Fragrances: Luxury Quality At Affordable Prices
The magic of fragrance lies in its ability to stimulate sensory memory. It’s amazing how the scent of perfume or a random aroma can so vividly transport one back in time to a specific person, place, or time. Whenever I smell the original Ralph Lauren Polo Green, which doesn’t occur often because it’s not popular anymore, I associate it with my grandfather and see his image in my mind.
Also, as another example, Calvin Klein’s “One” is one of my favorite clean-smelling, citrus fragrances. Whenever I smell it, I’m transported back to high school. This was my first fragrance purchase ever. I was influenced by my teenage friends who were all of a sudden, wearing colognes. It was used for attracting girls and to cover the smell of cigarettes and marijuana. “CK One” became one of the most popular scents ever created and was one of the first fragrances marketed as unisex. I loved the scent but it gave me headaches, so I eventually stopped wearing it. However, now I have it in an oil-based form and I don’t experience the headaches I used to get anymore, which is why I ended up giving up on perfume.
Perfumery is an art and a business. I respect the art, but the business side can be ridiculous. I don’t understand how some brands justify the prices for their products besides the fact that someone is willing to pay them. I can understand paying for quality ingredients, but the business of perfumery charges for other factors like name brand recognition and the bottle and design. Normally, I would never recommend getting a product that is a copy of a designer, luxury product because I believe if you can’t afford the real thing then you should buy something else. Normally, a copy doesn’t provide the same satisfaction as the original. In my opinion, however, perfume can be a different story.
I am not a collector of things, especially not perfume. I only care about the juice inside. When it comes to the bottle, I just want it to work well. However, a serious perfume hobbyist collects and displays the bottles. I’ve seen on YouTube collectors discuss how much they love a certain perfume and would purchase it if were discounted even a little bit from its original exorbitant price. Then when they find that perfume at a discount, they get super excited until they realize that they can’t purchase it because the bottle doesn’t come with a cap. It will bother them when looking at their collection if a bottle doesn’t have a cap.
Also, some collectors even research different batches or versions of the same perfume because they smell stronger or have certain notes that are more intense or absent. Creed fragrance consumers have been known to seek out earlier manufactured batches of Aventus they swear use stronger ingredients and last longer than newer batches.
Clive Christian's No1 Passant Guardant is officially recognized as the world's most expensive perfume. $228,580 USD. The bottle is made of crystal with 24k gold and “no less than 2,000 diamonds.”
Clive Christian No. 1 Men 1.7oz. This is exactly the same fragrance as above just in the normal retail bottle. It is for sale online at Jomashop for $286.14, but normally sells at retail stores for $790. As you can see, sometimes the bottle makes a big difference.
I’ve researched and tested numerous online retailers that offer duplicates or clones of designer fragrances and sometimes even have their own original creations. As long as certain advertising rules are followed, the copies are 100% legal and legitimate. I haven’t lost any sleep knowing that the big corporations are losing some of their market share to these smaller manufacturers who analyze the composition and recreate it, sometimes with even higher quality ingredients than the originals. There seems to be a market for both those who want the originals and for consumers like me who just want the juice without the luxury branding, packaging, or shopping experience.
Knock on Wood inspired by Clive Christian’s No.1 for Men. Oil-based Roll-on 10ml for $16.14 at FragrancesOil.com. They don’t make this one in an alcohol-based spray. I haven’t yet tested this fragrance. to compare it to the original, but this is my favorite fragrance retailer so I’m pretty sure it’s as excellent as the rest of their products.
I’ve tried numerous retailers and most have inferior, low-quality products that I can’t recommend. Even though I’m a newbie to this hobby, my nose can tell the difference in quality. I could discuss, judge, and criticize numerous shops that don’t offer worthwhile products, but I’d rather not be a hater. Instead, I’ll tell you about the two places I purchase from the most. They produce high-quality, long-lasting products that smell incredible.
When you purchase perfume online from these retailers, usually they offer two different forms of the same product: oil-based and alcohol-based.
My issues with perfume in the past were not only getting headaches but also the scent didn’t last long. If I was going to spend a lot of money or any money, I wanted it to last. I did some research and discovered that the fragrance oil percentage makes a big difference in the strength and the amount of time the scent lasts. The more expensive fragrances come with higher oil percentages or in rare cases are just straight-up oil. Also, I learned that the oil-based perfumes not only last longer, but project less distance and wore closer to the skin, which sounded attractive to me. I never liked heavy perfumes that you could smell someone wearing from across the room. It’s obnoxious. I have always believed that fragrance “should be discovered, not announced,” even though I hadn’t heard of that philosophy until years later.
I also found out that some people have allergic reactions to the alcohol which can cause sneezing and/ or headaches. Furthermore, alcohol can dry out your skin and I already have dry skin. For all of these reasons, I decided to try roll-on, oil-based perfumes. I have been quite surprised and pleased with the results. They are powerful in strength, last a long time, stay close to the skin, don’t cause me to sneeze or have headaches, and don’t dry out my skin.
After trying out various online retailers, my favorite is fragrancesoil.com. They use the highest quality fragrance ingredients and oils and offer them at great prices. The carrier oil they use dries quickly and isn’t sticky, which I can’t say for other shops’ products. They also list where they source their ingredients geographically. These are the finer details that prove their commitment to quality. Furthermore, the bottles are also of nice quality and I like the metal roll-on applicator for the oils, which rolls on smoothly and administers the perfect amount. Also, the atomizer on their alcohol-based spray bottles is pressure-sensitive and works great.
Some scents that they make are so good that I decided to purchase the alcohol spray version as well. I was surprised that their sprays are almost as strong and long-lasting as their oil-based products. The perfume sprays are usually more expensive and their selection is more limited than the roll-on oils, but they provide more juice and only slightly less potency. I put on one spray of their version of Yves Saint Laurent’s “Tuxedo” perfume on the back of my neck and it lasted all day, over twelve hours. Also, that might be one of the best fragrances I have ever smelled. I decided I loved the smell so much that I would never wear it to work, so as not to associate any memories with it there. Thus, I could project the scent more, and I would wear both the oil and alcohol spray at the same time. The result is I get longevity, power, and projection from the fragrance. Here are some of my favorites from them:
“Ambery Vanilla” Inspired by YSL Tuxedo- perfect for date nights, cooler weather
“Euphoria” inspired by Sospiro Erba Pura - fruity, fun fragrance for good times, warmer weather
“Orange Rose” inspired by Etro’s Patchouli- my favorite patchouli fragrance, cooler temperatures
The other online retailer that I found that I like as second best is CAPerfume.com. Their roll-ons are also very high quality and their selection includes scents that fragranceoils.com doesn’t produce. For example, they make an almost exact copy of Calvin Klein’s “One,” which to this day is one of my two favorite citrus scents ever and is my go-to, no thought needed, clean, inoffensive, easy wear. I prefer it in the spring/summer, but I can wear it anytime. I love the citrus, papaya, and green tea notes which are all present and noticeable. The oil lasts way longer, is more potent, and the ingredients smell higher quality than the real CK One. I can’t find the CK “One” product on their website anymore, but it can be purchased on Amazon as a two-pack for $24.99 plus taxes and shipping.
CK One clone 2 pack-clean, citrus, everyday use, good for work, all temperatures
Xerjoff Renaissance clone- this citrus fragrance makes me feel the happiest, warmer weather
Franck Mueller Aeternitas- incredible cherry and leather fragrance for date nights, cooler weather
Xerjoff Naxos clone- Lavender and honey scent, sweet, cooler temperatures
Also, I decided to try their alcohol-based perfume spray version of both “CK One” and Xerjoff’s Naxos. Unfortunately, the performance and strength of the sprays are weaker than the oils and I don’t recommend them. Even if you want a less potent smell, I would say use less oil in fewer places because the spray disappears too quickly. It’s a waste of money.
Lastly, here’s a secret application tip, put the perfume on an area where you have hair to get the best performance from your oil or spray. The hair seems to trap the scent. I’ve gotten the most noticeable reactions and compliments from applying it to the hair on my head.