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Notes04/23/2018
Carlitos01
378 Reviews
Carlitos01
Top Review
14
An Armaf serious work
This is the only Armaf Niche fragrance I have bought so far even if I have tried a handful of them. There are some important facts about this so-called "Niche" Armaf line of perfumes:
- The probable ending of the Armaf tacky bottles. I believe I don't shock anybody if I comment that Armaf has produced some of the ugliest fragrance flasks in the perfume industry.
- It seems that producing clones will not be the aim of this Armaf niche line, although I position this fragrance halfway between Ambre Sultan by Serge Lutens and 1996 Inez & Vinoodh by Byredo.
- The fragrance quality is well above average.
I like oud scents! I also like leather, vanilla, pepper and amber accords. This scent seems to be a potpourri of my preferred notes. Till some months ago I felt important to impose my opinion of sniffing an oud note in this perfume. That does not matter any longer for me. I smell an oud accord, stronger in the opening and heart and I am happy with it. I don't care if it is a leather blend with cedar and pepper that may suggest the agarwood scent or not. Probably the amber note may be to blame as well if made with styrax and "cooked" the correct way... well, who cares? I smell oud (period). It's not an over animalic oud, it does not smell like a barnyard or rotten carcasses. It's quite well behaved and it works like a bunch of spices aiming to emphasize the smell of fancy food in a Michelin-star-rated restaurant. The pepper, the leather, the vanilla and the amber notes are really amplified in this fragrance. The blending becomes very smooth without harming the fragrance's strength or performance. Leather, supported by vanilla and amber, ends up being the key accord during the very pleasant and long dry down.
Comments on the fragrance development:
It opens with strong spicy notes and quickly develops the oud scent that seems to be omnipresent at all stages. This fragrance smells like having an oud note or accord, although no oud note is listed. This very present oud lingers around, along with the cedar note. This wood accord is fantastic and is persistent in all development stages and during the early dry down.
Black pepper is easily detectable some minutes after the spraying, as well as a faint leather scent that evolves into a strong but friendly and almost sweet leather note, coexisting with a highly praised patchouli.
The dry down is very pleasant with the fading wood/"oudish" scent, surrounded by the enduring leather and a captivating mellow amber sweetened by vanilla,
From the initial 3 sprays till the fainting skin scent after 8 hours, we get a very pleasant notes evolution. The blending does not produce any harsh situations and really does not fool you by making you smell the pleasuring "phantom" oud note.
The heavy bottle is nice and easy to hold. If you like, as I do, to dispose of my flasks by brand, you will pity the odd "containers" of Craze and La Marque Brune fragrances side by side with this nice Oud Niche flask.
Rating a non oud fragrance:
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Scent opening: 9.75 (spices and wood... fantastic)
Scent dry down: 9.25 (semi-sweet oriental & woody "grand finale")
Longevity: 8.5 (easily up to10 hours with 3 sprays)
Sillage: 8.0 (6 feet at its peak. It projects for 2~3 hours.)
Exclusivity: 8.0 (you feel that it is not unique, even if it is not a clone of any fragrance I know; You cannot help to associate it with other very good oriental woody scents. I would position this fragrance somewhere in a triangle between Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan, Bentley Absolut and Halston Amber, but closer to the Lutens perfume; nevertheless, Armaf Niche Oud is pretty exclusive)
Usability: 7.5 (If you use it in the summer, you will be sent to prison for olfactory attack on the people around you. Use it in cold or mild to cold weather, either day or night)
Versatility: 8.5 (If you feel comfortable with an oriental-woody-oudy fragrance - as I do - you may well use it almost everywhere provided that you don't overspray. Exceptions: beach + workout + activities where you may sweat)
Compliments: 8,5 (higher than usual for an oud fragrance; you will smell sexy provided that you won't overspray... yes, it's that powerful!)
Quality: 8.0 (great but still a bit synthetic)
Presentation: 8.0 (a big step in a good direction after a lot of ugly Armaf bottles; all Armaf Niche bottles have a similar shape)
Price: 8.5 (29 Euros plus taxes and shipping for a non-tester flask; not bad for a pleasant above average quality oud fragrance)
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Overall rating: 8.41/10,00
- between 7 and 8 =above average;
- between 8 and 9 = recommended;
- bigger than 9 = don't miss it;
I do recommend this perfume to oriental fragrance lovers, and to any user eager to experience a good non-offensive Oriental, Wood, Oud quality perfume for a moderate price.
Music: Youssou N'Dour - "7 seconds"
- The probable ending of the Armaf tacky bottles. I believe I don't shock anybody if I comment that Armaf has produced some of the ugliest fragrance flasks in the perfume industry.
- It seems that producing clones will not be the aim of this Armaf niche line, although I position this fragrance halfway between Ambre Sultan by Serge Lutens and 1996 Inez & Vinoodh by Byredo.
- The fragrance quality is well above average.
I like oud scents! I also like leather, vanilla, pepper and amber accords. This scent seems to be a potpourri of my preferred notes. Till some months ago I felt important to impose my opinion of sniffing an oud note in this perfume. That does not matter any longer for me. I smell an oud accord, stronger in the opening and heart and I am happy with it. I don't care if it is a leather blend with cedar and pepper that may suggest the agarwood scent or not. Probably the amber note may be to blame as well if made with styrax and "cooked" the correct way... well, who cares? I smell oud (period). It's not an over animalic oud, it does not smell like a barnyard or rotten carcasses. It's quite well behaved and it works like a bunch of spices aiming to emphasize the smell of fancy food in a Michelin-star-rated restaurant. The pepper, the leather, the vanilla and the amber notes are really amplified in this fragrance. The blending becomes very smooth without harming the fragrance's strength or performance. Leather, supported by vanilla and amber, ends up being the key accord during the very pleasant and long dry down.
Comments on the fragrance development:
It opens with strong spicy notes and quickly develops the oud scent that seems to be omnipresent at all stages. This fragrance smells like having an oud note or accord, although no oud note is listed. This very present oud lingers around, along with the cedar note. This wood accord is fantastic and is persistent in all development stages and during the early dry down.
Black pepper is easily detectable some minutes after the spraying, as well as a faint leather scent that evolves into a strong but friendly and almost sweet leather note, coexisting with a highly praised patchouli.
The dry down is very pleasant with the fading wood/"oudish" scent, surrounded by the enduring leather and a captivating mellow amber sweetened by vanilla,
From the initial 3 sprays till the fainting skin scent after 8 hours, we get a very pleasant notes evolution. The blending does not produce any harsh situations and really does not fool you by making you smell the pleasuring "phantom" oud note.
The heavy bottle is nice and easy to hold. If you like, as I do, to dispose of my flasks by brand, you will pity the odd "containers" of Craze and La Marque Brune fragrances side by side with this nice Oud Niche flask.
Rating a non oud fragrance:
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Scent opening: 9.75 (spices and wood... fantastic)
Scent dry down: 9.25 (semi-sweet oriental & woody "grand finale")
Longevity: 8.5 (easily up to10 hours with 3 sprays)
Sillage: 8.0 (6 feet at its peak. It projects for 2~3 hours.)
Exclusivity: 8.0 (you feel that it is not unique, even if it is not a clone of any fragrance I know; You cannot help to associate it with other very good oriental woody scents. I would position this fragrance somewhere in a triangle between Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan, Bentley Absolut and Halston Amber, but closer to the Lutens perfume; nevertheless, Armaf Niche Oud is pretty exclusive)
Usability: 7.5 (If you use it in the summer, you will be sent to prison for olfactory attack on the people around you. Use it in cold or mild to cold weather, either day or night)
Versatility: 8.5 (If you feel comfortable with an oriental-woody-oudy fragrance - as I do - you may well use it almost everywhere provided that you don't overspray. Exceptions: beach + workout + activities where you may sweat)
Compliments: 8,5 (higher than usual for an oud fragrance; you will smell sexy provided that you won't overspray... yes, it's that powerful!)
Quality: 8.0 (great but still a bit synthetic)
Presentation: 8.0 (a big step in a good direction after a lot of ugly Armaf bottles; all Armaf Niche bottles have a similar shape)
Price: 8.5 (29 Euros plus taxes and shipping for a non-tester flask; not bad for a pleasant above average quality oud fragrance)
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Overall rating: 8.41/10,00
- between 7 and 8 =above average;
- between 8 and 9 = recommended;
- bigger than 9 = don't miss it;
I do recommend this perfume to oriental fragrance lovers, and to any user eager to experience a good non-offensive Oriental, Wood, Oud quality perfume for a moderate price.
Music: Youssou N'Dour - "7 seconds"
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