An unbiased opinion on clones from a 47yo who bought his first one just two months ago.
A little background to get an idea of my history with fragrances and my taste. I have always liked fragrances but was never a collector. I mainly only bought designer fragrances and only ever had about 5-10 at a time. Everything I ever had was mainly the most readily available at the department stores as the internet fragrance scene as well as dupes were not mainstream in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Although I never had a bunch at any time. I always tried something different each time, so over the last 30 years between what I had and what I smelled on others, I have experienced a wide range of fragrances. Some of my favorites are OG Spicebomb, Boss Bottled Parfum, Profundo, Dylan Blue, Mont Blanc Explorer, and a discontinued Burberry (The Beat). So mostly mass appealing stuff.
Let us talk about dupes/clones and original scents from the clone companies. Clones in my late teens and early twenties were terrible to non-existent. I was surprised when my daughter had some Lattafa fragrances in the “keep shopping for” on Amazon so after asking her why she was looking at cheap knockoff parfum, she told me she had smelled some at the airport and they smelled good. After doing a limited amount of research I reminded my daughter my birthday was coming up and put Lattafa Asad Elixr in my wish list lol. Once it came in, I sprayed it, thought it smelled like burnt plastic and put it on the shelf and went on with my life. After about two weeks I sprayed it again and it smelled pretty good. Now maceration was not something I knew about because I never bought a designer fragrance that I had to buy and hope it smelled better weeks or months later, so I was not subconsciously tricked into liking it lol. I was intrigued though and after watching more videos I learned that some clones needed time. I imagine it is because they are pumped out and hyped up and sold all over without the manufacturers maturing them themselves but based on the price and the fragrance developing into something pleasant, I was ok with that. I have since bought 12 clones in the last two months lol. I wanted to compare them with the OG’s that I did have and for the ones I didn’t have, I would judge them as a standalone fragrance which I think is the best way to go about it since if it isn’t a one to one clone it is something different. I only have one or two OG’s of my current clones anyway. I will give my honest and unbiased opinion on them. I have no YouTube channel, no TikTok, no fragrance shop, or anything else where I would benefit from my opinion. Here is the list, along with my opinion. I will give basic opinions because what notes I pick up means nothing. There are so many environmental variables that affect how we interpret fragrances. So, my opinion does not matter anyway. I will also give some recommendations to young men wanting to smell good and do not know where to start.
Lattafa Asad Elixr-I do not remember what the OG smells like other than smelling it on others recently, but this fragrance is great and would recommend it. It is complex enough to compete with designer fragrances. This lasted all day on clothes and 6-8 on skin for me.
Lattafa Asad- This one is very complex as well and will pass as a designer fragrance to all but those who are serious aficionados. This one lasted all day on clothes as well and on skin.
Afnan 9pm- I have the JPG Ultra Male, and this one does a decent job. For my nose, it is an 8/10 clone, and I would definitely say get it.
Lattafa the Kingdom- I do not have the OG but this one smells good. It does not smell as complex as the first two, but another safe buy that is designer quality. It does not smell cheap to me like a few on this list do. I will say this one lasted over 15 hours on my shirt.
Lattaffa Zanzibar- This one is not good at all for me (for me lol). The vanilla and coconut smell very cheap and reminds me of off-brand vanilla pudding lol. Maybe it will get better, maybe not.
Lattafa Khashabi-I really like this fragrance. Citrusy opening with very woody dry down. It reminds me of when I was a carpenter and cutting through old wood doing remodels lol. It lasts all day.
Afnan Turathi Blue- This one was a bit disappointing, especially as much as it was hyped. I get a bathroom cleaner smell but underneath that there is something really good. I hope it gets better. As it is now, I would not wear it.
CDNIM-I really like this one and agree with most about the harsh opening but after that it is a great citrusy fragrance and lasts all day.
Rasasi Hawas Ice- This one smells great and has great longevity. I has a very grape heavy opening to me and although I really like it, I think it is better suited for younger men.
French Avenue Liquid Brun-LOL. I don’t get the hype. I will hopefully have something better to say later. If Althair smells like this, I do not know how they sell it. Well, I do know how, we all have different tastes. The spice in it just clashes with the vanilla to me. It’s like they mixed two things that smell good on their own but do not smell good together.
Rayhaan Aquatica-Lime and coconut are some of my favorite aromas, and this delivers both. Wore it to work today and was very impressed. If it gets any better, then that is icing on the cake. Some people say all they get is the lime, but I got plenty of coconut smells with a faint hint of the really good smelling dryer sheets.
Lattafa Suqraat-Just got this one today and it smells great. I have Profundo not Profumo but based on the similarities I cannot believe it was $20. No matter if it smells like the OG or not, it is a great fragrance for the price.
When it comes to clones, I think they are great and have their place. I would have loved to have had access to inexpensive but great smelling fragrances when I was a teenager or in my 20’s. Anyone complaining about them copying designers needs to remember that the designers copy each other as well. I will say I do think that someone young and just getting started should not only get clones. Go on fragrancenet.com and get some of the older releases from designers. Just because they are old or played out to some does not mean you cannot enjoy them. I am almost 50, have a good career and can buy mostly any fragrance I want but still buy older frangrances because there are tens of thousands of them out there and plenty of older ones I haven't tried. Azzaro Chrome, Davidoff Adventure, OG Burberry Men, older Boss releases, Versace Pour Homme and Dylan blue are all cheaper ones to try and it will give you a baseline to compare other fragrances to.
The only problem I have with clones or other fragrances from these companies is the fact that you are sometimes expected to wait for them to mature. They should be releasing a complete product. Now most of the ones I have bought smelled great upon opening, but they should all be released ready to wear. I would also like to see these companies focus more on original creations, which we are already seeing more of. Competition is good either way, and I believe we all know that with designer clothes, accessories, and fragrances, you are paying a large percentage for the name.
So there you have it, a random old man's take on a few clones and the companies that make them.