Mysterium

#1505 in my "Tour de Fragrance" This was a very successful blind buy for me. I bought this scent on an impulse, not because of what it's got, but because of what's missing: caramel. It's so overdone and so over-represented in my collection at this point. It's what stopped me from purchasing the Xerjoff "Tony Iommi Monkey" scents everyone is bringing up. I tested out decants of the Monkey Specials (Tony is a demigod to me, a major influence on my guitar performance from Black Sabbath's first album on). But a woman I get together with pretty regularly always wears something with a caramel note (my fault as I introduced her to those scents) and now I've kinda ceded that territory to her. Overall this is a "leans unisex" scent to me. And usually I would have avoided this due to the rose note. I have so many woody, Middle Eastern scents with rose notes at this point. But the rose is not all that prominent and I can get past it. It isn't as fruity and floral, though very similar to a host of more feminine-leaning scents I've given to girlfriends, like V Canto "Stricnina", Gulf Orchid "Exotic Oud", Zimaya "Itqan Gold", Crivelli "Oud Maracuja." But I think the sheer woodiness of this scent saves it for us guys. It comes in a heavy bottle you could bludgeon a zombie with, a container that probably cost more to make than the scent (a product management decision I will never comprehend). The performance is excellent. The price was 10% of the cost of the $300 bottle of Oud Maracuja I gave away ($33), and I would absolutely choose this over that. Car pool, elevator and small office safe, if not overdone, but more date wear for cooler weather than business or summer wear. Good luck and Good Hunting!

BE WARNED—THIS IS A VERY CONTROVERSIAL SCENT! I bought this fragrance and it literally has become one of my favorites. I love the way the patchouli works with the incense, passion fruit, and cinnamon to create this deep, powerful yet slightly minty opening, and then the dry-down pulls more toward the rose and sandalwood with almost a slight vanilla note. This to me is one of the most unique and usual fragrances I've ever smelled, and I love it. However, I wore it for the first time at my current job the other day, and one coworker said I smelled like a stinky old man, and another said I smelled like moth balls and to never wear that scent around him again. That's unfortunate, because while I wouldn't call this a summer fresh scent, it was one of a few fragrances that work on my skin for the warmer months. It's sweet and dark, but the mintiness of the patchouli keeps it from being too overbearing or cloying in the heat. Too bad I never want to wear it to work again to avoid being called moth balls 🫤

As an obsessed fan of Tony Iommi Monkey Special, my answer is clear: no, this is not a clone of TIMS. There are a few similarities, of course, but there's also a huge miss (the boozy note). The performance of this perfume is far from what TIMS offers, but I am happy with the 4-5 hours of longevity and the decent projection Mysterium has. After all, this is a budget-friendly fragrance and you should not expect it to perform the way Xerjoffs do. Did I buy it? Yes. Do I regret buying it? HELL NO! Will I repurchase it? YES, considering the overall world circumstances at the moment: cheap and good perfumes are a must. Edit 10/05/25: today I got two compliments from the ladies working at DM (I am a lady myself), which I did not really expect, considering that I never got compliments for TIMS (maybe the rum, the cinnamon overdose and the ambergris are off-putting to many people and that's why they don't like TIMS?).

I’ve owned this fragrance for a while and I have grown to enjoy it quite a bit. The only thing is that I find it hard to find an occasion in which wearing it seems wholly appropriate. I get the musty sort of old church vibe I’ve read about in comments, but it’s more than that. For some reason, that type of fragrance does something for me. It’s really meant for advanced noses to fully appreciate. That’s just my own personal opinion though. I’m sure older people are more likely to like this one for its classic character, but I’m in my early 30’s and love it. I wear it around the house for the most part, but once in a while I’ll go light on the sprayer before work. Not blind-buy safe. 8/10 for performance, 9/10 for scent profile. The first 3 hours can be a bit sharp, but just be patient and things will smooth over and become one of the most unique in any collection.

I wasn’t sure about this perfume at first, so I decided to get a sample. Immediately after spraying, I could feel the projection and it’s huge. It opens with a burst of leather, rose, patchouli, and a hint of smoke and spices. The blend is surprisingly smooth: fresh patchouli, dark leather, smoky undertones, and a beautiful rose wrapped in a bit of spices. That’s what I get from it. While it’s quite versatile, I think it really shines in colder weather. In the dry down the rose softens and the leather becomes more prominent. Interestingly, I noticed the rose stands out more on my skin than when applied to clothing. I tried Xerjoff in-store a while ago, so I can’t say exactly how close this is to the original, but it definitely feels similar. Overall, I think this is a fantastic perfume and it’s definitely going on my purchase list. Rating: 9/10

This is not a direct clone, but it is a take on the monkey special dna and IMO they killed it 10/10. It is linear, where as monkey special def develops, but who cares if this smells better? Performance and longevity good without macerbation. This is far more mass appealing, and again its just better. The spices really shine, but it is a nice unique balance and full smell. I highly recommend this to anyone that likes a variety of spice in their frags. Reviewer under me is an absolute psycho why tf r u people up voting that?????? THERE IS ZERO LEATHER IN THIS FRAGRANCE OMFG. THE MOST RECENT REVIEWS UNDER ME ARE ALL LEGIT BROKEN NOSES AND BRAINS JFC. Pay them 0 mind

On my skin (♀️), this scent is perfect for warmer weather, and I am glad I kept it. The initial sprays nine months ago were sharp, zingy, chaotic, very masculine and heavy, but the blend has improved tremendously since then. The name says it all. The leather has become softer, the passionfruit sweeter, and the incense, rose, labdanum, and patchouli in the drydown are now so warm and soft, yet still fresh. It remains mysterious and, for me, a perfect summer scent: fresh, enigmatic, earthy, and warm. Truly excellent and great performance, yay!

This is being delivered to my house tomorrow. Really excited to see how close it is to Monkey Special. I gotta say...this is really good stuff. Not quite an exact dupe. The other reviews are right. It’s a bit fresher and less peppery. I really love the way this smells on me. TIMS is just made with higher quality juice. That’s obvious. All that said, I think Mysterium is way more versatile. It’s a very strong addition to my collection. Oh yeah ... it’s only $42 on Amazon. If you like Monkey Special, this is a no brainer.

Got this about 5 months ago in the summertime, test sprayed it, and found it super spicy and leathery. Shelved for the colder months. Today, holy moly! Spicy, touch of smoke and leather, and actually a little soapy... ?? The rose, bergomant, and passion fruit really came out this time and add such a beautiful character. It’s masculine, but beautiful. So well blended, this is an amazing buy. I can’t stop smelling my hand. So stoked!! You gotta believe me, if a fairy wore boots, she’d be digging this scent. 😉

this aint for everyone but this is for me. I'd say it's a 69/100 on the challenging meter, so novice noses might mistakenly hate it (you will understand eventually). The name is very fitting, as this fragrance invokes a sense of Mystery. Is it worth the price of 40$? Does it smell high quality? Will women finally pay attention to me if I wear this fragrance? The answer to all those questions is yes. Get it and if you don't like it, send me a message and I will tell you why you are wrong!

This is a really, really good dupe for MS.I would say it's a tiny bit lighter, still really close. I sprayed MS on one arm and Mysterium on the other this morning. My unsophisticated nose finds them almost the same, but there is something missing that makes Mysterium slightly less masculine although they are both masculine leaning to me. I love the thick, boozy quality and find this to be a great value. I plan on layering with MS to make my bottle last a bit longer.

Got this 6 months ago. Didn't strike me at first but I got my lesson learned, I never sell anything before 1 year of possession. And this payed out even know, after 6 months this bottle literally transformed. I can't comment on the similarity to the OG but no matter what this is now a huge banger with enormous longevity, I sprayed 12 hours ago and its still on my skin, much more on my shirt. Totally recommend this one.

This smells like Paan in the nicest way possible, IYKYK. I got a sample of TIMS, and this is very close to it: slightly less boozy and slightly fresher. An excellent fragrance for the price! Longevity is a solid 8-10 hours on my skin with moderate projection. It's intoxicating!

i don't know guys but for me i get more differences than the similarities between it and the xerjoff it's still a nice take on the DNA it's fresher and more wearable but man the missing Rum note here is just a loose for me still a good fragrance over all

Excellent cool weather and evening out fragrance. Not a loud projector, but has a nice scent trail. Very masculine and pleasant. Wore this to a concert and received lots of compliments.

I just got this fragrance in yesterday and me and my wife both think that it's a very good fragrance. The scent profile isn't overly niche, so it still has a good bit of mass appealing qualities without it being a boring, run of the mill release. The passion fruit is VERY prominent upon application and the bergamot just adds zest and juiciness to the composition. The rose and incense may be mid notes, but they are quite present right after the first ten minutes. By the time the mid arrives the leather and patchouli are really starting to brighten up and this is where I find the fragrance most appealing and beautiful. The opening may be unisex, or even leaning a tad bit feminine due to the intense passion fruit accord, but the mid and base bring it back leaning towards the masculine side of things but just barely. It's definitely a nice fragrance. It's not as dark as I imagined it would be as I haven't yet gotten my nose on the Xerjoff yet, but as close as people are saying they are I know now that I would go for the Deified version and not the original. But I'm glad to have this one and I think it is a worthwhile addition to my and my wife's collection. Update: I've gotten a sample of the original TIMS and this fragrance definitely isn't as boozy or dark in the opening and maintained a more aromatic flair throughout the wear than the original does. However, if any of you out there have Spectre Wraith by Fragrance World's high end line called French Avenue, you can lay down a base of two soft sprays of Spectre Wraith, and three hefty sprays of Mysterium and the result isn't quite identical to TIMS, but it is right between it and the Diefied version which is darker and a bit less sweet. It gets you MUCH, MUCH closer to the original. Close enough that you have to have your nose right on your arm to be able to tell them apart.

I just got this, the passion fruit sweetness is pretty prominent to open. Does some flipping and flopping through the dry down. Not as strong as the inspiration, and less challenging too (which might be a draw back). The scent profile in this gives me a banana liqueur vibe over rum, which is weird to me. This might need to sit awhile, as a clone it’s in the wheel house, but no where near as good. I get more a creative spin take on the inspiration as opposed to a clone, which is maybe the reason for banana? My only gripe, is that clone price margins do tend to reflect the origin and its value, along with how many versions currently exist. I paid over fifty dollars for this, which for clones is high, so you may want to wait for YouTube reviews and other versions come out, I suspect the price will go down.

Fruity (passionfruit) and easy-going, reminds me of Xerjoff's Tommy Iommi Monkey w/o the Rum notes but at a fraction of the price. Office safe, works all year round - this is a day scent, not something built for evenings or special occasions. I'd give it 4 stars. Longevity and projection are both solid though, sits close enough not to be distracting in a professional setting but still noticeable through the day. Gentlemen, classic profile with a certain kick. A dependable daytime pick rather than a signature scent. Pricing around $20-25 in EU. Would buy again.

Whoever who told, this is not a great dupe for the OG, that one lies or never smelled the inspired scent. This is 1:1 easy 95% smillirat to the original. There is a bit differences of course, but in only in quailty. Easy beast mode, room filler, 3 sprays fill the whole house.

This to me is more leather oriented. It’s a dark leather with passion fruit and cinnamon garnish. To me Money Special is more boozy oriented and Oud Maracuja is oud and passion fruit oriented. They can’t be compared and don’t remind me of one another.

I like it. I have no experience in the Xerjoff Toni Iommi Monkey Special. I get this somewhat fresh, floral and spicy scent to my nose. Great for cooler weather and evening out for sure.

This is more aromatic, less dark and less boozy than MS. It's nice though.

Nose Note #1011 This is quite far away. I'm comparing them side by side. Tommy Iommi MS is much much darker, almost has a more pronounced leather accord, it feels more oily, it has a stronger patchouli note. Mysterium has a dominating passionfruit note and everything else is underplayed. In Monkey Special you can't really say what this fruit note is and to me it smells more like a drunken prune than a passionfruit. Overall compared to Monkey Special Mysterium smells more juvenile, in a way even more mass appealing. I was looking for a substitute for Monkey Special, unfortunately this is not it at all. As RevJhumm said below, this is perhaps 75% close to Monkey Special, i.e. almost like a flanker, not a dupe. If you don't compare than side by side the two do smell a lot similar, yet still the difference is too obvious. Mysterium almost smells like cheap sweets flavouring whereas Monkey Special just smell like a good perfume. Unfortunately my experience with the house of Paris Corner has been very underwhelming in maybe 95% of times. Almost unisex, masculine leaning. Performance is OK, a little over moderate. Nothing like the OG which has amazing performance, it can cover almost the whole day. 6.8/10, I had high expectations

This sounded perfect for me with the smoke, incense and hints of rose and leather. But the patchouli is prominent from the spray, and it makes the green spicy accord too much for my taste. I love unisex and “men’s” fragrances but when they open spicy green, like this, it typically turns me off from them. No full bottle. Gave sample to my son. My notes are to help me remember my thoughts about these samples for the future.

Scent: 8 / 10 Longevity: 9/ 10 Sillage: 9/ 10 Versatility: 6/ 10 Uniqueness: 9/ 10 Quality: 9/ 10 Presentation: 8/ 10 Price: 8/ 10 Very unique. Smokey, woody dusty rose. Not blind buy safe, Mature scent. I recommend trying decants before blind-buying full bottles. This scent and 800 others available at www.scentswithsense.com

It’s very nice in the opening, but after a short while, cinnamon unfortunately dominates on my skin, overshadowing the other notes. Yes, the same cinnamon that’s supposed to stay in the top notes. Not a bad scent, but a bit boring.

Very strong fragrance. It is maybe a 75% dupe for Monkey Special. It smells good but can be overpowering. I loved it when I first got it but it became overbearing after a while. One spray goes a long way!!

To me it smells something an old person would wear gives me that old lady type of smell. Sorry not to offend anybody

TLDR: Mysterium is like a lighter TIMS with an aromatic fresh twist. It lacks the punch that I love in the original. Don't recommend it as a clone but separately it is alright. Maybe a 6.5/10. Would probably buy other fragrances around its price point instead though. I am not the type of guy who would say just save and buy the original. I used to exclusively buy clones cause I thought expensive fragrances were not worth it. However smelling TIMS for the first time was amazing and got me into niche fragrances. Now I have a mixed collection for niche and clones. People say TIMS smells like banana. I kind of understand what they mean. Not like a whole banana but maybe like an extract or flavoring. However that is not how I see it. It smells like Paan to me, if you are familiar with that. TIMS smells like a jammy rose with an earthy patchouli and a touch of cinnamon and passion fruit. A little bit of a rum like hit in the opening but not as boozy as angel share or its clones. Absolutely love it. Try to sample it if you can. Mysterium is like a lighter version of TIMS. It lacks the sweetness, rum and overall roundness and you can see on fragrantica or parfumo that some notes are missing and incense has been added. It's fresher in an aromatic way. Almost like a little bit of lavender and maybe pepper was added to it. It is also weaker overall. I don't mind the lack of sweetness as I feel the original is too sweet. If it was just the original with less sweetness it would have been perfect. Let's say it's like 60-70% TIMS with less sweetness and the rest is mixed with something like Ard Al Zaafaran Al Dirgham Gold. In the dry down it becomes a patchouli dominant fragrance. This does make it a bit more versatile and unisex, but still masculine.

Hmmmm... I can't tell whether I love it or not. Tony iommi with a more obvious passionfruit, less booziness, and maybe a bit more smokiness. Wheras I find Tony Iommi to smell like pannatone, this leans a bit more towards banana bread as of the moment. 6.8/10 imo (subject to change -> will update soon)

UPDATE: It opens up in a very off-putting way (tart passionfruit + fruity patchouli + sweet caramel) and eventually dries down to a more likable scent. Overall, if you like Xerjoff TIMS, I can't guarantee you would like this since this is a very different take on the DNA imo. 2.4/10 imo.

Mysterium by Paris Corner is one of those fragrances where the patchouli and passionfruit combination sounds interesting on paper but completely falls apart in execution. Instead of creating contrast or harmony, the blend feels like both notes are fighting each other ... and unfortunately, nobody wins. The result? A scent profile that comes across chaotic, unpleasant, and honestly hard to appreciate. For me, it smells like a bizarre mix of an old wardrobe, gym sweat, and a fruit basket left to rot in the sun. The kind of fragrance that makes you question not only the hype, but your trust in whoever recommended it. This was a major hype fail and an instant regret. Sometimes perfume reviews save people money ... this is one of those times. In my opinion, it’s not worth the purchase, and frankly, not even worth the skin space to test it. Overall rating: 2/10

IMO very overhyped. Smells like something you would buy for a 10 year old. I have a very open mind and Xerjoff has some bangers but this smells juvenile. It leans feminine as well. The difference between some of the clones and originals is many times in the details but its the details that can make a fragrance great. It just smells like a cheap arab perfume. Nothing mysterious about it.

Stinks....just stinks man. I cant stand this church smell it has.....disgusting. I own 80+ perfumes and this one is the worst I have by far. DONT blindbuy this. Smells like old ppl in a church....disgooostiin

Not even remotely close. If you ask me - It wouldn't even pass as a flanker. It reminds me more of some JPG than anything similar to Iommi. On skin it smells feminine and juvenile, hard pass for me...

Xerjoff Dupe — A Taste of the Real Thing” Or just some more old musty ding a ling ??? Well Like their Naxos dupe, the likeness is there — but the magic isn’t quite the same. It won’t wow you like the first time you smell the real Xerjoff. Yes, it smells like it... but not as perfect. But at least this performs . It’s better than their emir Naxos dupe for sure. And it sure will grow on you over time. Yes indeed. But This isn’t a youthful scent. Think old-country Italy, wealthy Roman Catholic priests, or a man in a tailored suit gravitating toward roses. Wife said it reminded her of an older woman’s perfume — not trying to be offending to anyone, just honest. Well she said it. Not me. The real thing? It Is Twice as refined, twice as captivating. Performance is impressive — long-lasting, strong — so I like this to be totally honest. Hey , if the scent speaks to you. Try it, and if it works for you, you know the real Xerjoff will be even better. It’s better to lose $30 than $300.

I've had this fragrance for almost 3 months now, and it still doesn't feel like the notes have stabilised yet. For some Middle Eastern dupes in my collection, it happened that I needed to wait 2-4 weeks before the scent stabilises and is wearable, but this is the first time I had to wait this long and still can't feel the notes in the breakdown in a well-blended manner (even tho it improved throughout this period). Will make an update when it matures