Shane82
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Amazing bang for the $
Almost straight up juicy pineapple for the entire duration. Yes, there are hints of woods and spices, but they're barely noticeable, so let's call it 90% pineapple. I actually LOVE it that way! Great for any season, and very uplifting and fun scent.
The bottle is of good quality, good atomizer, and a magnetic cap strong enough to lift the bottle from it. All that for $15! That makes it one of the best bang for your $ scents, and pretty much anyone should have one. Great for layering too.
The only disappointment is the performance. Projection is pretty good (even great) for the first 30 minutes, then okay for the next hour, then a tiny 6"-10" scent bubble for another hour or two... And then it's a skin scent for 2-3 more hours.
If you want the same thing with nuclear performance, get Nitro Platinum... But that's 2X the price.
The bottle is of good quality, good atomizer, and a magnetic cap strong enough to lift the bottle from it. All that for $15! That makes it one of the best bang for your $ scents, and pretty much anyone should have one. Great for layering too.
The only disappointment is the performance. Projection is pretty good (even great) for the first 30 minutes, then okay for the next hour, then a tiny 6"-10" scent bubble for another hour or two... And then it's a skin scent for 2-3 more hours.
If you want the same thing with nuclear performance, get Nitro Platinum... But that's 2X the price.
Liquid Brun Killer!
I liked (not fell in love with) the profile of Liquid Brun after trying a decant, but the powderiness (and price) bothered me. Not by a lot, more like Khamra was only 10%-15% too sweet for me, and Qahwa solved that... So does Al Dirgham Special Edition (ADSE) solved Liquid Brun (LB) for me. They are 95% similar, the only difference is that ADSE has about 15% less cinnamon and powederiness than LB, which makes the orange blossom and cardamon shine slightly better. They are not as different as Khamra is to Qahwa though. To the untrained nose, or in the air, they'll smell the same. Both have the same notes, and same vanilla and praline content. ADSE smells 5%-%10 more male leaning according to my wife. I'm not seeing (smelling) that difference.
They both perform the same. Same projection, same longevity. At the beginning, I thought ADSE lasts longer, but I was just going nose blind to LB for some reason. Good thing I tested with my wife (from several distances) to make sure about the performance.
On dry-down, I can barely tell the difference. On deep dry-down (2+ hours), I go nose blind to LB, so I can't reliably tell you if there is a difference there. My wife says they're the same, but she's not into scents at all. For her, there's only "this smells good", "this doesn't smell good", and "this smells better". So when I asked her which smells better, she said she can't pick, as they're way too similar.
The batch date is May 2024. After testing ADSE alone against its own gift decant, I found out that the decant matured much faster than the bottle, so the rest of the tests were done with the decant.
ADSE is currently less than half the price of LB when considering cost per ml, as you get 120ml (100ml+20ml free decant). The decant (and the bottle) spray very well, and I think the bottle of ADSE looks much better. The cap of ADSE is a snug fit, but plain cheap plastic, no heft to it (you can still easily lift the bottle from the cap alone). The bottle is shiny silverchrome with about 5%-10% transparency (so you can see how much juice is left in the bottle), and not heavy, but not light as well. The decant is really cool (even though it's plain plastic). It's low profile (about 1cm thick), and about the size of a business card.
Conclusion: No need to buy Liquid Brun anymore... Don't pay the hype tax. This is 90% the same at the opening, 99% the same at dry-down, and same (if not even better) performance.
They both perform the same. Same projection, same longevity. At the beginning, I thought ADSE lasts longer, but I was just going nose blind to LB for some reason. Good thing I tested with my wife (from several distances) to make sure about the performance.
On dry-down, I can barely tell the difference. On deep dry-down (2+ hours), I go nose blind to LB, so I can't reliably tell you if there is a difference there. My wife says they're the same, but she's not into scents at all. For her, there's only "this smells good", "this doesn't smell good", and "this smells better". So when I asked her which smells better, she said she can't pick, as they're way too similar.
The batch date is May 2024. After testing ADSE alone against its own gift decant, I found out that the decant matured much faster than the bottle, so the rest of the tests were done with the decant.
ADSE is currently less than half the price of LB when considering cost per ml, as you get 120ml (100ml+20ml free decant). The decant (and the bottle) spray very well, and I think the bottle of ADSE looks much better. The cap of ADSE is a snug fit, but plain cheap plastic, no heft to it (you can still easily lift the bottle from the cap alone). The bottle is shiny silverchrome with about 5%-10% transparency (so you can see how much juice is left in the bottle), and not heavy, but not light as well. The decant is really cool (even though it's plain plastic). It's low profile (about 1cm thick), and about the size of a business card.
Conclusion: No need to buy Liquid Brun anymore... Don't pay the hype tax. This is 90% the same at the opening, 99% the same at dry-down, and same (if not even better) performance.
Really?! No reviews yet?!
Okay, I'll take a stab at it.
Take Invictus, add a STRONG watermelon note to it, and this is what you get. I might be over 40, but I love juvenile and simplistic fragrances that don't change too much on me. I like smelling good, not "interesting". This is an extremely "young and happy" fragrance. Its fruity sweetness almost takes it to the point where it's no longer viable for summer use. Remember that watermelon chewing gum we had as kids? Take 3kg of that, add 3kg of gummy-bears to that, melt them squeeze 10 drops of lemon into the mix, and boil it until only 100ml are left. That's pretty much what you get. Yes, there are other ingredients, but they are barely even in the background, as nothing can balance this sweetness.
This might sound like a bad review, but it isn't... I LOVE it! It's actually my favorite summer scent so far, and I've tried decants of the top 30 highest rated in here! This and Hawas (basically almost the same, just slightly less extreme in the sweetness) are the best. Yes it's "synthetic", but I'm not eating it. I never came across someone who said I smell "too synthetic". Actually, out of about 50 fragrances I wore, this got the most compliments! (Yes, more than my CDNIM LE), and I test all my fragrances with 4 generations of men and women (mother-in-law, sister-in-law, wife, and niece).
Now for the best part...
Longevity: Easy 10 hours.
Projection: Like a hand grenade for the first 2 hours, and a good sillage trail for another 2-3 hours. This thing tops all the 50+ (winter+summer) frags I've tried in performance.
If you're not a "fragrance snob", and just want to smell fruity sweet, and slightly fresh, this is it! I'll wear it even when I'm 70 years old... That's how much I don't care and love this scent! 1010!
Take Invictus, add a STRONG watermelon note to it, and this is what you get. I might be over 40, but I love juvenile and simplistic fragrances that don't change too much on me. I like smelling good, not "interesting". This is an extremely "young and happy" fragrance. Its fruity sweetness almost takes it to the point where it's no longer viable for summer use. Remember that watermelon chewing gum we had as kids? Take 3kg of that, add 3kg of gummy-bears to that, melt them squeeze 10 drops of lemon into the mix, and boil it until only 100ml are left. That's pretty much what you get. Yes, there are other ingredients, but they are barely even in the background, as nothing can balance this sweetness.
This might sound like a bad review, but it isn't... I LOVE it! It's actually my favorite summer scent so far, and I've tried decants of the top 30 highest rated in here! This and Hawas (basically almost the same, just slightly less extreme in the sweetness) are the best. Yes it's "synthetic", but I'm not eating it. I never came across someone who said I smell "too synthetic". Actually, out of about 50 fragrances I wore, this got the most compliments! (Yes, more than my CDNIM LE), and I test all my fragrances with 4 generations of men and women (mother-in-law, sister-in-law, wife, and niece).
Now for the best part...
Longevity: Easy 10 hours.
Projection: Like a hand grenade for the first 2 hours, and a good sillage trail for another 2-3 hours. This thing tops all the 50+ (winter+summer) frags I've tried in performance.
If you're not a "fragrance snob", and just want to smell fruity sweet, and slightly fresh, this is it! I'll wear it even when I'm 70 years old... That's how much I don't care and love this scent! 1010!
A solid 9!
Never smelled Sava or Date Delight, but Khamra is just AMAZING. That type of Gourmand is right up my ally. None apologetic, only slightly sophisticated, in-your-face sweet! Longevity is out of this world. About 10h on skin, 20+ on clothesdogs (I hugged my dog, and she smelled like Khamra very well into the next day), and about 1h of insane projection, with the next 1 hours of 2ft-3ft projection. Silage is constant at about 3h-4h. One of the top 3 for sure!
Versatility? None! This is winter only, and definitely for more night out or holiday with family. I wouldn't wear this to a business meeting... To distracting. Smells like a high end dessert bakery.
Versatility? None! This is winter only, and definitely for more night out or holiday with family. I wouldn't wear this to a business meeting... To distracting. Smells like a high end dessert bakery.
Damn... What a surprise!
Got this for pretty much no money as an add-on sale with my order. Thought "what the heck, it's only $14" (about $20 not on sale). Let me tell you, I haven't smelled Black Orchid, but this, on it's own merit, is AMAZINGLY well done. Creamy, floral, gourmand, seductive. Leans a tiny bit on the feminine side though. My wife didn't like the scent on me, so I'm not using it... But it's very high quality. Projects VERY far and long, and stayed on skin for about 20h!
