Forbidden Temptation

Sampling Vivamor Parfums Forbidden Temptation, one of the few most recent releases from this sibling house to Navitus that has now become prolific in its own right over the past few years. As advertised, it’s a boozy plum/tobacco-led blend accented by cinnamon, cognac, tonka, amber, vanilla, and (curiously) vetiver. It emulates a formula that’s been pretty successful in the more general “boozy plum” category, with entries ranging from By Kilian Single Malt to Guerlain L’Homme Ideal Extreme to the Dua original blend Plum Tobacco, each with varying levels of plum, booze, and other supporting elements. This one is a good blend of sweet, spicy, ashy, and heady—overall, not too sweet while still being a compelling semi-gourmand, and feels quite dark from opening throughout the dry down, more apropos as a night scent, or something on cold weather, than a routine daytime scent. It feels of a kind with the earlier 2020 Navitus releases Exalt Nuit and Soir Exclusif in this respect, as far as a dark, semi-gourmand character, and usage in more formal and/or cold-weather situations. And like these two, Forbidden Temptation performs well. As with a few other recent entries from Vivamor, Forbidden Temptation is priced at $95 for 100ml, considerably less expensive at retail than most of the Navitus/Vivamor catalogue, so it’s impressive that they’ve been able to get to this price point. It’s sold in the US via the house website and great boutiques like Perfumology. Overall, while it’s not super unique, it’s well-executed, high-performing, and very enjoyable, so I might have to grab a bottle. 8 out of 10

Here is my initial review after one wearing. I will follow up at a later time after I've worn it more and will add to or edit this post. FYI, my bottle is part of the second batch, which shipped out on January 20th, 2026. The bottle arrived on a cold day in NY, so I let it sit for a day in my house to acclimate to the indoor temperature. A day later, I gave it its initial spray, and that first blast of the juice was potent, heavy with the smell of dry tobacco and the scent of the inside of an empty cognac bottle, with some sweetness lightly in the background. I sprayed it some more onto different parts of my body, and a few minutes later the air was sweet, but if I buried my nose into the spot where I applied it, the cognac was still the dominant scent. In the air, I’m getting hints of what smells like a lighter version of Initio’s Side Effect mixed with Narcotic Delight. As time passed, hints of vanilla and tobacco began to appear. The transition from the opening toward the dry-down became sweeter but not cloying, with the latter stage being reminiscent of Herod by PDM. This is a nice fragrance. I look forward to wearing it under different conditions and enjoying all the different notes.

My first known "influencer" fragrance. Well, I guess reading comments on other fragrances here may have influenced my purchases. But first influencer personality that I decided to try. I had contemplated jumping on one or more of the Zarahoff Zed 3.0 offerings. But, I couldn't decide which one and hesitated. Ibere was my firat choice. I may regret not trying it. But this at an introductory price of $75, I couldn't resist. Fantastic boozy plum opening. Although I do get a mildly harsh first few seconds. That quickly goes away. Then CINNAMON! Little tobacco. But the vetiver in the base is what seals it for me. So comforting. Perfect timing on the release. Great winter wear. My only issue is performance. I will chalk it up to skin chemistry. I have already tried it a handul of times. Morning and night. I can spray it on a shirt at night and get hints of it in the morning. On skin, if I get over 4 hours, its a good day. So, I may run out of this quickly if I keep needing to reapply. All that said, fantastic bunch of ingredients to form a great scent profile. Nice heavy bottle, great cap, and a good atomizer to boot.

In the air, the fragrance opens with a rich burst of plum and cognac, while on my skin it leans more toward tonka and amber, accented by a subtle dusty, chocolate‐like nuance that adds real depth to its character. The vetiver doesn’t stand out to me yet, though it may reveal itself with more wear. Overall, it feels like a refined blend that sits somewhere between Kilian’s Black Phantom (in a lighter interpretation), Angel’s Share (but without the overt sweetness), TF Tobacco Vanille, and TF Plum Japonais. The cognac note, in particular, is strikingly close to Angel’s Share. It’s a scent I truly enjoy, and my wife loves it as well. On her skin, the composition highlights the plum, cognac, and vanilla, making it beautifully unisex. The only drawback so far is longevity, after about four hours it fades into a skin scent. Hopefully, as the juice matures, performance will improve.

I been looking forward to this fragrance for awhile Mr. Bow tie was one of the 3 people who introduced me to this fragrance world so I was glad to support. Forbidden Temptation is pure magic it’s crafted well the plum comes in the beginning and doesn’t last long you immediately get a sharp sweet and spicy tobacco that stays throughout the wear. Has a bit of a smoke smell as well it’s a great combination of notes finally the vetiver and amber comes but that tobacco stays strong. This is a real grown man Fragrance 40+ so far I’ve gotten 5hours of wear before becoming a skin scent. I order another bottle from the 2nd release so I’m a compare that to this 1batch and see if there’s any difference in performance. Overall this is 8.5 out of 10 to me but may have the more I wear it out it’s growing on me and gets me a lot of compliments in the casino.