Rivalite Imperiale

If you're into smelling like a plummy, boozy Christmas cake, this one has you covered! It's absolutely gorgeous! Even a day later after I sprayed, I can still smell it on myself and I'm getting wafts of delicious vanilla sweetness with dried fruits prominent and a backdrop of tobacco and amber. Mmmmm... My perfect scent profile! I know I said cake, but this has nothing of the dough-boy about it. It's airy and sweet and not heavy. Most of these cakey gourmands make me feel like I'm in an instant food coma, kinda nauseous and stomach-achey, but this fragrance is NOT that, I promise! The closest fragrance in my collection would be Praline in Maple by Scents of Wood, but even that's not close really. More in the same family. Not sure if that helps because you might not have heard of that one either. Is it a safe blind buy? I would say yes if you love the gourmand-amber-vanilla intersection. This is great for autumn and winter, even spring and summer nights. It won't make you feel sickly when it's warm, but I wouldn't recommend it when it's stupid-degrees outside. I already had two compliments yesterday! I think Plume Impressions is a really underrated / unknown fragrance house well worth exploring. The quality of their fragrances is astonishing. I got my nose on samples of all their line and I was hard pressed to choose my top six. So far I have this one and Love no Shame in my collection, but I'll be getting more. Next stop: Pop Heart. Then probably Elégance Cuirée, surprising because leather is definitely NOT one of my notes! But it's one my nose longs to keep coming back to.

I really didn't want to like this. Nonsense marketing blabla, leaning towards ridiculous, uninspired notes, was 99% sure I am going to test just an other come-and-go niche brand. Fortunately, I was totally wrong. I just can't help loving the two perfumes from this line done by the same perfumer, Dalia Izem, who is completely new to me. Plus the concept of the line is actually right up my alley, they refuse to drench us in chemical fixatives to make the scent last longer, instead they opt for the soft, tender, well blended elegance which is somewhat of a scarcity on the market nowadays. I understand why Rivalite Imperiale is an autumn perfume for most, however it reminds me personally of summer memories, and because of the softness and airy quality, it's completely wearable in the heat as well. It's a plummy tobacco-amber with cinnamon and creamy sandalwood. The plum-cinnamon combo is indeed pretty much a Christmas staple, but the scent has a clean, powdery breezyness, which reminds me of the fizzyness of a Lush bath bomb and some distant memory of staying at a luxury hotel over the summer, how the lobby was scented, and how it felt creeping under the crisp white blankets there.

I am addicted to this fragrance. It's the best thing I have ever smelled... And I've tried around 500+ perfumes. What's crazy is the notes aren't particularly rare_ except the mirabelle_ but the result is well rounded. It's sweet but not exactly a gourmand. It's spicy but not too much. The tobacco and patchouli are soft and well blended. I fear I will never be eloquent enough to describe it. The longevity is great on me and it's just so elegant and effortless. It's a great unisex perfume in my opinion. Don't miss out. Edit 09/2025: I had the opportunity to smell Ambre Narguilé and I understand the comparison. However, Ambre Narguilé is spicier and less sweet. So anyone looking for a dupe shouldn't buy Rivalité impériale. It's become my signature scent in the autumn/winter seasons. ❤️

This is really beautiful. But I see it only being for occasional wear (Xmas immediately comes to mind). I think I would tire of this scent if worn all the time. For me the dried fruits come through quite pronounced. A winter/fall scent for sure. For me 6-7 hours longevity and for this scent I think that's just about right. Nice projection too for the first 2-3 hours. Yet another in this line that has impressed ;)

I tried this in paris, and immediately knew i had to get it. This to me is not a winter only fragrance, as it is elegant and sweet. To me it smells like a coconut and fruit cake, in a room with some high quality rum and tobacco, but theres this freshness about it? But this is contradicted by some dried fruits and cinnamon, this is a good thing. I love this, reminds me of paris, smells good, lasts long enough