Imperial Duae

You wanna talk about gatekeeping! I literally had to luck upon this one...nobody told me about it. I have a modest-sized (still growing) collection, and, optimally, I would like to have nearly EVERY scent that I find appealing available to me, so, I'll occasionally go looking for those ones that no one else is talking about. I'm not yet into that group that values uniqueness so much that they'll spend their money on something that outright reeks, simply for the artistic value of the fragrance. I do want different, but, I want that "different" to smell good, too! So, we come to Atralia Imperiale Duae. On a blind hunt, I figured I'd see what else Atralia had to offer, being as I already own Absolute Noir, and, I find it to be an exceptional fragrance, especially for such a price (it's a steal!). I do my share of blind-buying (not recommended), but, I do try & research the notes & overall community impression, where available, before jumping into something, and, as previously stated, I do want to discover fragrance note combinations that are different than what I already own, or, what everyone else is already abundantly aware of. I've got my share of gourmands & other of the more mass-appealing genre, and, although I own a few blues, and, get enjoyment out of them, I believe that I may be more of a green-scent guy at heart. Sure, there's twists on the theme, but, too many of the blues seem to carry close similarities, and, I'm looking to expand the choices by carefully introducing some green into the collection. The main accords caught my attention, then, to see that it was quite highly-rated, and yet, folks didn't seem to really be paying it any attention...well, hell, that seemed right down my alley! I couldn't see anything that should stop Imperiale Duae from being, at the very least, a good fragrance (a damn 4.5!), with the possibility of being even better than that. Mine arrived on Oct. 10. I spritzed a few, and, it's been sitting, maturing, for a month's time...that' just my preferred routine. Today, I've found opportunity to take it for a little test-drive. Initial observation: nice strength, appears as though it's gonna both last AND project decently. I'm very happy with the smell, and, it's unlike anything else that I own, which pleases me immensely. Very green, yet, underneath it all, the vanilla is there, ever-present...so, getting the vanilla, which is so popular in so many fragrances, but, it's being presented in a completely different format. So, THIS is what gate-keeping looks like, huh?! Ain't no way that folks should be sleepin' on this gem, imho!

#1424 in my "Tour de Fragrance" I've been pleased with six Atralia scents since first trying out the "Equest" series two years ago. Loved all three "Equests", "Gallop", "Canter", "Trot", loved "Elixir", "Tonka Gold", "Amazonas Avalanche." I was not a fan of the Louis Vuitton "Pacific Chill" clone "Absolute Chill", though it was a little better than the Maison Alhambra dupe of the Louis Vuitton, "Jean Lowe Vibe", and not a fan of "Amazonas Drift", which is a take on "Sauvage", not a clone, that performed poorly. I spotted the "Imperial" scents a couple of weeks back and a quick read of the notes made it clear these were original creations, not intended to be a dupe of anything, so I ordered them. This "Duae" has a familiar YSL vibe, as others have also noted, but the evergreen character reminds me of some of my favorite old school scents from Jacques Bogart. If you layered one of the green "Bogarts" with YSL "Tuxedo" you'd get something like this. I'm a fan! This is a good quality scent, versatile for any use, inoffensive for any setting, masculine, attractive, and a good value. I think you'll like it too.