L'Orientale

Many, many years I tried to find perfume that smells like my absolute favorite perfume Gloria by Cacharel and NOW finally I have found it! L'Orientale is very similar!

This is another one that I never would have tested without Fragrantica, since I always pass those cheap drugstore perfumes by without a second thought, assuming their quality matches their price. So I'm glad someone sent me a sample of this one and I tested it without knowing anything about it, because as it turns out, I like it very much. It's a great scent for cold days, straightforwardly sweet and comforting, strong and rich enough to deserve its name "Orientale", but not too heavy. The amaretto note especially is very nice! And the price/quality ratio is amazing, of course: it might not smell like 1000 dollars, but it certainly doesn't smell like 15 either. So this is a great option for any gourmand/oriental lover on a budget, and it's helped me conquer another prejudice: next time I'm in a drugstore, I won't pass the perfumes by without a glance, but I might pick up a bottle of "l'Orientale" instead.

Well this bottle is really cute and so it the scent - just cute. A amaretto macaroons aroma scent - nothing else. Its okay but it hasn t much to do with a perfume - no depth and projection. Its just a skin scent. A scented water which holds on ure skin for a good while, but only detectable when putting ure nose on it. Its okay but i would rather use it to layer with a warm woody scent underneath and give this a sweeter twist whit it. It has nothing to do with the glorious full bodied juicy cherry amaretto powdery warm intriguing Gloria which i still proudly own, and i also can not detect any similarities to the madonna truth or dare scent mentioned, which i also own and love very much. I wil try to layer l’oriental whit those to intensify their chatacter. They will match perfect together.

Well, I am thoroughly impressed considering the $4 and change I spent on this one. It is not a dupe or substitute or Gloria, because it is much lighter and not powdery, but it could be a Gloria flanker aimed at a younger generation. The Amaretto and pomegranate create a similar cherry almond vibe. There's also a generous amount of myrrh. I was concerned this would be heavy, over-sweet and cloying. On the contrary it's very nicely balanced. Definitely rich and Oriental, but there's a light, airy quality to the sillage.

C'est une odeur fruitée, épicée, chaleureuse, très agréable en hiver, pour moi il est parfait aux vacances de Noël. Sur moi, il me fait penser au Dior homme sur mon frère, ne me demandez pas pourquoi! son petit prix est un atout non négligeable. Sa tenue est un peu légère et le flacon se vide assez vite. J'aime cette version, mais j'adooorais l'ancienne, chypre et ylang ylang dans le flacon noir à bouchon rouille, pourquoi ne pas la refaire? Cette Orientale originale et Insoumise nous manquent beaucoup.