Amber Oud Aqua Dubai Al Haramain / الحرمين 2024
2
It's not perfect but at this price?
So I sampled Imagination and loved it immediately. It somewhat made me think of a super high quality hotel soap, not at all in a bad way, and the black tea note just stuck out to me so clearly in such a pleasant way that I very quickly added it to my buy list.
As someone who regularly spends too much money on scented alcohol normally I lack the self control from spending on a new bottle, but Imagination was different. It's impossible to find from any discounters, and while I waited to save up some extra cash I watched as LV slowly increased the price. Currently it sits at $345 USD for a 100mL and $485 USD for the "value" 200mL. No matter what I just could not bring myself to spend that kind of money on a fragrance, so I figured I would give a clone a shot and worst case I could always sell the bottle in case I didn't like it.
Immediately after taking off the cap, before even spraying the bottle, I could smell Aqua Dubai from the atomizer and it smelled exactly as I remembered Imagination. The atomizer is incredibly powerful and pressurized, probably the strongest I've ever gotten before, and after spraying on skin I immediately went nose blind. This fragrance absolutely blasts off of my skin and projects even harder than Imagination. If you get your nose up close to your skin, yes, it does smell different, it is harsher than Imagination for sure, which can only be expected for the price difference. If anything I expected Aqua Dubai to smell worse up close but it actually is still great. But up in the air, it is difficult to tell even side by side, at least for me but your own mileage may vary. I think that for the $45 USD that I paid for 100mL bottle this is a fantastic value proposition. As a fragrance nerd I can hardly if at all tell the different so I can't imagine anyone else could.
Please sample first, but I think that this scent does deserve some respect for its value and scent, and is at least worth a try before you spend a car payment on Imagination. I have also heard good things about Game of Spades Fullhouse but I have yet to try that, so that might be worth a sample as well.
As someone who regularly spends too much money on scented alcohol normally I lack the self control from spending on a new bottle, but Imagination was different. It's impossible to find from any discounters, and while I waited to save up some extra cash I watched as LV slowly increased the price. Currently it sits at $345 USD for a 100mL and $485 USD for the "value" 200mL. No matter what I just could not bring myself to spend that kind of money on a fragrance, so I figured I would give a clone a shot and worst case I could always sell the bottle in case I didn't like it.
Immediately after taking off the cap, before even spraying the bottle, I could smell Aqua Dubai from the atomizer and it smelled exactly as I remembered Imagination. The atomizer is incredibly powerful and pressurized, probably the strongest I've ever gotten before, and after spraying on skin I immediately went nose blind. This fragrance absolutely blasts off of my skin and projects even harder than Imagination. If you get your nose up close to your skin, yes, it does smell different, it is harsher than Imagination for sure, which can only be expected for the price difference. If anything I expected Aqua Dubai to smell worse up close but it actually is still great. But up in the air, it is difficult to tell even side by side, at least for me but your own mileage may vary. I think that for the $45 USD that I paid for 100mL bottle this is a fantastic value proposition. As a fragrance nerd I can hardly if at all tell the different so I can't imagine anyone else could.
Please sample first, but I think that this scent does deserve some respect for its value and scent, and is at least worth a try before you spend a car payment on Imagination. I have also heard good things about Game of Spades Fullhouse but I have yet to try that, so that might be worth a sample as well.