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.

Let me first start with if you like PDM Herod then you will probably love this more. It has that Herod tabac feel in the drydown but with added plum and cognac that actually last and projects. It’s very smoothly done and smells very nice in the air. The plum fruity ness sticks around for most the wear. The middle has the tabac cinnamon and tonka to add some spice and sweet ness. And the base gives you vanilla amber and vetiver. If you like Tabacco scents like Herod then you will really like this one. Longevity and performance are really good considering it’s a extrait de parfum

This is a beautiful fragrance. Smooth Cognac mixed in with plum goodness in the opening. Mid tonka bean and tobacco comes in not overly tabacco. In the base the amber and vanilla shows. This fragrance stays smooth the entire journey. Although its boozy its not overly boozy. Very addicting scent.

I love this fragrance!!! Bowtie Guy is a Classy guy and this fragrance represents him to the fullest. My wife walked out the door while I was outside shoveling snow and said “omg you smell good is that the one I bought you??” So now unfortunately it went from mine to ours 😒😒

I'd say 1/4 Herod and 3/4 Side Effect. None the less, it's a beautiful scent. High quality juice, very smooth feel. On my skin it lasted over 8 hours, with the last few hours being a light intimate skin scent type of vibe.

Smells like an 80/20 blend of PDM Oajan and PDM Herod. Performance so far is awful. It becomes a skin scent in an hour. I'm also testing a new bottle, so hopefully it improves over time. 2/1/26 Update: I've been testing this juice everyday since I received it because I just haven't been able to form an opinion on it. But trying it today, it smells a little different and I like it more. Now it smells like an interesting blend of Oajan, Carlisle and Herod. It opens like a smokier, darker version of Oajan -- or Oajan + Carlisle. As it dries down, the hints of Herod come out. Performance still seems to be lacking, which is disappointing for an extrait. (For anyone wondering, Forbidden Temptation smells more like Oajan than Angel's Share. I own all three. In a side-by-side-by-side comparison, Angel's Share smells sweeter than Oajan, and Forbidden Temptation is definitely not sweet.)

A bottle of intoxicating plum cognac. From the first spray, it feels like deep purple-red plums soaked through with cognac. The plum has a thick, fleshy quality. It is not a fresh kind of fruitiness, but a sweetness that feels slightly overripe. The boozy note comes through from within, giving the opening a warm, tipsy feeling. After that, a little cinnamon and tobacco appear, but neither is heavy. The most noticeable part is still the plum cognac from the opening. Once the booziness fades, what remains is a warm, sweet scent. The drydown is basically sweet tobacco and vanilla: dense, warm, and sweet. Better suited for autumn and winter.

Yh this slaps!! I do get a slight chocolatey/honey nuance from this, and yes it does bare a slight resemblance to frags like angels share and Oajan but this IS NOT a dupe in any way! On skin, the vetiver is more pronounced than on paper. On paper this leans much more gourmand but on skin, the earthiness from the vetiver is quite prominent. Regardless this just might be my fave boozy plum frag!

If you like gaya by d'elmer this is pretty close not as smooth and the fruit note is a little sour/tart if you mixed angel share and tobacco vanille with some pdm oajan and plum in cognac you would be pretty close it's nothing new but if you like these types above then for the price this is a no brainier

Nice opening. But the dry down is just sweetness to my nose. Nothing happening at all. The nice tobacco is gone, the booziness is gone. Just sweetness. With a hint of spices. Blind bought it and sold it shortly after. I much prefer the l'homme ideal extreme for its plum. Don't get me wrong - I think it is a nice flagrance but I would not use it amongst all the other perfumes that I own. And the price is also great. To its own liking!

A very drunk smoky plum is what this is lol. Opens with the cognac (very photorealistic), VERY prominent, a boozy sweet plum, then comes the tobacco giving it a smoky nuance (almost like a sweet cigarette with hay). Unisex as well to please both gender. Letting my bottle sit for now, as it’s tad too tobacco-y for my nose.

Had high hopes but was disappointed. There’s an incense accord that is way too smoky for my liking in the opening and lingers through out the wearing. Not my thing however I wish they would have listed or at least mentioned the incense and extreme smokiness. Definitely puts you in a cigar shop mood. If you like cigar shop aromas and smelling like smoky flavored but burnt tobacco then go for it. I personally do not.

🌈Female who enjoys unisex fragrances - they dominate my collection for the most part - also enjoy plenty of gourmands even the ones that scream PINK they are SO femme. I’m fine with MOST supposedly ‘masc. leaning’ unisex. Where I draw a thick & permanent line - even if considered ‘faint’ (every collector, enthusiast can relate... the notes one truly abhors, the ones others may not pick up on until mentioned by another- likely filed somewhere in the Akashic Library of Records close to or ‘under’ Murphy’s Law somewhere...naturally HAVE to always be the very notes your nose will identify first) I am 100% intolerant of the ‘testosterone accord(s)’ I don’t have great descriptive language with which to easily explain, but it seems as though they have been around since the dawn of time (ugh, can’t kill em - not even with 🔥). For me they are inextricably linked to fathers, uncles, grandfathers & the like. It was/ is in English Leather, Old Spice, Aramis, Drakkar Noir +++ ... it was impossible to find a fragrance for a man when I was young that did NOT include some variant of this nameless accord... until CK One, followed by CK Be... in a word? Just the ☝️to encapsulate it? I’d have to say “Cologne” the word as it was understood by ALL 30-40 + years ago (certainly not as Jo Malone uses it in this day & age). Personally ALWAYS detectable seeing as how I have a serious aversion to it. Overjoyed to report that it is NOT present in this composition 🤩 ALWAYS a deal breaker without a single exception. For me the same principle applies to food as well. Today was her unboxing & FINALLY my trepidations were allayed completely (I blind buy most fragrances- I wouldn’t if I didn’t have mobility issues ... once fragrance shopping becomes a chore or inconvenience- it’s time to stop & spend the rest of my years enjoying my many choices -already ‘pre made’. So I started using her today, i think she’s beautifully blended although i think the smoke (like smoky smoke - even more thick than by the fireplace which i love to bits (go through at least a 100 ml a yr) could prove polarizing. I found that when I apply Maitha x Lattafa (concentrated perfume oil in a very unisex bottle) which is absolutely giving Escapade Gourmand, give it some time to sink in for a perfectly primed pulse point, then it’s time to spray away - not too heavy a hand (she is an extrait de parfum after all). The final & essential step is spraying some fine mist of Dua’s ‘Gourmand Escape’. 2 yrs ago I had a choice & instead of buying a full bottle of the og I bought 6 of the Dua, I luckily got a particularly good, strong batch & I have no regrets. The gourmand escape REALLY balances the smoke & makes her plenty feminine for me 😍 - a happy purchase indeed! 🫶 Already thinking about a bub, so if anyone isn’t a fan hmu 🤙. Stunning- this blend is everything! I can smell ALL the notes, every last one all at once without being able to pick them out individually. Perfect 👌 harmony to me❣️

🌈Female, just started using her today, i think she’s beautifully blended (no intense cinnamon or cavendish tobacco) although i think the smoke (like smoky smoke - even more thick than by the fireplace which i love to bits I go through at least a 100 ml a yr with a relatively large collection- layer her most of the time) could prove polarizing. I apply Maitha x Lattafa (concentrated perfume oil in a very unisex bottle) which is absolutely giving Escapade Gourmand, give it some time to sink in for a perfectly primed pulse point, I spray away - not too heavy a hand & I mist Dua’s Gourmand Escape, instead of easily buying a full bottle of the og I bought 6 of the Dua when I got a particularly good, strong batch & I have no regrets. The gourmand escape REALLY balances the smoke & makes her feminine enough for me SO many combos I’m going to have fun with incl. my Fatal de Vanille, Bourbon Brulee & Good Fortune Intense Elixir with the full line of my favorite bodycare from BBW Cozy Bourbon Vanilla (sweet whiskey & coffee & whiskey, along with vanilla noir cologne 👌) Black Phantom, Italica, Tobacco Vanille, Single Malt (long discontinued & Old Fashioned is good BUT it is NOT a simple rename- Dua’s Spiritus Dei has a great plum note, Angels Share, Khamrah Qawah, I don’t care how much smoke I conjure I WILL layer with BtF, Side Effect, Dates Delight ... list could almost literally be endless - a happy purchase 🫶 already thinking about a bub 😹 🌈 HAPPY PRIDE MONTH❣️

To my nose, this leans much closer to the opening of SDJ 40 or even the plum-forward vibe of Khamrah Plum with only the faintest resemblance to Herod or Oajan. The comparison is there but very lightly, more of a “cousin energy” than a true match. The opening hits with a gorgeous blast of woody and boozy plum, rich and juicy, followed by a gentle swirl of cinnamon sticks and a soft tobacco nuance as it settles. It’s soothing slightly powdery/dusty, and comforting, slightly boozy and surprisingly elegant. The plum and cinnamon notes stay rich and vibrant, lingering beautifully on the skin. They create a warm, seductive, and effortlessly alluring trail that just pulls you in. The tobacco note is sweet, more like fresh pipe tobacco leaf than anything harsh, perfectly blended and sitting softly in the background without ever overpowering the composition. It’s wonderfully unisex and absolutely office‐safe, managing to stay inviting without tipping into anything too gourmand or cloying. I’m really happy to have Forbidden Temptation in my collection and that new purple bottle design is downright adorable; it’s one of those bottles you actually want on display. Mine was produced in 12/2025, so I’m excited to let it macerate a bit and revisit once it’s had time to deepen and develop further.

Like a less refined plum in cognac by scents of wood. For the price though it’s a great alternative.