I don’t think the fragrance industry publishes a clean, official “failure rate” for new perfume launches, but the reality is pretty obvious once you zoom out: most new releases don’t become long-term winners. In consumer products more broadly, you’ll often see numbers like ~95% of new products failing tossed around, and fragrance feels like it follows that same pattern (especially for brand-new “pillar” launches). Why do so many launches disappear? - The market is flooded. You’ll see claims like 1,000+ new fragrances a year (and some reporting suggests it can be several thousand new entries in a year). - Most scents aren’t built for a 10-year run. A lot of releases are designed to sell fast, ride hype, then quietly fade. - Short lifespan = fast discounting. When something doesn’t hit, it often shows up discounted pretty quickly (you’ll recognize it when it suddenly lands at grey-market discounters). What “successful” usually means in the real world In the industry, “good” often just means it sells—consistently—at scale. Not necessarily that it’s the most artistic or enthusiast-approved. That’s why true monsters of sales and longevity (the stuff your non-frag friends recognize) are the real outliers—think the handful that turn into multi-year pillars for houses like Chanel and Dior. Why flankers and “safe” launches dominate : If you already have something that sells, a flanker is basically a lower-risk bet: - Familiar name + bottle DNA - Easier marketing - Built-in audience - Faster path to profit if it catches The twist: even if most individual launches fail, the category is booming The category can be on fire even while most new releases don’t survive long-term. For example: - In the U.S., prestige fragrance was up 6% (H1 2025), and mass market fragrance was up 17% (dollar sales). - U.S. prestige beauty in 2024 was heavily driven by fragrance growth (with one report citing prestige fragrance sales up 12% in 2024). Niche growth (with a grain of salt)

**Update: our resident Dua experts are telling me that Dua routinely runs sales even better than this, sometimes up to 36% off** Dua is having a sale to celebrate their 10th anniversary, up to 30% off I’ve never ordered from them (and with their enormous catalog, I’m not even sure where I’d want to start) but plenty of folks on here swear by them

Today is a decant of the day for me. Thanks to you @Jamal Moore for this. While I’ve smelled this before on paper but never on skin. Very much in the houses DNA, Wajd opens nicely off my skin. Warm, slight powder and sweet floral. Yet where Oud 07 gains depth by woods and Oud derivations, Wajd digs deeper with patchouli, musk and amber. Now this also isn’t a high rose heavy frag though. Ive read some people try and compare this to Radical Rose by Matiere Premiere. I can’t see that at all. That’s like comparing a 46 horsepower, 20yr Irish whiskey to isopropyl alcohol!!! 😂 not saying this is bad under any circumstances but be realistic please!!!!! This sits slightly closer to my skin than Oud 07’s higher projection. (Not a bad thing at all though) Sillage is excellent maintaining a bubble around you and trail behind you. At about 0.80 Cents per ml this is obtainable by all if the scent profile is in your wheelhouse. Is this FBW? Absolutely. For me personally no. But only because I already have many frags in this style and I curate my collection very carefully. If you have room for it in your collection or need a good alternative in this genre I say get this. Price point is hard to beat. Solid 8.5/10 for me.