Italiano Nero

On the first spray, I thought: "WOW. This is EXACTLY Paco Rabanne Black XS!" Much closer in fact, than CDNIM is to Aventus. As it dries down, it becomes a little more fruity than Black XS, but they're very close! Comparing them side-by-side, Black XS has a noticeably stronger sage note, along with vetiver and noticeable ambergris. Italiano Nero, however, has a nice ambroxan note taking the place of the ambergris. Surprisingly, Italiano Nero smells like it has much higher quality ingredients than Black XS. The fruity notes are actually brighter and longer lasting than Black XS. I've worn this a half a dozen times now, and it lasts perfectly well for me, 6 hours noticeably on skin, and 8-10 hours under the neck of my shirt. Projection is slightly above moderate, which is MUCH stronger than my bottle of Black XS. Needless to say, Italiano Uomo Nero wins this battle, defeating Black XS, for me. Also, the sprayer on this one is AWESOME! It's almost like a Chanel sprayer. Seriously, no joke! Unlike CDNIM and others, the sprayer on this bottle disperses a good amount of juice in a perfectly uniform fashion. The bottle is awesome too. Some Armaf fragrances have notoriously cheap bottles, and while yes, it is still made of cheap materials (it's a $20 fragrance, after all) but the bottle is really quite nice! I really like the leather wrap on this bottle. It's VERY nice for the price! Update: Over a dozen wearings now, and I must say, this is quite possibly my favorite from Armaf, even better than CDNIM, for me. Update 2: After finally tracking down a bottle of Black XS L'Exces, i can confirm, this is SPOT ON to L'Exces! If you're sad about the discontinuation of L'Exces, buy this! You won't be disappointed!

All I have to say is WOW! This perfume is absolutely amazing! I was looking for an alternative to the sadly discontinued Black XS l’exces,which is one of my all time favourites, and read that this is an exact clone of it. I was a bit skeptical,but turns out that the internet was absolutely right on this one! This smells exactly like L’exces. I still have a few drops left of an old l’exces bottle, and when compared side by side, they are exactly the same! Sweet pineapple sexy goodness! I just wore it for the first time less than an hour ago, so still can’t comment on performance and longevity, but I sure hope those who said it’s long lasting are right on this one.

I’ve applied it twice today, not because it was weak but because I just want to bathe in this. Absolutely floored with how juicy and fresh this is, it’s on another level. I get pineapple big time, as well as a ripe strawberry in this. The pineapple note seems to stay the length of the development but it fades just enough to let the other notes come forward. If there is patchouli in the base it is very light and soapy. I don’t get amber but the cypress is there. There are no right angles to be found, it’s smooth as can be and absolutely worth three times what I paid for it. I’ve also layered it with L’Aventure and it was divine. 7/10

Worn a few times and found this to be a pleasant, low-profile gem. For me, it opens sweet (pine-appleish) and after a few minutes dries down to an amazingly warm, sweet amber. I don't pick up other notes listed but that's OK. For me, silage is good and when I'm in motion, scent seems to jump out. The first night I wore it, I overheard a group of gals I passed by say "That guy smells like a man". I can smell the fragrance next day on my shirt, it sticks well (I heard it is a parfum and oils are used so it will be a good performer). It's different from the freshies, clean smells, and spice-bombs. I recommend giving this one a chance.

A juicy, rich pineapple opening makes way for a dry down that’s actually very nice. There is roughly 30% resemblance in the dry down to Aventus, to my nose when I smell my arm. That’s going to be a good thing for most people. I don’t have much to say about this though. I’ve been wearing it every few days since I picked it up and I’ve enjoyed it each time. If the ever-present advisory warning about maceration periods does anything to this fragrance, it will quickly become one of my favorites for warmer weather. 100% safe blind buy, in my humble opinion.