Imperia

I was immediately hit by a blast of pineapple, which quickly faded into a nice mid-note. There are some fresh green, resinous notes on top, in the lavender/rosemary Italian aperitif realm. The base is warm, with vanilla, amber, and wood. Great performance. It’s nice. Inoffensive. Pleasant enough. Perhaps mass-appealing. Do I want to wear it again? Eh. It’s just not for me. Your mileage may vary.

First Impressions - I immediately smelled something like Afnan 9pm and Ultra Male by JPG. Not so much Phantom by Paco Rabanne. Its very sweet. Definitely smell vanilla, lavender, citrus. So far, its nice. We'll see if its just too much sweetness after a wear or 2.

#1144 in my "Tour de Fragrance" My first bit of advice is apply and let it dry for five minutes before you evaluate it as whatever they're using to simulate pineapple initially comes off like armpit sweat. It gets a lot better. This is one of an endless stream of what I would term "Creed adjacent" fragrances. In the mid range consumer space we have Armani's "Stronger with You" and it clones which add in a chestnut note, JPG's "Ultra Male", Paco Rabanne "Phantom." Down market we have Swiss Arabian "Primal Code, Afnan "9PM", Al Haramaim "L'Aventure" (I could go on but I won't) and this juice by Armaf. I have them all. This scent and Swiss Arabian "Primal Code" are identical, so grab whichever is cheapest. It really doesn't smell like Creed or Stronger with You, or like Mont Blanc "Explorer", Armaf's "Club de Nuit "Intense Man", Afnan "Supremacy Silver", but they're all kind of a repeat of the same note combination. In the dry down this scent, likewise "Primal Code", is a more lavender-focused than the others. So, in the first 30 minutes it reminds me of "Mrs. Meyer's Lavender Laundry Detergent", which has me mulling over whether to keep it or donate this one to the downtown men's shelter. Good longevity and projection for a $20 scent. Year round casual wear. Car pool, elevator, small office safe. It's okay, but we aren't really going for "okay" are we? I'm not.

A lighter Ultramale immediately comes to mind when I smell this. Seems like they were going for a Ultramale (70%) / Aventus (15%) / StrongerWithYou (15%) type hybrid. Around $20 (for only 80ml), Armaf Imperia is alright as a fresh, sweet, casual fragrance that's likeable. I don't find this a warm spicy scent at all. Nowadays there are several Ultramale alternatives in the same price range that do a similar thing. Like Afnan 9pm. I rarely complain about bottle styles, and Armaf is famous for weird and tacky bottles, but the functionality of this heavy plastic flip-top makes it really annoying to use. I'll pass this bottle on to someone else, and continue using my Zara Gourmand Leather instead.

Completly different accords than Phantom, so it doesn't smell anything alike. Still, not a bad scent.