Essence de Blanc French Avenue

I recently bought this perfume. Before this, I had the "Saheb Intense / صاحب | Ard Al Zaafaran / ارض الزعفران التجارية" , and I really liked its DNA. However, I haven't smelled Louis Vuitton Imagination yet.

In the opening, the dominant note is mandarin.
After a few minutes, the scent of black tea and ginger emerges. The scent of neroli is soft and subtle, unlike what you find in Tom Ford Neroli Portofino.
In the dry-down, the black tea note lingers the longest compared to the others.

The quality of the bottle and packaging is truly high. The scent is extremely appealing, and you'll receive many compliments. The important thing is that this Perfume needs to rest for at least a few weeks to reach a higher level of longevity, and for the scent to become smoother. The longevity and projection are also above my expectations.

First of all, I have never had the joy of smelling the LV OG, there simply aren't any LV stores around where I live. Ive got a full bottle of EDB at home and a Decant of Marwa, because the latter is constantly sold out in CH online stores. I really love tea based scents, and citrusy fragrances. As far as fragrances goes, I've only ever found Bulgari pour Homme EDP in stores in my city, that's remotely similar to Imagination, to try on and I really enjoyed it, but with a small budget i thought of going for a LV Imagination Dupe at 1/3 the price of the Bulgari because they Imagination and Pour Homme EDP are made by the same perfumer and share a simliar DNA. Big mistake on my part as I've realized after buying the two clones mentioned here...

Now as for the full bottle of Essence de Blanc: I dont get any cinnamon in the opening here. But what I get is a rather weird stingy / almost chemical anti mosquito like blend, mixed with some diaper/ish smell - feels like that perfume is trying to hide the smell of poop... but doing a poor job at it. It smells kinda foul and cheap for sure. TBH I wouldn't even wear that stuff as a Moskito repellent, since it makes me nauseous, which isn't the case very often with fragrances. Its far less smooth than SOTRSD or even Marwa and the weird notes are staying for quite some time. Marwa to me, is a lot fresher in the opening, but dries down to something that isn't quite right to my nose as well. The dry down is a bit better than EDB, but there's still something cheap and off putting there as well. I would give Essence de Blanc an overall 2/10 and would advice people to not blind buy it - you might hate the scent as much as I do and even the 30 bucks I spent on EDB are way to much for what you're getting. The tea note is almost negligent in EDB, because of the poor blending quality and the overdose of synthetic smelling ginger.

I first got the Marwa decant and at first I absolutely loved it. Citrussy opening with a hint of cinnamon, drying down into some nice black tea a bit of wood and some Incense which is quite notable after maybe 2 hours. Not a beast for sure, but good performance and the scent was rather intimate, which I enjoyed as well. I dont wanna walk around in a huge scent bubble all day, especially at work and such.

Now after having had Bulgari pour Homme for quite some time and after I've compared Marwa and EDB with Sunrise on the Red Sand Dunes by Zara, which I received today and payed 15.- for second hand, I have to say its absolute garbage, especially for the high prize it is demanding online. 65.- for an Arabian dupe that smells ok the first times you wear it but gets worse and worse the more you smell it? hell no!
I will post the same Review on Marwas page just so people hopefully dont make the same mistake as I did!

EDIT 23.02.26.

I've just received Zara's Sunrise on the red sand dunes and compared it side to side with Marwa. Marwa smells just as synthetic and chemical as EDB, just with a little bit less Ginger. Still, I would never wear either EDB or Marwa anymore, because they both stink to my nose now. SOTRSD feels much more put together compared to the two. And the initial projection is better on my skin as well, at least compared to Marwa. EDB might be a bit stronger but is so nauseating that you wish it was lighter.

SKIN TEST:
I fear this one you truly have to sample to see if this is compatible with your skin chemistry. I had a lukewarm, yet favorable impression from paper test. However, on my skin, it’s weirdly sour citrus and badly blended white flowers with sharp, mysterious and unpleasant herbal notes. Not a fan. 3.5/10.
PAPER TEST:
After allowing this scent to dry down on paper, I immediately get a fresh, slightly powdery (like baby powder not violets) and pleasant unisex musky scent.

This is quite inoffensive scent with delicate projection. I haven't tried the original, so I can’t speak to how faithful of an interpretation this is to the OG. Based on first impressions, I’d say I’m pleasantly whelmed. Will report after a full wear test :)

I gifted this bottle to my teenage nephew, and I had the chance to test it a couple of times on myself as well.

It is quite close to Imagination but it misses the X factor. In the air. it's got the unmistakably Imagination aura but if you've experienced the original, in comparison the dry down lacks some the sweetness, and some of its distinctive notes are replaced by others,

Essence has got a very nice spiciness, a noticeable tea note, but in the dry down the white florals and soapy notes dominate. When I tried it on myself I didn't like it at all. I thought it was way too feminine for me. For some reason, it reminded me of Lacoste White L12, which is in the same ballpark, some light citruses and loads of white florals.

My nephew (13) loves Imagination, but his parents don't want to spend the CAD $400 for it, so I gave my bottle of Essence to him, and he gets to wear it a lot for school and other activities.

My advice would be: Blind buy as a close alternative but also manage your expectations. Essence is a decent fragrance , more feminine leaning in my opinion. Yet, I think it offers good VFM is you want an Imagination alternative that doesn't break the bank.

It has a hint of overripe fruit. Not good. The Art of Arabia 1 Latafeh clone is citrusy and cheerful, but Fragrance World Essence Blanche has a not so good citrusy floral scent. Of course, after half an hour, that overripe fruit smell disappears and it takes on a nice peppery scent.

How interesting! The final note is the same as the opening note!!!! Oh