Decadent Dream

I thought I couldn't stand this. Turns out waiting several months and retrying, made all the difference for me. So my advice is: spray and let it "simmer" 4-6 months. Now, nutty, creamy, soft woody and wonderful jasmine notes, alongside the other notes, have all settled in nicely in this bottle of a pleasant surprise. In the Danish summerheat this "Decadent Dream" has ensnared and convinced me of keeping it.

I haven't tried the original to compare, but this is impressive on its own. It's complex and really lovely. From the bottle I smelled old school sunscreen. The initial spray, I was in love. It's nutty, smooth, creamy, and slightly powdery. It stays consistent on my skin yet with each sniff I pick up something new. 1 hour in I finally recognized the pear. I think its a safe blind buy.

Delicious and delicate. Sweet pear and warm hazelnut on the start and after a few minutes the sandalwood comes through. The warm scent is reminiscent of cinnamon. Sweetness from the vanilla and the white florals. Great for the fall. I have not tried the original, probably wouldn’t purchase it but for a similar DNA and at a great price, this is a good choice.

I have the original and can definitely say it smells pretty much the same except the dry down on this is a bit sweeter and less spicy which I actually prefer. Obviously projection is not gonna be as good as amouage but for the price you pay it’s stunninggggg 💕

The opening is awful for me, it smells like sweat for me. But i love the drydown. That's where the magic happens.

2nd UPDATE: I had to gift her away. She's too much for my personal preference. Beautiful no doubt, but just not for me. Especially living in the south when the average temp is like 85 degrees year round. _____________________________________________ **UPDATE**: I sprayed a normal range of sprays today (7) and for the first 20 or so minutes it choked me out--I personally won't be wearing this outside in any weather above 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Which doesn't happen a lot in the southern US. After the 20 minutes it's still that sexy, comfortable, sophistication as before. Huge win for cooler temps! ___________________________________________________________ I have NEVER smelled the OG because as I've established before: ya girl has bills to pay. I bought this because I adore pear notes. As a stand alone scent, here are my thoughts: Tester strip does NOT do this scent justice--the initial spray does NOT do this scent justice. So starkly different than the tester strip, I almost wrote off this fragrance. So glad I was patient with it. Off jump I didn't spray a whole lot because it smells like it would choke me out, I did 4 sprays: neck, elbows, and one on my forearm so I could smell that. Now I wish I would've done my normal 7-9 sprays to get the full experience. Sexy comfort and sophistication is the name of this game. Might be too decadent (see what I did there) for hot climates or tight office settings. She's warm, she's sweet, but not candy sweet--vanilla sweet. There's this smoky, woody piece in the back. Can I pick out the specific notes? Nope. But I'll say this fragrance is my new go-to for holiday gatherings. And reminds me of a scent from the late 90's/early 2000's--anyone else? Man, this is a blind buy win!

Tried this to discover the Guidance DNA as I'm persuaded by various reviews that this is very close to the OG, so here goes: This is definitely a niche fragrance, in the sense that the scent profile is uniquely complex and needs time and patience to fully appreciate. On first spray I was hit with an odd, but not off-putting, powdery and woody accord that gradually revealed some nutty and sweet facets as it develops on my skin. Feels very soft and cozy and I think this would wear nicely in cool weather or as a bedtime scent. It lingers for over 4 hours with a soft projection which might improve with maceration, as they often do with these ME dupes. Some might find that disappointing, but with a unique scent profile like this it's not necessarily a bad thing, as this is potentially polarising and not everyone is going to love it. Honestly even I don't love it that much at the moment, but I could see it growing on me in time so I'm looking forward to wearing it more often this fall season. As for the comparison with the OG Guidance, tbh I can't tell as I never tried it before because of the pricetag. It's simply too expensive to risk a blind buy fail. In comparison, this one only cost me a little over $20 with shipping. So now it would highly depend on my experience with this dupe, and if everything goes well I might be tempted to splurge on a full bottle or at least a decant of it, so we'll see 😉

Honestly, this smells close enough to the OG that I see no reason in springing for Guidance. Obviously, the ingredients won’t be as high quality but if all you’re interested in is the actual scent and saving yourself $300+ then just get this. I’ve had a decent off the OG and it was so strong and potent that 3 sprays almost took me out. This is also strong! Usually I can’t smell any scent the next day if I’ve worn it to bed the night before. It’s just all gone by morning. Or it’s a faint skin scent that I have to huff to smell anything. I’m smelling this perfectly fine on my pajamas and on my arm. Which tells me that I’ll have to go light on my sprays when I wear her out today. Just get this before Maison Alhambra gets sued and it gets discontinued. This is about 95% the same as Guidance but not as beast mode - but to be fair, no one needs the strength of Guidance. This is still strong and will last you all day into the night. This is way closer than Bayne Al Asrar. That one is a lighter, more watery take on the Guidance DNA. layering both will be stunning and I’ll be doing that soon. Get this! It’s cheap and so good, if you enjoy this profile.

I have yet to get my nose on Guidance, I live in a fairly small town mostly, so there isn’t a high end perfume shop near me. I gave myself a $35 limit on blind buys now, so obviously that’s not gonna work! A decant is usually priced similarly to a 100ml dupe so that’s the way I usually go, as well as look up reviews. If I like the scent profile, I’ll usually get the original! Probably girl math 🤣! I purchased this probably 6-8 months ago and if I’m gonna be frank, at first I thought it was kind of gross smelling. I’m a bit on the fence with lactonic scents. I’m trying it again and it’s finally fully matured. Let me say, I can 100% see the draw of this scent profile!! It is elegant, creamy, nutty, woody and really pretty. I can also see why people don’t like it. It is rich, like an incredibly creamy rich dessert that you can feel your stomach churning just from the smell of it! The woody/nutiness is a bit like Peace and Love, but more sandalwood. I think this is great on its own, but I also think this would be a great layering fragrance! I’m gonna try some combinations and come back if I find any good ones!

I bought this back in August so I’ve had some time to play with this a bit.... So let’s get into the nitty gritty of this! Even now to this day when it is first sprayed , I am not a fan at all, kind of reminds me of a hairspray I used back in y2k,HOWEVER!!! when it dries down, I become absolutely obsessed!! I will say I have owned a decant of guidance and they are very similar. Only this is more sweeter and lighter an a much more wearable , guidance is a bit more complex and spicy ! I have also received many compliments when wearing this at work and out shopping not that compliments matter, but it certainly makes me wanna wear it more🤣 I must also add, I’m not really the biggest lover of floral fragrances but this on the dry down has me in a chokehold

It sounds to me like haters here are the suckers that bought the OG, only to now discover this little gem Here’s a tissue baby, use it to dust out your empty wallet. Moving on, may I recommend an all-star lotion layering combo using Hempz brand sweet jasmine and rose. It’s just enough of the same mid notes to back the fragrance up nicely, without overpowering the subtleties like the pear and hazelnut. Tell your mama and your friends ✌🏽

People need to calm down. If the original is truly untouchable, you shouldn’t need to write fanfiction about the clone’s imaginary flaws to defend it - like adding fake 'reminds me off' and rating it masculine/intimate/hate. Guidance is a pretty particular dna that can be polarising, so it can be nice enough to have a lighter take on it like with this one or Bayn Al Asrar from Paris Corner (or Khadlaj Musk Pour Amber).

@brandiwine1980 No. Not to my nose. I like this version a lot and find it sweeter and less layered in comparison to the original. That, with much less longevity makes it an easy option to wear even daily, while one can only wear the original if one's prepared to smell like it for over 24 hours. I'm very happy with committing to this one for about 7 hours, thank you! 😄

At first sniff, I thought I regretted buying it. But on drydown, I couldn't help smelling my arm a few times every minute. This is one of the few fragrances I have where I love the drydown and find the opening horrendous, but still think worth it overall. 😂 Not a safe blind buy imo.

(Tested on a test strip) yeah, sure, it does smell kinda similar to guidance. But like without it’s complexity & depth. I’d still not be satisfied with this and desire to get Guidance.

Of course it's not like the original, look at the price, but it's pretty good, pretty close, not very long lasting. People need to chill, it's just fragrance, relax.

Good dupe for Guiadance. The only big difference is the projection. DD performance like 8h, less than Guiadance.

Hashtag by Zodiac has way better quality but this has a same dna and is a good option for daily usage.

I got my bottle about a year ago and I'm still struggling with the scent profile, mainly because of the rose. On skin, it's very rose-forward (at least on me). Yesterday I sprayed it on a tissue and left the tissue in my bathroom...I came in later and kept wondering what is that pretty woody cedary scent??? It was Decadent Dream alright. Gonna play around with it..see if I can make it work.

Yeah just not for me, I've layered it to make it work. I layer it with Butterscotch... but all I get is like lotion and or peach yogurt LOL