Silver Shade

This is probably the most underrated and least discussed SMW clone. Al Wisam Day is touted as being the "best" and sometimes "better" than SMW, and it's an excellent fragrance in its own right, but something about AWD keeps me from considering it on par with Creed. To be clear, I don't expect any $20 or $30 clone to really be on par with Creed, but I'm seeking one that exerts maximum effort on all fronts for its price point. Enter Ajmal Silver Shade. This fragrance is interesting. I purchased it for $20, but a few years ago it was roughly $60 (demand continues, supply has opened up). The bottle is beautiful, silver frosted glass that fades to transparent at the bottom, with a heavy in-hand feel. The road to understanding Silver Shade cuts directly through its top notes. This opens with a radiant citrus accord with crisp lemon and lime shimmering through the first five minutes, and this citrus is beautiful. At this price point, citrus accords tend to smell "grey" and synthetic, with furniture polish elements wedded to kitchen cleaners, but Silver Shade's citrus smells juicy, expansive, natural, recognizable, and I have no doubt that the perfumer used very good materials, probably a bit beyond the norm for something this inexpensive. As the citrus decelerates, the blackcurrant emerges. It's the same blackcurrant chem used in all the other cheap clones, but again, the perfumer takes it to a different level. Where Al Wisam Day goes overboard with shampoo-like rose ketones, and Derby Clubhouse Blanche gets noncommittally sweet, and Sun Java White gets incredibly blackcurrant focused, Silver Shade conjoins the currant with wonderfully subdued violets and violet leaf. There are other floral notes, but they're sheer, delicately rendered, only slightly sweet, and incredibly well blended. This fragrance is well done. There are some who knock its longevity, and I also sense that this is a weak point for the scent, but here's the thing about SMW and its clones: they're very "high pitched" fragrances. Olfactory fatigue sets in fast, and tends to stick around for hours. I recall having difficulty smelling my sample of SMW after just thirty seconds on skin. It's possible that this is what happens with Silver Shade, and given its lighter note profile, full of sunny citrus fruits and clean green notes, I wouldn't be surprised if longevity is actually good. All things considered, if you're saying Al Wisam Day is the "best," you really ought to check out Silver Shade. It doesn't have a "metallic" element like the Rasasi, its citrus smells natural, its blackcurrant isn't that sweet, and its floral drydown is restrained and classy. Al Wisam Day is a terrific frag. Ajmal Silver Shade is better.

First encounter with this fragrance: When I first sprayed it on, in winter, on cold skin, the fragrance has a metalic-citrus feel (like some "blue fragrances" in the cold), maybe because of the noticeable violet leaf. That violet leaf then mixes with the florals, the musk and the sandalwood to give it a creamy and cold feel. There is a refreshing fruity note in the background (maybe the black currant) that stays from beggining to end. On a different wear, I came out of the shower, hot and moisturized skin, and sprayed this on. The metalic feel was barely noticeable and a powdery fresh rose was complimenting the citrus and violet leaf combo in the beginning of the fragrance. The dry down ended up more creamy and somewhat citrus green on this second wear. Performance was more than I expected, but I can't say for certain after 2 wearings. Anyway, got a full day out of this on the first encounters. For people on the edge when it comes to buying this - if you don't like musky florals, stay away from this. I personally enjoy this very much! Will get back on this review when the weather warms up (I think this would be great in the summer. EDIT: Been wearing this in different conditions in the past year. Here's the thing: - if you wear this in the heat (over 25*C) this will smell of a salty-musky lavender with citruces and a bit of woods and sweetness in the background; very classy, but also can be worn casually - if you wear this in the cold you will get a metallic funkiness that is unpleasant The fragrance is very linear. Performance is great, lasts all day on me, but never projects too much and after 3h gets very close to the skin. Hope this helps! Cheers!

I've only worn Silver Mountain Water a few times and this was back at the end of 2016 from a 5ml sample. Due to this I have only a superficial impression of it. I have however used up almost 100ml of Rasasi Al Wisam Day and about 20ml of Al Rehab Silver. This Ajmal seems closer to how I remember the Creed. It's thinner and crisper than my Al Wisam Day and has a more watery metallic accord than it. Seems to me to occupy the space between the Creed and the wholly and ridiculously inexpensive Al Rehab. I find the Rasasi to be have rose and the Ajmal to have juicy blackcurrant. The Ajmal dries down more powdery. That said, they're all close. The performance on my skin of the Ajmal is equal to the Creed and Rasasi and superior in all respects as you'd expect to the Al Rehab. Money well spent. I personally prefer this to my beloved Al Wisam Day. The notes suggest that it may suit warmer weather more but I personally preferred the Al Wisam Day the Ajmal has now replaced in cold weather. The frost made the Rasasi really sparkle and I'll be very interested in seeing how the Ajmal behaves in the cool. For now though I'm using it in the improving warmer weather and it's fine and suitable for that.

Hi team, Was as curious about Ajmal as I was about Creed's SMW so I made a blind online buy. No regrets. I don't have many unisex frags, probably my second after swiss Arabians oud abyad (which has taken me 8 months to warm up to). This is a much easier genre and fragrance by comparison. Main notes I get in the opening are mild citruses and soft florals. The jasmine in this is my favourite. 30 mins in, all musk and black currant. Drying down to the base, it gets heavier in a soapy way and is really florally fresh. The blend is incredible and so beautiful. I could wear this in summer with a white button down and I'd probably rather wear this to do yard work than any other neroli or jasmine fragrances I own. The only similar fragrance I have to this is azzaro chrome pure, but that's much more focused on citrus and tonka. Performance is wonderful, it's a comforting floral scent with a nice soft woody backbone. I feel like I could share this with anyone over 30. Love it

So I got CDNS years ago, and I despised it because of the inky metallic smell, I never smelled SMW older batches. I just got this for 11€ and I feel bad that hot days are gone now because I would rock this on the high heat, this compared to Sillage, is way more toned down on that inky note it’s more round. Pleasant citrus at the top, light powdery floral and airy on skin but present and has a lovely musky base, slighty sweet slightly woody. 7.5/10 on first impressions. Would choose this instead of Armaf Sillage every day of the week, the reason; not every fragrance has to be “beast mode”, and I think that’s where armaf ruined their own. Silver Shade is an example of that.