I know Lattafa is one of the most popular Middle Eastern clone houses, but after owning and wearing a number of their fragrances, I think they are very hit or miss. They have a few good releases, but in my opinion the hype surrounding the brand is far greater than the overall quality. A low price and long longevity do not automatically make a fragrance a great fragrance. One thing I notice with a lot of Lattafa fragrances is the opening. They often come out extremely loud, projecting aggressively with heavy sweetness and synthetic aroma chemicals that immediately grab your attention. Sometimes the opening slightly captures the fragrance they are cloning, but it is usually more about giving you a strong first impression than accurately recreating the quality of the original. As the fragrance moves through the wear, many Lattafa releases begin to fall flat. The heart often lacks depth, smooth transitions, and development. Instead of evolving naturally, they can become linear or simply turn into a weaker version of the opening. Strangely enough, the closing or final drydown can sometimes capture the general scent profile better than the opening. However, this is usually because the fragrance settles into standard base notes that are used in many fragrances, such as vanilla, amber, musk, woods, or sweet resins. A lot of fragrances close in a similar way once the more distinctive opening and heart notes disappear. Lattafa may reach something recognizable in the final hours, but it is normally less refined, less detailed, and rougher than the fragrance it is trying to duplicate. There are also times that it can capture the opening very loud and similar and then pull flat throughout the rest of the wearing. This is something I notice with many Middle Eastern clone houses in general. They often focus on recreating the loud opening or the most recognizable part of a fragrance because that is what sells during the first few sprays, especially on social media. But when you wear them for several hours, they rarely capture the full structure, refinement, or transitions of the original.

Since I was wearing profondo this weekend, today I decided to continue with the line. I have a travel sized bottle of this one and I've actually only worn it once before. Definitely has a more old school perfumery vibe to It. I never tried profumo but I Gear this is the closest to it. To me, it smells like a darker version of the OG. The olibanum and patchouli definitely give it a heavier base and though I may not wear it for peak heat outdoors, it's otherwise a solid year round signature scent worthy fragrance. I still like profondo just a tad better, but this has it's own sophistication that I haven't smelled in an ADG fragrance.

I’m a little late on my post considering I wore this Sunday night. Full disclosure I’m a big ADG fan, easily in my top 2 designer lines. I have the 2024 formulations of the EDT, EDP, Parfum, Profondo EDP and Profondo Parfum, all are great to me. So I was inevitably gonna pick this one up. I never had the original Absolu or smelled it, so I can’t compare but reviews have said some similarities. I can’t attest to that one way or the other. What I will say is that to me this is like an ADG super hybrid blend. I pick up the green from the EDP but I also get the marine from the whole line. Along with some citrus in the Profondo Parfum wheelhouse and some smokiness of the Parfum. All in all just a fantastic blend that anyone looking at should grab. It definitely lives up to my saying that the best ADG is the one you’re wearing.