Cloud Ariana Grande 2018 Eau de Parfum

*** A review in two parts ***

Part 1 - The Cloud

Scent:

Ariana Grande - Cloud is a sweet, somewhat fresh and moderately heavy fragrance that presents itself as not overly complex, but extremely pleasing. Sweet, but not cloying. I hardly smell coconut, and what I do catch is more noticeable in the second half of the fragrance's development. Often, the little cloud is described as cotton candy in a bottle, which is not wrong, but it doesn't do full justice to the fragrance. A girl’s scent, too sweet for real men, many say… Nonsense. Please get into the next DeLorean and head into the 21st century. Cloud is absolutely unisex-friendly; a man just needs to be secure in his sexuality and self-worth to wear such fragrances.

Rating: 8/10

Characteristics:

Longevity and sillage are decent, especially considering the affordable price. The fragrance development is straightforward; it simply becomes increasingly sweeter until it settles lightly woody-warm on the skin. Nothing exciting, but by God, not bad.

Rating: 7/10

Miscellaneous:

The presentation is a horror. The garish packaging showcases the namesake, who, to be honest, is completely unknown to me, and it comes across as loud and cheap. The bottle itself is a monstrous horror, and it’s hard to surpass in tastelessness.

Rating: 2/10

Conclusion:

A very pleasing fragrance that one would not suspect in the off-putting packaging. The scent is primarily designed for young and young-at-heart ladies, but is inherently unisex. Sweet, not overwhelmingly heavy, and extremely nice and pleasant to wear as well as to smell on others.

Buy it!
Part 2 - Blessing or Rain?

Of course, one must address the elephant in the room when writing about Cloud: Is this fragrance a Baccarat Rouge clone? Yes. I don’t know who on God’s green earth would seriously deny the proximity to Kurkdjian’s masterpiece. Especially on platforms like this one, please, don’t tell me one must consider the fragrance for its own sake. Who would even talk about this thing if there wasn’t that other, many times more expensive fragrance? No one. So please, spare me the hypocritical pretense.

A completely different question is whether Cloud is a “good” clone… and this question is not so easy to answer. Let me put it this way, if you primarily love the sweet, lovely, and candy-like elements of BR 540, then absolutely, yes. If you prefer the slightly medicinal, subtly spicy element and the molecular lightness, then probably not. Hey, how many of you keep commenting on Baccarat Rouge that you dislike that “dentist smell” of Monsieur Kurkdjian’s creation? Good news, buy this one. Cloud is Baccarat Rouge EdP without those notes, plus a bit of coconut syrup. Voilà.

Oh, and of course, there are always those who want to tell us that their favorite is a 99.99999999% similar copy of BR 540… no, it isn’t. If someone wants Baccarat Rouge, in all its details, notes, and aspects, then please buy the original instead of wasting so much money in the search for the holy grail of shameless plagiarism that could easily have gone towards a real bottle of Kurkdjian.

Conclusion 2:

Is Ariana Grande - Cloud a near-Baccarat Rouge? Yes, it is. Does it come close to the original? Never in a lifetime. And that’s a good thing. For both fragrances and their lovers. For all those who cannot or do not want to afford the original (I feel the pinch in my wallet every time I buy Kurkdjian), are looking for a less medicinal, sweeter, and less complex version, and/or can live with a (well-made) imitation, the cloud is an absolute winner and worth the price. Clear recommendation to buy!

Thank you.