Portfolio Royale Stallion

Writing an updated review on this gem. I recently purchased a decant of Parfums de Marly Pegasus for the purpose of comparing the two. As preface, I do not own Armaf Craze or any other Pegasus clone. Hands down, Al Haramain Portfolio Royale Stallion is so very close to Pegasus. I think at a distance, there will be no one who can feasibly discern the two. Royale Stallion is high quality, has no screechy notes or anything that would indicate it as a cheap or low quality fragrance. The main difference from Pegasus, which is so very slight, is that Pegasus is slightly more floral, and Royale Stallion has seemingly more of that medicinal bitter almond and sandalwood. Pegasus leans just slightly softer, creamier, and floral. Royale Stallion is a slightly amped up version of Pegasus. It is stronger. It last longer, it projects further. Pegasus feels a bit more smoothly blended but that is only with my nose very close to the skin. The balance of the opening notes is just slightly different as I believe the concentrations are different for some notes, however the dry down is very very close. At arms length, they are quite the same, nearly identical. I really prefer and enjoy the opening on Royale Stallion because that bitter almond medicinal note is very easily picked out. All the differences I stated though are very very miniscule and were only identified after sitting with them for a long time trying to discern the differences. They are practically unnoticeable, aside from the opening. Originally I sampled Pegasus with the intent of eventually buying a full bottle, but honestly I can no longer see a real reason to, other than having it in my collection. I enjoy Royale Stallion and its price much better. The bottle is beautiful, solid, heavy, and well crafted with glass and metal, as is the entire Portfolio line from Al Haramain. The box presentation is classy and better than that I've seen in many niche and designer brands. I saw reviews below mentioning Royale Stallion is nearly $100 usd, and I'm not sure where they are purchasing, but it can easily be purchased for around $60. If you are paying more than that, I would check other discounters because you are certainly overpaying. It is not discontinued and is easy to find at a reasonable price. You are unlikely to purchase a fake either as it just doesn't have that kind of popularity. Much parallel to Pegasus as one of the less favored PDM releases. Royale Stallion and the Pegasus DNA as a whole is a beautiful and unique, perfectly unisex scent. I would say also underrated and underappreciated. I am a woman who loves to wear this for its beautiful almond powdery notes. I can see some women might find it too masculine due to the bitter and medicinal aspects and lower sweetness levels, which are what drew me to it. On the other hand, men might find this too unisex if you are used to woody sharp traditionally masculine scents. Royale Stallion remains my warm weather daily scent, the cold weather daily spot taken by BDK Parfums Nuit de Sable. In conclusion, I highly recommend Royale Stallion and suggest it as a perfectly reasonable and quality clone of Parfums de Marly Pegasus, in some ways a more desirable alternative.

I really love this, perfectly unisex. Not sure if I'm going a bit noseblind to it, but it only lasts 1-2 hours strongly, then it's much softer for the remaining duration of 3-4 hours. My skin tends to eat up perfume though, but this wasn't as strong as I was hoping. Scent is so sophisticated and delicious! If you like almond and spices it's a no-brainer. *edit* 10-2-2022 Been wearing this for a few months now. I think I was just overspraying at first and was in fact a bit noseblind, but I can smell it perfectly well several hours later now. And it leaves the most delicious scent on jackets. I think it sitting for a while did in fact make it a bit better to my nose, which is something I have heard for AH fragrances and some arabic fragrances in general. Very unisex. I'm a woman and this is currently my signature scent. I do use a generous amount of sprays, but I'm not usually in closed spaces with others so no issue. I do a spray on the back of my neck, one on chest, and one on each wrist, so 4 total. If you are in an office, I'd only do one, maybe two though. It will project pretty heavy for a few hours so you don't want to choke anyone out. Now, this scent, when it dries down, has the most creamy, starched laundry type scent to it that I absolutely adore. I really love spraying this on jackets, as it leaves this very starchy lovely almond fragrance that I can't get enough of. This scent is not for everyone, and I can see why some may not like it, but in general if you like almond based scents this will be right up your alley. I would say it is kind of herbal, kind of bitter, kind of creamy, and a little sweet. It's not a super sticky sweet almond taffy or anything of that sort, so it remains clean and unisex. Can't say enough of how much I love it. I have sampled Pegasus on a tester strip before I bought this one and it was very nice, so I do want to get a bottle of Pegasus for some wear test comparisons, but ultimately I am perfectly happy with Royale Stallion alone. I think it's the kind of scent that smells even better to those around you. Definitely unique and sophisticated scent compared to a lot of the scents sold today, so it can leave a nice impression.

Let's get right down to it. This fragrance is a 1:1 to PdM Pegasus--IN THE DRY DOWN. The difference is in the opening. Pegasus opens up and it's as smooth as butter. Everything is so balanced and airy. A well-blended masterpiece. Royale Stallion opens up a little sharp, and with what I describe as a "band aid" medicinal note. It's really noticeable when you put your nose on your skin where you sprayed. Sillage alleviates that though and if you don't press your nose against your skin but instead just catch wafts of it, the band aid smell isn't there really. (But I'm just nit picking now). Performance: I get 8 hours easy on my skin. The fragrance is stronger than Pegasus. If you're going to be sitting close to someone, say in the car or at church, I'd recommend just 2-3 shots to the front of your shirt. I go for the subtle approach though. You'll be "that guy" with 4-5 sprays in closed spaces and will choke people out. So tread carefully. Overall, I'd say this is a very good clone with the only noticeable difference being in the opening (sharper/band aid note?). I'd say after the opening nobody would be able tell it's NOT Pegasus. And that's the truth. Price: It's now over $100 at discounters and that's a bit pricey for me. But for an exact replica of Pegasus it might be worth it for some.

If you can get past the first couple minutes, which is kinda harsh, you'll have yourself a almost perfect Pegasus clone with the same or better performance for 1/5 the price. This fragrance is dense, rich and expensive smelling. This Blows Armaf Craze & Emper Thesaurus out of the water. They've somehow captured the PDM vibe and high quality smell. Presentation is awesome with a heavy beautiful glass bottle encased in a leather draw string bag and a magnetic hard plastic & chrome box. Price point is $60-$100 for 2.5oz.....but for what you get, it's totally worth it. Projection, sillage and longevity are BEAST. This is better suited for cooler weather or climate controlled places. This could be work safe if lightly sprayed, but has more of a dinner party followed by partying vibe. Can be paired with a suit or for a casual date night. Can be worn daytime as long as you control the sprays but more evening energy.

I own PDM pegasus and by far royal stallion by al haramain is the closest. All other clones suck such as armaf craze and Ajmal’s evoke silver do not comes close when it comes to quality they are extremely synthetic and scratchy to the nose. Now I can see why this royal stallion clone is priced high. Scent profile: I sprayed pegasus on my right and top of my hand. Then I used my 10ml decent of royal stallion on left wrist and top of hand. This fragrance on the initial blast is kind of sharp to the nose and smells metallic and synthetic. After 5-6 minutes after it settles and in the dry down it smells extremely close in fact just like pegasus no joke although I find pegasus a tad bit more smooth in scent profile.