The Extreme

I purchased the Noir Extreme take from OilPerfumery.com which is an inexpensive way (usually under twenty dollars American) to test out expensive fragrances of many types. I have to give them A nod because they are often very darn close to the original takes. Oils do however perform differently in that they do not project quite as well as alcohol based perfumes. They also tend to stay linear and don’t transform much through dry down. Their are pros and cons, but I do like to layer these with fragrances so I use less of the original, or to help boost performance on fragrances that lack longevity. Anyhow I digress...Once I got my nose on this, I immediately had to have it. No seriously, the scent profile was instantly a must MUST have, but alas Tom is so pricey. I started my search to find a reasonable recreation. Alexandria The Extreme smells very similar to the Oil Perfumery take. It is really good IMO. I can’t compare it to the inspiration as I don’t own it unfortunately, hard to say if I can manage “not owning” the original but time will tell. This performs well, is in the Dior’s L’Homme Intense line but lacks the strong lipstick iris profile. It is simply captivating, but will be less likely to offend, which the Dior profile does have a tendency to do. My negative here is that the performance is softer than I would have expected, usually they are stronger than the original takes, but not so much here. I will say I only just received the scent, and I do find time helps balance the clones from Alexandria Fragrance. So I can’t properly compare this to the inspiration only another clone in the genre. In any case this scent profile is beautiful !

Once again, AF impresses. The Extreme's scent profile intrigues me...exotic, unisex, gourmand but lighter. I am reminded of Fahrenheit Le Parfum in that both carry an innate confidence. Definitely a cool/cold weather, night fragrance. Actually, let me say Fall/Winter because it fits that vibe. Warm, spicy, sweet...I am also reminded of Starlight by Xerjoff, though TE is lighter. Wearing Starlight feels like a risk (I hope myself and others will enjoy intense Xmas in a bottle) compared to this, which is more crowd pleasing and less 'obvious'. Performance is beastly, I get about 12 hours on my skin. Sillage is more intimate. This is a date night/dinner party fragrance to me, more formal-leaning. There's also a maturity to this, like 30+. I haven't smelled Noir Extreme and I'm fine with that because this is damn good stuff. 9/10

Men's fragrances have really come of age. And their popularity has spawned several "clone" houses, many of them doing a credible job with an individual fragrance now and then surpassing the original. Armaf, Al Hariman, Zara, yet Alexandria, for me, tops them all, fragrance to fragrance. Most of those I've worn from AF (29 and counting) stand on their own, beyond comparison to OG. A few have fallen short in the Longevity and Projection, but been oh so close to the Original. This fragrance is one of the best. I'll let others "nitpik" over how close it is to Tom Ford, but I don't care. I love it for itself, even though that may sound like I'm talking about a person. I you wear this and can't love it, I suggest you give up fragrance all together.

Hopefully Fragrantica fixes their issue with this one. They have it listed as two different fragrances. I find this one to be nearly identical to the original Tom Ford Noir Extreme. So much so that I purchased 2 backup bottles. I have noticed that from my 3 bottles, one of them smells different. One is extremely vanilla but that isn't a bad thing, just not what it's supposed to be. This is a pretty safe blind buy but please try a sample to be on the safe side.

The Extreme is a great interpretation of the gorgeous TF Noir Extreme, A Very nice smell indeed, Sweet, Smooth, Creamy vanilla type scent that is unisex. I compared side by side, both are gorgeous. A must try for vanilla lovers. If you love the Nior Extreme but are shy to pull the trigger preps get yourself a bottle of this beauty. A+