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.