Insidious

“Begun, the Clone War has.” I have tried several bottles of Aventus and was never particularly bothered by it. When Parfums Vintage started down their Aventus inspired fragrance rabbit hole, I found them underwhelming and average. CDNI was recommended as the nirvana of Aventus clones, yet I found the fragrance thin in composition and not a competent approximation of the original. I did sample Jeroboam Vespero and enjoyed it immensely. While not an exact clone of Aventus, I found it to have depth and body and be of a similar ilk, and it rekindled my interest in finding a decent iteration of Aventus without the need to pay way over the odds for an older batch to assure myself I wasn’t getting a fake or a bottle refilled with substandard fragrance. I have previously tested and loved Mossy Bridges and Damber Wabsolute from Insider Parfums, and thought I would give their new “inspired by Aventus” fragrance a try. I was surprised by how much more powerful this fragrance is when compared to the recent bottles of Aventus and CDNI. This also has a dense construction that caught me off guard. The performance is excellent, and while many may say that all fragrance is subjective, I was very impressed at how long this stayed on my clothing. I am not one to get clone fragrances as I am always finding faults and not enjoying the fragrance no matter how cheaply purchased. With Insidious I am impressed by how I didn't go nose blind - something common for me and clones of stronger fragrances. I usually put that down to cheaper, more astringent ingredients. With Insidious that simply hasn’t happened and I can wear the fragrances for multiple days in a row and not stop noticing the fragrance on me. For the price, Insidious is fabulous. I have received several compliments for people in my office when wearing Insidious, and it is now a part of regular rotation.

I used to wear Aventus, when it came out it blew my mind, I had never smelt anything like it. My parents bought me a second bottle and I had a third as a leaving gift from work. So I had enough of the original to last me many years. When I was on the last dregs of my bottle I bought another, opened and sprayed it... WTF was this !? This was absolutely not what I had been wearing all this years. I have tried a few of the other batches over the years, they were still nice but I was living in the past, just did not have that memory attached to it. I tried loads of the clones, just hoping to find that something but never did. I felt creed was robbing me, prices going up, quality going down. It turned me off the house. So jump to 2023, yet another Aventus clone. I had bought a lot of insiders other fragrances and loved them but I was not willing to be disappointed by Aventus again. Like your old dog, you get new dogs but, that one holds memories. I was definitely not buying! people kept saying how great it was, I’m definitely not buying. Who am I’m I kidding, I’m going to have to buy it, I’m a weak pathetic excuse for a man. I cracked and bought it. I went into it with low expectations... boom there is was, that Aventus I remembered, the missing puzzle piece. First wear confirmed my initial views, people loved it. Friends said it smelt like me, it had been my signature for many years. So two backups secured. I could still smell it on the jumper I wore the following day. Important .... spray and let it macerate, all my insider frags have got better and stronger over time.

Ok so I have had this for a few months now and can safely say it is the best aventus clone on the market. in fact I wouldn’t call this a clone cause it’s miles ahead of modern aventus. And somehow not a single person talks about this masterpiece. But I honestly prefer it like that keep this gem hidden boys and don’t be fooled at the start with performance i see a lot of people saying its bad they must be nose blind I gave it at least a couple months of sitting and 3 sprays is lasting me into the next day and if I spray it on my clothes I can smell it for weeks it’s more of a smoky leather aventus which is what I like. But the pineapple note really carries through the whole duration of the scent. compared to normal aventus where it disappears and your left with this horrible musk bomb . they have used really high quality oils in this aswell. Look the bottom line here is I have actual aventus and would say it’s better than modern aventus by a mile. now regarding how close it is to vintage aventus I wouldn’t know cause I haven’t smelled it . But this just smells so much more richer and lasts insanely long compared to my actual f batch aventus. It’s a no brainer !!!!

Just got my bottle in today. For reference I have an L batch 2021 of Aventus, Explorer and Hacivat. I have smelt vintage Aventus in store. But I can't claim to know it well. Sprayed on spritz on the wrist and testing it. This is high quality stuff. It doesn't scream clone in that synthetic way that CDNIM does or the other numerous clones. Compared to my own bottle, this is definitely smokier. It also has a lot more body, my Aventus is airier. Take that as a good thing or bad. Also insidious isn't as musky or rather Ambroxan heavy. Performance wise, it certainly outperforms my bottle. It pushes further and lasts longer. It even lasted a shower, which is always a good sign. If you love the Aventus DNA but don't like the current batches I would highly recommend Insidious or Hacivat. I respect what Insider Perfumes is doing. Brining back scents from the dead, the way they used to smell. The way the industry is going is just abysmal with all the watering down and reformulations. Anyone trying to recreate the magic of years gone by deserves applause. I've got multiple bottles of Damber Wabsolute and can testify that it is amazing.

I've always thought that buying a bottle of Aventus was just a waste of money. The clones always promised so much but are just an alcohol blast of screechy chemicals or something that's slightly reminiscent of the current weak reformulation. That was until now!...I could quite happily smell this everyday without getting board. Congratulations to Insider Perfumes, who have produced the best fragrance, I bought this year.... This is how Aventus should really smell and how it should last. Just 5 sprays and it's been filling the air......and it's still going strong, 6 hours later I have had a lush Pineapple opening, Citrus, (i'm sure a crisp Apple made an appearance) Birch is present......Rose (yes, it's a very soft rose)....There was 40+ minutes where a fruity Vetiver took over and now it's morphed into an earthy, vanilla(??) with Oakmoss. SCENT: 9/10 SILLAGE: 8/10 LONGEVITY: 8/10 PRICE: 10/10 Buy it now as something tells me this will sell out very, very quickly.