Cuba Royal Cuba Eau de Toilette

Yeah. Not 1 million. Let's be real. This may be against the review rules, but as far as I know, the true notes are blond leather, blood orange, mint, grapefruit, rose and patchouli, and that's pretty much what you get...although, they are nowhere near authentic.

The overall vibe is a plasticy, candy orange bubblegum smell. No cinnamon, no leather, no woods and no spices. There's absolutely no tobacco, so I don't even know what that's about. It's just a weird, smooth orangy concotion that smells, dare I say it, childish up close. It gets a little chalky towards the end, but at least the longevity is decent.

Update: Wow. I had to delete the last paragraph because it was just plain rude. Shame on you buddy. lol Anyway, now that I read this over a year later, it really goes to show how people evolve over time, as well as the overall industry. Originally, it sounds like I was pissed that such a mediocre scent could win over so many people. But after spending more time with the original 1 million, I realized that Cuba Royal REALLY is an incredible clone for the price. Plus with the continual decline in quality and uniqueness in the designer fragrance market, we might as well upgrade this scent to GOOD. EXCELLENT even for the teenage demographic. What was I thinkin'? If you want 1 million, don't even bother with the real thing. Just get 2 bottles of these and use the rest of the money to take out that special someone. Win-win. And SCORE.

Great for the price, picked up a 100ml bottle for just 5€.
Great for winter and fall.
I don't like the look of the bottle. It looks very cheap.
It has a weak performance for about 4 hours, and then it is gone, which is OK for the price.
I like the smell of tobacco, and you can really smell that vanilla. It comes out very sweet.
If you like sweet fragrances, then I can recommend Cuba Royal to you and it won't break the bank.

Some of the fragrance reviews on various websites make me laugh. People saying they prefer the 'original frags' to the Cuba fragrances is hilarious. Cuba IS the original - The 'OG'. The others copied Cuba's fragrances. Cuba Royal was released in 2006. 1 Million Paco Rabanne was released just over 2 years later in 2008. So it can't be the other way around. 1 Million stole the scent from Cuba Royal. FACT.

Please do some research before posting that you like the 'original'. If that were true you would know that Cuba fragrances have been around longer than the copies and clones. The big name companies copied Cuba fragrances over the years. They are the dupes. Not the other way around. Cuba is not a new, up and coming fragrance house. They have been around a long time and utilized some of the better noses in the fragrance industry developing their fragrances.

I love this scent! For me it is better than the clone - 1 Million. It's less cloying, has better balance and lasts about as long on my skin. Now couple that with the price and this is a HOME RUN! All the way!

This smells just pure alcohol at the start for me. You will smell nothing else than that for the first couple of minutes.

The drydown makes the fragrance subtle and you cant smell much of it after around 1 hour.

The bottle looks nice and elegant but that is the only thing i can give an plus for.

first of all, I don't find the notes listed to be accurate per se. If they are legitimate, my nose isn't picking up most of them.

I don't know anything about 1 Million, or how these two compare to each other. But I do know that I was looking for something to replace my father's Cremo Spice & Black Vanilla, Cuba Royal was $8, and it was a good choice. It doesn't have the spice/pepper notes that Cremo did but the vanilla has much more endurance and body.

I don't get much individual notes from this fragrance overall, and I most definitely do not get citrus or mint. What I do get is a nice and sweet leathery vanilla with a hint of rose. I think people may confuse the leather + patchouli undertones as tobacco due to the branding/packaging. If you're after that sort of vague leathery tobacco idea drowned in a sweet and sticky vanilla, this will easily steer you that direction and you really can't beat the price.

It's not a beast mode buy, but it will perform well, albeit pretty linearly, for a few hours. It is cheap enough you can over-spray some without worry, or continue to reapply throughout the day. If you're after a more authentic sweet citrus/floral/leather/patchouli sort of profile, my immediate thought is something like Guess by Marciano For Men (almost as cheap, similarly sweet and sticky), or Moustache by Rochas (little more expensive, closer to the intended profile, softer and more aromatic).