False Display

False Display opens on a plume of olibanum - dry, churchy frankincense - with a green angelica edge, setting up the incense-forward character that defines Givenchy's Faux Semblant. The heart is the interesting part: orange blossom and honey lend a slightly skanky, animalic sweetness that tangles with patchouli, Spanish labdanum and amber, building the big amber 'fug' the original is known for. It dries down to white sandalwood and oud, woody and resinous. Faux Semblant is dark, complex and uber-classy with six-to-twelve-hour longevity and strong early sillage; this dupe captures the silhouette - incense up top, honeyed floral skank in the middle, woody-oud base - but renders it a touch flatter and sweeter, with the refined incense and oud simplified and projection kept closer to the skin. It is unmistakably a cold-weather, after-dark scent: rich, smoky and grown-up, best saved for evenings, dates and formal occasions when its amber-woody depth has room to unfurl.