Tres Bon

My bottle of Tres Bon arrived today. Other than it being inexpensive and my have a fragrance problem, I'm not exactly sure why I ordered a bottle since I have Aventus, and a dozen clones, and GIT, and a half-dozen clones. I like quite a few Armaf fragrances so call it morbid curiosity, I suppose. This fragrance is nothing like Aventus (with nothing being the operative word in this sentence) or any of its many clones I have tried, but it did briefly remind me of GIT at the opening...for all of 10-seconds - that's it. In other words, it is nothing like GIT. If you're looking for a GIT clone then Tres Nuit is decent choice...but Lattafa Raghba for Men is the best option. Tres Bon is a woody, spicy, peppery fragrance with some dark, somber, aromatic tones and a whole lot of powder. It's actually an interesting fragrance that is dark and spicy and not your typical department store fragrance. However, it is not a people pleaser and fragrance fanatics are going to gravitate towards niche perfumes having a much higher quality level. So Tres Bon is not going to get much love. What does it smell like? Well, it smells like someone spilled two of my fragrances, bottled the spillage, and sold it as Tres Bon. These two fragrances are Carven Pour Homme (not Carven Homme) and Pharrell Williams Girl by Comme des Garcons. Seriously, just look at the notes pyramid and, if you're familiar with these two scents, you'll quickly agree with my assessment. Although Girl doesn't get much love, I find it to be a really nice, unique, Comme des Garcons fragrance that was poorly marketed. And Carven Pour Homme is a really nice Francis Kurkdjian creation that doesn't get much love either, but I really like it. Anyway, Tres Bon is an amalgam of these two fragrances minus a whole lot of quality. Still, I actually kind of like it. Cheers! Update: Lordy do I hate the bottle design of Tren Bon (and Tres Nuit) and the atomizers. Seriously, even with large hands the bottle is impossible to hold; anti-ergonomic or designed for aliens from another galaxy. Moreover, the atomizer is piss-poor and delivers the tiniest squirt of juice. Quite awkward told the bottle with two-hands and pumping furiously with index fingers.

So I can see the comparisons to Aventus but honestly this smells more like Insurrection pure more than anything but a sweeter better blended version. To describe the scent on its own it opens really sweet and powdery but as it dries down gets more fresh and citrusy but still has that slight powderiness and sweetness from the opening. Once this reaches the drydown your left with that nice birch making this smoky but it also having some freshness from the lavender and some creaminess from the vanilla. I do have to say out of all the Armaf fragrances this to my nose is easily the best blended scent they have!! Performance on this is above average as it lasts 6-8 hours but only has slightly above average projection. But because of that this would make for a good work fragrance. Overall rating --- 8 out of 10 ! Great scent for a great price and 1 for the cheapie but goodie hall of fame

To my nose, this seems like Club De Nuit Intense diluted with Tres Nuit. The opening is fresh with lots of pineapple and citrusy cleanliness as opposed to the smoky opening on the CDNIM, but the dry down on both is remarkably similar. Hence the comparisons to Aventus are pretty obvious once you get past the one hour mark. This could be a Club De Nuit Intense Man - Summer, if you will. I find CDNIM too smoky for the tropical summer and this just makes up perfectly for the weather.

smells like a leathery Aventus , it's awesome

Count me among those who like Tres Bon. As we already know, it's very similar to some other Armaf products, namely Tres Nuit and Le Parfait. In fact, it's almost identical to Le Parfait, but I do pick out some subtle differences, such that I like this one a bit better. Le Parfait opens much the same as this one, but with a touch more punch, along with a spicy note that Tres Bon doesn't present. The result is that Le Parfait comes out of the gate a bit muddled in my opinion, whereas Tres Bon is a bit cleaner and greener smelling -- which it honestly should, given that it's ostensibly a GIT clone variant. As they dry down, they level off quite a bit and become a bit more similar, though I get the impression that Armaf tried to combine Tres Nuit with a bit too much CDNI, negating a bit of what is good about both. With Tres Bon, it seems like they combine the same with a much lighter dose of CDNI. The result is something a bit closer to the Tres Nuit/GIT side, but with a very subtle brightness and fruitiness to it in the place of iris powderiness -- so, a GIT clone with more citrus and less powdery florals. Not a bad idea. Further into the dry down, Le Parfait stays fairly linear, just fading over time. The same can be said for Tres Bon, but with a gentle emergence of that brightness from earlier on. I would never mistake this for CDNI or Aventus, as it stays solidly in the direction of a GIT clone throughout. Projection is modest with Tres Bon, which I would expect. Longevity is a bit weak, but to be honest, I don't mind refreshing from time to time, given the low price and bright top notes. Of the four Armaf products I've mentioned, I have to say that this one has taken first place in my book -- as I really wear the whole GIT style better than I do the Aventus, but appreciate dialing down its powdery aspects just a bit in favor of some citrus/pineapple brightness and acidity. it's not half bad and qualifies as an amazing value for its price -- dumb name, dumb bottle aside.