Mirsaal Valentine

Blind buy diaries # 9, wow just wow. Since I wasn't able to find Torino at an acceptable price in my locality, I went for this little beaut here, as the notes matched except for the addition of green apple. Had never heard of this scent or house for that matter. The name is Le Falcone' Mirsaal Valentine. So besides the horribly off putting name, this one is a very close clone to Torino with magnificent performance. The scent starts off with a divine green mix vibe of basil, thyme, green apple and mint, fresh and minty like splashing yourself with an "appletini". Lavender and rosemary take centerstage, with the Jasmine thankfully dialed down. The base smells creamy due to the musk note and the lavender. Sillage and longevity are both quite impressive. Le Falcone is surprise surprise, another relatively unknown UAE brand. It is quite pleasing that Middle Eastern house have finally upped their game by releasing clones of niche scents, rather than the usual shizmarole we used to get, such as misdirectional clones of BDC, Sauvage, Aventus, etc. The price on their website is higher than what clones usually are, but I was lucky enough to get a good deal from a wholesaler. PS this hasn't been hyped up, anywhere I've seen All seasonal scent? Works for all seasons, except winter IMO Unisex? A lean, green, masculine, machine. Blind buy worthy? If you were on the lookout for Torino, this here is quite an able alternative Performance? Longevity, around 7 to 8 hours, with good projection and sillage (expecting it to get better with maceration, as is with all ME Houses)

If Torino21 had a less cultured Uncle... this guy has both a linen summer suit & also a pair of very worn leather jeans in his wardrobe. I get all day wear out of this & I can still smell it the next morning. It's not sweet... it does have a strong oily citrus that dies down but never really goes away. It's quite kitchen herbal that reminds me of a very expensive spa. It's so green & snappy. I get a hint of jasmine in late mid & drydown, which is wonderful. I'm an older lady, but not afraid of traditional masculine fragrances & this one is an absolute sweat-busting summer banger for the price. It has that Torino21 vibe, but not a complete dupe. Maybe 85%. To me it has more muscle. It will scratch the itch without the Xerjoff price tag. One thing I do is spray the back of my knees with Mirsaal Valentine for the sillage & then spray my wrists & back of neck with T21. I have had several compliments from this fragrance. EDIT: Four days later... that bitter oily & overly strong herb has quieted down. I'm getting 12 hours *easy* out of it. LESS IS MORE!😸 Three sprays is my sweet spot. The drydown is where this purrs... at about the 5 hour mark. I had four compliments on it today.

I'm quite shocked honestly to get this kind of quality for half of the price. I have T21 and this is 95% the same, but with a less prone harsh mint note i get from T21. This is actually smoother, a bit muskier and jasmine is what mint is in T21. It still has that invigorating fizzy freshness, bright, uplifting, instant mood booster for hot summer days, and longevity is absolutely not an issue. I get at least 10h out of this, even after a shower i can sense it and it has exactly the same T21 drydown. It projects strong for first 1-2 hours, then drops down for the next 2-3 hours, and after that it becomes more intimate but with a good scent trail, it lingers around you a long time. A definitive summer bomb, i might get a few more bottles because it is quite hard to get outside of US and SEA. I cannot compare it to Platine Blanc, but it's a great inspiration (and in my case direct replacement) for T21, i love it, several of my coworkers love it, it is not offensive but sillage trail is quite big. Presentation: 9/10 Scent: 9.5/10 Compliment factor: 9/10 Longevity: 9/10 Price: seriously? 11/10

Loved it from the first spray but was recommended to let it sit for a while so will have to come back to update. First impression: bright, cool, minty, zingy lemon juice with basil mixed in, softness from lavender in the background, for some reason reminds of iced tea sometimes I smell it. Packaging and bottle feel extravagant for the price and atomizer is satisfying too, so far feels too good to be this solid of a fragrance. Update: after a month the opening got much smoother, drydown is fresh minty citrus with slight dense blackcurrant fruityness, a bit herbal, bitter and slightly sour like a lemon peel, basil completes it imo. Well worth the price, feels easy to wear. Projection moderate the first 1-2 hours then stays as a scent bubble arms length around you, longetivity about 6-8 hours. Sprayed it before gym and ~3 hours later the scent was mild, went with about 4 sprays. If you're not planning to sweat a lot then that should be enough. Slightly masculine leaning but women can easily wear this, a very decent and refreshing warm weather scent.

SHOUT-OUT TO MISTY MOUNTAIN DECANTS FOR MY SAMPLE. Smells very very similar to Hawas Verde which obviously is a clone of Torino 21. Honestly if you put them next to each other you couldn't tell them apart except in my opinion this is better with superior projection and the difference is so subtle it's not even worth mentioning. However as mentioned this projects louder in my opinion as I have tested them both and the quality is exceptional. I personally don't get this incredibly harsh opening that others are speaking of and for me it was actually smooth right off the get-go. I personally don't see a reason to purchase real Torino 21 given the quality of this house and Rasasi. I have smelled torino 21 on paper before but on skin these ME both smell identical to each other. One surprising find is I tested this on clothing and it actually smelled the exact same on skin as well as clothing and the projection was still very good. Between the two ME brands, hands down this one is the better choice.