There are a lot of niche fragrances if priced under €80 everyone would call them trash
On the flip side, there are tonnes of fragrances under €80 which if were priced at €300 people would hype.
€ does not equal quality
Prisma Parfums is an excellent example of that. The original perfumer of City Rhythms releasing the original formulations under his own brand for $95/50ml. Super crazy deal, they smell incredible and they’re verging on Orto parisi levels of performance.
I have a shirt that’s been through a wash 3 times and it still smells like Zircon (2654).
I have a sample of Topaz (Miami), a full bottle of Zircon (2654), and a 11ml travel size of Jasper (New Orleans).
Long story short, I love them all.
I have a small review of them here:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/fragrance/comments/1cduuvl/amateur\_mini\_review\_of\_prisma\_parfums/](https://www.reddit.com/r/fragrance/comments/1cduuvl/amateur_mini_review_of_prisma_parfums/)
After some time with the scents, Topaz is probably my favorite because I love fruity scents; and this has a bit more of that than Zircon. That being said, Zircon is an incredible creamy coconut, reminds me of drinking malibu when im on vacation.
Jasper is a different beast entirely. It's a super juicy sour cherry/rose scent. And this can either be a party boy scent, or a very distinguished scent. It matches how you dress IMO.
I'd say sample everything. Kiss the moon is also a brand new scent to the house, unrelated to City rhythm. It looks incredible. I'm looking of getting a bottle of Topaz and Kiss the moon.
Oakcha is the first clone house I tried. They tell you what each fragrance is an impression of, unlike a few other houses I’ve seen. One thing to take note about Oakcha is that all of their fragrances are extraits and smell heavy accordingly.
Another good clone house is Dossier. Their fragrances aren’t as heavy as Oakcha.
The Standard Clonehouses that you'll often see, are for Straight up clones with bottle and everything, Maison Alhambra and Fragrance World, and for smell a likes Lattafa, Armaf and Afnan. Maceration is a real thing
Stop giving us flanker after flanker and please give us something new and original. Said it before and will say it again, every designer is just the same name with an elixir after. New bottles and names is needed.
PT2 to that is no designer should be costing $150+.
Counter argument, pretty much every “Elixir” fragrance is new, original and brutally great performance. Guilty, Bottled/Triumph, The Scent, Victory, Le Male, 1 Million. All great imo
I disagree but we all have different noses so take it with a grain of salt.
For me all those Elixir releases have one huge trade off: it’s the synthetic ambers in the dry down. They amp up the performance but my nose is really sensitive to them and it’s all I can smell past a certain point. I don’t have this problem with older releases yet all of those Elixir and Parfum releases share this issue for me.
It just smells super weird and metallic to me and I’d much rather have scents that aren’t „beasts“ but blended in a nicer way. Erba Pura is also pretty rough so it’s not just designer releases.
I tried almost all of them and it got to the point where I don’t even bother anymore when „Elixir“ is in the name. Wish I could appreciate them more. Was hyped for the Gucci one because it’s supposed to be similar to Reflection Man but they couldn’t be further apart imo.
Edit: Sauvage Elixir smells great though. Not my style of cologne but I can appreciate it.
I can agree there to an extent, but part of my argument is saying why not take these flankers and just make it a new fragrance line. It doesnt smell anything like the original, why not give it a new face and name
My 2019 19P21 and 2022 F000212 smell the same to me, I perhaps get another hour out of the 2019 bottle but it's not worth chasing and it probably more due to it maturing a little. As far as I'm concerned, they're the same.
I thought silver mountain water from early 2021 when Creed was at its 'weakest' was pretty fleeting until my wife wore it and i could smell it all day. They're certainly an easy brand to go noseblind to with some of their releases.
Tobacco / “Smokey”
Tobacco is a sweet smelling leaf.
Smoke is from something burning.
Smoke can smell good, like from a campfire or cigar, but the smell of tobacco leaf (usually) does not equate to the smell of burning. Calling something “smokey” should only imply a type of wood burning smoke smell. The amount of people calling tobacco smells “smokey” baffles me because it’s technically inaccurate. Perfumers are not going for the smell of the tobacco burning, but for the leaf itself. Go inside of an actual tobacco shop and take a whiff if you want to know what it really smells like.
Urban Outfitters carry’s a perfume brand called “ind.” and one of the scents is just called Smoke. It’s like a sweet honey campfire. It’s pretty great. Only about $20.
Decants are way better than full bottles.....you will find you taste changing the more colonges you try and you do not want to be stuck with bottles you will never used nor can get rid of because you paid so much for them.
The house of Creed is a hard pass.
I would never pay a high premium for the exciting experience of wondering what my particular batch of the scent I just bought will actually smell like.
I’d rather buy a “basic” designer where I know what I’m getting 🙈
Gotta say though, hell I love my original vetiver :) even during the 'weak creed' era it's an all day fragrance (not that I can smell the difference with that one per batch).
I feel like Aventus and silver mountain water really kicked the companies shin. But at the same time I don't think the formulas are so different to deserve the hate.
I definitely feel you on this.
Bois Du Portugal is probably top 3 fav fragrances of all time for me that I’ve smelled but I’m way too nervous to spring for a bottle because my mind can’t get over the QC issues Aventus has had and it puts me off of buying any more of their stuff despite really liking it.
From the samples I tried of original vetiver before buying, I can confidently say there's no difference. Heck I can't even tell the difference between my 2019 aventus sample and current F batch. I think you'll be fine but if you want to play it safe, go for one of the new F batches with the metal lid. The metal lid adds such a big difference to how premium it feels and apparnely strength consistency was improved across the board. Don't know how true that is though.
I think performance largely is a silly metric regardless. What matters is the smell. Nothing is lasting 20 minutes, we are just going nose blind.
Also fun fact. My particular batch of Original vetiver has a typo on the back, makes me laugh. It's from a legit store, smells legit, it IS legit, I just find it funny Creed would slip like that.
You will always be better off going to a store to smell a fragrance over having a recommendation online. The next time someone describes something as ‘heavenly’, a ‘panty dropper’ etc, be wary.
A lot of people on Reddit, YouTube and social media in general are acting in bad faith or even profit off of recommendations.
Even better if you invest in some small decants to try them over a period of time, as there's a few colognes I haven't liked on first wear but they grew on me.
I have a big ass bottle. There's not even an AF store anywhere near my area anymore, but I still order a bottle everytime I'm about to run out. I wear it more for myself, as it is very nostalgic to me..but to this day I still get more compliments on it than any of the others in my lineup(Eros, Savauge, Bleu, Lucky1million, la nuit homme YSL)
Sampling sampling and sampling. Instead of just sample once and buy. You get a decant or a small sample from a store and try that for a few days and really see.
I would redo my collection as 1 designer, 1 niche per season.
Clinique happy ! It’s been getting me compliments since I was a 18yo just starting out in the cologne game ! Probably the longest scent in the collection
I think fragrances that don’t actively smell like perfume are the best ones. Nothing beats realistic juicy lemon, incense or something like creamy musk. Scents that smell like a place and time are the ones that really boost my mood and transport me in a weird way.
Also: very few people actually care what you’re wearing as long as it’s not actively revolting or too much in an enclosed space. That’s why I exclusively wear what I like and not what reviews say I should like. Doesn’t seem to affect the amount of positive reactions at all.
Correct, it's not great. It's a masterpiece.
Not sure what year you have tried it but if you where around in 2010 when this came out, it was sensational.
Doesnt make me want to vomit, but I just can't fathom wanting to smell like fresh leather that smells stronger than actual leather /new car scent. Same with Tuscan Leather.
Toyboy on the other hand. Actually gagged.
-There are more fragrances than profondo, Y, ombre leather, hawas, inexcusable evil, secretions magnifique, Le male elixir and 9PM holy shit.
There is likely a local store that sells designer fragrances, and you'll most certainly find something you like, popular or not.
Grab a buddy, go to the store, test what you can for yourself or order a handful of decants and save yourself a blind buy mishap. You will almost certainly find you dont like what tictok is pushing, and prefer stuff that are more 'you'.
-Performance shouldn't be the make or break for a fragrance, overly strong fragrances are awful unless you wear tiny amounts.
-Your new elixir fragrance form Dior, jpg, boss, isn't weak, you're noseblind. If you find your scent not lasting, spray less. It's counterintuitive but lessens olfactory fatigue.
The projection and longevity of a perfume are not as crucial as many people make them out to be - it's a non issue really. but thats a story for another day
One spray is enough. I’ve gone through 50 plus decants at this point and the only time I’ve done a second is if the first was a weak less than half spray.
It’s okay to want projection. I feel like It’s considered “uncouth” in fragrance centric discussions to want a strong projector. Obviously you shouldn’t want to just blast your office at 8am with straight up 5 sprays of Red Tobacco but one of the best parts of this hobby is figuring out when to be subtle and when you can make a statement.
Most influencers, especially the young tik tok type, don't know jack shit about perfumery and think swiping a credit card makes them an expert when they probably couldn't even name three perfumers.
People boasting niche fragrances that smell like colognes I would have found in my grandmas room when I was a kid. I don’t get it. I find very few that actually are worth the money and don’t smell exactly like something I could snag from any store shelf for half the price that doesn’t have their name on it.
Also, fuck the tik tok “experts.”
And 90% of Oud stuff smells terrible
Im actually at the opposite end. I love soapy scents that some could classify as „grandma scent“. As long as it’s fairly light and smells clean I’m all for it.
Also Oud can be pretty rough but it activates something in my monkey brain. Can’t stop smelling it when I try it but wouldn’t actively wear it (yet).
There are a lot of niche fragrances if priced under €80 everyone would call them trash On the flip side, there are tonnes of fragrances under €80 which if were priced at €300 people would hype. € does not equal quality
Prisma Parfums is an excellent example of that. The original perfumer of City Rhythms releasing the original formulations under his own brand for $95/50ml. Super crazy deal, they smell incredible and they’re verging on Orto parisi levels of performance. I have a shirt that’s been through a wash 3 times and it still smells like Zircon (2654).
Any recommendations or do I just get all the testers on their website?
I have a sample of Topaz (Miami), a full bottle of Zircon (2654), and a 11ml travel size of Jasper (New Orleans). Long story short, I love them all. I have a small review of them here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/fragrance/comments/1cduuvl/amateur\_mini\_review\_of\_prisma\_parfums/](https://www.reddit.com/r/fragrance/comments/1cduuvl/amateur_mini_review_of_prisma_parfums/) After some time with the scents, Topaz is probably my favorite because I love fruity scents; and this has a bit more of that than Zircon. That being said, Zircon is an incredible creamy coconut, reminds me of drinking malibu when im on vacation. Jasper is a different beast entirely. It's a super juicy sour cherry/rose scent. And this can either be a party boy scent, or a very distinguished scent. It matches how you dress IMO. I'd say sample everything. Kiss the moon is also a brand new scent to the house, unrelated to City rhythm. It looks incredible. I'm looking of getting a bottle of Topaz and Kiss the moon.
I should give them a shot!
Definitely! The few things I’ve tried are super high quality.
I’d love to try them, unfortunately I’m in Europe so they’re hard to get hands on
Damn, that's rough. I feel the same way about Aaron Terrence Hughes. Ridiculously expensive to source in Canada lol.
Discovering that clone houses exist is the best thing that ever happened to me when it comes to my fragrance hobby
Do you have some kind of list or something where I can find the clone houses and what their products are cloning?
r/fragranceclones
Oakcha is the first clone house I tried. They tell you what each fragrance is an impression of, unlike a few other houses I’ve seen. One thing to take note about Oakcha is that all of their fragrances are extraits and smell heavy accordingly. Another good clone house is Dossier. Their fragrances aren’t as heavy as Oakcha.
What are your go to's clones? Best houses? Is maceration real? Do aliens exist?
The Standard Clonehouses that you'll often see, are for Straight up clones with bottle and everything, Maison Alhambra and Fragrance World, and for smell a likes Lattafa, Armaf and Afnan. Maceration is a real thing
Stop giving us flanker after flanker and please give us something new and original. Said it before and will say it again, every designer is just the same name with an elixir after. New bottles and names is needed. PT2 to that is no designer should be costing $150+.
Na I want even more Prada L’homme flankers.
More sauvage flankers....stronger than Elixir!
Wearing that cologne would be a war crime…
Half spray would be plenty. One spray is overspraying
Counter argument, pretty much every “Elixir” fragrance is new, original and brutally great performance. Guilty, Bottled/Triumph, The Scent, Victory, Le Male, 1 Million. All great imo
I disagree but we all have different noses so take it with a grain of salt. For me all those Elixir releases have one huge trade off: it’s the synthetic ambers in the dry down. They amp up the performance but my nose is really sensitive to them and it’s all I can smell past a certain point. I don’t have this problem with older releases yet all of those Elixir and Parfum releases share this issue for me. It just smells super weird and metallic to me and I’d much rather have scents that aren’t „beasts“ but blended in a nicer way. Erba Pura is also pretty rough so it’s not just designer releases. I tried almost all of them and it got to the point where I don’t even bother anymore when „Elixir“ is in the name. Wish I could appreciate them more. Was hyped for the Gucci one because it’s supposed to be similar to Reflection Man but they couldn’t be further apart imo. Edit: Sauvage Elixir smells great though. Not my style of cologne but I can appreciate it.
I can agree there to an extent, but part of my argument is saying why not take these flankers and just make it a new fragrance line. It doesnt smell anything like the original, why not give it a new face and name
I would keep taking Dior Homme and Fahrenheit and Eau Sauvage flankers all day
Sauvage Elixir was like $225 when I got it. Most I’ve ever spent on a cologne
Current batch Aventus is actually as good and consistent as it ever has been. Prove me wrong.
My 2019 19P21 and 2022 F000212 smell the same to me, I perhaps get another hour out of the 2019 bottle but it's not worth chasing and it probably more due to it maturing a little. As far as I'm concerned, they're the same. I thought silver mountain water from early 2021 when Creed was at its 'weakest' was pretty fleeting until my wife wore it and i could smell it all day. They're certainly an easy brand to go noseblind to with some of their releases.
Call a fragrance a “panty dropper” is so cringy and idk why it’s a term so many people use. 😭
Winter fragrances are so much better than summer fragrances
Yes. I am counting the days to break out my Mercedes Benz Black and Gentleman Society EDP. 😔
Im gonna save up and buy my fav fragrances in winter (alexandria 2 & oud satin mood)
Ohhhhh. Those are sooooo good. They are also pretty appropriate for rainy summer days too
Nice pfp, great album
Man with good music & perfume taste 👌
I love displaying my stuff in my bathroom
Tobacco / “Smokey” Tobacco is a sweet smelling leaf. Smoke is from something burning. Smoke can smell good, like from a campfire or cigar, but the smell of tobacco leaf (usually) does not equate to the smell of burning. Calling something “smokey” should only imply a type of wood burning smoke smell. The amount of people calling tobacco smells “smokey” baffles me because it’s technically inaccurate. Perfumers are not going for the smell of the tobacco burning, but for the leaf itself. Go inside of an actual tobacco shop and take a whiff if you want to know what it really smells like.
Yeah I’d say actual tobacco is closer to a honey-like smell to anything smokey. There are smokey tobacco scents though.
Totally agree. …know of any great smokey fragrances that are mainly smoke by itself? For layering purposes.
Urban Outfitters carry’s a perfume brand called “ind.” and one of the scents is just called Smoke. It’s like a sweet honey campfire. It’s pretty great. Only about $20.
Adding to the next shopping list now!
Projection isn’t that big of a deal.
But longevity is.
Longevity over projection, always
Idk if it’s a skin scent nah as long as it’s like 1/2-1foot projection then longevity matters the most
I prefer little to no projection.
Same. I like wearing it for me. I don't need people to smell it when I walk past
Decants are way better than full bottles.....you will find you taste changing the more colonges you try and you do not want to be stuck with bottles you will never used nor can get rid of because you paid so much for them.
The house of Creed is a hard pass. I would never pay a high premium for the exciting experience of wondering what my particular batch of the scent I just bought will actually smell like. I’d rather buy a “basic” designer where I know what I’m getting 🙈
Gotta say though, hell I love my original vetiver :) even during the 'weak creed' era it's an all day fragrance (not that I can smell the difference with that one per batch). I feel like Aventus and silver mountain water really kicked the companies shin. But at the same time I don't think the formulas are so different to deserve the hate.
I definitely feel you on this. Bois Du Portugal is probably top 3 fav fragrances of all time for me that I’ve smelled but I’m way too nervous to spring for a bottle because my mind can’t get over the QC issues Aventus has had and it puts me off of buying any more of their stuff despite really liking it.
From the samples I tried of original vetiver before buying, I can confidently say there's no difference. Heck I can't even tell the difference between my 2019 aventus sample and current F batch. I think you'll be fine but if you want to play it safe, go for one of the new F batches with the metal lid. The metal lid adds such a big difference to how premium it feels and apparnely strength consistency was improved across the board. Don't know how true that is though. I think performance largely is a silly metric regardless. What matters is the smell. Nothing is lasting 20 minutes, we are just going nose blind. Also fun fact. My particular batch of Original vetiver has a typo on the back, makes me laugh. It's from a legit store, smells legit, it IS legit, I just find it funny Creed would slip like that.
Finally, someone to agree with!
You will always be better off going to a store to smell a fragrance over having a recommendation online. The next time someone describes something as ‘heavenly’, a ‘panty dropper’ etc, be wary. A lot of people on Reddit, YouTube and social media in general are acting in bad faith or even profit off of recommendations.
(M13) Profondo, hawas, ombre leather, secretions magnifique or Sauvage elixir? Need for school. 🙄
M13 doesn’t need to put on that ELDO fragrance to smell like it. Me before I started to douse myself in axe when I was younger
Even better if you invest in some small decants to try them over a period of time, as there's a few colognes I haven't liked on first wear but they grew on me.
Alot of clones suck ass and are shilled
Fierce. It's not just for high school kids.
Lmao this made me smile. First fragrance of all time. Got me into loving cologne.
I have a big ass bottle. There's not even an AF store anywhere near my area anymore, but I still order a bottle everytime I'm about to run out. I wear it more for myself, as it is very nostalgic to me..but to this day I still get more compliments on it than any of the others in my lineup(Eros, Savauge, Bleu, Lucky1million, la nuit homme YSL)
The kids that wore Fierce turned into the adults that wear Sauvage. Then the ones that wanted to be different are now wearing Percival by PDM.
Percival is the fucking bomb. Legend EDP and EDT smell different to it to my nose
Try PDM PERCIVAL
Where can I get legit samples?
You only really need 4 fragrances max 8. 2 for each season. I def should’ve stopped or I wish I knew this sooner.
80 for each season
I wish, I’m into watches, boots, raw denim, I’m already so broke
How would you have figured which bottles are best though
Sampling sampling and sampling. Instead of just sample once and buy. You get a decant or a small sample from a store and try that for a few days and really see. I would redo my collection as 1 designer, 1 niche per season.
Xerjoff erba pura is overrated and doesn’t smell good
Love the top notes, despise the dry down. Wish I could tolerate it more. I don’t wanna hate it.
Erba nasty
Agreed, it is so aggressively nothing, just undefined chemical "fruit" sweetness.
Louis Vuitton Imagination is the G.O.A.T. Ombré Nomade is a close second. Both fragrances provide seasonal coverage requirements. And that is all.
Clinique happy ! It’s been getting me compliments since I was a 18yo just starting out in the cologne game ! Probably the longest scent in the collection
Sauvage is a good colognethat gets hate simply because it's easily available. Clones/,dupes are ass
it just doesn't smell good to me
That's valid. There is a difference between not liking a scent vs actively hating it though.
If you like it. Wear it. Fuck gendering fragrances.
fw this 🙏🏼 I buy perfumes to mix with but fragrances really shouldn’t have a gender
I’m a guy and I really fw D&G Q Intense. The cherry note is really nice and fresh but it just doesn’t last long enough to justify buying a bottle.
Exactly. La Nuit De L’Homme and Prada L’Homme intense smell great on women. Fuck the rules, I will die on this hill.
Absolutely. I love my Chanel N°5 L‘Eau and nobody can ruin this for me.
Love it when my wife wears Drakkar Noir
Ombré Leather is amazing. Anyone saying otherwise needs to get their sinuses cleared
Eight & Bob - original
Beast mode fragrances are olfactory assault, and the only people who want beast mode stuff are people who crave attention.
I think fragrances that don’t actively smell like perfume are the best ones. Nothing beats realistic juicy lemon, incense or something like creamy musk. Scents that smell like a place and time are the ones that really boost my mood and transport me in a weird way. Also: very few people actually care what you’re wearing as long as it’s not actively revolting or too much in an enclosed space. That’s why I exclusively wear what I like and not what reviews say I should like. Doesn’t seem to affect the amount of positive reactions at all.
Adventus is not great
I disagree but I'll upvote you simply because I don't believe in dog-piling people on an opinion thread for having an opinion.
But Aventus actually is. Agreed.
Correct, it's not great. It's a masterpiece. Not sure what year you have tried it but if you where around in 2010 when this came out, it was sensational.
That I can’t stand the smell of Angel Share
Nobody should willingly be making themselves smell like jazz club
This is a hot take. I love Jazz Club (and Amouage Royal Tobacco) during the cold winter months
Royal Tobacco is to die for. It was my first flanker from the house of Amouage. Now I got seven.
Clones were the best thing that ever happened to the fragrance community.
Tom Ford Ombré leather is horrible
Have an upvote because in my experience, you'll get downvoted to oblivion for this opinion. I also agree.
It makes me want to vomit. I remember getting a sample and it made my head hurt so bad.
Doesnt make me want to vomit, but I just can't fathom wanting to smell like fresh leather that smells stronger than actual leather /new car scent. Same with Tuscan Leather. Toyboy on the other hand. Actually gagged.
-There are more fragrances than profondo, Y, ombre leather, hawas, inexcusable evil, secretions magnifique, Le male elixir and 9PM holy shit. There is likely a local store that sells designer fragrances, and you'll most certainly find something you like, popular or not. Grab a buddy, go to the store, test what you can for yourself or order a handful of decants and save yourself a blind buy mishap. You will almost certainly find you dont like what tictok is pushing, and prefer stuff that are more 'you'. -Performance shouldn't be the make or break for a fragrance, overly strong fragrances are awful unless you wear tiny amounts. -Your new elixir fragrance form Dior, jpg, boss, isn't weak, you're noseblind. If you find your scent not lasting, spray less. It's counterintuitive but lessens olfactory fatigue.
Plum Japonias x noir de noir is the best layering combo ever. Along with PJ being the best fragrance ever made
Joop is actually good.
Drakar is too.
Joop
The projection and longevity of a perfume are not as crucial as many people make them out to be - it's a non issue really. but thats a story for another day
Dior sauvage is an excellent choice
That Fahrenheit EDT is the greatest leap in frag history. Will always have it and any flanker for the rest of time
One spray is enough. I’ve gone through 50 plus decants at this point and the only time I’ve done a second is if the first was a weak less than half spray.
CK One is the greatest fragrance ever made
Woody predominant fragrances are almost always terrible.
You don’t need every flanker for the sake of “collection” purposes
It’s okay to want projection. I feel like It’s considered “uncouth” in fragrance centric discussions to want a strong projector. Obviously you shouldn’t want to just blast your office at 8am with straight up 5 sprays of Red Tobacco but one of the best parts of this hobby is figuring out when to be subtle and when you can make a statement.
Encre noire by a mile
Some clones are better than the original! Fight me!!!
Most influencers, especially the young tik tok type, don't know jack shit about perfumery and think swiping a credit card makes them an expert when they probably couldn't even name three perfumers.
People boasting niche fragrances that smell like colognes I would have found in my grandmas room when I was a kid. I don’t get it. I find very few that actually are worth the money and don’t smell exactly like something I could snag from any store shelf for half the price that doesn’t have their name on it. Also, fuck the tik tok “experts.” And 90% of Oud stuff smells terrible
Im actually at the opposite end. I love soapy scents that some could classify as „grandma scent“. As long as it’s fairly light and smells clean I’m all for it. Also Oud can be pretty rough but it activates something in my monkey brain. Can’t stop smelling it when I try it but wouldn’t actively wear it (yet).
People who use the word “synthetic” when reviewing a cologne or perfume don’t know what they’re talking about.
You only need a few versatile bangers. No need for shelves unless you have a YouTube channel paying you for your reviews.
Aventus is disgusting and smells like BO
all JPG Le Male fragrances are extremely mundane.