To me the is a beautiful soft black leather, white floral, some patchouli and a little sweetness. It's not divisive nor a love it or hate it type frag, but may not appeal to some of you. This was my first Mancera, smelled it at Ministry of Scent and I immediately ordered a bottle, like I walked out the store, sat on a bench and ordered it.😂

It’s Sunday, the weather is perfect, and I’m heading to a cigar lounge this afternoon. Since I had some time on my hands, I decided to run a little nose-training experiment I’ve been wanting to do for a while. I wore Creed Centaurus on one side of my body and Rayhaan Crimson on the other to see whether the original is actually worth the price compared to the clone. I sprayed both in the exact same spots and gave myself a good amount of time to smell how each one developed. Up close, I definitely noticed some differences. Centaurus has this fruity brightness in the opening, almost like a juicy plum note that sits above the rest of the composition. There’s a sparkle to it, a clean radiance that makes the fragrance feel more alive. Crimson, on the other hand, didn’t give me that same lift. It smelled good, but the top felt flatter and the spice was stronger and a little more direct. Where Creed blended everything smoothly, Crimson came across more straightforward. But once I stopped smelling directly off my skin and just paid attention to how they moved in the air around me, the gap got a lot smaller. From a normal distance, walking around or just picking up the scent naturally, they smelled extremely close. That extra sparkle from Creed is something you really only catch when you’re examining it up close. In the air, Crimson keeps up surprisingly well. So the big question for me was whether I’d still buy Centaurus knowing Crimson gives me a very similar experience for around forty dollars instead of three hundred fifty. And honestly, based on today’s test, the answer depends on how much someone values that added polish in the opening. Centaurus is definitely more refined, but Crimson gets me close enough that the price gap is hard to justify for everyday wear. What do you all think? How do you decide when the original is worth it and when the clone gets the job done?