*Note ~ this is in the same realm of Rayhaan Terra so if you liked that chances are you’ll love this, if you didn’t then this is probably not for you*

Scent - 9.6/10

for those who know my reviews I rarely go over 8.5. So this is a rare thing to happen. To me it’s a mass appealing niche slightly incense made fresh. Very oriental with some spices but not on a Khamrah level or anything like that. This is unique. For reference I HATE Supremacy Incense by Afnan. So incense isn’t a top note of mine but this does it right

Opening

- fresh dark citrus, with oriental spices and a overall spice to it

Midway

- that incense comes in but not a burning incense, a fresh unburt resin incense, I do get that fresh piney juniper kick in the background

Fully Dried Down

- even more spices come in to close it out and as it really drys down I get a silky almost creamy vanilla

Longevity & Performance - 9.3/10

projects a good 3-4 hours right out the box, smelt it still on skin 9 hours later but took a shower. Safe to say it would last longer then that

Overall Thoughts?

- if you like incense this might be for you but more importantly I think it’ll be for people who might have NOT liked incense scents before, being so fresh and mass appealing this is one of a kind other then Terra which I do believe this is better then. Got it for $28 w coupons so I’m very satisfied 👍

Backstory for this cologne goes as follows. My younger brother was at Nordstrom and he sampled a bunch of the Parfum de Marly’s on the counter top, and he told me that Layton smelled absolutely phenomenal. Having not smelled it myself, but trusting in my younger brother’s taste, I decided to look into Layton.

Layton, as a fragrance profile, seemed very alluring. It is supposed to be this floral apple spiced fragrance. And that in itself sold me. So, I looked into PDM Layton dupes. I found out that Al Haramain Detour Noir is supposedly the best Layton dupe.

Unfortunately, it appeared that Detour Noir was not listed on FragranceNet. Not trusting anything outside of FragranceNet, I looked for the closest second option. That is when I stumbled across Lalique White in Black, supposedly a pretty well crafted PDM Layton dupe.

So, as with all my other fragrances, I put it in my cart and blind bought it for $33.38.

Author’s note: No, I am not a shill for FragranceNet. My only experience with online discounters has been FragranceNet (through virtue of my father using it before). I have now come to learn about other fragrance discounters that are legit, such as Jomashop.

First impression:

Man. Within the first spray, my mouth began to salivate. I was immediately washed over with this amazing cinnamon and apple smell. It also smelled pretty citrusy, in the sense that there was a noticeable sour aspect (in a good way, may I add) that made my parotid ducts spasm. (This happens to me whenever I smell or taste something sour)

As it dried down, it noticeably got much more spicy. Like it noticeably got a warmer spice, and it smelled heavenly. I wouldn’t go as far as comparing it to baked goods as I don’t really smell a sickly sweetness, but man does it smell like a nicely spiced treat.

Towards the tail end of the dry down, it begins to smell strongly woody. Like a spiced earth with very faint vanilla undertones.

Overall, it smelled phenomenal.

The only shortcomings with this fragrance was its projection and longevity. Projection felt nonexistent and the longevity felt like an hour at most.

After maceration:

No difference. Really, there was no difference. I kept it in my closet for months until now. It doesn’t smell any different. For better or worse, maceration didn’t do anything.

Summary:

If you like to smell of spices, tasteful citrus and green apple, then this is for you. Do not expect crazy performance or longevity. It’s a solid 7/10.

Got 4 of these 5ml decants for around 1k+ from Whiff culture.

The stuff is authentic. I ordered these to spray during nice events. My friend has the bottle of supremacy CE and this is exactly what he has.

Disclaimer - none of these are mild perfumes. All of them are quite strong.

8/10 - Hawas ice - sweet, bubblegumy and fresh - does it smell like Invictus aqua? Kinda. But this is really good. Good formula. It's been engineered to perform.

6/10 - Club de nuit pure parfum - it's sad when brands like engage yin smells almost 90 percent similar to a decant i paid 350 bucks for. 5ml guys. It's so annoying. But this is much better than yin in many ways but it's annoying that you can get away with yin. This one lasts longer and has more depth when it dries down. Especially the woody notes.

8/10 - Afnan supremacy CE - absolute beast. Fills up the room. Your presence will be known. Don't know what Aventus smells like but this is my favourite interpretation of it. The smokynese and spicyness in this just amazing. Both club de nuit and this have nice pineapple opening. I'm definitely get a 30ml decant of this.

9/10 - Ibrahim al qureshi cuban tobacco - guys, this might just be my signature scent. What an amazingly smooth tobacco with such creaminess coming from sandalwood. The leather is not unbearable. The cocoa is blended really nicely into the tobacco. The sweetness from honey is something you'll notice in the dry down. Amazing. This is worth the money. And what a great long lasting fragrance. Bang for your buck.

I'll suggest everyone to buy 5ml decants. Best way to test and experience fragrances. And please note down your experience in a journal (this post is like my journal)

Also please tell if you know any trusted local decant sellers in Mumbai. Cheers 🥂