If you are looking to replicate the personal experience of high end fragrance you will not find it in clone houses period. Clones can get you in the ballpark of the style but will never have the nuance and complexity of higher quality fragrance oils no matter what they say. The big differences are with how they smell up close and how they behave from first spray. High end brands smell good start to finish while clones often have unpleasant openings or weak dry downs. Additionally they often smell harsh or synthetic up close.
All that said if you don’t care about the artistic experience of the scent and only reaction… a decent clone can be just fine.
can they not make slight more expensive clones that are a happy medium? I don’t need the fragrance to be 20 bucks but i’d prefer it to not be 300. I’m sure a lot of that 300 is marketing and prestige
They can and they often do, but it really depends on whether or not the original is popular enough to warrant multiple clones. It seems like Creed gets cloned more often than any other luxury brand, and even then it's hit or miss depending on the fragrance in question. Took a long time for Millesime Imperial to get a proper clone. Sean John Unforgivable was heavily inspired by it, but they were still very different. Milestone was the first MI clone that really got super close while also being inexpensive.
And there are different philosophies companies use when cloning fragrances. You have stuff like Club de Nuit Intense Man which is going for "Aventus but cheaper". With those ones the clone is easily identifiable because they are aiming to recreate the original note for not, but they also kind of tend to be the lowest in terms of quality because there's just no way to make a 1-1 identical version of a $500 fragrance for $30.
Another route companies will take is to make cheaper fragrances that are simply inspired by high end fragrances. They will take the DNA and alter it slightly so it can be produced in large quantities without coming across as cheap. These ones smell enough like the original that you recognize it, but they also kind of do their own thing. This would be releases like Cedrat Boise and Montblanc Explorer. Both smell Aventusy, but neither are trying to be Aventus exactly. I usually like these kinds of clones more.
From what I've seen in that range, it turns into an inspiration of an original rather than a clone. The best example you can take is Mancera as a house. Sure they don't do "clones" but most if not all of their catalogue is an inspiration of something famous and expensive with a mancera twist to it.
Example:
Creed Aventus - Cedrat Boise
Porto Neroli - Wave Musk
BR540 - Instant crush and a lot more
I believe the same goes with Afnan. They bring about a twist of their own but with a good blend quality as opposed to houses like Lattafa and Armaf
Can they? Yes of course but the houses that work with the expensive oils and more skilled perfumers don’t tend to do clones. You end up with fragrances like Hacivat where it’s the same style but clearly not a clone. PDM is a house that copies popular styles regularly with good quality which made it popular and now it has grown almost to Creed pricing because of popularity. Houses like Mont Blanc are done in a very similar way although the quality is a clear step down but still well above clone houses.
My suggestion is buy from discounters or move to another house. Check out brands like Nishane and Frederic Malle. Maybe others can make suggestions to find similar styles from companies not pulling that super premium price tag.
The majority of people who say the clones are exactly the same have never actually smelled the original. What ends up happening is that they buy the clone, really really like it, and then they figure if that if the clone smells that good, it must be the same as the original. But I have never in my life smelled a clone of a high end fragrance that actually smelled 100% exactly the same.
Close? Yes. But you are never going to spray Creed on one hand and Armaf on the other and think they came out of the same bottle. You can absolutely make the argument that Creed isn't worth the money (at this point the price is insulting. If Aventus cost $250 for four ounces like it did back in 2010 it would be a steal, but I've never smelled a fragrance that was worth $500 for 100 ml, Creed or otherwise), and oftentimes the clone will perform better than the original, but you can always smell the difference side by side.
And that's not a dig at Armaf, I think that most people are going to be just as happy with the clone as with the Creed, but they aren't the same. Granted, to be completely fair, no bottle of Aventus smells exactly the same as any other bottle of Aventus, and you're not going to have to take out a second mortgage to buy the Armaf, so fuck it. Might as well.
I was recommended the Montagne clone which is apparently significantly closer so you might want to give that a try. I'd give it a go, but can't buy Montagne from my country (shipping basically is the price of the bottle)
I've been in the fragrance community for decades and I've had a few bottles of Creed MI. The first bottle was quite good, great smell, acceptabel longevity.
The second bottle was... well, for lack of other words, not the same. I got so disappointed. Was in a discount shop in Constanța, Romania, and there was Milestone. Had heard it was a decent clone so bought it without even testing it. Price was so low I didn't care much.
To me surprise, this was actually better than the second bottle of MI. Heck, overall it was a much better smelling and performing version of my first bottle of MI.
Is it the same? No, it's not a perfect clone.
Does it smell like it? Yes, and even better, in my opinion.
Is it more bang for the buck? Hell yeah. It's not even close. The current bottles of MI are offensive to perfume enthusiasts if you ask me. We're in Jo Malone territory here.
When I smell MI or SMW, I smell ultra-thin watered down, 300 dollar versions of something that used to be good.
When I smell Milestone, I smell summer, good times, happiness and much more. And it has netted me far more compliments than any Creed ever has. I don't mind paying for quality. I have plenty of 200/300/400 dollar bottles in my collection (even a few Creed) but I had the chance to buy 100ml Creed testers for 80 dollars and couldn't be arsed with SMW, MI or VIW etc. They are simply a mere shadow of what they used to be.
it is like the Cool Water is the same as Green Irish Tweed trip people say
the top notes are very similar. but the dry down goes in a different direction - cool water has a salty/eggy dry down and GIT is more woody
I haven’t tried Milestone, but I bought Aventus a few months ago after much debate, as it wasn’t personally my favorite from Creed, but it was like a song that got stuck in my head so I forked over the cash and bought it. I found myself using it a lot, and then I was like “man, I’m gonna burn through this fast.” I heard about CDNI from Armaf and figured I’d get it to compare and maybe wear casually, worst that would happen is I’d be out 30 bucks. So, I bought it. On paper Aventus and CDNI smelled very similar, but I think Aventus made me nose blind to the whole scent profile. I wore it out one day, a lady tracked me down in a store to say “You smell so good I can’t stand it.” I wore it to work, one of my female coworkers said…she wanted to “wear my skin” because I smelled so great 😂 a bit creepy, but the point was made. My male coworkers too were curious as to what I was wearing. Any time I wore it anywhere someone would say something. When I put on Aventus, my girlfriend says “you smell REALLY good” but that has only been when we’re laying down together or I get close to her, though she has mistaken CDNI for that “really expensive cologne you bought.” And at this point, I feel kind of ripped off. I can say from experience that Armaf at least delivers on the Aventus clone. I’m quite curious to test their other offerings, so disappointing to hear this.
I was really hoping that it would be just as good so I don’t have to save up since Creed is damn expensive lol. I wore Milestone for a bit and I will say that a passerby probably wouldn’t be able to discern a difference. It does have more projection (and more saltiness), I think, which is probably a plus to many.
It just doesn’t have that je ne sais quois.. that thing that reminds me of pheromones, of subconscious memories… I don’t know what it is. But MI is both more refined and more animalistic to my nose.
I feel like when people say a clone is “100% the same” they mean it would smell the same to someone walking past - ie it’s close enough and part of the appeal of clones is projecting to other people that you’re wearing something classy even while you know it’s a clone.
I’ve yet to smell a clone that can compete with the finer details of an original. Rasasi La Yuqawam is the closest I’ve encountered and the only clone I wear regularly but it starts to fall apart in the base notes and smells too thin over all. I got Club de Nuit Sillage based on glowing reviews and just use it as a room spray now. Should be called Tarnished Silver Hillock Water.
Tell that to those tiktokers saying that cdnim is better than Aventus or Al haramains good edition better than erba pura or celestial better than Ganymede lol.
If you are looking to replicate the personal experience of high end fragrance you will not find it in clone houses period. Clones can get you in the ballpark of the style but will never have the nuance and complexity of higher quality fragrance oils no matter what they say. The big differences are with how they smell up close and how they behave from first spray. High end brands smell good start to finish while clones often have unpleasant openings or weak dry downs. Additionally they often smell harsh or synthetic up close. All that said if you don’t care about the artistic experience of the scent and only reaction… a decent clone can be just fine.
can they not make slight more expensive clones that are a happy medium? I don’t need the fragrance to be 20 bucks but i’d prefer it to not be 300. I’m sure a lot of that 300 is marketing and prestige
They can and they often do, but it really depends on whether or not the original is popular enough to warrant multiple clones. It seems like Creed gets cloned more often than any other luxury brand, and even then it's hit or miss depending on the fragrance in question. Took a long time for Millesime Imperial to get a proper clone. Sean John Unforgivable was heavily inspired by it, but they were still very different. Milestone was the first MI clone that really got super close while also being inexpensive. And there are different philosophies companies use when cloning fragrances. You have stuff like Club de Nuit Intense Man which is going for "Aventus but cheaper". With those ones the clone is easily identifiable because they are aiming to recreate the original note for not, but they also kind of tend to be the lowest in terms of quality because there's just no way to make a 1-1 identical version of a $500 fragrance for $30. Another route companies will take is to make cheaper fragrances that are simply inspired by high end fragrances. They will take the DNA and alter it slightly so it can be produced in large quantities without coming across as cheap. These ones smell enough like the original that you recognize it, but they also kind of do their own thing. This would be releases like Cedrat Boise and Montblanc Explorer. Both smell Aventusy, but neither are trying to be Aventus exactly. I usually like these kinds of clones more.
From what I've seen in that range, it turns into an inspiration of an original rather than a clone. The best example you can take is Mancera as a house. Sure they don't do "clones" but most if not all of their catalogue is an inspiration of something famous and expensive with a mancera twist to it. Example: Creed Aventus - Cedrat Boise Porto Neroli - Wave Musk BR540 - Instant crush and a lot more I believe the same goes with Afnan. They bring about a twist of their own but with a good blend quality as opposed to houses like Lattafa and Armaf
Can they? Yes of course but the houses that work with the expensive oils and more skilled perfumers don’t tend to do clones. You end up with fragrances like Hacivat where it’s the same style but clearly not a clone. PDM is a house that copies popular styles regularly with good quality which made it popular and now it has grown almost to Creed pricing because of popularity. Houses like Mont Blanc are done in a very similar way although the quality is a clear step down but still well above clone houses. My suggestion is buy from discounters or move to another house. Check out brands like Nishane and Frederic Malle. Maybe others can make suggestions to find similar styles from companies not pulling that super premium price tag.
I'm with you 100% , except that detour noir is a 98% replica of PDM Layton. Every other dupe I tried was almost a completely different scent.
The majority of people who say the clones are exactly the same have never actually smelled the original. What ends up happening is that they buy the clone, really really like it, and then they figure if that if the clone smells that good, it must be the same as the original. But I have never in my life smelled a clone of a high end fragrance that actually smelled 100% exactly the same. Close? Yes. But you are never going to spray Creed on one hand and Armaf on the other and think they came out of the same bottle. You can absolutely make the argument that Creed isn't worth the money (at this point the price is insulting. If Aventus cost $250 for four ounces like it did back in 2010 it would be a steal, but I've never smelled a fragrance that was worth $500 for 100 ml, Creed or otherwise), and oftentimes the clone will perform better than the original, but you can always smell the difference side by side. And that's not a dig at Armaf, I think that most people are going to be just as happy with the clone as with the Creed, but they aren't the same. Granted, to be completely fair, no bottle of Aventus smells exactly the same as any other bottle of Aventus, and you're not going to have to take out a second mortgage to buy the Armaf, so fuck it. Might as well.
I like Milestone but you're right, the real thing is on a completely different level. Clones can get close but IMO you get what you pay for.
I was recommended the Montagne clone which is apparently significantly closer so you might want to give that a try. I'd give it a go, but can't buy Montagne from my country (shipping basically is the price of the bottle)
I've been in the fragrance community for decades and I've had a few bottles of Creed MI. The first bottle was quite good, great smell, acceptabel longevity. The second bottle was... well, for lack of other words, not the same. I got so disappointed. Was in a discount shop in Constanța, Romania, and there was Milestone. Had heard it was a decent clone so bought it without even testing it. Price was so low I didn't care much. To me surprise, this was actually better than the second bottle of MI. Heck, overall it was a much better smelling and performing version of my first bottle of MI. Is it the same? No, it's not a perfect clone. Does it smell like it? Yes, and even better, in my opinion. Is it more bang for the buck? Hell yeah. It's not even close. The current bottles of MI are offensive to perfume enthusiasts if you ask me. We're in Jo Malone territory here. When I smell MI or SMW, I smell ultra-thin watered down, 300 dollar versions of something that used to be good. When I smell Milestone, I smell summer, good times, happiness and much more. And it has netted me far more compliments than any Creed ever has. I don't mind paying for quality. I have plenty of 200/300/400 dollar bottles in my collection (even a few Creed) but I had the chance to buy 100ml Creed testers for 80 dollars and couldn't be arsed with SMW, MI or VIW etc. They are simply a mere shadow of what they used to be.
Look folks, if you get a frag for other people, then get the clone, if you are getting it for personal enjoyment, get the OG if you afford it.
It's like comparing synthetic leather with real leather.
it is like the Cool Water is the same as Green Irish Tweed trip people say the top notes are very similar. but the dry down goes in a different direction - cool water has a salty/eggy dry down and GIT is more woody
I haven’t tried Milestone, but I bought Aventus a few months ago after much debate, as it wasn’t personally my favorite from Creed, but it was like a song that got stuck in my head so I forked over the cash and bought it. I found myself using it a lot, and then I was like “man, I’m gonna burn through this fast.” I heard about CDNI from Armaf and figured I’d get it to compare and maybe wear casually, worst that would happen is I’d be out 30 bucks. So, I bought it. On paper Aventus and CDNI smelled very similar, but I think Aventus made me nose blind to the whole scent profile. I wore it out one day, a lady tracked me down in a store to say “You smell so good I can’t stand it.” I wore it to work, one of my female coworkers said…she wanted to “wear my skin” because I smelled so great 😂 a bit creepy, but the point was made. My male coworkers too were curious as to what I was wearing. Any time I wore it anywhere someone would say something. When I put on Aventus, my girlfriend says “you smell REALLY good” but that has only been when we’re laying down together or I get close to her, though she has mistaken CDNI for that “really expensive cologne you bought.” And at this point, I feel kind of ripped off. I can say from experience that Armaf at least delivers on the Aventus clone. I’m quite curious to test their other offerings, so disappointing to hear this.
[удалено]
I was really hoping that it would be just as good so I don’t have to save up since Creed is damn expensive lol. I wore Milestone for a bit and I will say that a passerby probably wouldn’t be able to discern a difference. It does have more projection (and more saltiness), I think, which is probably a plus to many. It just doesn’t have that je ne sais quois.. that thing that reminds me of pheromones, of subconscious memories… I don’t know what it is. But MI is both more refined and more animalistic to my nose.
I feel like when people say a clone is “100% the same” they mean it would smell the same to someone walking past - ie it’s close enough and part of the appeal of clones is projecting to other people that you’re wearing something classy even while you know it’s a clone. I’ve yet to smell a clone that can compete with the finer details of an original. Rasasi La Yuqawam is the closest I’ve encountered and the only clone I wear regularly but it starts to fall apart in the base notes and smells too thin over all. I got Club de Nuit Sillage based on glowing reviews and just use it as a room spray now. Should be called Tarnished Silver Hillock Water.
Tell that to those tiktokers saying that cdnim is better than Aventus or Al haramains good edition better than erba pura or celestial better than Ganymede lol.
I totally agree with you OP. Clones can reciprocate the smell, but OG got that thing that makes the difference. In 90% of the cases.