Had the pleasure to try this out and get a 10ML bottle. What a super refreshing and lovely scent! Photorealistic crushed mojito leaves into dewy rose! But the perfomance is below average... anyone know a good dupe of this? Preferably with better performance? I'm not looking for Torino21-esque perfumes, I'm looking for ultra-realistic, green, non-sweet mint perfumes alternatives
I’ve noticed this with Zenith, CDN Extrait, Riffs Freeze, Obsidian French Avenue + many more, do these companies just think we’re dumb, are they mislabeling, or do they just create a strong DNA and call it a Extrait? For those who don’t know Extraits don’t project near as loudly as lower concentrations like EDP and EDT but in return last longer, not a huge deal but for somebody like me I always check the box. Seems like they think instead of a classification their using it as a Buzz Word sort of like “Elixir” was the past couple years
I’ll preface this with the fact that it’s only been 20 minutes since I’ve tested them. Tested in air, on paper, and on skin. I’m not going to give a detailed review for any of them because I don’t have the best nose, so I’m not very good at giving an accurate description of what things smell like. That being said, the only one I wasn’t initially underwhelmed by was opulant Dubai. Realistic mango with some other nice notes, was really nice from the initial spray and is still nice on my skin about 20 mins in. Rare reef was a rough opening. Very blue, musky smell to me. Smelled a bit synthetic. As it dries down though it’s become a bit better and more wearable, so I guess we shall see. Vintage radio to me smelled like a candy apple in the opening, very syrupy. But as it dries down it’s becoming quite nice actually, a lot less sweet and syrupy, and the woody notes in here are balancing out the syrupy sweetness. Liquid brun just isn’t for me I think. Smells high quality, but seems like a fragrance for older folk lol. I will give these all some time and see how I feel later on, but all in all I need to stop buying shit just based on hype😂 but I’ll give myself a pass since I’m new to this shit.
Visiting family members in Lebanon this summer. Do you guys think they’ll care if buy them clones fragrances from brands such as mason Alhambra or lattafa. Will they be familiar with these brands as “fake” or will they appreciate them. I grew up in the west so idk what the fragrance culture is like in Lebanon
Other ones worth mentioning cuz they are not that great
Gonna return spectre ghost, not bad but not for me, Liquid brun does it better.
Odyssey mega smells less fruity than ysl y edp, think giving wooden sticks a bubble bath
Really liked mandarin sky at first smells super synthetic to me now
Azure is good I like it a lot just lower in rankings for performance is 2 hours at most, mainly a scent for after a shower and staying home
Shadow leather is Pretty much 1to1 with ombré leather , not a complex smell just leather,
Abused this at first as it was my my intro to dupes and one of my first fragrances I ever bought for myself
But out grew it, just a very heavy scent that sinks in your lungs , good to layer if you want to add leather to something
How is this not talked about more? Right out of the box it’s very fresh and has a slight tea note. I read somewhere it’s LV Afternoon Swim / LV Imagination. I can definitely see that. This one’s underrated! It’ll be my easy grab this summer, for sure.
These came in yesterday. I got like 13 other fragrances I want to give a 2 month update on, plus another 2 fragrances coming in this week. With that being said, I'm keeping this review relatively short.
Random, Rasasi was my favorite house specifically for the Hawas line (I've never smelled any of their other line). I have all 19 current releases (well, I bought the 4 women's versions for my girl) and will get any and every future release, regardless if I like the DNA or not, or if it's a redundant DNA. I actually consider myself to be a Hawas collector and had been extremely satisfied with with their product up until recent. Viper and Atlantis were such a huge fall off for me, and I think Venom was heading that way which is why it probably got canned. London was ehhhhh. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't really good either. Because of this fall off, Rayhaan swooped in as my #1 favorite house, followed by French Avenue. These 3 new fragrances are a good start at Rasasi reclaiming their throne, but I feel they're going to need another 2-3 super solid Hawas releases in a row before they can do that for me.
Let's start here. This is probably the more complicated one of the 3. From what I'm gathering, this is a clone of Maison Crivelli Oud Maracujá. I've never smelled that fragrance so I don't know how close this is to it. Without getting too wordy, I smell a lot of leather. There's a couple of other notes, but my nose can't identify what they are and I'm not going to look them up. Just know it's a whole lotta shit going on with this one lol. This is a super masculine fall/winter fragrance. I gotta spend some time with this one to get my final verdict. I like it as a stand alone, but it's my least favorite of these 3. That's not to say there's anything wrong with it because I can see myself wearing it, the other two just happen to be better. It's also super strong and the strongest of the 3 right out of the box. It was screaming off the back of my hand for like 4hrs straight. I don't think I have anything like this in my collection, so I don't really have anything to compare this to. Because it's a winter scent, I don't know when I'll get around to actually wearing it and have a proper 2 month update for y'all.
This is 9PM Elixir aka Le Male Elixir Absolu. If you like 9PM Elixir, this is that...just initially stronger. I'm not gonna give any sorta detailed note breakdown simply because I don't have one. I opened it, filled up my decant, sprayed a tester strip, acknowledged that it smelled like 9PM Elixir, then moved onto the next fragrance. Do they smell exactly alike? I don't know, but they're extremely close. I also don't know why they'd release this like a year or so after 9PM Elixir released but whatever.
When I first smelled MYSELF L'Absolu, I fell in love with it and couldn't wait for it to be cloned. Nitro Elixir hit the scene and it's VERY good, so good that I grabbed 2 bottles. That gets you in the realm of MYSLF L'Absolu, but it's very, very different. Based solely off of first spray, Hawas Thunder is far closer to the real MYSLF L'Absolu. I have a MYSLF L'Absolu sample at home that I was trying to find so I can compare the two, but I fell asleep😅. I'll try again later today. Anyway, I don't know what notes are in this or the real thing. I just know I get a beautiful fresh laundry smell. This is perfect for this weather. Didn't seem to be as strong as Lava Gold btw. Hopefully it at least matches Nitro Elixir's performance. Overall though, I like it. I can't wait to spend some time with it this summer.
That's it for these 3. For me, Thunder is the best, Lava Gold is the strongest, and Exotic is good, it's just super redundant. Actually, Exotic is really good. If 9PM Elixir didn't exist or it sucked, I'd have a lot more to say about Exotic. But I'm happy with these. My Khamrah Waha should be in today and I'll have a review on that tomorrow/this weekend. Super side note, I'm currently at work and I'm wearing French Avenue's Santal. Wow, simply wow. I smell amazing and this shit is BEAMING off of me. I sprayed it going on 4hrs ago and it's so strong and right in my face😳. I haven't worn it in a month or two and it seems to be way stronger than what I remember.
And I know someone's going to ask me so here we go:
Kobra, Tropical, and maybe Verde🤔. Ice is an honorable mention, however, I can see Thunder possibly knocking one of them off. I just gotta see how it performs in the real world.
Its summers and I just have to talk about Maison Alhambra's Jean Lowe Immortel. They absolutely nailed it.
Right off the first spray, you get this incredible blast of fresh ginger mixed with grapefruit. It’s zesty, a little sweet, and super uplifting without smelling harsh or synthetic. As it dries down, you start picking up some clean herbal notes before it settles into a really smooth, rich smelling amber and ambroxan base.
The longevity is what really seals the deal for me. It easily pushes a solid 6-8 hours on skin, and if you spray it on clothes, it just stays. You'll keep catching these amazing whiffs of it all day. For the price, the value you are getting here is just insane compared to dropping crazy money on the original. It’s a super versatile profile too, perfect for the office or just stepping out. If you want a fresh, spicy, everyday signature scent that punches way above its weight class, this is the one.
Rating: 10/10
Pic of my bottle, as you can see I have put quite a bit of dent in it.
Diesel plus plus masculine and Calvin Klein obsession night dupes ?
Here is another quick post in a new format continuing my previous posts.
UNFORTUNATELY THE REDDIT DRAFT SYSTEM IS COMPLETE AND UTTER CRAP SO I WORKED FOR ABOUT 1H AND THEN I LOST MOST OF IT WHEN I ADDED THE PICTURE, SO I AM RE-DOING THIS FROM WHAT WAS LEFT BUT NOW VERY, VERY BRIEFLY.
I am trying to keep things condensed - with my own scores for the scent quality, for longevity and for value for money. The picture and all bottles are mine.
Usual disclaimers apply - no affiliation, my nose is very specific, I count as usable just the time with projection or decent bubble that I can feel at more than 20-30cm (sometimes I might mention the skin scent part but not so interested myself) - and some spraying on clothes is generally now involved most of the time (and described as such).
Layton is in theory an Oriental Floral (I would say with woody base) perfume by Hamid Merati-Kashani produced by DSM-Firmenich for Parfums de Marly. What I find very specific is the combination of green apple peel with something else (possibly bitter lavender) creating a nuance not very far away from clear sage and a tiny bit spicy-bitter which for some people is very easy to detect (and I also find something similar in YSL Y). It is the only profile which got me a perfume compliment from somebody completely unknown at a decent distance (2-3m) after 3+ hours after the (possibly generous 🙄) application.
My first in the profile, blind-buy that got me hooked, very inexpensive compared to any other in this post.
I ordered that one but I had to wait a long time for good maturation.
I got that on a very very good end-of-year discount since it is otherwise very overpriced for a 60ml. It is reported to be same as Amber Oud Exclusif Bleu from US where it had a better price and also not very far away from Orientica Premium Royal Bleu (which is the EDP form in 80ml of the Oud Bleu which is elixir in 60ml but somehow is now even more expensive).
I also did order the sample kit to test if I was missing anything.
Current original is for me a 9 at least, Détour Noir a 6+, Shobi like a 7-8 and XO Bleu a 7-9 but for different reasons - Shobi actually seems closer to current Layton but quality is artisanal while XO Bleu has good quality but forcing a specific outcome - it is sharper with more citrus and maybe some mint and also keeps the top feeling much, much deeper (even if it feels a little forced).
Current original is probably like 8+ but there are tons of reports on how in first years Layton was significantly stronger like a 9. Détour Noir is acceptable (and great for the price) 6-7, Shobi at 30+2 is possibly longer-lasting than original but with less projection so 7-8. XO Bleu is nuclear 9+ as long as you like things a little extreme - but is the only perfume that got me compliment from somebody that I did not know 😉
Original is 290 EUR / 125ml so no matter how good quality and longevity is that would be 3-4, but you can find a tester arund 140-160 EUR depending on demand (and that would be a 5-6 depending on how much you want the original). Détour Noir is somewhere 7-9, Shobi is unfortunately NOT in lowest price bracket so is a 7+ instead of 8-9. I can't see XO Bleu in stock, mine was like 40+ EUR / 60ml so in this context like a 6-7 but Royal Bleu is now in stock like 90 EUR for 80ml which IMHO is insane (5-6, IMHO in that range you might want to consider the tester of the original).
Yes, it is part of my rotation in the right conditions, but which one I will buy depends 🙄 - right now I will mix some Shobi with XO Bleu for the hot part of the year (when XO Bleu is a little too much and anyway I like the extra nuance from the Shobi), will use XO Bleu for the cold season until it ends and I will hope there will be again very good deals at some point for XO Bleu.
Pretty much as the title says, this is all ive got so far, my personal favorites are:
SCE- pretty much my signature scent when it comes to warmer weather, just love it so much im at my second bottle.
Valhalla- i think the raspberry in it just makes me love it so much, and i tend to reach for it very often in the colder months
The ones im gonna list now are good but not at the top of my list:
Ba Ha Mas- just got it so im still figuring some things out but i really do seem to enjoy it, i would recommend more people to try it as i havent seen it to he as hyped as the others
9PM Night Out- a really good night time fragrance as the name of it says, it smells great and seems to last for a long time i really like it
Hawas the OG- just a plain daily, not much to say about it but its a good fragrance to grab when you dont know what you wanna wear
Riffs momento- i like to wear this one when i wanna be noticed as it is very damn loud, one of my friends asked me once if i had broken the cologne bottle onto myself and i was wearing like 6-8 sprays that time
Ameer al oudh- although im almost out of it its mostly because ive had it for a long time and been using it as a daily for the winter, its ok but not exactly great in my eyes
Now onto the ones i dont really like or im not too sure about:
Rayhaan nocturno elixir- it pains me to have this one here but its just not what i expected, i had Bleu de chanel edp when i was younger and somehow expected it to be closer to that, but it really isnt, im not saying its a bad fragrance however, ill let it macerate for a while and come back to it and maybe ill change my view
Essence of casablanca- it smells great but its a bit too feminine for me, my mother uses it more often then i do, i will prob end up just giving it to her
Riffs seasons Rise- it goes after SWY parfum as far as i know but it seems kind of overly sweet to me, i iust use it as a cologne for running errands or whenever idk what to wear in the cooler months
Now for the main reason of my post, im looking for recommendations based on what i have listed above, i dont exactly know what type of notes i like and frankly idk if i will even figure it out as my nose doesnt seem to be able to pick up much in terms of certain notes, i just know what i like and i dont like. That being said i would probably be looking for something for the cooler weather as ive got a fair few for the summer, but i wouldnt be opposed to grabbing one maybe two more
Decanter review: The decants were PERFECTLY packaged. 0 leaking bottles and all labels intact and clear. 10/10 this time!
I never tried the OG. Took me over a year to find decants of these!
IDK what the hell is wrong with Fragrantica, as both of these don't smell like the notes listed AT ALL!
The profile: Mainly (like, 75%) just very "airy aquatic", with just a hint of citrus-ginger and mint, and Ambroxan that makes you nose-blind in 10 minutes. Good thing I have the wife to clock performance, and I'll use my jacket to hide the scent so I could see what's the dry-down is about...
Okay, dry-down isn't much different. Maybe a tiny bit more musky. Kind of like a slightly musky cucumber water. It's an extremely simplistic profile. I expected a ginger bomb, but got an uninspiring airy aquatic instead. Kind of smells like a pool-side (but without too much chlorine in it). For some reason, my wife ADORES it, but she can't describe why. I find it to be more of a body mist profile than a real fragrance.
The differences: Mule's aquatic airy notes are slightly better quality. In Lunar, these notes are a little more synthetic, and come off a tiny bit "eggy". Otherwise, they're very similar. They perform the same too.
Subjective Scent Score: 6.8 (wife 9.1). It has no "bite". Not sweet, not fruity, not spicy... Just a "nothing fragrance".
On skin (longevity): Both 5-6 hours.
Performance above skin: Both low-medium projection for about an hour, then low scent bubble for another 1-2 hours. Skin scent at hour 3.
Blind buy safety score: 8.8. Very inoffensive and basic. No one is going to complain when you wear it. Great for people who want a super subtle scent, like ones working closely with patients, or ones not allowed to wear fragrances to work.
Unisex Score (0=fem, 5=unisex, 10=Male): 6.0.
Versatility Score: 7.0. Summer-spring only, mostly daytime... But any and every occasion.
Blend Quality Score: Mule 7.1 (average clone quality), Lunar 6.8 (slightly below average clone quality).
Value Score: Lunar 7.0 $24 (Jomashop) for below average quality and below performance. Mule 5.5. $34 (FragranceNet) for average quality and below average performance.
Should cost: Lunar $12-$15. Mule $20-$25.
Bottle design: Lunar 7.5. Mule 9.0.
Atomizer Score:N/A
Conclusion: I'm not interested in getting either of these. But if you're worried about sticking out in the crowd, this one is for you.
And as always, don't trust me, get decants!
Longstory short: 10/10 fragrance.
In my search for a gym fragrance that performs well in the very hot and humid climates I stumbled on Atmosphere by Aurora Scents. I blind bought it because it was rather affordable here at roughly $50.
On first sniff it immediately hits me as Amouage Beach Hut but without the earthy patchouly that Beach Hut has. Beach Hut is a phenomenal fragrance that makes your eyebrows lift immediately when you smell it. For me personally I am put off by the earthy patchouli dry down that lasts forever. It helps the fragrance project and last, but it kills the fresh quality for me.
Another close friend of this fragrance is Le Sel d'Issey, in terms of marine & salt notes, but without the akigalawood.
A distant cousin of this fragrance is Herbes Troublantes but with far more substance longevity and projection.
Atmosphere is fresh, no funk, projects in high heat and last on your clothing until the next day. Pricing is fair and the bottle design is in a league of its own. Give it a try.
I heard about this fragrance a couple weeks ago after discussing alternatives to Angels' Share here on Reddit. In the sea of clones I was told about, someone mentioned two fragrances: Fervo Intenso, and Sand Desert at Sunset Intense. Unlike other dupes, these were made by the same perfumer as Angels' Share, meant to be similar to AS but stand on their own. I bought a decant of Fervo, loved it and deliberated for a while about whether I should blind buy Sand Desert, since samples aren't available. Eventually, I decided to order Sand Desert, and it arrived today, within 24-48 hours of ordering. So, I tested it, and was immediately disappointed. I was told this isn't a "direct clone," of AS, but a twist on the DNA. However, this has a completely different, unrelated profile. Sand Desert is like a weird, overly sweet freshie: it opens with a prominent orange note, but not like I expected. I actually detect some citrus in the opening of AS, so orange, in theory, could fit. However, instead of being bright and complimenting a warmer base, like AS, this orange quickly retains a sickly-sweet, medicinal quality, like orange cough syrup. There IS some warmth behind it, with vague hints of vanilla, which clashes with the orange and contributes to the medicinal smell. There's no boozy note, no gourmand tonka, no realistic, reserved vanilla, no bakery warmth, no brightness. The sweetness is unbalanced and nauseating. This couldn't be further from Angels Share. Overall, I give this a 2/10 on its own, and a 0/10 as a clone.
Can anyone recommend a clone for either of these two PDM perfumes. I have searched and searched yet turn up nothing.
Paid $300 for LV Imagination. Beautiful juice. Smells like someone dissolved a luxury hotel amenity kit into a fragrance and charged accordingly. Fool me once, Louis.
Did my homework and landed on two budget options. Here’s my honest take on each:
Aqua Dubai: Clean, fresh, aquatic with a slightly powdery dry-down. Projects well in heat. On its own it’s a crowd-pleaser. It's safe, versatile, nothing offensive. Moderate sillage, lasts about 6 hours on skin for me.
Armaf Odyssey Go Mango : Tropical, juicy opening that dries down into something warmer and slightly musky. More personality than Aqua Dubai alone. The mango note is present but not loud but it adds sweetness without going candy. Solid projection on fabric.
The combo (3 sprays Aqua Dubai + 2 sprays Go Mango on clothes): This is where it got dangerous. The aquatic freshness from Aqua Dubai lifts the Go Mango and keeps it from going too sweet. The result is something that reads expensive and tropical without screaming either. Sillage walked into the room before I did.
Bank account intact. Nose happy. Budget king behavior. 🤙
i tried it yesterday and the drydown immediately reminded me of ysl myslf edp with subdued but noticeable orange blossom almost like if myslf edp were to be layered with lv meteore.
Does anyone know a good clone of Isola Blu / Oligarch? I've seen Zakat Al Fajr and Risala Autograph. Has anyone tested them and can share their thoughts?
Suggest me citrussy fresh fragrance fellas with nuclear performanse. White floralls are + if its in perfume