SO.... Here is an update on my SHEIN purchase of Creed Oud Zarian... It's fake. Several other friends, some other harsher Redditors, and my fragrance guy were able to do 2nd looks and it appears to be a really good dupe, including the inserts. The giveaway is the stem the cap sits on. That was something I didn't think of or show my "researchers." That's the tell. I'm not a ego-driven member of this group, so I can admit to being duped and learn from it (the Redditor group I was in and a few others- are some really harsh critics. Tough voices, but I do feel educated). Although honestly, It's still a very strong clone and I absolutely love it; not an original, just damn good with the same performance strength and sillage. BUT... where is the WIN & GRATITUDE fit in on this whole thing? YOU. You're the win for me, as well as the gratitude. I feel that although it's not authentic, it's the experience of sharing this with you and knowing that although it's questionable, I didn't sit on it after presenting it to you all OR ignore the text messages I got from a few friends after a second look. The Win- you all care enough to cheer me on with what I thought was a great deal. Some of you questioned it and it allowed me to be open to a second look myself. The Gratitude- same as the aforementioned, but it goes further in knowing I walk away smarter from this AND I got a damn good dupe, as well as some education on the mechanics of atomizers and how Creed's is different. The batch numbers may look the same, but that atomizer stem, the shrink wrap... I'm smarter with knowledge of Creed now than I was yesterday. That's because of you all who responded to the posts. Thank you.

Well gents, im gonna end up wearing whatever I want anyways, but i do appreciate the collective wisdom of the group. I have a 1st date with a very attractive 28 yr old university student tomorrow. She's more of a country girl, than city. She asked me out because "the city boys dont get it, and she prefers a country gentleman". Shes from my area, but temporarily living away for school... this is the 5th attempt Lots of wild fire smoke in the air. Temperatures around 32C (89.6F). Most likely a patio dinner, drinks, walk, etc. Eventually i will get called to work and it will end. So which frag to choose (i honestly haven't decided yet)

Got a solid spray to the hand at Macys, which is plenty to get a sense for it. My first reaction: Meh. It’s just meh. The good: it’s pleasant and it actually projects fairly well, I have been catching pleasant whiffs of it for a few hours now. And the woody, powdery vanillic drydown is pleasant. And… that’s all I can really say. The bad: I can’t really say there’s anything bad about it either (although there is a sharpness at the open, probably from violet leaf, that I don’t care for). This to me is just a very pleasant, super mass appealing sweet smooth lavender floral vanilla. To my taste it’s actually very unisex, like straight down the middle. Pretty light on the cardamom & leather and so it’s light enough that I think this can be used safely in all but hot summer days. I honestly don’t see this being the next big thing for Armani - there are of tons of sweet lavender vanilla aromatic choices eg in the BIR line, Invictus Victory and 1 million and Phantom line, Bad Boy line, Gisada Gold, even Ferragamo F Black all coming to mind. I’m not saying all those smell alike or that this smells like those, more that my first impression was oh man this is kind of like things I’ve smelled so many times before and this isn’t so great that it stands out from them, at least to me anyway. Not that the SWY line was groundbreaking or anything, but when I sniff things from that line, I don’t think oh this is similar to so many other things I’ve smelled before (except of course the dozen other SWY flankers lol). I guess what I’m trying to say is the SWY line has some character that I think this release is lacking. I’m honestly a little disappointed, to me this isn’t even decant worthy to test further. But hey, this is just my opinion - go out and sample it for yourself, let me know if you think I need to give this another chance!