Hercules

I recently got into fragrances again and started with some Givenchy Gentleman Flankers.I got 8 cheapies last week to have a more modern and unisex fragrance vocabulary that suits both my wife and myself. I will comment on the fragrance without comparison to anything. It doesn't remind me of anything I own or have come across so definitely new perfumery of today. Safe Blind buy because someone will take it off your hands if you don't like it. This is the best thing you can get for 20$. You have to be really difficult or just not in tune with this one to find fault IMO. I got this last Thursday and I usually shoot a few sprays in the box and huff and wave the box around to get an idea. I immediately liked this although very much like now , I can't get my nose on it really well. AS I write this I have trouble discerning anything but a cherry fruitiness (similar to a baby food jar of cherry our fruity something...one review said Jammy, I agree cherry Jam). I also find a spiciness like vanilla pipe tobacco ash more than fresh leaf(very slight ). I would say a powdery layer that doesn't take up much space in the balace. It's a yummy type thing. Playful and never gets too serious. I'm not sure this can be buisness meeting oriented . This is a get together fragrance that will intrigue those who smell it. Non offensive, fruity vanillic without ever getting to the pumpkin spice quality of Tobacco Vanille and to me bears no real remote resemblance . This is it's own class of scent. Very unisex . The fruitiness is forward on this one for me. Not warm weather oriented but definitely colder day proximity fragrance. You wanna kiss friends hello socially wearing this. I think this is crowd safe and theater safe. So far it hasn't cloyed for an overspray 2 hours ago. I about 10 sprays. wrists inner elbow chest neck and behind shoulders. I had tested on a forearm and went back for a second spray as I can't seem to smell this one. It seems to creep up on you as it develops. You get whiffs of it as you move. I'm pretty sure I'm nose blind to this one. I can smell it but can't analyse it. I also believe it needs to sit and mature a while to bloom. I've recently acquired a few perfumes and much to my surprise have come to embrace that maturing theory...although time frame is to be determined. My Fabulo Intenso smelled like an ashtray on first and second use but those notes have toned down so I believe starting a new bottle either leaves room for evaporation of excess alchohol that preserves the product until it's used...or some sort of thing. There's definitely something in maturing perfume and it developing somewhat. I will revisit this review if anything really changes over time.

I went in with ZERO expectations. I had a horrible first experience with Alhambra but they've really improved. This is one of the best clones you can get for under $50. Originally I bought a bottle of this just to qualify for free shipping. I knew Herod was very popular but I didn't expect it to be the best of my 5 purchases. This opens with a sweet cherry cough syrup and warm spices. there's a faint bit of smokiness in the background of the fragrance from the incense and it adds complexity to the fragrance. Then the tobacco and vanilla appear to give it some smooth, creaminess to it. the cherry cough syrup isn't like nyquil, but it's hard to unsee the cough syrup remark the tobacco isn't a smoked kind, this is NOT a forest fire type middle eastern fragrance Think of a night time, more masculine take on Guerlain Ideal L'Homme Ideal EDP. I find this very similar to Blonde Amber by Clive Christian or Black Musk for her by Jovan. This is a very easy to wear Age wise, anyone. This fragrance is best suited for colder weather, date night, perhaps formal events, I can see women sneaking a few sprays too. When I was trying all the fragrances from that order I did this shocked me. I had a bad first experience with Parfums De Marley with Layton as I don't understand how it is so overhyped, this 1010 perfect masterpiece of a fragrance without bribe money involved. However this blew me away.. I remember when I opened the box and I passed my brother this to try, within less than a minute he said how much was it. I told him $20, he ran to his room and paid me for it on the spot. His girlfriend at the time went nuts for it. Long story short this became a Christmas and birthday gift for a lot of people one year. this does not smell cheap. People would happily pay 4 or more times the asking price for this if their favorite designer brand(s) made it without batting an eye. If there's anything synthetic in this. Who cares. 99% of people we walk by won't know. I wish people would stop making a mountain out of a molehill. It's a $20 fragrance! Should any of us be surprised? It's about as big of a shock as Darth Vader being Luke Skywalker's father or what happened to the Titanic. I've heard the longevity is so good on this that there is no reason to buy Parfums De Marley Herod any more. This was from a few Youtubers that I actually trust their opinions, that aren't shills like this one or that one without naming names. We do go noseblind to it but just because we do that doesn't mean others can't smell us. From the first wear I did 5 sprays and got about 6 hours.

This thing is blowing me away. I got it as a cheap Herod dupe after hearing about it enough times, and at $20 this is just bonkers. First of all, I had planned to let it macerate before even attempting to compare it to Herod, but I sprayed it out of curiosity once it arrived this morning. It immediately smelled like Herod right out of the box. There's a quick alcohol blast I get on first spray that I don't get from Herod, but after that few seconds, I actually prefer the opening of Hercules. Herod has a cherry tobacco note that smells like Chloraseptic throat spray to me (that I don't love) that burns off fairly quickly, but it isn't present in Hercules at all. Instead, that bit of a cherryish note comes out smoothly as it enters the mid. The mid is near identical, except that I get more of the individual notes shining in Hercules. In the drydown I get a bit more cedar and more of that good, bright, Encre Noir style vetiver that occasionally peeks out of Herod in the right weather. It's just there with Hercules. Hercules also lasted through a shower, which Herod never has. Immediately after that shower, I sprayed Hercules on one arm and Herod on the other, and after about an hour the Herod is faint and the Hercules is going strong. I also asked my husband to blind smell each arm and tell me what smelled better and he chose Hercules. I wouldn't say I'm a snob about fragrances at all. I love a cheap cologne. However, I'm generally of the opinion that sometimes you're just gonna have to pay more for a certain level of performance. This, though. This is insane. This twenty dollar bottle is smoking the performance of the $380 one. If this is Hercules without maceration, then it's gonna go crazy in six months. This is a buy, a buy, a BUY. For the price, unbelievable, and it's performing every bit as well as Herod if not better. I'm completely stoked on this. UPDATE: Just shy of two months later and this thing has only gotten better. I bought a backup bottle and am letting it age while I use up this one, which I definitely will. This has become my signature scent. I wear it nearly every day. It definitely performs better than Herod, and at the price, it's a no-brainer. Also, anyone thinking this will smell like Red Tobacco/Mystery Tobacco: no. It won't. Other than that all have a tobacco note.

Had to do my initial "review" of this on Fragram a year ago, glad to see it finally on the database! :) In short, this is even better than Herod in my (perhaps controversial?) opinion. Not even taking into account that this is a fraction of the cost, I've done a few side by side comparisons spraying one on each forearm & I feel that this not only performs better off my skin, but is also more appealing with some added sweetness to the tobacco that is lacking in Herod. If you look at the perfume pyramid on this site, these two run almost parallel, with the more expensive PdM having some extra base notes, but to my untrained & highly opinionated nose this is like the best essences of Herod with a slight kick of the sweetness of Carlisle (my favourite PdM so far). It's like the slightly less intense, much less synthetic smelling version of Mancera Red Tobacco, with that elusive fresh rolling or pipe cherry tobacco, straight from the bag, still slightly moist, waiting to be lit. This is tobacco vanilla perfection! Hercules stands shoulder to shoulder with CDNIM as a niche killer for perfumery non-snobs. That you get an almost "niche quality" juice at a budget discount price is a no brainer. This bottle holds its own sitting right next to my Xerjoffs, & certainly over many other designer frags out there. Don't be a snob. Nobody carries their bottles out in public anyway. Wear this with the same enthusiasm when answering people's compliments about your outfit with "I got this at an op shop!".

This one is a banger. I mean for the price you can't ask much but this delivered. The smell is very unique and you will only be paying a small % of what PDM costs. It has a tobacco, cedar oud, vetiver and Vanilla smell. It smells fresh and Rich, a bit powdery. Definitely has that PDM DNA. It is a unique scent I don't know anyone near me that wears something like this. It gets compliments from the ladies, it isn't loud or feels the room but fit a nice misterious men. Good for any occasion, although I would like to wear it.more at night. Definitely office safe. Projection is very good 6-7h. Sillage is small, you won't be screaming for attention and it a subtle pleasant scent. Maybe with some 4-5 spray you would get more attention. Overall: 7.8/10 For the price it's amazing Update It has that wet dark tobacco that is slightly sweet, although I have been wearing this, it just doesn't really fit me. This has a mature 40/50+ vibe, it smells good when you wear 1 or 2 times after it just reminds me of a closed house, when you go on vacations and come back for the first time and you need to open the windows. It has that dark, stale air kind of background. Probably because of the wood and incense. I can enjoy it but I don't see me wearing this anymore. Again good for maybe 40+ year old, in a suit or special occasions where you don't want to stand out much, like going to a wedding or working in a formal environment. Just wanted to share the downsides to this too, so you guys know I don't glaze.