Baccarat Rouge 540

Maison Francis Kurkdjian's Baccarat Rouge 540 built a cult following on an unusual pairing of saffron, jasmine and ambergris that reads sweet, mineral and faintly smoky all at once, with sillage strong enough to fill a room for ten-plus hours. Clean Shaven's version captures the recognisable saffron-amber opening and enough of the sweet, resinous cedar in the base to be identifiable as a nod to the original from across a room in the first hour or two. What it can't replicate at this price is the extraordinary diffusion and the way genuine BR540 seems to bloom rather than fade - the dupe reads flatter and more linear, settling into a soft amber-sweet skin scent well before real Baccarat Rouge hits its stride. Worth trying if you want a taste of the phenomenon without the luxury price tag, but expect a few hours of presence rather than the original's legendary all-day trail.