is still brand new and it needs time to mature *

Title says it all. Imagination has got to be the most battled clone there is on this sub. The battles have been well overdone at this point. I'm not going to focus on what is better here or not. So far the consensus to me is a equal tie between Hectic, Marwa, and Kobra. So those are the ones I'm going to focus on the most. Each being a little different. From what I gather Aqua Dubai is the longest lasting, followed by Hawas Kobra, but it's also the soapiest and most synthetic of the bunch. Still a great fragrance nonetheless.

What I have:

• GoS Full House
• Marwa
• Hectic
• Mazaaj Infused
• Essence De Blanc
• Amber Oud Aqua Dubai
• Hawas Kobra
• Decant of Imagination OG
• Decant of Montagne Imaginary

And now we have Jean Lowe Fantasme.

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I'm not going to BS here, I sprayed all 6 on papers right now, Fantasme, Montagne Imaginary, Hawas Kobra, Marwa, OG Imagination, and Bujairami Hectic.

I'm having a hard time picking up the differences, possible nose fatigue. But they really are so similar... It appears to me that Marwa, and Hectic lean a tad more soapy then the OG. I'll do my best.

Montagne and Kobra seem to lean more on the tea notes.

Fantasme feels like it's right in the middle.

Guys before I continue, I just want to make sure I say this. There is NO REASON to spend money on the OG imagination. I thank them for paving the way to this amazing DNA, but these fragrances smell so identical my friends can't even pick out the OG!!

In a blind test, one of my friends picked Kobra as his favorite while the other friend picked Fantasme of the 6.

Blind tested, I ended up choosing two because I could not pick between them. They were Kobra and Hectic.

Kobra is great, but it does feel like there is some chemical in there making it so strong. I could be wrong.

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My review of Jean Lowe Fantasme:

I've worn Fantasme 3 or 4 times already. The fragrance is fire. Everyone who smelled it on me at work thought it was amazing. I've let this fragrance mature now for almost three weeks, so it still needs a lot more time to get a accurate review. I really like this version of it, it's very smooth and a perfect balance of the tea and soapy qualities of Imagination. It does not lean synthetic and feels very natural compared to some of the others.

Like some other Maison Alhambras, the performance was a little lackluster. I'm trying not to pay too much attention to this since this fragrance still needs time to mature. Only time will tell, but for now I'll have to add that into my rating. It projected for a little less then 2 hours. The longevity was about 8 hours skin scent. But it lasts longer on clothes. Really sticks well.

Might be one of my favorite versions of the scent itself.

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My rating:

Scent quality 8.9/10
Performance 7/10

Overall 8/10

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Conclusion:

It feels great owning Jean Lowe Fantasme as a replacement for Imagination. Bottle looks really nice and the scent is A1. It really comes down to what your looking for and what you find around you at the best price. This one feels more natural then some of the others, but it also has less performance. With maturation this will probably improve, but I have a feeling it will be slightly only.

Try out the different Imagination clones first and see what you're favorite is. The best dupe for this fragrance is super controversial and of course I recommend looking for the one that suits you best. I wasn't able to do full wear's of each for all of these different fragrances, so upon wearing it, you might be easier able to make a decision between all of them if you're serious about finding a replacement for Imagination.

BONUS:

Next day update. I'm taking my pictures this morning as I always do for my post, and I'm smelling all the strips I used again. So Marwa, Montagne, Hectic pretty much all smell like nothing on paper at this point.

Jean Lower Fantasme, The OG Imagination, and Hawas Kobra however are still slightly kicking. Very surprising results from the OG and Fantasme.