Attached, a rundown of all the fragrances I've worn this week, with a little commentary about the notable aspects. New Kids On The Block: Two of the below scents were newcomers to my collection. The first was Geranium Nefertum EDT from Molton Brown, which I picked up from a Car Boot Sale that Sunday morning for £5 (100ml). It's a light, breezy floral scent that's pleasant and unassuming, and I'm happy I picked it up for a steal. The second is Off-White's Solution No 9, which I picked up at a Flannels sale at 70% off (50ml plus 10 samples). I'd not heard of it before I stumbled upon the bottle, and the delicious nutty open hooked me immediately. There's a developing tea note, with rice and sesame adding a great umami and milkiness that's definitely intriguing. One I'll be returning to soon, I'm sure. Best Scent Not Close: I can't stress enough how much I love Khadlaj Island Dreams. It's a fruity bomb from the start, long lasting, well blended, and worth every penny of its sub-£40 price tag. As a clone of LV's Symphony, it performs amazingly. I remember the first time I wore it in public at a small gaming tournament, one of my friends said to the table we were at "someone in this room smells incredible", and while I was sure it was me (remember... GAMING tournament), you can't put your hand up for credit at that point without looking like a gaping anus. 😄 Grower Not A Shower: I had a full day's wear of my ScentAddict 8ml of Prada L'Homme EDT, and I really started to love it. It was great for the office, and also for an evening meetup with friends. What I first perceived as overtly powdery became soapy creamy clean in my mind. There's a reason this scent is near the top of the tree. A full bottle of this will likely appear on my wishlist before long. All this, plus a few First Wears of exciting fragrances too (Lucius, Lafayette Street, Abid Ambre). A fun week! (For giggles, I'll end with a little AI-prompted runthrough of my week's wears, because why tell you how I feel directly when I can get a robot to do it?)

Armaf is one of the biggest names in Middle Eastern clone fragrances, and for many people, it is one of the first houses they discover when entering the dupe world. The brand became popular by offering fragrances that smell similar to expensive designer and niche releases at a fraction of the price. Armaf has produced some excellent values, but, like Lattafa, the house is extremely hit-or-miss. The biggest strength of Armaf is that some of its fragrances get surprisingly close to the overall scent profile of the fragrance they are copying. Club de Nuit Intense Man is the obvious example. It helped introduce thousands of people to the Aventus style without requiring them to spend hundreds of dollars. Armaf has also released clones inspired by fragrances from Creed, Chanel, Parfums de Marly, Roja, Louis Vuitton, and several other major houses. However, getting the basic scent profile right does not always mean the fragrance has the same quality, refinement, or development as the original. A lot of Armaf fragrances have extremely loud openings. The first few minutes can be sharp, synthetic, chemical-smelling, or overloaded with citrus and aroma chemicals. Sometimes the opening slightly captures the original, but the fragrance does not really come together until it begins drying down. In many cases, the drydown is actually where Armaf gets closest. Once the harsh opening settles, the familiar woods, musk, amber, vanilla, or ambroxan begin showing through. The problem is that many Armaf fragrances eventually fall into the same standard Middle Eastern clone-house base. Even when two fragrances are copying completely different originals, their drydowns can start feeling similar because they rely on many of the same inexpensive woody, musky, and amber materials. Performance is usually one of Armaf’s major selling points. Many releases have strong projection and leave a noticeable scent trail, especially during the first several hours. However, strong performance does not automatically equal high quality. Some Armaf fragrances project loudly but lack smooth transitions, depth, and balance. Instead of naturally moving from the opening into the heart and drydown, they can feel like a loud opening followed by a basic woody-musky base.