TheJoker

At least for me. I have had the fragrance for six years and have only worn it once since then. I tested it again today and I actually find it even worse than back then. I don't know what iris smells like, but I suspect that must be the iris. I don't know muscat sage either, but it's not the top note that bothers me incredibly, rather something that remains present throughout the entire duration. Neither my then-girlfriend ("too powdery") nor a significantly younger girlfriend ("not for men") found Uomo Intense good. I can't understand how anyone could perceive such a fragrance as masculine. And I'm not someone who necessarily needs extremely "masculine" scents; my absolute favorites, Herod and Layton, both come off as very unisex and work very well for women too. But I can't see this Uomo Intense on a woman either, and if so, then most likely on an overly made-up 80-year-old in a fur coat - heavy, like the coat over her shoulder, heavy, like the gunk on her face. No offense intended, tastes are fortunately different, but with this one, I really can't understand how anyone could find it good, or even masculine, with all my imagination. My biggest blind buy flop besides Encre Noire - that's also unbearable, but I already knew from reading that it was probably very special. By the way, I don't necessarily find powdery bad; I recently treated myself to Prada Luna Rossa Black, and I find it pleasant and beautiful in scent, but it doesn't come off as particularly masculine either. I mean, people, how can powder and lipstick smell masculine? It hardly gets more feminine than that. These opinions from others confuse me.

I haven't worn Ultra Male in at least five years and just sprayed it on my left arm for a test. I remembered it as a cinnamon-vanilla sillage bomb, and it still is. To be honest, I can't really pick out the pear note; I eat pears so rarely that their scent is buried somewhere in my brain archive. However, what immediately came to mind, and startled me, is Layton by Parfums de Marly! One of my absolute favorite fragrances, which I've only had since 2019. Call it blasphemy, but I have Ultra Male on my left arm, and Layton on my right now. Layton smells to me like apple strudel with vanilla sauce. The apple note is missing in Ultra Male, but it has a (Christmas) smoky undertone. Despite these differences, I find the two very similar, and I realize this now that I've owned Layton for four years. Apparently, I have a strange nose, as Layton isn't even listed under "Similar" here.

Update: Well, about an hour later they start to diverge a bit; Layton is definitely the cooler one. But I would still place both in the same fragrance family, as there is definitely a similarity for me. The question is whether PDM might have been inspired by JPG. Shame on me for actually saying that, but I don't think it's impossible.

... right in the face. Brutal sillage, you will be approached while going out positively, but I have also received a negative comment in the office, which made me realize that it doesn't belong there.
Synthetic fruits that are so exaggeratedly aromatic that they make no secret of not being of natural origin.
In its way comparable to Sauvage EDT, only that the aggressively metallic-spicy freshness here has been swapped for an aggressive, spicy-fruity note.
I give it a full 10 points like I do for Sauvage, but not because I find the scent particularly innovative or refined, but because it reinterprets a well-known concept and is just as successful as the presumed model - compliments from women are simply guaranteed with this. Sauvage EDT can no longer be worn in public unless you want to smell like many others. Ambassador works just as well, stands out clearly, and is not something you can smell on every corner.

I can hardly write more about it, just a warm, delicious apple strudel. If you like that, you will love this scent too. For me, it is absolutely authentic and natural, the (presumably artificial) aromas are of the highest quality.
The scent is very similar to Layton by PDM, but for me, there is a small but very decisive difference: Layton has a slightly fresh, peppery note. Because of that, I can wear it in summer as well. It can be quite intense, but if you want to stand out, it definitely works; admittedly, it suits a female figure better in summer. Détour Noir lacks this subtle freshness, which is why I only see it in the colder seasons, where it fits perfectly.
Another strange difference: Layton knocks me off my feet right after spraying, it’s that good. I get that "yeah, I'm a cool guy" boost like with no other fragrance. Détour Noir doesn’t do that at all. Shortly after, however, they are hardly distinguishable.

The bottle is odd and doesn’t match the scent at all; it’s one of those that ends up in the drawer and not on the shelf. The sprayer is great, it’s almost Dior quality.

For the price, it’s an absolute steal, although I must admit that I don’t like it when there are such good dupes while I have the expensive original sitting on the shelf. Anyway, most people have no idea about perfume, and when I show up at the village festival with Layton or this clone, I’m still the best-smelling guy around. Fortunately, such scents don’t penetrate the mass market.

Addition on the topic of marketing: Al Haramain is doing everything right with the unisex positioning in my opinion, as the scent works great for women too. PDM sells Layton as a men’s fragrance, unlike Herod, which is unisex. Strange, as I find both Herod and Layton to be quite unisex. This is strategically clever, as they are thus ranked very high in two fragrance lists. Skill or coincidence, who knows.

This morning at 10 o'clock, the package arrived, and five minutes later, two sprays landed on my upper arm. For the first half hour, I kept thinking of a typical hand soap and wondered who would want to wear something like that. However, surprisingly, it transformed into an incredibly pleasant scent. I can't think of any associations with natural fragrances; it somehow leans towards laundry room or fresh bed linens, but certainly not in a negative sense. I am really quite taken with this fragrance; it simply radiates cleanliness and grooming. I think it fits perfectly in the office.

I absolutely cannot understand the poor performance from other tests. I am writing this review 15 hours after spraying, and I am still sniffing my arm every few minutes because I can't get enough of it. And now here’s the kicker: I also took a shower in the meantime. Sure, I didn't scrub my arms with shower gel, but this Fakhar is practically sticking to me.

Shame on me, but I like "synthetic." I've never understood why everything has to smell natural; it can be good, but it is absolutely not necessary for me.

The bottle is somewhat strange, inherently quite interesting, but in my opinion, it does not match the scent. I would have preferred a classic colorless aquatic bottle with blue liquid, something like Nautica Voyage. However, the spray head is great, with a relatively small spray area but very finely misted.