Cuba Royal

Cuba Paris' Cuba Royal is one of two scents I purchased at Burlington for 7.99 last night. I already sprayed it on me and am ready to give my thoughts on it based on one wearing. Let's hope I don't regret this later... Anyway Cuba Royal, reminds me a little bit of Paco Rabanne 1 Million but I feel it performs like a linear predecessor to 1 Million Privé with 1 Million Cologne wearibility. There is something that gives the cinnamon that gives 1 Million scents its spice a slight smell of citruses but with a pretty good tobacco feel like with Privé to it along with the vanilla note listed in the notes breakdown as well. It really has a nice scent to it. The downside is a linear scent that is much different than what I am used to, even if it isn't a huge one. Even most clones I buy are typical note pyramid-based scents. It threw me for a loop but I like it none the less. The length is pretty good for a discount scent. It lasts about 1-3 hours projection wise though no where near 1 Million or even Privé level of about 3-5. I find it lasts about 3-5 hours on top of that hitting the 6/7 hours total that I also find with Privé and at times 1 Million. So I do like its longevity and performance based on this fact. The wearability of this scent is what makes it an all-star. Unlike the 1 Million Privé flanker as well as the original 1 Million, it can be used in the day as well as in spring and even summer, similar to the 1 Million Cologne flanker even if Cuba Royal isn't an aquatic like 1 Million Cologne is. Is it a work scent, yes actually. It is but be careful on the sprays. That said, it is entirely wearable during the daytime whether to kick it or for a day date. Is it a club scent, no but it can work for a few drinks at the bar. But it is far more relaxing than 1 Million or even Privé is, due to how strong they get. For this I actually will rate Cuba Royal a little bit higher than Privé at about an 8.2 out of 10 due to price point and increased wearability. I honestly love this scent since it is so wearable, especially in Arizona.

A lot of people say it reminds then of 1 million. I don't have 1 million so I can't speak on that. Heavy Vanilla after dry down with a bit of spice and tobacco. A steal at the $10-$15 price for 3.3 oz on Amazon. Look, I love vanilla based cologne in general. As such, at this price point and with the awesome vanilla scent, this is a winner that will be in my everyday rotation. I'll save Le Male, Eros, and Black Vanilla Absolute for date night. I don't have the nose to tell you any other notes besides vanilla, tobacco, and spice. I do think that this combined with Voyage would make an excellent start to a modern cologne collection. Both are inexpensive, different from each other, and smell great. This is probably a night/fall/winter cologne but I fully admit I ignore all that mess and just wear what I want and what I want to smell like, time of day and season completely ignored. I'm hopeless. Lol. As a newbie to cologne, I'd give this a solid 8.5. It really is quite nice. But take that with a bit of skepticism since, you know, what do I really know anyways? Worth picking up and trying for the price. To paligap: I noticed this too! I bought the large size Royal new from Amazon and there seemed to be an awful lot of air in there. Same with the 4 sample pack with gold, blue, red, and orange I bought new at Ross. They were the smaller 1.7 is size but seemed to have a lot of air in there. Maybe just the way it's packaged? Hard to say if they are full (oz-wise) without actually taking it all out and measuring. As is, I paid @$8-$10 for each so not a deal breaker but disconcerting nonetheless.

Vanilla-Tobacco-1 Million. Kind of light and doesn't last long - but that's actually what I was hoping for!!! Sounds strange, right? Well, its strong suit is the dry down! The dry down lasts for a LONG time on my skin, and it's the dry down that I was after when I purchased this. This shares the same deeper dry down that Armaf Tag Him Prestige does, only less strong and slightly more feminine due to the vanilla. Also slightly similar to the dry down of Versace The Dreamer, and there's definitely some nice strong tobacco in this scent. My suggestion: spray slightly heavy and allow it to dry down before leaving the house. I own One Million, One Million Intense, and a few clones, and I'll be experimenting with using this to layer and freshen up those scents in the future. At its price, this is the One Million variant that you can leave in your car to freshen up, and the "vanilla-tobacco-1 Million" dry down is awesome! For the price of $8 for a 3.4 oz bottle, you can't really go wrong. Just don't purchase it expecting that same monster projection and longevity that you'd usually get with One Million. The dry down, I will say, does project quite well on my skin. You'll get a small waft of this every 5 seconds or so. Also, as cheesy as it sounds, I really like the bottle! I can't say I'd like having an entire collection of cigar bottles, but it looks great in person when the light hits it.

I've deleted my old review after wearing Cuba Royal (CR) and One Million (1M) side by side. Make no mistake about it Cuba Royal is a clone of One Million, one that I prefer over the original. 20 minutes in: CR is reminiscent of 1M. CR feels much lighter. Mids: almost identical. The main difference is that Cuba Royal's midnotes begin much earlier and fade much quicker into the drydown. Drydown: CR and 1M are brothers but each have an individual characteristic. 1M is spicy (cinnamon). CR is the sweeter brother. For CR's drydown I get a grape soda with vanilla infusion. Like a vanilla coke (except grape flavoured). CR lacks in projection and longevity but I like the scent more than One Million. CR also transitions into its midnotes quicker. I find CR's drydown to be noticeably different but I prefer it. CR is better for casual use it's projection isn't over the top. It's not as heavy as 1M so it's more of a fall scent. 1M is $50 more for better projection and 6 more hours of longevity. I prefer CR's sweeter vanilla based drydown. For clubbing I apply 5-6 sprays and get the same results. Top 5 cheapie.

Some of the reviews cause me to laugh. For example, when people refer to Cuba colognes as 'dupes' or 'clones' of more expensive fragrances. Please stop saying this is a clone of PR 1 Million. Cuba Royal was released in 2006. 1 Million was released in 2008 (two years later) 1 Million is the dupe! Not the other way around. Cuba Fragrances were here before many other, significantly more popular and more expensive fragrances. Please do some research before posting which fragrances are dupes vs the original. It's making people who post such things look a bit silly. I confess I've done such things myself before, but we're all here to learn. Right? About the fragrance.. This is damn good! It's not overpowering, not cloying and a much better bang for the buck than 1 Million. I prefer this to 1 Million and I get as many compliments as when I wear 1 Million. This is an underrated fragrance and a surprisingly great value. All things considered this is hands down better than 1 Million. Sorry PR 1 Million.. move over. The Real Sheriff is in town. .