London Destination

The bitterness of the coffee blends well with the sweetness of the pear and vanilla but it takes 10 minutes or so for the coffee to really come out on skin. While it's listed as "for women" by Alexandria, it's really quite unisex. The addition of pear is what really makes it something special.

The coffee takes about 10 min. to develop on my skin (based on my batch), and even then is about on par with the pear and vanilla. When I wear this I feel bright and alert, which would definitely be a good thing if you were to arrive in the big, bustling metropolis of London.

This was such a winning gamble\blind buy!! Every other version of "Black Opium" that I've bought in the past has been a complete "Floral Bomb". And while that may have been the intent of the original creator...it wasn't what I sought in a fragrance. The "AF" version...."London Destination"...is soooo much better!! While I can still smell the floral notes, they're not overpowering! I can still make out the rest of the fragrance notes after the initial spray period, and that is all I wanted from "Black Opium". I mean, why have such a rich and deep fragrance with so many GREAT notes present if you can't smell them all!? Who would pass up the Pear note? The delicious Coffee note? The Orange Blossom, and Bitter Almond? And the Cashmere Wood drydown...that would be a sin!! With "London Destination" you get to experience THEM ALL!! AGAIN..."Alexandria Fragrances" comes through with the W-I-N!!! I finally have a "Black Opium" that's wearable! This is SUCH a classy fragrance!! I finally have a 60ml of it and I'm certain this is going to be my "formal event" fragrance! EDIT: Wearing this with 2 sprays of "Hafez 1984 Intense" is just perfection! They share a "Jasmine" note between the two...lending to great mutualism between the two fragrances! FINAL EDIT: Welp...I took the plunge and ordered "YSL - Black Opium Le Parfum" for the quadruple vanilla. I'll no longer have to layer this with a vanilla fragrance once that arrives so I decided to gift this 60ml bottle to the wife as she's had her eye and nose on it for months.

I like this better than Black Opium; it seems less “bitter” from the coffee note. Maybe the pear tempers it? I don’t know. The projection is massive, and it lasts forever, too.

Black Opium dupe with a bit more pear.