Fall of Phaeton

Stepping away from the heavy, animalic darkness of the Nemean Lion, my Argos journey continues with a fragrance of dramatic, celestial ambition: Fall of Phaeton. This composition takes its inspiration from the famous Greek myth—Phaeton’s fateful, fiery attempt to drive the sun god Helios' chariot, a feat of daring that resulted in the scorching of the earth. The fragrance is meant to embody this chaotic brilliance, a blend of lightning-fast citruses, smoldering spices, and tragic opulence. After experiencing the house’s range from the decadent to the challenging, the central question is whether this sun-themed creation will soar to legendary heights or ultimately crash and burn like its mythological namesake. Let's get into it and find out. Opening: The initial impression is sweet, leathery, and spicy. The primary notes encountered are leather, tonka bean, cardamom, and ginger, with tonka bean and leather immediately asserting their dominance. The tonka bean anchors the opening with a warm, sweetly spiced, and richly vanillic accord, accompanied by a subtle, sophisticated dry powderiness. Crucially, this tonka bean possesses a natural depth that elevates it far beyond the synthetic profiles found in designer offerings such as Le Male Le Parfum. The leather note is the perfect counterpoint; unlike the animalic rawness of the Nemean Lion, this is a refined, supple, and gentle leather, evoking the bespoke interior of a luxury vehicle. The cardamom and ginger then introduce a spicy complexity. The cardamom adds warmth and differentiation with its slightly camphorous and citric undertones, avoiding the bluntness of a standard designer spice. Lastly, the ginger provides a fresh, effervescent pop, while traces of lemon are largely subsumed by the primary notes, only becoming marginally more pronounced after the first thirty minutes. While a subtle, oft-cited "Play-Doh" note may be perceptible (likely due to the high concentration of tonka), it remains far from the overwhelming accord found in fragrances like BDK’s Velvet Tonka. Overall, the opening is powerfully reminiscent of the profiles of Tom Ford's Eau d'Ombre Leather or YSL's Babycat. Dry Down: The evolution into the dry down is sweet, leathery, and aromatic. The primary notes remain tonka bean and leather, supplemented by vanilla and lavender. The tonka bean continues to be the central highlight; its warm, spiced sweetness now manifesting as a fuller, deeper profile. Meanwhile, the leather maintains its soft, supple, "black leather" character without ever turning aggressive. The vanilla then emerges with a creamy, nearly gourmand edge, distinguishing its sweetness from the vanillic facets of the tonka. Lastly, the lavender wafts in and out of the background, lending a gentle, powdery, and spicy aromatic dimension. Hints of oud are also detectable in the base, providing a deep, dark woody foundation. The strong comparisons to Eau d'Ombre Leather and Babycat persist, if not strengthen, throughout this refined final phase. Performance: The initial projection within the first hour is massive and effortlessly fills a large room. The sillage immediately matches that intensity, creating a dense and heavy scent trail. This powerhouse performance was largely unchanged after three to four hours. At the seven-to-eight-hour mark, the projection was still aggressively pushing out beyond six feet, and the scent trail remained easily noticeable. The fragrance ultimately provides an outstanding longevity, lasting at least 12 hours before finally settling into a skin scent. When to Wear: Fall of Phaeton is an archetypal fall/winter fragrance but offers high versatility, suitable for both daytime and evening wear. Although it is a sweet and heavy composition, its depth and high-quality blending grant it the flexibility to be worn casually, formally, or for special occasions. Due to its sheer power, however, it remains unsuitable for office environments. Blind Buy: For those who are already enthusiasts of the sophisticated sweet and leathery genre—particularly fans of Babycat or Eau d'Ombre Leather—Fall of Phaeton is a safe blind buy. Final Verdict: The Fall of Phaeton successfully captures the theme of a brilliant celestial event, trading the heavy, challenging nature of Nemean Lion for a more refined intensity. The composition is a triumph of balance, expertly showcasing a high-quality tonka bean and creamy vanilla against a backdrop of smooth, luxurious black leather. This style rivals some of the best sweet leather fragrances on the market. At the same time, the inclusion of ginger and cardamom provides a necessary, effervescent lift to the opening before the opulent base settles in. Performance is absolutely exemplary, easily earning "beast mode" credentials with massive projection and an outstanding longevity of 12 hours or more. As far as vanilla/leather fragrances go, I think Fall of Phaeton stands out as my favorite, surpassing Babycat and Eau d'Ombre Leather for me personally. Like the previous two Argos fragrances, I would gladly accept this fragrance into my personal collection. I can definitely see myself purchasing Fall of Phaeton at some point. Scent: 10/10 Longevity: 10/10 Sillage: 10/10 Versatility: High Mass Appeal: High Gender: Unisex, leaning masculine Value: Fair

Maybe I misled myself, but I saw the Fragrantica ratings for Fall of Phaeton and expected it to be a really powerful fragrance that would almost fill a room. So it was completely shocking to me that when I sprayed it on me for the first time, I literally could not smell it *at all*. FoP's atomizer is super high quality and sprays a VERY fine mist, so I figured maybe the mist is too fine to concentrate the juice in one spot. I sprayed three more times on the same area of my arm. I could start to smell its scent profile but, still, it was so faint. At first, I was disappointed in its performance. But then I realized I could still smell it, even with my arm down. That's impressive, given how gentle FoP apparently is. There's something to be said about FoP's exquisite finesse, projecting a very subtle sweet cinnamon-leather accord without having to punch you in the face like most leather fragrances do. It is a fragrance for people who want to say, "I need you to know I smell good, but I don't need my cologne to get your attention for me. I do that myself." Despite the several notes in Fall of Phaeton, my nose only detects three of them: cinnamon, leather, and a very little vanilla for sweetness. The leather is animalic by Argos' own admission, but it somehow works and isn't pungent. It's like the cinnamon is the key note of the entire fragrance, and the leather is there to give it depth and texture. The lemon and bergamot are not detectable at all but seem to be there to enhance the sweetness and tartness of the cinnamon. It is clear that Fall of Phaeton is very high quality. It gets noticed without being loud. Highly recommended.

This is an amazing fragrance from Argos, I got a sample and ordered the 100ml. It's unique and it's so good. When I spray it, I mostly get spices alongside a bit of citruses for the first 10-15 minutes. After it dries down into a beautiful and addictive vanilla, tonka and musk alongside hints of oud and leather. Maybe it's skin chemistry but the oud and leather are really not that dominant on my skin, they mostly work in the back kind of making this scent feel more sophisticated and interesting. Definitely don't have to worry about it being animalistic. It just feels rich and is blended so well to the point where in my opinion it has the perfect ratio of being niche and mass appealing. In my opinion this can be worn in winter, fall and maybe fresher spring days. Definitely can see this being a special occasion scent or signature scent for the colder time of the year. It is unisex leaning a bit masculine I would say, maybe 60-40 but women most definitely can pull it off. For projection I'd give it an 8/10, it's perfect if you want a loud fragrance but nothing nuclear or offensive. As for longevity I'd say it's a 10/10, it lasts damn near the whole day and I spray it on skin, I could smell it on my clothes 2-3 days after and maybe more if I hadn't washed it. For the scent I'd give it a 9.5/10 since it smells so interesting and is blended perfectly. If you are looking for a brilliant fall/winter fragrance I highly recommend this, it smells luxurious and the presentation might be the best out of any fragrance house in my opinion. Overall a 9.5 for me.

Scent of the Day: Argos – Fall of Phaeton Today I’m wearing Fall of Phaeton. The opening is slightly spicy yet fresh, so much so that a colleague even commented, “You smell really fresh today.” I’d attribute that to the citrusy and gingery top notes that give it a bright, lively start. After about 30 minutes, it begins to settle beautifully on the skin. That’s when the agarwood, vanilla, and tonka bean start to emerge, giving the fragrance more warmth and depth. A couple of hours in, the projection softens and sits closer to the skin. It’s been around five hours since I sprayed (3–4 sprays), and I can still detect it easily. Definitely an office-safe scent, especially after the dry down. Personally, I really enjoy the scent itself. The bottle design and the mythological story behind it are stunning, truly a piece of artistry. I’ve come to appreciate Argos as a brand and will most likely expand my Argos collection over time. Is it a safe blind buy? In my case, yes, I blind bought it and it turned out to be perfect. But as always, fragrances are highly subjective, so I’d recommend sampling before purchasing if possible. Update: It lasted around 9 hours on skin.

This is gorgeous! I am utterly shocked (in a lovely way), at how good this house is and I've ducked dived and avoided it for the last few years! Spices straight off the bat from what I think is the Cardamom and Ginger, and I'm strangely getting something in the background akin to very faint coconut that is found in one of Nishane's frags (Fan Your Flames). I think this is yet another uniques fragrance from the house, unlike the disaster that is 'Charon's Vail' that I just smelled. I can relate through this to ToB, although completely different, I can feel the thread of DNA that ties them together, and if this is the way the rest of the house goes, then it's definitely worth exploring deeper. A homerun in my books so far, but I'll update more as the wear foes on....... UPDATE: after some full wears of this, my above view has not changed other than to be a more solid love for me, right up in my top 5, and this is to me far more superior that the house's flagship ToB, this is so much better. I've got Neptune's Trident on the way and when budget permits I'll be grabbing Danae or Sacred Flame, but I will be getting both at some point. Much love and God bless.