Moonstone Bleu

Billed as a Sartorial inspiration/clone. Ordered this after I saw posts claiming Sartorial was being discontinued. It is not. It IS going through a re-packaging, however. With whatever reformulations come as a part of it. I have another bottle on the way, we'll see. With that said, let's move on. I picked this one up for about $20 online. With reasonable, but not very high, expectations. To say that I am pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. Moonstone bleu has a very cool bottle and cap combo. Normally I wouldn't mention it, since I'm not too concerned with the presentation of inexpensive offerings (although they tend to out-do most of the niche houses). This is very close to Sartorial. And, despite what others have said in previous reviews, this is very comparable to if not stronger than the currently available bottlings of Sartorial. If you have not owned or have no experience with Sartorial, this won't matter. Everyone will say 'it's not blended as well' or 'it isn't 1-to-1' blah blah blah. It is very, very well executed for a barbershop fragrance, even IF you were to take the Penhaligon's reference out of the conversation. This is a very specific barbershop shaving-cream old-school profile that not only holds up today, but it does so in style. This isn't for the kids. Technically, this is where the middle-aged dudes like me win on all fronts. I can wear the newest, trendiest stuff AND rock this as well, since I am a proper gentleman. Not too many younger guys pulling this off. It isn't for everyone. But it sure is for me!

* Brilliant fresh/aromatic fougere hybrid fragrance * Very complex for a "blue freshie" * Great blend of sweet, citrus, fresh, herbal, woody and vanilla notes * Great for younger and older users * Great for warm weather and outdoor activities * Unisex * Good performer * Nice presentation * May come off as fabric softener to some noses * Way too much competition in the "blue freshie" market * Underrated and underappreciated Fragrance World's Moonstone Blue is a purported clone of Penhaglion's Sartorial, which I have never tried but has identical notes. This is brilliant cross between a typical "blue freshie" type of fragrance and an aromatic fougere. It blends sweet, citrus, fresh, herbal, woody and vanilla notes together that come off as watery and metallic. The latter will definitely remind you of Jaguar Classic Black. You'll find specific notes of cardamom, lavender, citrus, oakmoss, patchouli musk and vanilla that will stand out her. This is great for warmer weather and outdoor activities. Both older and younger users should appreciate it, it's totally unisex, and performs well. Presentation is nice. This is very much underrated and underappreciated, but this is likely partially due to a ton of competition in the "blue freshie" market. Certainly it has Y and Bleu de Chanel vibes to it, but it's unique and complex enough to make it worth getting a hold of. Highly recommended.

Nose Note #696 I wanted to try this so badly... But it's not what I expected. I saw that Sartorial is compared to Lavande 44 by Rania J which is my absolute favourite lavender scent. And I must say it is similar!!! The first seconds are not good, but after a few minutes, man... It is similar to Lavande 44. It's not as soap-like and herbaceous, but it's good. It's a very manly lavender-heavy scent. It's slightly honeyed. Not exactly sweet, but you can pick out the honey note. Smells very clean, but not soapy like Legend or Fierce, for example. It will probably take me a dozen of wearings to really dig into it. But so far I can say that the quality is extremely good. It's a complex scent. I'd say it's not a safe blind buy. Especially not for women. For men - well, just expect a super manly scent, not very modern, more into the old school. Upd: used to be a 8/10. Definitely a 9.2/10 and above. Man, this is just a masterpiece for me. A very decent replacement for my Lavande 44. 9.2/10, but definitely not for everyone. A scent for a serious man

I'm having trouble placing the smell itself. It's very clean, very fresh, and I get compliments, but I couldn't compare it to anything. It does conjure up fond memories, however. As far as performance goes, it's pretty insane for something at this price point. I sprayed it once and my girlfriend could smell it from the front door of our house 40 minutes later. I applied it today at 430am this morning and just got a compliment at work at 515pm. Updating my review after a few weeks of wear to mention that this is probably one of my biggest compliments getters, someone says something nearly every time I put it on; one woman asked me to help her find a bottle for her husband. Editing my review a third time to reiterate: if you want attention this is the smell for you. I get compliments from men and women every single time I wear this.

I have got it today, the bottle was hot but I wanted to try it in any case. I'll update once It cools down and mature some weeks but as a starting point it is quite impressive. At the moment it is very persistent, classy, powdery and sweet like a blend of floral and vanilla scent. There is nothing metallic, aquatic or whatsoever. As it stands right now I highly recommend it

Of all the Arabic clones I tried, this one is by far the closest to the original. Absolutely perfect clone of Sartorial. I am quite glad that Arabic houses are starting to come out of their safe zone of mainstream fragrances and are starting to clone more niche, challenging fragrances that won't sell as well, but do have very loyal followers (like myself). 8.5/10

Lavender, honey, and beeswax. I don't get a ton of barbershop, like z14, 1881 man, bois du portugal, etc. To me, this could almost be a Naxos flanker (doesn't *really* smell like Naxos, just gives off the same vibes to me). Lasts a long time. Very strong projection. This will be heavy in the rotation in the fall time.

Very nice perfume. Woody, metallic, cold lavender with aldehydes and beeswax. Fresh, but not in generic blue direction. It has that vintage, barbershop feel. Longevity and projection is solid, and drydown is such a beauty. Definitely does not smell cheap.

just like having expensive shaving cream in perfume bottle, you have to try this first before buying the whole bottle ps : dont spray this on your clothes because it wont come off

Masculine, shaving cream, barbershop smell in the best way possible. Great value and performance. I can still pick this up softly after a 12 hour shift consistently.

Amazing in the air and in the opening, would be an 10/10 if it stayed that way in the drydown.

Long lasting, classic barbershop style fragrance, I love it!!! Highly recommend it!

Brut meets Felce Azzuro. I don't know how else do describe it. It's great!

Very fresh, almost similar to after shave lotions

i have a full bottle for sale or trade

Just got my bottle yesterday and without going into an in-depth review, I can confirm that it's a take on Sartorial. So you can pretty much ignore the "main accords" written at the top of the page because it's anything but aquatic and there are zero citruses anywhere in the fragrance. Plus I don't really get anything ambery or honeyed. What I do get, is quite a foggy and sweetened lavender-aldehyde-musk, giving it a very sheer metallic texture with something like a warm steam. And it's not that complex of a scent either. Some would call it boring and relatively linear. Definitely doesn't smell like my vintage Brut though. If anything, it's closer to At The Barbers by MMM, especially in that metallic accord. If you can imagine a pair of steel barber's scissors soaking in a hot glass of water and the steam rising up into a fuzzy and freshly laundered sweater, that's the effect. Comparing it to other fragrances, it's just as modern as Beau de Jour, although nowhere near as green and herbal and wayyy more unisex. Very much reminiscent of steam-ironed fabric, but not in a stuffy way. No spiky or irritating woody ambers either. Quite the opposite in fact - it's simple and comforting, and gets slightly sweeter in the late drydown. Performance is very good straight out of the bottle and I'm sure it'll only get better with time. Super heavy bottle and cap though. I'm sure a YTer or two will mention how you can injure someone with it. They usually do. lol Won't give it a score just yet, but I have to say that it's only a like for now. If you're looking for something hyper complex, this could be a disappointment. Even my vintage Zino is eons more interesting, so I wouldn't even class it as a fougere. Very interested to see how others will percieve it. For now, I hope that helps. Ps - don't dismiss the person who compared it to BdC. It definitely doesn't smell like it, but the aldehydes and lavender somehow give a background nod to the "blue" genre in the first few minutes. Hence the potential for it to be classed as boring and generic. Time will tell!

Dupes usually get better after a few months and I hope that this one does. I dont know what I was thinking listening to the reviews here. Theres just no way in hell some ME dupe house is going to be able to even come close to the masterpiece that this is supposed to represent. Its a decent fragrance though and I have no doubt that it will get better. I get a little citrus with lavender and its slightly animalic in the background out of the gate and then about 90 minutes in the surprisingly nicely balanced patchouli and vanilla take center stage. I applied 8 sprays and I was in a scent bubble pretty good with the top notes, and once the base kicked in it was a little softer, but I was still in a scent bubble. Ill give it a 7.5/10 for the fragrance itself but as far as a clone of Satorial, its getting a 1/10. Come spring this should be ready to test again. I am hoping some heat can bring out the complexity that appears to be in this scent. I don't have many dupes rated over 8 and I have a feeling this one is going to make it close to the top of the dupe list.

My bottle of Sartorial was running low and my local store was out of stock. So read about this as potential alternative. As a long time wearer or Sartorial i had little faith it would have the same projection, heavy lavender and honey aromas that Sartorial projects. And at sub 30$ price point my expectations were of similar mainstream barbarshop frags. . (more akin to Brut or Drakkar) Well I'm pleased my expectations have been surpassed. It has a strong lavender and barbershop profile which is not as nuanced as Sartorial but does a great job. In some ways the dry down projects more than Sartorial and keeps its soapy quality which i love. If you like a good Babershop fragrance you should probably own this. Not a direct substitute for Sartorial but its a great runner up and fantastic price point.

Barbershop in a bottle, usually hate any type of lavender on me but this is quite nice. The metallic dry down is where it pulls the strong lavender away, my bottle has been sat on the shelf for months and iv not reached for it since buying.. after giving it a whirl today its blended really well, smells pretty close to sartorial and lasts longer too! Quite a versatile fragrance that can be worn all year round for almost any occasion. Definitely masculine leaning. Good projection & sillage! I'm reaching more for my dupes over my niche bottles lately..

Moonstone Bleu is a great Fougere that simply doesn’t last long enough. I really love the scent profile, it opens very barbershop, a little old school. The dry down is very smooth beeswax and lavender. The only complaint I have is that this fantastic take on a classic scent family only last two or three hours. Perhaps in winter I will get a little more out of it. For the price, worth enjoying it. Has become a scent I fall asleep to. I am one of those weird guys who sprays right before bed.