Great Fondness

Great Fondness opens fresh and green - petitgrain and bergamot setting a crisp citrus tone before the flowers arrive. The heart is the heart of it: a luminous trio of orange blossom, neroli and prominent jasmine, clean and elegant rather than heady. A vetiver base lends a bold, slightly earthy-green grounding that keeps the florals from turning sweet. Against the Kilian original the dupe reads a touch flatter and less refined: the beautifully clean, classy dry-down that fans praise is simplified, and the moderate longevity is trimmed further. It wears as an elegant, unisex floral-woody - bright and easy across spring and summer, suited to casual days, the office and daytime dates. Projection is modest and longevity skin-close after the opening hours, the usual budget trade against the variable but often long-lasting original. As a smell-alike it captures the fresh jasmine-neroli-vetiver character of Do It For Love while losing some of the polish and tenacity.