To Dupe Or Not To Dupe?
May 15th, 2007
By Tove Solander
Sometimes popular scents are imitated and the imitations sold cheaply under similar names. Sometimes great scents are imitated and the imitations sold expensively under completely different names. Today I’m writing about one case of the latter phenomenon. You may not agree the scents are practically dupes, and I don’t mean to accuse the niche houses in question of outright theft (I’m too postmodern to believe much in artistic originality anyway), but I know I’m not the only one to smell the similarities…
The first pair is the celebrated Parfum d’Empire Ambre Russe and Atelier d’Artiste from the infamous Nez à Nez. Here are the notes:
Ambre Russe: champagne, vodka, grey amber, incense, Russian tea, leather, cumin, cinnamon, coriander
Atelier d’Artiste: rum, cognac, black grape, cade, leaves of patchouli, roots of vetiver, raspberry, tobacco, coffee beans, vanilla, heliotrope, leather notes
Juxtaposing the notes like this I find to my surprise that they only have leather in common, but let’s roughly translate liquor with liquor, tea with coffee, and amber with the patchouli and vanilla combo. They’re both boozy, gourmandy orientals, full of adult treats.
The original: Well, you know this already, don’t you? Ambre Russe is such a great scent: deliciously gourmandy without being cloying, cozy without being boring, heavy on the amber without being a single note… It’s sweetly intoxicating, but saved from sugar hell by its powdery dryness. Dry ambers like this one remind me of desert sand and cookie crumbs, ever so slightly burnt. The leather is very subtle and refined, more like an added dryness which might honesty just as well be the tea note. Something in it is vaguely fruity to balance the dry notes; it reminds me of apple or tobacco or apple tobacco, but I’m guessing it might be the champagne.
The copy: In Atelier d’Artiste the balance is reversed. It has a similar ambery atmosphere, but the dryness is hidden underneath a hefty dose of anise/liquorice (the heliotrope?) and sugar, just like most of the line. Thankfully, I don’t get any berries. The leather is more pronounced and animalic like the manure note in Dzing! What else could you expect from an anything-but-subtle line like Nez à Nez? Dirty minded as I am I enjoy it. It’s what elevates this scent to something other than a poor Ambre Russe dupe. And better yet, the leather note evolves from downright dirty to cozy, old, worn leather. Pity there’s so much plasticky candy on top…
Entry Filed under: Guest Blogger, Smell-alikes
15 Comments Add your own
1. chayaruchama | May 16th, 2007 at 6:17 am
Tove, baby-
Plastic ?
YUCK !
Glad YOU sniffed it for me, you brave and brazen soul.
For a lovely not-really-dupe, $7.99 will buy you, at Whole Foods, Kuumba Made Amber Paste, which will make you drop dead in your tracks and see God.
Hope you are well, petunia mine !
[Kisses to Inochka]
2. Elle | May 16th, 2007 at 6:39 am
OK, clearly I need to give Atelier d’Artiste another try, if only to find the animalic manure note. The intense sweetness of those scents was so off putting for me, that I’m afraid I just abandoned them fairly early on.
3. Judith | May 16th, 2007 at 7:01 am
Well, I do remember that Atelier d’Artiste was the only one of these super-sweet scents I liked at all–and you have probably explained why–but I still wasn’t moved actually to wear it!
4. Marina | May 16th, 2007 at 7:05 am
Atelier was one of the samples that completely spilled in the package that nez a Nez sent me. All I could tell from sniffing the bottle was that the scent was extremely sweet.
Here is another dupe for you - Sensuelle Russie by Esteban. This one is duping Ambre Narguile.
5. Solander | May 16th, 2007 at 7:12 am
Chaya - I actually received the Amber paste in a swap, and then swapped it away again. I agree it’s a lovely amber scent so perhaps I made a big mistake… It was just a little overwhelming in its intensity and since it’s a paste I didn’t really know how to use it - dilute it? I can’t say I see any similarities to Ambre russe though, other than it being an amber scent.
I am well, but busy finishing a thesis (which I should be doing right now instead of this) and delivering newspapers each morning at 3… Except tomorrow morning which is a national holiday - I never thought the prospect of sleeping until 7 or 8 would seem like heaven to me!
Elle - I’m not so sure you need to. I didn’t notice the manure note either the first time I tried it, so perhaps it has aged well? The sweetness is still there though, nothing can be done about that… I like it well enough, but I understand those who don’t.
Judith - I have actually kept 4 of my samples, Bal musqué because of the skanky note (though it’s even sweeter!) and the 2 fig scents because their fig note weirdly reminds me of rhubarb, which I adore, instead of fig, which I’m very meh about. 1001 figues is a little similar to Brit Red to my nose…
6. Solander | May 16th, 2007 at 7:16 am
Marina - Pity that one spilled! If only it was Bouche baie instead… I guess you wouldn’t be overly impressed but I do think it’s the best they have to offer.
7. Leopoldo | May 16th, 2007 at 7:32 am
I skipped sniffing any of the Nez a Nez overloads after reading reviews. And for some reason, I can’t get Ambre Russe (me and my ambery issues…). Perhaps I’ll resniff - I want to find an amber I love.
8. Solander | May 16th, 2007 at 7:54 am
Lee - I’m sure you don’t have to lose any sleep over not having sniffed the Nez à Nez line…
About Ambre russe - ah well, everything can’t work for everybody. I don’t know what your ambery issues are, but perhaps you should try something drier still, something less boozy and gourmandy and overwhelming? Have you tried L’air du desert marocain?
9. pitbull friend | May 16th, 2007 at 10:40 am
Hey, Solander: I’m glad at least we are benefiting from your procrastination! I never would have associated these two with each other, but now will have to go sniff & find out. –Ellen
10. tmp00 | May 16th, 2007 at 11:33 am
I love Ambre Russe. Atelier d’Artiste had a great opening before it went horrifyingly sweet for me. It also had the best drydown of the line. It was that stage between first five minutes and last hour that put the kibosh on it for me.
11. Solander | May 16th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
pitbull friend - I recall someone (some blogger) compairing the two when the Nez à Nez line was newly released. Can’t remember who though…
Tom - It is indeed sweet, but I for one don’t mind the liquorice/anise. I may not think it’s a great idea to put in this particular scent, but I have no general problems with it… So many others have, so I guess part of the problem with NaN is the anise-like notes, not just the sugar.
12. Ina | May 16th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
Tove, my slogan of the day is - “Away With Dupes!” That said, I don’t particularly remember what Atelier d’Artiste smells like, other than overwhelmingly sweet. Ambre Russe is so perfect the way it is I’d hate to see it duped.
13. Solander | May 17th, 2007 at 5:37 am
Ina, It really is inimitable. I think cheaper dupes are ok (even if I’m not personally interested in them), they serve a purpose, but unacknowledged niche dupes that are just as expensive as or even more expensive than the original?
14. Leopoldo | May 17th, 2007 at 6:39 am
I love the Tauer one, but the amber is in the background, no? I think I just can’t do in-your-face amber. Though, I do remember quite liking the l’Artisan one when I tried it years ago, so will resniff sometime.
15. Solander | May 17th, 2007 at 10:27 am
Lee - For me the amber is quite pronounced in L’air, it’s what gives the scent that dry, hot quality of desert sand. I love my ambers like that! I have only sniffed L’artisan’s amber in candle form, and it was a little sweet and gourmandy for my taste. Perhaps that’s just the candle though… How about Ambre sultan?
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