Faris Al Arab

The CC Blonde Amber DNA seems to have generated a lot of hype towards the end of 2025. I’ve never actually tried Blonde Amber personally, most likely due to the prohibitively expensive price tag. That said, all I can say is that I’ve become quite obsessed with the DNA itself. It started with an Alexandria Fragrances order that included a sample of Legally Blonde, Alexandria’s take on the Blonde Amber DNA. I was immediately blown away and ended up buying a full bottle. Soon after, I noticed a lot of hype around two fragrances in particular. One was Amber Empire by French Avenue, and the other was Faris Al Arab by Maison Asrar, both offering their own interpretations of Blonde Amber. Today, I received my bottle of Faris Al Arab, and I have to say—much to my surprise, especially considering the comments around maceration—from the very first spray and sniff, it’s genuinely fantastic. It’s rich, opulent, and well balanced, with just enough sweetness to counter the depth and vice versa. I loved it immediately. I did struggle to detect the cherry liqueur, but I’ll save my full analysis for a future review. That review will include comparisons of all the Blonde Amber alternatives: Art of Arabia, Amber Empire, Legally Blonde, Faris Al Arab, and, of course, CC’s Blonde Amber, which I’ve just ordered a small 2ml sample of from BeautyTheShop for comparison. For now, I’ll simply say this: if Blonde Amber turns out to be even better than Faris Al Arab, it may well earn a place in my collection—despite the outrageous price tag. For once, I (and especially my bank balance) hope a fragrance isn’t quite so good that I feel I need it. I’ll update this once my sample arrives .. Edit: 23/02/26 - As promised Blonde Amber vs Amber Empire vs Faris Al Arab – Performance Comparison Blonde Amber Opens with a smooth rum note before developing into a beautifully blended mix of dates, soft tobacco, saffron, and a deep, creamy amber dry-down. Vanilla and tonka keep it rich without becoming heavy or sickly. There’s an airiness here that stops it from feeling cloying or overbearing, while still remaining opulent. Very refined and gentlemanly — best suited to 30+. But whilst I appreciate that airiness, I actually prefer the denser, almost thicker creaminess of the clones. That’s 100% the truth. Performance: Above average. Around 6–7 hours on skin, a little longer on clothing. Projection: Moderate for the first 1–2 hours, then settles closer to the skin. Sillage: Elegant and controlled — noticeable without being loud. Amber Empire A sweeter, more mass-appealing take on Blonde Amber. The rum is gone, replaced by a faint liquor nuance. With the added sweetness, it feels more versatile and approachable, appealing to a wider age range. Less serious and easier to wear day-to-day. Performance: Strong. Around 7–8 hours with good consistency. Projection: More assertive than Blonde Amber, especially in the first 2–3 hours. Sillage: Noticeable and crowd-pleasing — it leaves a clear scent trail, but lacks the airiness of Blonde Amber and can become slightly cloying in certain conditions or smaller spaces. Faris Al Arab Unlike the rum opening of Blonde Amber, Faris Al Arab opens with more of a cherry-liqueur note, which becomes more noticeable and smooth after a short period of oxidation — smooth, subtle, and slightly boozier with a cherry-liqueur twist. Sweeter than Blonde Amber but less sweet than Amber Empire, with a thicker, deeper, creamier DNA than both. It suits a 30+ wearer who enjoys richer, denser scents. Like Amber Empire, it lacks the airiness of Blonde Amber, making it the most likely of the three mentioned so far to feel heavy or overbearing if overapplied. But I like that denseness. Performance: The strongest of the three mentioned so far. Easily 8+ hours on skin and days on fabric — I could still smell it on my coat four days later without spraying directly onto it. Projection: Solid and steady for the first 2 hours, then very gradually softens. Sillage: The densest of the three — rich, enveloping, and long-lasting in the air. Alexandria – Legally Blonde The sleeping wolf that deserves the same hype as the aforementioned. Probably the closest to Blonde Amber, but with the rum note at the beginning less pronounced. It manages to retain more of that airiness, like Blonde Amber, but lacks some of the subtle spicy nuances and booziness. Performance: On par with Faris Al Arab. Easily 8+ hours on skin and days on fabric. Projection: Solid and steady for the first 2 hours, then very gradually softens. Sillage: Not quite as dense as Faris Al Arab, but there’s not much in it — and again, it’s long-lasting in the air. Final Thoughts Technically, Blonde Amber is the better fragrance. Its blending and ingredients are top quality. But at £480 for 50ml — and with Amber Empire, Faris Al Arab, and Legally Blonde existing at a fraction of the price — I simply can’t justify it. For clarity, I paid £18 for a genuine Clive Christian 2ml sample for comparison. All of these fragrances have their own character and strengths. I own them all and have bought backup bottles of all except Blonde Amber — purely because of the price. It will ultimately come down to personal preference, but my favourite is Faris Al Arab, followed by Legally Blonde and then Amber Empire. But I love them all! That said, Legally Blonde is definitely the better option if you want the closest dupe of Blonde Amber. It also works incredibly well for layering — especially with something that adds a touch of spice. I’ve been using a couple of sprays of Terra with Legally Blonde and it works very well to add a little spice. Another option is Liquid Brun. A couple of sprays of that alongside Legally Blonde and it just works. Now I’ve probably either confused you even more or gone into far too much detail and personal bias than necessary — and niche snobs will likely despise my reviews and label me clueless. That’s fine. I’m confident in what I like and in my own tastes, so 🤷🏻♂️ As always, sample first if you can. But if you love rich, opulent, creamy, ambery goodness, I find it hard to fathom anyone genuinely disliking any of these fragrances.

Scent wise this is simple. Put Alhambra Hercules into a blender with the original Paco Rabanne Black XS (2005) and this is the fragrance. If you really like either you'll be into this. This is love at first sniff sort of scent for me. Rare I assure you, I had no idea how over hyped this was as I don't bother with watching reviews anymore. I'll admit the cherry note is probably what drew me in. This will be many peoples signature scent without any doubt. I think any age can pull this off, this isn't an old man or mature fragrance to me at all. Ever try Bentley For Men Intense? Unless all someone wears is diabetic sweet fragrances like One Million (EDT), Ultra Male or clones of layton you'll have no problem. I wore Black XS in high school and people loved it. As for the "old money" remark, meaning inherited wealth, to me that will always be Polo Green. How I'll try and describe this scent is that it starts off with dark woods and juicy fruits, as in cherries and oranges follow closely behind. There's just enough smoke to give this fragrance character, but without ever going in a forest fire direction like certain middle eastern fragrances. There's a moderate amount of spices in the background that keep you coming back to sniff your shirt collar throughout the wear. There's a depth and complexity to this that make this fragrance smell expensive. I'd say that even if someone passed me this in a clear glass bottle and didn't tell me anything about it. It's a linear fragrance so if you love the opening I recommend buying it. If you don't, see what some moderately attractive influencer with her cleavage almost popping out of their top has been paid to recommend in their latest video. The only thing bad I can say is that up close if you're sniffing this off your wrist you may find a note that you don't like. this dry woodiness, almost vomit like? I get it but, this is meant to radiate off you, see how many complements you'll get. People have no problem with the caraway seeds (cumin) in Spicebomb Extreme which I don't like up close. This is no different! I find this to be a strong projecting fragrance with a good scent trail, anyone who says this is watered down needs to be laughed at, The first few wears this is like an EDP or intense version of Black XS that we never got. It goes in a very slightly different direction most fans of Black XS will appreciate. If this came out 20 years ago I'd be thrilled, but the creative director must have started hitting a certain glass pipe and we got all those diabetic sweet fragrances for high school kids that the scents are questionably masculine instead. I would have happily bought this in a cheap box and minimalistic bottle like a Dior or Issey Miyake puts out to save money. Save the fancy boxes for limited editions! I'm just glad this exists as I didn't want to get another watered down fragrance world product. Is this redundant to own if you have Hercules? I say yes is this redundant to own if you have Black XS (2005)? No, there's enough difference to justify it This is easy to wear, by any age who likes dark, masculine sweet fragrances. with confidence women could pull this one off. It can be worn on nights out, to the club, date night, formal events. go light on the sprays if you wear this in the office. This will excel in cold weather, As usual, blistering hot weather this isn't going to work. It would be weird to wear in the gym unless that moderately attractive person is showing up today. As a bonus, You'll also like this if you like the following fragrances Viktor & Rolf - Spicebomb (2012) Parfums De Marley - Herod Initio - Narcotic Delight Guerlain - Ideal L'Homme Extreme or EDP - kind of reaching with these Jovan - Black Musk (for her) - Only the opening is similar, a big difference is that instead of cherries it's pomegranates in black musk.

As we all know cloning fragrance from Clive Christian is something very difficult to do, especially when you're working on Blonde Amber that has a lot of notes, giving a scent profile that's more defying and really layered beautifully. I happen to have the actual bottle of Blonde Amber and purchased sample of Art of Arabia 3, Amber Empire, Alexandria Fragrance Legally Blonde, and Faris Al Arab. This in my opinion is the best inspiration take of Blonde Amber when it comes to performance and scent profile. Let's start off by saying clone fragrances like this one and other brand quality is not up to Clive Christian level, which Blonde Amber is a better fragrance in general. But when it comes to a scent profile, I was so damn surprised on how pretty close it is to Blonde Amber but it's not a 1:1. It may be 80-90% close to the OG but this one has less notes but a really great twist of it that's actually sweeter with a nice balance of spices you get that sugar coated with amber, labdanum, tonka bean, sandalwood and vanilla together that just works so perfectly. The cherry liqueur listed is what carried the whole first scent profile that makes it boozy and warm with cashmere, its something you don't see in most fragrance that uses that take which what makes this so unique. The performance and the sillage on this is amazing, I get around 8-9 hours on my skin which longevity is important for me. I love Amber Empire rich scent profile take but the performance is only 5-6 hours long and was disappointed. I also do love Art of Arabia 3 but the scent profile is not close to Blonde Amber, but it has beautiful dates and woody twist with great sillage and a performance of 7-8 hours on my skin. Legally Blonde from Alexandria Fragrance is also really great and I get a really nice mix of white tobacco and tuberose that blends with rich amber accord, making it feel comforting and sophisticated. The performance on that is between 7-8 hours is what I'm getting, even if its the extrait de parfum version. For the scent profile in this fragrance, this to me smell better than Blonde Amber but it doesn't mean that the fragrance in general is better. The reason why is that there's no incense or tobacco note which is listed in Blonde Amber so normally I'm not too big on tobacco and incense. This is just a better version but without the tobacco notes and incense and you're left with beautiful amber vanilla boozy spice of Faris Al Arab. Not to mention the package out the box looks beautiful, and the price for this one is just out of this world for under $60. This is perfect for a date night, going out with friends or really just stand out. Though I feel as this is more for anyone ages that's 25 and up since this and the OG is not for everyone so I think this is really good sweet warm fragrance for someone like me who's close to 30. I like to use Blonde Amber only for a special occasion or a very special event, so for everyday wear this is the best options or Amber Empire, Art of Arabia 3, and Legally Blonde. If I one day finish my Blonde Amber bottle, I'd be happy to purchase this bottle one day and be very happy about this without breaking the bank. If you wanna get an idea of what wealth smells like for a budget, this is the one you have to try. I'm looking foward to trying more product from Maison Asrar/Golf Orchid so kudos to the team :)

I received my Faris Al Arab today. I also have original Blonde Amber decants from the store, as well as Amber Empire. I’ll be honest (unlike many social media reviewers) and let you know which one is the closest to the OG after I test them all together. Update 1 (29.10.25): I'm wearing it today and will wait and see the longevity. It's been 2 hours since i 4 times sprayed Faris Al Arab and projection was good until now. I can still smell it but the projection is getting weaker naturally which makes it office-safe. The very first detail that got my attention is, this fragrance is slightly less sweeter than Amber Empire in the opening. Like calmer and smoother. Next update will be about longevity and last update will be comparison of the two, most probably on weekend. So far, i love this fragrance, 9.5/10. Update 2 (03.11.2025): I tested both fragrances (Amber Empire&Faris Al Arab) two days ago, two sprays on each arm. Here are my thoughts after wearing them side by side: Opening: Amber Empire comes off sweeter and louder right from the start, though both share a very similar scent profile. Dry Down: To my nose, they’re about 99% identical and it’s genuinely hard to tell them apart. Still, Amber Empire remains just slightly louder. Longevity: Amber Empire outlasted Faris Al Arab by about 30–45 minutes. Faris Al Arab gave me around 8–9 hours of wear on skin. Projection: Both project strongly for the first couple of hours. Sillage: Amber Empire leaves a slightly more noticeable scent trail until projection dies down. Bottles: Both bottles look fantastic, true oriental niche aesthetics. Gender: Because of its sweeter opening, Amber Empire leans more unisex to me, while Faris Al Arab feels a bit more masculine and refined. Value: Excellent value for money, especially considering you’re getting 100ml of this quality. Verdict: From an honest, unbiased standpoint, it’s really tough to pick a clear winner. If you’re a younger guy, you might prefer Amber Empire for its louder, more playful projection. If you’re 30–35 or older, Faris Al Arab might be the better fit, smoother, calmer, and a bit more elegant.

I haven't smelt Blonde Amber so I can't compare the two. I was given this as a gift from a friend and have worn it a lot in the winter. I wouldn't wear it in high heats as it could be cloying due to its rich sweetness. When applying this, you really don't need many sprays (I used around 7). This is due to its strong projection and the fact that it lasts around 8-9 hours on skin and all day on clothing. This fragrance opens with a strong essence of a cozy, warm vanilla and a rich cherry liquor. The best way to describe this is like a freshly-baked, warm cherry tart with vanilla ice cream on the side. After 10 minutes, the amber accord becomes more prevalent and the oriental notes come to the foreground. It then smoothly transitions into a lighter, woody, and sophisticated accord after 30 minutes. However, the top notes are still there at the beginning of the transformation until around 1 hour of wearing this fragrance. This creates the sense that the transition was smooth and not surprising like many other Middle Eastern, cheap fragrances; this smells more expensive than it is, especially in the middle stages. The dry down leaves an elevated and elegant impression with the classic smell of white musk which is synonymous with Middle Eastern fragrances. However, this one is well made and gives off a sense of class as it is combined with the dry woods and tonka bean. The overall performance is very good in my opinion. The projection is quite strong and could easily fill a room and leaves a long trail behind you as you walk by, captivating everyone who gets the privilege of getting a noseful of this beautiful scent. It is long lasting and fades evenly throughout the day. On my skin, it is very consistent and sweet but not too sweet. This is an amazing fragrance for the winter, especially for the price. The bottle design is also very nice. Overall, a 9/10 🔥