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.

Probably one of my favorites for going out at night - more casual settings with friends. Absolutely an Argos fragrance. This could be a not-se close flanker to Danaë in my opinion. They share something that I can't quite pinpoint without any sort of redundancy. Love the profile. This is mass appealing enough that I can easily wear it but interesting enough to keep me going back to it. Sweet, slightly spicy and vibrant in the opening with a creamy take on maybe some red fruit - someone told me they get a raspberry desert with whipped cream and I can kind of see that. Performance is no joke. Presentation, the wearing experience, all very elevated. Smells the price, but not worth the retail price tag. This is a great pick up at no more than $200 for 100ml, while 30ml should be plenty for someone that has quite a few fragrances. Masculine, high quality, so pretty much with all that I've already mentioned, this is definitely my style.

Loved TOB like a lot of the comments here but this just has more depth and is more acceptable in warmer climates which makes it my favorite Argos. You could absolutely pull this off as a daily wearer, but not a daily for me personally. If you're not willing to spend $300 and have TOB in your collection already, then I would keep TOB and pass on this for now. If you want more depth and seasonal flexibility on an already fantastic fall/winter smell you need to have this as part of your collection. Smells similar to Penhaligons Blazing Sam, just carries over more heavily with the leather. Like the comments say below, peak Argos. Edit: Scratch that. I will absolutely be using this as a daily. Not overly offensive like TOB as I mentioned and can literally be used in any temperature 85 F or less. 9.6/10.

One of the most unique and beautifully blended fragrances I have ever smelled. 6 sprays had enormous projection and has lasted me beyond 12 hours. I normally wait for the majority if not all of my fragrances to hit deep discounters. Argos - Fall of Phaeton is one of the very very few fragrances I have purchased full retail and will always have a permanent spot in my collection. You will not find another scent profile that is similar. my collection consists of around 40 bottles from different houses. I have 3 that are 10/10. Argos - Fall of Phaeton is one of them, in Scent profile, Bottle design and presentation. 10/10 across the board

Let this sit. At first, when I got my tester as a gift for buying Argos' Triumph of Bacchus, they gave me one from a relatively new batch. At first spray, this smells like leather, and later dries down to a nice spicy scent. After letting it sit a few months, it's reversed: the scent opens with a very beautiful ginger, pepper, and citrus, while the leather supports the fragrance from the base. It's very pleasant. It has that classic Argos feel to it, and smells very elegant. Suitable for spring evenings! I love it. One of the only times a tester has convinced me to buy a full bottle!

Worn it to work, this is very nice and sweet like it’s very yummy similar to SWY yummy imo. It’s very creamy and frizzy until the 3hr mark, then cools down to such a delicious milk tea scent. It’s not bad, just not what I expected when I blind bought it. Blind buy safe, it’s very nice. Smells like arabic fragrances, like the ones youd smell once at an arabic wedding and never smell it ever again lol I love it, the ginger is not annoying, it’s not screachy or cloying. 8 or 9 out of 10, it’s really nice but I’d be picky wearing this

This is beast mode from Argos no doubt, but one problem is that this fragrance is identical clone of most known banger from Mancera Red Tobacco 😄 l blind bought this expecting something new and different but this is 98% same smell like Red Tobacco which is really sad that they copy Mancera 😩 but even if l have both Red Tobacco Og and Intense but l didn’t want to have third same scent profile for double price of Red Tobacco 😩😁 but it is what it is at least bottle and packaging is worth the price and beast mode performance ✌️

2nd best argos frag, finally I can get this on Fragrantica. Absurd bottle design and performance and the scent smells like you’re living in the Roman Empire as a god. Divine scent that’s more sweet and beautiful than it sounds with the notes shown. Only thing that makes this 2nd is Triumph of Bacchus extrait de parfum but that even at a discount is absurdly priced. Also great for almost any occasion all year round especially if you live in a warm area, just go lighter on the trigger during summer. 12/10 masterpiece.

To me very citrus/ginger opening and slowly settles down to an almost creamy smelling leather. I found the cardamom is hard to perceive until it has dried down a little bit, and the ginger is a little overpowering until 15/20min into the scent. I find it is surprising with silage where you don't smell anything other than a whiff while moving which is super pleasant. Not sure how else to describe this fragrance other than smelling "expensive". For some reason it really reminds me of the lobby of a Fairmont Hotel.

After turning my yellow Triumph of Bacchus into a red liquid, I decided I needed a second Argos perfume. And my choice was Fall of Phaeton. The citrusy opening is refreshing, while the woody notes continue, ending with a creamy finish of leather and musk. Wooawww. An incredible perfume. Although I had some issues with the product delivery (unfortunately, I think they failed in terms of responsibility, but I won't write about it on social media until the process is complete), their perfumes are works of art.

Amazing.. i had a sample of this and HATED how it immediatly smelled out of the cap because i could pick up on the oud and i hateee oud but oh boy when you spray this on skin you get absolutely no oud and it smells just like a cream soda. The thing i love with argos is they all seem to smell different to everyone i see some people saying fall of phaeton smells like a "new car" which i just cannot see. I promise you the leather is NOT that strong in this. Final rating 9.8/10

I got a sample of this and immediately loved it. It's a really comforting, masculine scent. Slightly sweet and spicy ginger and leather scent and dries down to bring out a really nice vanilla/tonka bean base. The smell reminds me a lot of those cola bottle gummy candies or some kind of root beer/cream soda hybrid. This could worn year round, but maybe not on really hot summer days. Overall I'm a big fan and I'll be picking this up as a birthday present to myself hehe.

Successfully walks a tightrope of mass appeal and niche quality. With sweet fruitiness, freshness and spice, this is like a grown version of Eros. And miraculously, unlike, say, PdM there isn’t the cologne-y amberwood base that makes me feel I should have just gone to the mall and sprayed on Sauvage or something. Fine stuff and I’ll have to try more from the brand. Glad they finally added it to the site, I was compulsively checking to finally complete my shelf.

This definitely wasn't just launched, but at least they finally added it here. Argos was the first niche brand that I tried, when I got their sample pack a few months ago. I ended up buying a full bottle of Bacio Immortale, which is very similar to Tuscan Leather from Tom Ford. I haven't smelled Fall of Phaeton in a while, but I still have the sample of it. I definitely enjoy it. I'll have to see if I can make a better review than that lol

Wow...damn. One small point of contention: I keep hearing ppl say this is smoky. I dont really get smokiness from this, as much as I get nuttiness with a sort of mellow spiciness. I would say this is very similar to Layton Exclusif (which actually is a little smoky.) This to my nose is 50% Layton Exclusif + 40% Grand Soir + 10% Carlisle. This is a 10/10 for me ... at least for now. Damn

I liked this in Spring. I am loving it in the cooler/colder weather! I misunderstood this fragrance upon my first couple of wearings. I thought it lacked depth. Man, when I'm wrong, I'm all the way wrong! lol This elegant blend has depth the Marianas Trench could only dream of! This word is so overused as to be almost meaningless, but I'm going to use it anyway ... masterpiece. Truly.