Let's talk Cologne

Meister-Man said:
Any opinions on this lacoste essential fragrance?
I'm looking for something that's still good and hopefully long lasting, but more affordable than the Mont blanc legend I'm coming from.
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thats cheap

i love that fragrance

dont ask me about notes and stuff but its a sweet fresh smell
 
I.am.Sam said:
so parallel imports...is there a difference in smell compared to what you will find in the stores
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Not at all. Exact same product. Estee Lauder group of companies is the main importer for TF to South Africa.
Parallel import only means that the product did not come via the usual channel. That is basically all.
 
airborne said:
Ysl M7 Oud Absolu is very good and around R1700 a bottle, it's actually one of Tom Ford's creations when he was still at Ysl.
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Got my M7 oud Absolu yesterday and i can confirm its very nice long lasting fragrance for what you pay.
It does have a nice boozy scent initially but the dry down is a nice and warm long lasting rich fragrance.

I initially sprayed some around 2pm and even around 11pm I could still smell the undertones. No baby powder smell at all. A good product at a good price. Thanks for that recommendation.
 
Smokey mcpot said:
I’ve had a bad experience buying from take a lot. Bought a few different brands and all of them didn’t last a hour. I’ve had store bought and know the smells which definitely had a difference. Totally put me off from take a lot and was a 3k wasted.

the only thing that did seem to smell correct and last was the cheapies I took as gifts for my guys. They had azzaro decibel going very cheap and I took 10. Gave some to my guys and after smelling decided to keep some for myself as everyday wear.
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Issues with longevity is common no matter where you buy fragrances from, all Takealot branded fragrances are legit and I've never had any issues, I've ordered many from them over the years.
I.am.Sam said:
so parallel imports...is there a difference in smell compared to what you will find in the stores
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No identical, only thing you may encounter with parallel imports is they may not be as "fresh" as the same thing bought via traditional retailers, though I have never had an issue with that. It does also mean sometimes you may be able to get more coveted original formulation bottles of a fragrance that has recently changed ownership and been reformulated.

You can check the production date using online code checkers and the code that will be on the bottom of the bottle and box of the fragrance. That's also a useful technique for checking if something is fake, not foolproof but if everything else checks out and the code is picked up then you probably have a legit bottle.
 
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Phil Lee said:
Issues with longevity is common no matter where you buy fragrances from, all Takealot branded fragrances are legit and I've never had any issues, I've ordered many from them over the years.No identical, only thing you may encounter with parallel imports is they may not be as "fresh" as the same thing bought via traditional retailers, though I have never had an issue with that. It does also mean sometimes you may be able to get more coveted original formulation bottles of a fragrance that has recently changed ownership and been reformulated.

You can check the production date using online code checkers and the code that will be on the bottom of the bottle and box of the fragrance. That's also a useful technique for checking if something is fake, not foolproof but if everything else checks out and the code is picked up then you probably have a legit bottle.
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www.checkfresh.com

Check the date of manufacture of perfumes and cosmetics - CheckFresh.com

Read the manufacturing date of your cosmetics from the batch code. Find out whether your cosmetics and perfumes are fresh and usable!
www.checkfresh.com www.checkfresh.com
 
So my wife was taking orders from the family for 50ml clones. I asked her to get me a Creed Aventus and Hugo Boss. Having never smelled Aventus I did not expect to compare to original but see if these clones would be an option for around the house and gym, and save my collection a bit. R100 for 50ml.

I have Mont Blanc Explorer EDP, and I was shocked at how close the Aventus clone is to Explorer. The opening on the clone is a lot more lemony and acidic smelling, but the dry down is almost identical.

My question for those who have smelled genuine Aventus, is Explorer that close to it?

BTW both clones seem to last about 6 hours.
 
Ecko_1 said:
So my wife was taking orders from the family for 50ml clones. I asked her to get me a Creed Aventus and Hugo Boss. Having never smelled Aventus I did not expect to compare to original but see if these clones would be an option for around the house and gym, and save my collection a bit. R100 for 50ml.

I have Mont Blanc Explorer EDP, and I was shocked at how close the Aventus clone is to Explorer. The opening on the clone is a lot more lemony and acidic smelling, but the dry down is almost identical.

My question for those who have smelled genuine Aventus, is Explorer that close to it?

BTW both clones seem to last about 6 hours.
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I have a bottle of Creed Aventus and its definitely one of the best fragrances I've got. It does have similar notes to Explorer, but Aventus has a much fuller smell, more fruity (on the top notes) and lasts a lot longer.
 
airborne said:
Is it one of those old school herbal kind of smells?
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I.am.Sam said:
i dont even know whats this old school herbal smells

but lacoste is like diesel fuel for life, diesel bad, hugo x and y ..those sweeter fruity smells
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...my guess is that they are referring to the fougere type fragrances. Often falling under the 'barber shop fragrances' umbrella. You often find oak moss and ambergris is these types of fragrances.

"Barber shop" is unfortunate but also kind of accurate.

Accurate because most of the 'sports' scents (Adidas and Dunhill stuff you see opposite the designer scents) lean toward this type of smell.

Unfortunate because there are some true original classics in this set too. Paco Rabanne original is one such fragrance. Absolute classic and a gorgeous scent but it is also a fougere through and through. Azzaro Pour Homme is another one. It's a bit sad that people pass these over these days due to their 'barber shop' association resulting from the fougere accord.

@airborne - accurate or no?
 
SlinkyMike said:
...my guess is that they are referring to the fougere type fragrances. Often falling under the 'barber shop fragrances' umbrella. You often find oak moss and ambergris is these types of fragrances.

"Barber shop" is unfortunate but also kind of accurate.

Accurate because most of the 'sports' scents (Adidas and Dunhill stuff you see opposite the designer scents) lean toward this type of smell.

Unfortunate because there are some true original classics in this set too. Paco Rabanne original is one such fragrance. Absolute classic and a gorgeous scent but it is also a fougere through and through. Azzaro Pour Homme is another one. It's a bit sad that people pass these over these days due to their 'barber shop' association resulting from the fougere accord.

@airborne - accurate or no?
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Yes that is pretty much what I was referring to with "old school herbal", if done well it's nice but most fragrances in that genre are pretty meh.
 
Has anyone ordered parallel import fragrances from Loot?
I just noticed now they have a few, it appears a fair amount that land up on Takealot may also land up on Loot but I've only ordered the parallel import's from Takealot.
 
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airborne said:
Has anyone ordered parallel import fragrances from Loot?
I just noticed now they have a few, it appears a fair amount that land up on Takealot may also land up on Loot but I've only ordered the parallel import's from Takealot.
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I have only ordered 200ml CK One from them in 2016. The bottle came unsealed without a plastic wrapping. The scent also seemed pretty watered down. Several buyers on Amazon also complained about such CK Ones circulating online which they said were fake even though the batch code checked out on CheckFresh.

However, I've noticed that Loot has two parallel import versions of their fragrances. One version has (USA) on the product title and usually has a higher "list" price than the non-USA parallel import. I suspect the USA parallel imports might be more genuine than the non-USA. My CK One was non-USA, which they might have imported from the same source people were complaining about on Amazon.

I have never bought any fragrance from them again, so I can't be certain.
 
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