Royal Bleu

I found my signature scent. It's a beautiful scent inspired by Parfums de Marly Layton, sans the minty menthol opening. I was curious about the packaging, and which House it belonged to. Orientica is the House and this is one of three different bottles it's been placed in within the last year. There's the Orientica XO Xclusif Oud Bleu, this packaging which is Orientica Luxury Royal Bleu, and then the bottle that looks like Al Haramain, but still Orientica, Amber Oud Exlusif Bleu. I bought the Haramain looking bottle thinking it was part of their Amber Oud line. I own several of the fragrances in that line and they've all been powerhouses, but need a little time to smooth out. The Haramain Amber Oud Gold for Women took about 3 months before the fruits began to show up. I was really surprise when spraying Amber Oud Exclusif Bleu and this beautiful creamy vanilla came out! No harsh chemical opening, no barely there scent. Love at first sniff. I sprayed it a few more times then set it aside to begin to macerate, usually about 3 weeks will see it mature properly. I couldn't stay away from it, though, I kept smelling it, and the next time I sprayed it, there was a something that smelled very lightly of.. balsam fir? I'm not sure what scent note it is, but it's delicious! A week goes by and the scent starts to skew more unisex, maybe even slightly masculine, but that fabulous dry down is still there. I decided I was going to buy the Orientica Luxury Royal Bleu, it's FB worthy and wow, is the bottle high end. I jumped onto Amazon during Prime Day, and they had a 5oz ( 150ml) Royal Bleu for $88. I work in healthcare in 12 hr shifts and i haven't come across too many great unisex scents that are hospital friendly. I actually use this in my long hair that I braid. I've received compliments from both men and women with this scent, so I committed to this being my signature scent/daily driver. I just love it. I haven't actually smelled PdM Layton, I'll leave the comparisons to others, all I know is that it's now my signature scent. Blind buy safe.

This is as Layton as one could possibly get. Down to the performance and everything. I could honestly call this better than Layton in some ways because that menthol feeling in the opening (which I strangely only pick up sometimes when smelling actual Layton) is much less overbearing than what I get with the actual PDM. To be completely honest, I could say this has better projection and duration than the 82% Layton I tried, as I get much stronger wafts of this way later into the drydown. All in all a wonderful value as you can get a 5 oz of this for almost 3x less than a PDM 3.4 oz, and it would be very, very, very hard to tell apart. Quality bottle and everything, safer gamble than Detour Noir given its mixed reviews on quality. Warm apple pie that's contrasted by a cool minty spiciness that blends together into one of the most beautiful scents I have ever had grace my nose. Projection: 9.5/10 This stuff is certifiably nuclear for hours on end. Be careful not to overspray, this will create a beautiful and intense scent bubble a few feet away from you, and expect a good scent trail. Doesn't seem to give anosmia, I get whiffs of this throughout its drydown. Longevity: 9.5/10 This screams a good 5-7 hours before becoming a beautfiul and still powerful skin scent as it tapers off for another 5-7 hours. Lasts pretty much until a wash on clothing too. Versatility:8/10 This works year round for nighttime. It's intensity and warmness is something that makes it a bit suboptimal for hot summer days, but this is still fashionable virtually anytime with careful spray rationing. I see this working best as a cooler month signature, and year round date night and clubbing fragrance.

I HAVE LAYTON, repeat, i have PDM Layton, and I had this little gift set from Orientica from a few months back, with tiny little deluxe samples but in the gorgeous little highly ornamental bottles with dabber tops.. I have used and tried and purchased FULL bottles of every single one so far, and let me just say, there's an Erba, there's a BR 540, there's a Kirke, there's a MFK Gentle Fluidity Gold,, there's an OUD Bouquet / MFK Oud Satin one, and then there's this.. .this is LAYTON. Down to the core... and I mean opening, middle, ending and LONGEVITY. In fact the Orientica one slightly outlasted the OG on a test strip. So, now I have a FULL giant bottle - a full 5oz one. This is a no brainer for $68.99. SERIOUSLY. If you like Layton, you'll adore this and the savings. Good lord, I'm not joking.. No maturation required.. .First spray was PERFECT. They are ALL perfect. I'm shocked the last "Layton clone war" was laterally void of this? I have the other dupes they had.. This one for me beat them all.. Lalique Black in White, have it. good but not "it" Detour Noir, yeah, good but not "this". the WOODS collection.. closer but still drifts a little.. this should be at the top.. I think mayyyyybe it's the bottle.. I don't think this bottle appeals to men maybe.. so it gets overlooked.. just decant it into a nice atomizer.. yeah? this is too good to gate keep. Everyone should smell like a million bucks for less. 10/10 frag. Orientica, you are FIRE !

I echo most of that the previous two reviewers said: This is a terrific PdM Layton clone, far better than Al Haramain Detour Noir in several aspects, and its quality in comparison to similar-smelling designer fragrances in the same price range make it an excellent purchase. For one, it's blended much better. This actually has a semi-fresh opening, and if you try, you can pick out each of the notes listed as the fragrance evolves through its note pyramid. It's still heavy on the base notes (vanilla and jasmine, in particular), but whereas Detour Noir goes straight to those base notes and is a bit "muddy," here you can really smell the apple, the mandarin, the geranium, and so forth. Also, the performance is absolutely monstrous. Two sprays will last you all day, and any more will simply be too strong. Just an outstanding fragrance in every way, presentation included. Right now it's difficult to find it for under $70 but it's definitely worth the price, considering how good it is not only compared to Detour Noir, but other similarly-priced designer fragrances like the Armani Stronger With You line, Azzaro Wanted line, etc. A superb offering from Orientica!

wow. i nearly came when i put my nose on this. i just went thru a 5ml of Layton , loved the smell so much so i looked into dupes. this and XO bleu were my best options for a good projecting, 93-95% accurate dupe of layton. this arrived today, so no time to masturbate yet, BUT, it already has that slightly vix vapor rub smell in the opening, dries down into that BEAUTIFUL vanillic apple pie smell with slight woods. projects great, sprayed 2 hrs ago and still getting BEAUTIFUL whiffs of myself. this is the truth!!! for someone who just had a sample of layton, smelled it like 3 days ago and now am smelling this, it’s damn near undistinguishable. maybe Layton has a more pronounced apple pie smell. but it’s still here in Royal Bleu. you may see Xclusif Oud Bleu Orientica Premium and think it’s the best Layton dupe. this is XO Bleu but with better projection and 1% sweeter on the opening (Xo bleu is spicier on opening and has Oud in it unlike layton) other than that, dries down into that SAME LAYTON DNA, except this one will project harder and have that “vix apple pie” smell. go with this one, yes it’s more expensive, but is more similar to Layton imo.