Amber Oud Rouge

I have a sample of BR 540. When I first sprayed it on my skin I couldn’t smell more than an extremely faint watery smell. After bringing home the sample I played with it more and more and I became obsessed with it. There were times I would smell the sample through my closed purse not even sprayed and then there were times the scent would slip away and I couldn’t smell it at all. It was addicting but I could not wrap my head around spending that money on something I could only smell some of time. No one else could smell it on me either or on the flip side my daughter would smell it so strongly and harshly that she said it felt like it was trying to rip her head off, that it was pungent and smelled like bad BO. She couldn’t understand why I wanted to smell like that. She has since gone nose blind to the scent as well. Needless to say the fragrance that was sugary sweet, yet soft and airy had me longing for more. So I purchased this and I was completely sold! I pick up everything BR540 from this. At times there’s an indescribable linear scent that I get from it that smells like Burberry Her intense or Sunset Riot (both of which I couldn’t understand the comparison to BR540 at first) even Cloud only gave me BR540 DNA some of the time. I realize it’s because I go anosmic to the scent still and at least those have something else added that I can continue to smell. This gives me BR540 that lasts on my clothes all day and night it’s everything that the original is with no additions (like the ones mentioned above). On my skin I still go nose blind to the scent profile on and off through the day. I love this even though it might lack the complexity of the original it gives me the things the original is lacking (I go nose blind to the original on skin and clothes, while I can smell this all day on my clothes) I wear this all the time, I go to bed with it on, I wear it when it’s chilly outside, when it’s ridiculously hot out it works for every occasion. It doesn’t seem to project well but I get a scent bubble that I can smell all day long so it definitely lasts long (mind you I have skin that eats every single fragrance... I have yet to find anything that projects well and for long periods of time on my skin it’s hard to invest in niche prices with this kind of problem) I also try dupes before I buy and this particular dupe definitely made me want to stick with it rather than invest in the original that says a lot but I’ll probably still buy a 35 ml bottle of the original stuff just because. This is a 90-98% dupe to my nose. Definitely love it!

Like many of you, I recently bought Amber Oud Rouge for the purpose of unabashedly obtaining a BR540 Extrait clone to have that addicting smell at a fraction of the price. I will preface this by saying that my nose must be terribly sensitive, because I did not find them as similar as the other reviewers here did. On to the review: The opening smells strongly of alcohol, like hand sanitizer; after which the fruity almost BR540-esque accords start to peek out and then immediately and violently take a backseat an intense animalic leather smell. Half an hour in and still... all I smell is leather, leather, leather. How is this a BR540 clone? I'm not sure what ingredient(s) Al Haramain has used to create this note - is it ambergris? Regardless, it is most certainly not the same combination (of what I believe was saffran and cashmeran?) that Francis Kurkdijan used to achieve the musky animalic undertones of BR540. The fruity tangy accord that would constitute as the signature BR540 smell was only noticeable for about a minute after the alcohol smell faded, then was abruptly buried under LEATHER. Finally, a little past 30 min after the initial spritz, the ever-so-slow slight undertones of the coveted fruity and floral, tangy and musky scent begins to surface under the overpowering leather. This is where it is most similar to BR540; and yet only momentarily; at this point as it's finally beginning to smell somewhat similar to BR540, Amber Oud Rogue is already fading fast. For my nose it's still miles away from MFK's masterpiece work of perfumery. It doesn't have the same beauty or smoothness as BR540. It's simply not BR540. If you want a clone, this may be the closest you'll find; but if you truly love MFK's beast of a scent I would personally recommend saving your money for the real thing. That said, if you set the "BR540 clone" standard aside, Amber Oud Rouge stands on it's own as worth having if you love animalic leathery scents.

So I'm well aware of the Al Haramain brand, but i recently discovered they had their own version of the very popular Baccarat Rouge 540 fragrance. Though i was kind of over every brand taking a swing at the BR540 DNA, i became very intrigued with this particular fragrance because it was so highly spoken of. I thought Mancera's Instant Crush satisfied that craving for a perfect BR540 dupe, but here i was again, craving another dupe that could possibly possess the perfect BR540 DNA. Before i get into the scent itself, i want to give praise to the packaging, as it's of quality you don't even see with some designer or niche brands. Nothing about this fragrance exudes cheap, from the brushed gold metal finish on the box and bottle to the luxurious red velvet interior. Upon first spray, i get a blend of Saffron and Ambergris. This is by far the closest to BR 540 I've ever smelt. I get that same weird chemical accord that some people refer to as the "band-aid smell", but i had no idea band-aids had a smell lol. As this fragrance settles, there's a hint of Jasmine and Musk, but it's very hard to detect because everything is well blended. The performance is very tricky for me. My nose can only detect this fragrance for 4-5 hours before it goes completely blind to this fragrance, but people around me can still smell it on me 8+ hours later. The projection appeared very mild as well, so i was initially disappointed, but i had this exact same experience with Mancera's Instant Crush. So the true performance of this fragrance is to be determined. Overall, i would rate this a 10/10. The packaging and price alone is enough to make you want to try it. If you're in the market for a perfect BR 540 clone, Al Haramain is the way to go. Scent: 10/10 Packaging: 10/10 Performance: 9/10

***** "Is Amber Oud Rouge a 'dupe' of BR540's original EDP, or the Extrait?" I spent much time researching and attempting to figure out the best BR540 Extrait dupe (discovering there are relatively few available to consider). Interestingly, reading countless posts here, at least twice as many on this thread think AOR smells closer to the original BR540 EDP (or spot on), while those believing it's closer to the Extrait get generally higher (balloon) rankings. In fact, the AI generated cumulative "pros"/cons list above indicate that AOR "is a highly accurate BR540 Extrait clone". Even though Amber Oud RUBY actually indicates almonds in its note composition--like the Extrait--its overall "perfume (scent) rating" is quite noticeably lower than AOR, so I ultimately decided against that. Having just received AOR days ago, I headed to my local Nordstrom to compare it side-by-side with the BR540s . Admittedly I'm somewhat disappointed, because AOR smells notably closer to the EDP than the Extrait. (ie. BR540 Extrait is DEFINITELY almondy, and I feel AOR possesses only about 20-25% of the total (almondy) Extrait quality--on MY skin). My only hope is that a few here have mentioned that as AOR matures after a few months, it moves closer to smelling like the Extrait..... I guess I'll find out. Regardless, AOR's replication of the BR540 profile is EXTRAORDINARILY impressive relative to its overall quality and execution for a dupe fragrance, and is likely the reason for its appeal and value here to both edp and extrait fans alike! (This is apparent with its "perfume (scent) rating", which is higher than ANY OTHER close dupe(s) of the EDP or the Extrait presently on the market!)

When I bought "Amber Oud Rouge", I hadn't yet smelled "Baccarat Rouge 540 EDP", but I became completely addicted to how amazing of a scent this is! I would describe this as a delicious, deep, masculine (*woody*) version of Burberry "Her" (one of my favourite scents). It's about 85% similar to "Baccarat Rouge 540 Extrait". (Now I have both the Extrait and the EDP, and I would say it's definitely closer in scent to the EDP.) For people who have not experienced either of the BR540s yet, but have experienced other scents that remind people of them, the best way I can describe it is: take the coconut note out of "Cloud", and replace it with Oud. Or if you took Burberry "Her" and turned it into a masculine fragrance. It is sweet enough for me (a female), and I would say that it definitely leans masculine, but overall it's very gender-neutral, and I think everyone could enjoy it! For people (like myself) who have a limited budget, I would 100% recommend this for people looking for a BR540 dupe, and would definitely buy it again before I splashed out the big $$$ for the MFK (although the Extrait is totally amazing, and would be an instant purchase for me if money was no object!) The longevity isn't as good as a BR540 (only about 6.5 hours, with lower projection), but I wouldn't expect it to perform as well, considering the price differential. I really highly recommend this fragrance, and would definitely repurchase! Oh, and the bottle is fantastic, with a nice feel (heft) to it, and comes in a fancy box. I like it, and I am glad I took the chance on blind buying it! :)