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| Credit: Abdelfattah Hamed |
Hello, ladies and gents! I hope everyone is doing wonderful today. I am doing pretty well myself. I had my cardamom tea and I am ready to go.
Today, I am bringing you a new brand. One that I don't think anyone else has reviewed yet. At least not in English. It's Valor Perfumes out of Egypt. I will let you know right off, this is a clone house, but they have the best prices I have ever seen for clones. We are talking Armaf level prices here. He did send me a few fragrances from his offerings for free. So, there is my disclaimer, but as always, you know I am honest about it and the owner encouraged me to be honest.
The one I am reviewing today is Highlands, which is inspired by Sospiro Accento. I haven't tried the Sospiro version, so this review will be based solely on my impression on the scent alone. Let's get into it!
The Scent
Highlands opens with a fresh and juicy pineapple that isn't selfish and willingly shares the stage with a semi-metallic and clean musk. Sweet spring flowers of hyacinth rise up and lends its voice in support of the musk and pineapple. Cordially spicy amber and sweet pink pepper completes the main actors and actresses on this stage.
As the heart comes out, the musk remembers who she is with a slight metallicness, but he has grown up a bit and taken on a more romantic floral aspect. She still has a bit of an ego and knows she's the main start though and makes it well known. The pineapple decides it's better to let her have the stage, but deep down everyone knows that she wouldn't shine so bright if it wasn't for him. The hyacinth does what he's always done. He continues to support them both.
In the dry down, much remains the same, besides the vetiver comes out to play. He lends his masculine strength to the group and helps the story reach its conclusion. At this point, the sweet pink pepper and calmly spicy amber have exited stage right, but their memory still lingers. This is still very much the muck and pineapple show, with random appearances from hyacinth and vetiver and it remains that way until it ends.
My Opinion
I can't compare Highlands to the Sospiro, but I do really like this one. Considering this one costs a mere 18 USD for 100ML, this is excellent. Even if you bumped it up to Alexandria prices. Yes, you heard me correctly and that was not a typo, 18 USD for 100ML. I double-checked it.
I am surprised how realistic and juicy the pineapple is and how smooth the musk is for this price range. Suprised might be an understatement. Shocked is probably better. This is one of the highest quality clones I have smelled and it's one of the cheapest in price. I am not entirely sure how he does it, but I am impressed.
Now, I cannot say this smells 100% natural or anything. It doesn't smell synthetic though. You would expect an Armaf level of synthetic mess in this price range, but that is not what you get. The performance is also quite good. I get around 10 hours on skin with it. Sadly, I have been unable to properly gauge sillage and projection due to being home, but it seems like it does well in those categories as well. However, this is not a super loud fragrance that will fill a room.
This fragrance will fit both men and women perfectly. It's certainly a warmer weather fragrance, but wear it when you'd like. I think it fights casual to business casual clothing the best. This is one you could rock with a white shirt at the beach.
The presentation is solid. The bottles are actually quite heavy. the cap is plastic, but it looks nice. I wish the labels had the size on them, but that is only a minor gripe. The atomizer is pretty decent have a decently wide arc to the spray pattern.
I do have one thing that I am not a fan of with this fragrance, the name. Highlands refers to Scotland in most cases. This doesn't make me think of Scotland at all. This makes me think of Greece. Again, this is only a minor gripe.
He also doesn't appear to sell samples yet, but I am sure that will be coming soon. Most companies don't start off with samples. His business is new, so he's still working on getting more offerings and options. A website will be soon, possibly.
This company is in Egypt, so shipping to the US isn't cheap. However, the price you save per bottle makes up for it and it still turns out to be more affordable than many other clone houses.
Overall, a really nice fragrance that I will continue to wear. Even if this was priced at 60 USD, I would still think it's decent for the price. I am more inclined to do so given the cost. I know I keep talking about the price, but it just shocks me, honestly.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed my first look at this house. I will drop a review on another one in a week or two. That one will be a bit more suited to my readers who enjoy the classics.
I hope everyone has a wonderful day. Be blessed and be kind to one another. A kind word is free and you can change someone's world with it.
Racism sucks. Let's all work towards equality for all and a better future for the next generation.
Buy Valor Perfumes here. He has a list of his offerings. The M+U is men's and unisex and the F is for females.
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