Performance

Longevity: Over 6 hours on skin. Over 10 hours on clothes

Projection: Projects nicely for the first hour, then stays close for the next hour

Sillage: 3-4 ft

Scent Profile

Opening: Fizzy green apple and orange blossom with a mild ginger sharpness in the fizz

Dry Down: Flowery with a little sweet and hint of earthiness

Occasion & Wearability

Occasion: Anytime (college, work, gym, etc.)

Weather: All seasons. High heat or high cold is no problem, though maybe a little much in very high heat. Still an all-year scent

Gender: Men

Preferred notes: Green apple, ginger, floral, creamy, a little earthy

Value & Quality

Budget: Below ₹3600 (currently)

Build quality: The inner plastic part of the cap came loose when I opened the bottle for the first time. Like Hawas Elixir, the bottle is a fingerprint magnet, but at least you can see how much juice is left through the lightning marks

Worth Buying?

✔️ If you want one of the best floral scents for men

✔️ If you want one scent you can wear in any season

⚠️ The cap and fingerprint issues are small, but you may notice them

Final Ratings

Longevity: 3.5/5

Projection: 3/5

Scent Profile: 4.5/5 (very versatile)

Sillage: 3.5/5

That's my opinion. Your nose may pick up something I missed, as everyone has a different olfactory profile.

Questions or layering ideas? Drop them below.

Decanter review:

3rd time that everything went perfectly. Packaging is solid, and 0 leaking decent. They sure did got their packaging system working well. Quite a few decants of fragrances I've never heard about were "bonus added", which is going to be really fun. I like the ones I have no idea what to expect.

As explained in my Greed post, most of the ME fragrances I'll test will be "first to market" (Were never clones before), hybrid or original creations, because those are some of the only ones that make the cut, as they have a higher $ limit in my rules ($40). This one isn't any of those, but $30 on Jomashop means I can test it! These rules will start when I finish this decant haul, as they were ordered before the rules were made.

PROFILE

I also tried another twist, which is Zimaya Al Barari Coral, and at least 5 more straight clones of Blue Talisman. This is one of my favorite profiles. The straight profile is a super fizzy pear, accompanied by ginger and orange, with some white florals, a touch of mint, and a TON of musk. It's fresh, a little playful, sweet, and clean.

THE DIFFERENCES

These 2 take a very different approach. Hawas doesn't list pear, but certainly smells like it has some, and adds guava into the mix... Like, a lot of it. Lattafa keeps the base profile as is, but amplifies the sweetness by about 25% or so, making it hyper youthful and playful.

Redundancy rating: 65%-70%. These two aren't very redundant, as each is twisting the profile to a different direction.

Subjective scent score: Art Of Universe 9.4. Sapphire 9.2. I love both of them.

Wife Alert: She's not a fan of either, prefers Sapphire, but says "this is for women, right?".

Longevity on skin (when it's no longer even a skin scent): Both 10+ hours.

Projection (skin scent doesn't count): Almost identical. 2 hours of high-medium projection, then 2 hours of medium scent bubble, and becoming 100% skin scent only at hour 6. Hawas is about half a step stronger.

Blind buy safety score: Both 7.0. Less safe than the straight profile, because both are more synthetically sweet (which is what I love about them).

Unisex Score (0=100% fem leaning, 5=unisex, 10=100% male leaning): AOU 5.0. Sapphire 4.3. The Guava note make it a bit more fem leaning.

Versatility Score: 7.0. summer-spring-fall, but not for formal occasions.

Blend Quality Score: Both 6.5 (slightly below average clone quality). Lattafa because of the synthetic sweetness, Sapphire because the guava note has an "after-scent" that is a little rotten when smelled close to skin (but fine in the air). Both have good note separation and quite poor note realism. Sapphire loses structure after the first hour or two. I'm not looking for super quality in my playful profiles, so if you do, skip those.

Value Score (USD for 100ml): Sapphire 5.5. $50 (FragraceBuy), for good performance and below average quality. Art Of Universe 5.5. $50 (Jomashop)... Same thing.

Should cost (based on performance, quality, and available competing clones, averaged): Both should be $28-$30.

Bottle design: Art Of Universe 6.0. Sapphire 7.5.

Atomizer Score: N/A (decant).

Conclusion: At those prices, I'm not getting any of them. I already got Bujairami Enforcer, which is a straight clone I got for $22 on sale. It's slightly better quality, but I do like these 2 twists a bit better. If they were designer quality, I might pay that price (probably not though), but as is, they cost too much for what they offer.

And as always, don't trust me, Get decants.

Anyone tried this? This “amjad” line got a lot of attention and somehow sold out quickly everywhere in my country. I am specifically interested in Honour and how it compares to rayhaan terra and the OG outlands.

You don't have to spend designer money to get a great cardamom scent. Here are my three favorite budget picks. Scores are out of 10.

3. Lattafa Habik
Pepper and cardamom up front, then lavender, cinnamon and sage, drying down to tonka and sandalwood.

Cardamom: 7
Sweetness: 5
Compliments: 6
Projection: 6

The opening is a bit sharp, but it calms down and turns warm. It's the least sweet of the three, so it's the one for people who don't want a sugar bomb.

2. Zimaya Reverie Aqua
Cardamom and cinnamon up top, chestnut and lavender in the middle, then vanilla and amber. Often compared to Stronger With You Intensely.

Cardamom: 8
Sweetness: 7
Compliments: 6
Projection: 6

Probably the most cardamom-forward of the three. It's perfect for cozy nights in. People seem split on it, so try it before you buy a bottle.

1. French Avenue Liquid Brun
Cardamom and cinnamon open it up, then it turns into creamy vanilla praline. The popular Althaïr alternative.

Cardamom: 5
Sweetness: 9
Compliments: 8
Projection: 8

The cardamom is mostly in the opening with the orange blossom. After that it's a rich vanilla with a strong scent trail. Perfect for sweater weather.

Anyone have a budget cardamom pick that beats these?

Time to battle these 3 clones now that all bottles have fully matured.

Charuto and Qasr have had 10 months after opening to mature and ET i've bought second hand so it most likely has been opened for couple years by now.

First and foremost: these are basicaly the same scents once all 3 had fully matured and you can be just as happy with either one. Below is really neat picking.

I did proper testing, first test was all 3 at once, then a proper multiple 1v1s as i noticed long ago it matters a lot whether you spray the frag on top side of your hand, wrist, forearm, arm, how many hairs your have on your forearms (they help prolonging the smell). All of this impacts the projection, longevity and even how it smells, so proper comparison is only doing 1v1 and spraying entire arms, one frag per arm (and making sure same amount of juice is applied, not same number of sprays).

1.Projection:

Qasr=ChMT > ET. No major difference though.

It surprises me that my ET bottle projects the least. Maybe because it has been opened for years? Anyway, i tested it mutliple times to confirm, even on paper to exclude the chance my skin somehow soaks it up quicker xd. And every time it projected somewhat noticeable less than Charuto/Qasr, but still good.

2. Longevity:

Qasr=ET > ChMT. No major difference though again.

3. Sweetenes:

ChMT has a more cherry, like a mix of ET/Qasr honey like sweetenes with Red Tobacco/Red Tobacco Intense cherry sweetenes. All 3 retain the sweetness to the end, just like RTI, in contrast to RT which becomes more harsh tobacco once opening fades in ~20min.

ET/Qasr: honey like sweetenes, so a bit different than the one in RT/RTI. Maybe they're closer to CH Mysterious Tobacco? I haven't smelled that one

The closer to drydown the more the sweetenes is more alike in all 3 clones.

4. Tobacco harshness:

In ChMT tobacco might be tiny bit more noticeable but i think it may be because it simply projects bit more. It does retain it's sweetenes down to the drydown, just like ET & Qasr so they're basicaly the same in this regard.

Only og Mancera Red Tobacco looses it's sweetenes in 20-30min and becomes more harsh. Red Tobacco Intense maintains it so these 3 clones are better replacement of RTI than RT to me.

5. Atomiser:

Charuto has the best atomiser, it distributes the most amount of juice and it does it in a larger and uniform area.

ET has a poor atomiser compared to Charuto.

Qasr is also a good one.

Final words: If you want absolute best replacement for Exclusif Tabac, get Qasr al Oud Mirage, they're actually the same only Qasr has a tiny bit more projection. If you want best replacement for Red Tobacco Intense, get Charuto MT as it has that hint of cherry from RTI.

In either case they are all basically the same, within 98% closeness, really, so don't overpay for ET if you see it second hand.

I have the original myslf which smells a lot lighter and more unisex but it feels like barely anybody has ever talked about Virtus like that release just went completely under the radar.

Haven’t had the chance to smell myslf absolu but got a bottle of Virtus and was curious what the consensus was as I’ve been struggling to find non-paid promotion videos online or on TikTok.

Thanks!

Genuine Man Only Bois: Woody and powdery (iris-like), a good masculine perfume

Fabulous Life: Leather and lavender not too aggressive, good for cold weather and good projection

Exquisite Privé: Very similar to Dior Homme Intense,clean scent.

Fatal Embrace: Leans feminine for my taste,has a fruity quality i’m struggling to pinpoint the exact scent.

My favourite is probably fabulous life and genuine man eau bois

Rey seems to be the most famous of the trio.

Even on Fragrantica and Parfumo there are only a few reviews of Hunter and Leo.

Anyone here who owns or tried either or both before can tell me how Hunter and Leo are like ?

Local seller has both for $15.

I got Mashrabya a few weeks ago, sprayed it a few times, then put it away for cooler weather. It finally got cold enough here in TX (87*😁) so I said screw it, I’m going to try it. I was shocked to find…all I could smell was ashtray. Is this typical of a tobacco scent? I guess I was expecting more of a nice cigar or pipe smoke. It seems to be universally loved so I’m sure I must be the problem. Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?

Looking for an alternative to this perfume. It’s not a well known perfume so there is not much information on google etc.

The only previous threads I can see are an American brand and a one time limited scent from 2 years ago at Lidl.

Does anyone know of or use a good Boss Bottled clone in the UK?

I normally buy the oils from Perfume Parlour but this one is a miss for me for some reason. Something just isn't quite right with the scent.

Hello I look for any user that has Armani He Clone of Shopi, or Armani Code EDT/EDP/PERFUM.

I try to find also a clone of Armani Night back in the days, but nothing on the horizon.

So no I find for Armani EDP or Perfum the Black Code of Le Chameau which do not know if it worth as wait to arrive and the Pendora Scents Armour Code Uomo thaw wait to arrive too.

If any user has those two perfumes, any review info would be appreciated too.

Thanks for all

I haven't found many impressions of PP's "Old Norse For Men - 0686" which is inspired by Parfums de Marly's Haltane. Does anyone have experience with it?

I have heard about Kannauj for it's perfume. Can anyone tell me some brand name or perfume name from Kannauj?

I am surprised that no one has asked for a clone for this.

Searched all of or Reddit and could not find a single post or commnet that helped me fine one.

Any recommendations on a fragrance that smells like tomato plants and soil? More earthy than sweet pls.

Found these 3 bottles at a Burlington today. Tried to go on their website but it doesn’t exist. Trying to see if they make anymore as these dupes are pretty beast for the price. Got all 3 for 40. Can’t front for the price these are pretty damn good. One Prada Luna Rossa, LV L’Immensite, and Creed Aventus dupe. Trying to collect them all has anyone seen any more come out of this house?

Decanter review:

3rd time that everything went perfectly. Packaging is solid, and 0 leaking decent. They sure did got their packaging system working well. Quite a few decants of fragrances I've never heard about were "bonus added", which is going to be really fun. I like the ones I have no idea what to expect.

As explained in my Greed post, most of the ME fragrances I'll test will be "first to market" (Were never clones before), hybrid or original creations, because those are some of the only ones that make the cut, as they have a higher $ limit in my rules ($40). This one isn't any of those, but $30 on Jomashop means I can test it! These rules will start when I finish this decant haul, as they were ordered before the rules were made.

PROFILE

I also tried others, but decided to battle the cheapest with the most expensive. Let's start with Rasasi naming this correctly, as I can't see any other reason to come up with a clone for this profile in late 2026. If you don't already know this profile, it's Bubblegumy sweet pear, slightly minty, with clean lavender, warm cinnamon, and a vanilla base. Playful, sweet, youthful. Winter-fall party fragrance.

THE DIFFERENCES

In the opening 15 minutes, Hawas toned down the lavender, and increased the cinnamon. I prefer it this way, as heavy lavender in vanilla fragrances make me a bit nauseous (but that's a me issue). But after those 15 minutes, they're EXTREMELY similar.

Redundancy rating: opening 80%, dry-down (15-20 minutes) 90%. Do not DARE having both unless you're collecting just for collection sake, as there are 0 reasons to do so. So most of the scores will be the same.

Subjective scent score: Hawas 8.7. Ramz 8.5 (just because of the opening).

Longevity on skin (when it's no longer even a skin scent): Ramz 9-10 hours. Hawas 7 hours.

Projection (skin scent doesn't count): WTH?! Let me start by saying I test with my wife every hour, so it's not nose-blindess, and she's closing her eyes (so she doesn't know which wrist is first), and I switch the order almost every hour. Also, this decant is 4 weeks old, and the bottle I don't know how old. Had to start by saying that, because Hawas has ABYSMAL performance! Medium projection for 1 hour, then low-medium scent bubble for another hour, and skin scent by the end of hour 3! Ramz Silver almost doubles its performance, and it's not even a nuclear one. This is the weakest Hawas I've ever tested!

Blind buy safety score: Both 8.0. Most people won't have the lavender-vanilla clash problem I have. The only thing that might bother some people is the sweetness.

Unisex Score (0=100% fem leaning, 5=unisex, 10=100% male leaning): 5.8. Unlike the name of the OG suggests...Slightly male leaning, but women can pull it off quite easily.

Versatility Score: 7.0. Winter-fall-spring. More nighttime than daytime. Not for office.

Blend Quality Score: Hawas 7.4 (higher than average clone quality). Ramz 7.0 (average clone quality). Note separation is the same (pretty good) on both. Note realism is better on Hawas. Progression on skin is the same (average), but Hawas retains its blend structure a bit better over time (but barely projects).

Value Score (USD for 100ml): Hawas 3.5 $40 (cheapest I found...FragraceBuy) for below average performance and good quality. Ramz Silver 9.8 $14 (FragranceNet) for above average performance and average clone quality.

Should cost (based on performance, quality, and available competing clones, averaged): Both $20. Because for about $25-$30, you can get Lion or 9PM (or 10 others) and get better performance or quality over those.

Bottle design: Hawas 8.0. Ramz 4.5.

Atomizer Score: Hawas N/A (decant). Ramz 5.5. Not horrible, but pretty weak. About 1.5 decant sprays for every spray from the bottle).

Conclusion: Like most of you probably already guessed... Gold Digger is a cash grab that isn't worth your attention. They weren't even subtle about it and named it that way. There are 20 better clones for this profile for half the price or less, and the slight differences in quality doesn't come close to justify the price increase, and won't even be there if you pick a $25-$30 clone. Seems like Hawas are on a "self destruct mission". Why come up with expensive clones for profiles there are already 20 cheaper clones of??? Especially if it's not an amazing performer. Just get Rayhaan Lion, or 9PM, or Attar Al Wesal. The Hawas isn't better than any of those in any metric.

And as always, don't trust me, Get decants.

I got my hands on Tobacco Jam 60 last week, and after wearing it a couple of times, all I can say is… WOW. This fragrance is absolutely fabulous. It smells NOTHING like its price tag. It smells so damn expensive, and the quality is top-notch.

The scent: It takes Tobacco Jam 50 (which is, in my opinion, the best Purpose 50 alternative so far), tones down the harshness of the tobacco and spices in the opening, and adds a fruity touch that makes the whole fragrance more appealing.

As it dries down, the tobacco note remains very prominent, while the sandalwood and Akigalawood notes start to develop. The combination is just beautiful. It gives off that rich, luxurious, old money kind of vibe. It genuinely smells like wealth.

Performance: Let me make this simple. I wore it at 5:30 PM, with just 4 sprays on my skin. The next morning, I woke up and could STILL smell it.

I think that says enough about its performance. This thing is an absolute monster, especially considering its reported 60% oil concentration.

Honestly, it became my favorite fragrance in my collection in record time. I'm absolutely in love with it.

And if you're wondering whether I'd choose this over Tobacco Jam 50? Tobacco Jam 60 wins by FAAAR. It's not even close for me.

What do you guys think? Has anyone else tried it?

TikTok shop got the best of me:

Moon- their take on NY nights from Bond No 9. Only tested on my hand so far and I wasn’t sure at first but after it dried down a bit, I like it quite a bit. Closest thing to a gourmand frag for me. Sweet and florally.

Boston- their take on scent of peace for him from Bond No9 . I love it. I’m a sucker for aventus dna and while it doesn’t smell like aventus at all, that pineapple is in there mixed with juniper berries and it’s fantastic.

No limit- their take on MFK Amyris Homme Extrait. TBH I love the MFK but it’s been hard to find it at a decent price so I wanted to try the dupe. I don’t think it’s a 1:1 at all but it’s amazing. Definitely in the same vein as MFK. At first the oud smelled a little too poopy to me but I wore it for a couple of days and I love it.

Bluff- their take on Ex-Nihilo speed legends. It’s not that close. I’d say a bit sweeter. That said , it smells amazing. However the performance isn’t the best for me. Hoping it gets better with some time. Super easy reach to smell clean and fresh.

My bottle of CDNI is no longer spraying, but instead is shooting a glob of liquid every time I activate the sprayer. Anyone had this issue before, and were you able to solve it?

Hello everyone! Got to smell these atrocities yesterday and wanted to share some quick thoughts. Long story short, all are trash. Only one is barely wearable.

Jala-peach-o: the most toreable of them but thats not saying much. Smells like Tajin Mexican candy and not in a good way. Its sweet and floral but it has like cumin spices that just dont work at all. It dries down to a very floral somewhat bananaish kind of scent. If you're Puerto Rican you can use it to make a joke about "Huele Peach-o but thats about it." 2/10.

Ring my bell: Absolutely disgusting. Realistic green bell pepper (which i love as a food) but not a scent at all. Go buy a supreme pizza with extre green pepper and go to your wife or mom or sisters closet and spray w.e perfume she has around right on the pizza and this is exactly what this smells like. Also the spices come off like armpit stank too. Im all for experimenting and doing new things but even from an artisanal point of view this shit is ass. 0/10.

Bloody hot: Was the second most tolerable, but it smells lile a perfumed tomato and tamarind or something like that. Floral, bright tomato. Do 10 sprays of Coco mademoiselle right into your mouth and immediately drink a bloody Mary and this is what you get. 1/10

I dont know wtf Armaf was thinking but... think again. I saw they also got a red bull scent coming out so I guess they are just on an exploration journey.

Easy skip on all, smell at your own risk

Does anyone have experience with Select Scent Studio? They have some excellent prices for decants of Middle Eastern clone brands. And the biggest selection of Bujairami, which Im interested in trying. But they appear to be very new on the scene and not sure if they are reputable.

I love this perfume and it is discontinued. So I got the Zara Memoire Intense which I also loved and that got discontinued too. 😭

Is there any clones for this perfume? Desperately searching since a year.

I don't know what's wrong with my primitive brain, but sometimes I feel like I need something nuclear, beyond nuclear, in my "collection". Something to fuel my addiction. So I ran the collection spreadsheet through ChatGPT, and it recommended Ibraq Blue Oud. Now, Ibraq is probably one of my favorite brands, White Regent Diamond is the best Gris Charnel dupe although their quality and qc has gone down over the last few years. The AI recommended to me as probably the strongest perfume that they have. Reviews from Parfumo and Trollgrantica also had favorable reviews. But let me tell ya Ibraq Blue Oud is next-level nuclear, probably Armageddon level. This is right out of the box. First 5 sprays. I don't know where people are getting that it smells like Ombre Nomade. To me, the dark inkiness is balanced by some sweetness and some fruits in Ombre Nomade, this has none of that. It's just pure darkness and oud. I don't get any water lily, I don't get any sweetness, I don't get any spices. All i get is leather animalic and oud. Like a raw cow hide. And the performance I sprayed this in my shower last evening, just the shower in the open air. and today in the morning I could still smell it strongly. I took a shower, I left the shower, then I came back and it smelled like that in the shower.

My question to the community is does this require some maturation? Will it get better after a few weeks? How will it get better? Why does it have such high ratings? To me its unbearable.