Imitation Man
Amouage (2018)

Bottle and box...among the most powerful of Amouage... They accurately portray this perfume, a 3-4 decade old leather chypre walking down a street lit by neon signs. If I had to describe it in one word, I would say "VIVID".
It is very complex. The constant turmoil and shift of the dominant scent fully justify the name IMITATION. From the sprayer, when I smelled it for the first time, I recognized the iris, identical to the one from Opus V, which somehow connects the two perfumes. Cool and fresh iris. The pepper in the opening quickly calms down for me, that iris falls into the background, and the main character is taken over by leather, a strong floral vibe of rose, a metallic vibe of violet and a dirty base of vetiver and patchouli with a hint of animality, which gives a special dimension to this perfume. It is very difficult to determine who plays the main role, because those few notes are constantly changing, overpowering and supplementing. Sometimes it's sharp leather, sometimes fresh hot rose, sometimes metallic violet, sometimes a hint of vetiver, and underneath it all, in the background, cool iris is patiently lurking on a dirty animal base. Amouage, sit 10!

This is a very enjoyable dark brooding almost like a Gothic kinda vibe.
Herbal, and animalic, all the notes are blended very well and to my nose give off like a black liquorice vibe, which I find very enjoyable. But this is far from Mass pleasing but deffo worth a try.
I own quite a few Amouage and I rate this amongst my top 6.
Not everyone will appreciate this tho.


Overall Scent 9.5-10
Performance 8.5-10
Silage 7.9-10

Another solid and bold scent.

The opening is combining pepper, nutmeg and a good lashing of orris as the main ingredients, but all this spice mix is brightened up a bit by an undercurrent of cedrat lemon. Talking about these spices: together they result in quite an original impression, and compliment each other quite well.

The drydown rolls on the floral brigade, with rose, violet and whiffs of iris being the main suspects here. That said, neither of them stand out as particularly remarkable, and the rose in particular is a bit on the plain side.

The most interesting parts of the base are the arrivals of a pleasant and soft myrrh - more herbal than spicy on me - as well as a soft suede note that accompanies it. The equally non-harsh added components of castoreum and patchouli - both can have much more edge and sharpness that they develop here - set the scents for a final that is a potpourri of gentle spices, which is given additional depths by a dark vetiver conclusion.

I get moderate sillage, very good projection and six hours of longevity on my skin.

This autumnal creation does not display the richness of certain other creations of this house, but it displays some originality, and it is crafted well. Nothing spectacular, but solid and with truly interesting phases. 3/5.

This is an amazing fragrance and one that I had to own. I have a few fragrances that are exuberant or flamboyant in some way so Imitation Man provides some elegance and peace. I find this to be a versatile fragrance for any season or occasion. It is primary leather and floral without seeming like a generic leather scent. This has good projection, sillage, and longevity. Those around me seem less impressed by this one, but to me, it is refined and understated yet still worthy of the value and opulence that Amouage demands.

Whereas Imitation Woman is a party in a bottle, Imitation Man plays it comparatively safe, giving us an ultra-smooth orris-leather with a sweetening dose of rose up top. There's nothing to dislike about these things, the refinement is at the upper reaches of the scale, and those who have fallen hard for orris-heavy scents like Dior Homme should definitely give this a try, but I feel, that despite its beauty, Imitation Man offers me too little by way of a twist or that something extra for me to part with my cash. The closest it comes to perfume magic is a sensation in the heart phase of the notes turning almost liquid, like a distillate of something pleasingly alcoholic that just happens to be scented with orris, leather and rose. As is sometimes the case with Amouage's paired releases, the women's version is gutsier, a suggestion a shop assistant took great exception to when I was trying this one out, insisting it was a bad-boy leather. It's not; it's pretty damn good; it's not unusual.

Beautiful leather fougere fragrance with great projection and longevity. Doesn't remind me of this house, I would have associate this with a Clive Christian scent albeit the final stages of the dry down comes across as somewhat synthetic.

Not as animalic as other leather scents I've used in the past, but use sparingly as a little goes a long way.