Royal Blend Sequoia

I didn't buy this because of Kilian so I can't compare, but by comparing the notes I would say the OG must be sweeter, since FA has left out the sweet notes of caramel, vanilla and tonka beans – fine by me, this is how this became a contender and eventually a winner for me. However, I do get a bit of cinnamon, which is not listed, but it is well-blended and adds a touch of warmth to the composition. I'm sure it's in there because I get it also from sniffing the bottle, so it's not just how it reacts on paper or on my skin. And, on the other hand, I was happy to discover that praline here is not very prominent. I blind bought this because I was looking for a warmer (winter) version of Blu Femme by Ajmal – my first Oriental fragrance (although Indian, not Arabic; and not a dupe :)). For better or worse, it has become a benchmark when evaluating Oriental fragrances, also in terms of longevity and projection which are fantastic there. I like that fragrance very much, but find it more appropriate for colder or rainy spring and autumn days. The backbone of the two fragrances is very similar and they share quite a few notes: both have a combo of roses and (oak)moss (a combo I really enjoy and I have discovered this through Blu Femme) wrapped in woody notes with cashmere/praline adding softness. Blu opens up with a cold freshness from sage; this one has a well-balanced freshness of raspberries, immersed in the liquors with a hint of cinnamon. The boozy vibe is there, reminiscent of Mon cheri or some similar praline, so for me this is a more feminine leaning fragrance, without becoming too sweet. The longevity and projection are very good here too (this is extrait (not eau) de parfum), especially since I'm not a fan of overspraying (2-3 sprays max. for me; also, this is how I can evaluate and compare fragrances more objectively). This has been the best blind buy of the 2025 for me, and I have bought an additional bottle later on, before it runs out of stock (again). For once, the hype is justified – in a sense that this is truly a nice boozy fragrance in itself with excellent performance. *** Edited 4.1.2026: Regarding the presence of cinnamon note, I've checked the list of ingredients on the box, and it does contain two ingredients naturally found in cinnamon: alcohol denat, parfum (fragrance), water (aqua), benzyl alcohol, CINNAMYL ALCHOL, eugenol, CINNAMAL*, coumarin, geraniol, citronellol, limonene. *This one being responsible for the typical cinnamon smell & taste. Also, forgot to add, but as others have already pointed out, the bottle and the presentation of this fragrance is really stunning.

Im going to start this review off by saying i think this is one of my favorite perfumes of all time, and i really cant believe that im saying it, because im almost exclusively a gormand lover. Ive smelled and collected so many arabic perfume dupes, and to be honest I've never thought they were actually accurate. Usually when you see those TikTok videos of people swearing the perfume smells exactly the same as the original its based off of i almost always dont think they smell at all the same OR the arabic perfume is such poor quality in comparison to the original its unbearable. Im someone whos very sensitive to cheap astringent smelling ingredients and there have been times where the perfume will smell close to the original but the perfume is so cheap smelling that its sickening and headache inducing. For example I had D&G devotion people swore that victoria be lataffa was identical. In what universe I have no idea victoria was sharp lysol-like and metallic smelling. Then people said eclair smells like bianco latte, yea it does but it smells so cheap compared to the actual bianco latte it makes me feel sick after an hour. But this perfume royal blend smells almost IDENTICAL to angels share paradis and if anything I like this MORE. Not only does it smell almost identical but its genuinely high quality, its smoother then paradis and softer imo its more feminine then paradis as well. It has this soft jammy raspberry that lasts longer then in paradis and its less cognac heavy. I almost didnt buy this because I saw the oak moss was more prevalent in this one than paradis but im so happy my local arabic perfume shop had this to sample because its SO lovely. This is what I imagine a classic Hollywood actress from the 20s smelling like. The oakmoss in this dosnt have that nasty barbasol/funk quality like does in so many perfumes. I think thats because of the actress from the everlasting raspberry and the jammy quality of the rose, in this case the oak moss grounds the two making it smell more elegant then old, but more youthful at the same time. If youre a fan of rose i think this is safe to blind buy but I would suggest going into a Macy's or bloomingdales to smell paradis and then order this for the 50 bucks instead of buying it from Killian for $450

Yooo this is my one of the best pick up for 2025. I have a lot of green/freshie fragrance, and never really explored “gourmand,” “sweet,” or “boozy” scent. Although I have a couple of winter scent, Sequoia would be on the top of my list now. I have never brought Royal Blend series, this is my first one. I read and watch a lot of review on this series, but most of them are on the sweet side. I heard this has prominent fruity nose, so I pick it on French Avenue booth in local shopping center. Man, I was amazed with the presentation. The box is solid and comes with note card. The bottle is beautiful and elegant. To my nose, the opening smells like a cough syrup that children usually take, but in a good sweet way. Not too cloying. The sweetness followed up by boozy scent similar to whiskey but without the wooden barrel smell. It is really nice swear to god. I used to drink alot and this smells exactly like the moment I get shitfaced. The sweetness lingers a couple of while and it dries down to a woody/mossy notes with a very little hint of rose. This is very suitable for evening intimate night. You can also pull this off in the afternoon in a cool room, but then again this will triumph in breezy evening. Smells 85-90% like Paradis to me. This is crazy on the fraction of the price. This is a very suitable scent for alcoholic! Great scent overall. Will let it masturbate for couple of weeks, and hopefully it will get more potent.

I got this in the mail today, and I wanted to give a few observations here, because I feel like there is some strange fake reviews going on on each side with Lataffa and French Avenue. I own clones of many things by both brands, but I find that French Avenue is a step above Lataffa, but Lataffa is catching up. I purchased this because its reported that it is not as sweet as the OG or Lataffa version of this. I'm older, and cloying sweet frags just arent my cup of tea. Sweet is fine, but overly sweet is a young mans game in the frag world. This smells amazing, and while it is sweet, it is not overly sweet, and the cognac, rose, and raspberry are the stars of the show that I take away from it. This is a fairly strong frag, with good silliage for the first 3 hours, before it starts to scale back. I feel like this one will improve with macerating, as mine has changed over 6 hours after initial spraying. This is very nice, and I could see this getting compliments if you were out for the night. I do not own the OG, as I think $500 for 50ml is price gouging full tilt, and I'm disgusted with it. I picked this up for $40, and the quality from French Avenue has been excellent with the majority of their clones, including this one. I do not have another frag to compare this to, so its unique in my collection. 8 out of 10, and I'll revisit this because I think it will change.

A boozy syruppy raspberry, this is a fruity and a floral heavy fragrance, i never smell Paradis so i dont judge this as a clone This is a staple for date night smell, honesly you can rock this for every season but in the night (Experience may vary, Never take any opinion without any doubt) My bottle been macerating/maturating (whatever you will call it) for 1 month, at the first week the smell and the performance was horrendous it smelt “jumpy” like each second the smell will appear and dissapear, and the longevity was bad probably around 4 hours. But after a month it just turn into different fragrance, the smell become good, performance is better I always double spray at one location when using fragrance, and what i get is: On skin longevity is 12+ hours, honestly it stays forever but when you hit that 12 hours mark it become this lipsticky makeupy smelling and feeling when you put your nose to it, Projection is actually very good for the first hour, and everytime i put my nose too close its like stinging my nose a bit and the projection gradually pulling in every hour until it becom skin scent in the 8 hours mark but then it stay forever. On cloth longevity is forever, but for some reason for me when i spray on clothe it doesnt project or leave a sillage it just deafen. This is a really good night date and night special occasion fragrance