How Close Do the Knock Offs Get to the Originals?

I have to wonder how much of the cost of a lady's or gentleman's high end scent goes into the fancy bottle it is packaged in.

I have to wonder how much of the cost of a lady's or gentleman's high end scent goes into the fancy bottle it is packaged in.

Also the marketing, fold out scents in magazines and tv commercials = $$$

I have to wonder how much of the cost of a lady's or gentleman's high end scent goes into the fancy bottle it is packaged in.

Also the marketing, fold out scents in magazines and tv commercials = $$$

I'm not going to lie...I always sniff the scents in the magazines. I get a monthly magazine from wired and it almost always has a fold out scent in it.

A lot of it is just paying the perfumer to know how to be a perfumer. Much like the cost of going to the doctor and being told you have a virus. What you're paying for is for the doctor to be there and know his stuff.

As for the knockoffs - I haven't tried a lot, but I find that it varies. Some are great, some are close enough that if you like the original you'll like the dupe, but you know it's not real. Some are pretty close to spot on. A lot of it comes down to how talented the person doing the duplicating is. One of my scent suppliers sells a dupe of Terre d'Hermes that's spot on as far as I can tell. But the same people make a classic Polo dupe that's just "pretty darn close."

A lot of it is just paying the perfumer to know how to be a perfumer. Much like the cost of going to the doctor and being told you have a virus. What you're paying for is for the doctor to be there and know his stuff.

As for the knockoffs - I haven't tried a lot, but I find that it varies. Some are great, some are close enough that if you like the original you'll like the dupe, but you know it's not real. Some are pretty close to spot on. A lot of it comes down to how talented the person doing the duplicating is. One of my scent suppliers sells a dupe of Terre d'Hermes that's spot on as far as I can tell. But the same people make a classic Polo dupe that's just "pretty darn close."

Yes, true. The Fine L'Orange Noir is a note for note replica of Terre. The Platinum, now that I've smelled it next to the original Aventus, is quite close. The clone of Guerlain Vetiver--I forget which Fine it is--is miles off. I've only recently gotten interested in knock offs, through my interest in shaving. I hadn't realized that many of the artisans are trying to make knock offs. Of course, the artisans are trying to replicate the most popular fragrances. I doubt we'll get a knock off of, say, Yatagan or Poivre Samarcande. A little too off the mainstream. 

For some reason, though I would never wear a fake Rolex (or, really, any Rolex) or carry a fake Pelikan fountain pen, I don't mind wearing a knock off fragrance, and, strangely, feel oddly virtuous for having saved the money. I think I feel the fragrance industry is ripping us off with the lab-made scents that are inexpensive to make but marked up extravagantly. Not that Pelikan isn't doing something similar, but it seems different somehow with an object I can hold in my hand and see that it was made in Germany of France or anywhere but China, with a nib that's made of gold and took a little doing to get right. I never said I was logical or consistent. 

Just ordered Cuba Gold which is supposed to be very similar to JPG Le Male

I prefer the term "inspired by ..."

I think the big perfume houses are phenomenally over-priced. Largely, you're paying for the name, same as jeans, and absolutely no guarantee of quality over any other product in the same market. Similar scent from a cheaper source will do perfectly.

Agreed.  If you enjoy paying for the name and all the marketing expense go for it.  I'm with PJGH in that I haven't used a lot of these pricier scents so I'm not looking for a cheaper alternative.  I enjoy the value that these products bring and if I buy them and enjoy them having never used the product they are inspired by then what am I loosing out on if they hit the mark for me.

I noticed that a lot of the artisans are offering replications of pricey scents at bargain rates. Fine Accoutrements, for example, has endeavored to reproduce famous fragrances in each of its aftershaves (SnakeBite excluded). Fine's L'Orange Noir is, to my nose, a dead ringer for Terre D'Hermes, which it's a knockoff of. Fine's Clean Vetiver, which is supposed to be a knockoff of Guerlain's Vetiver, is a big miss for me. Fine's Platinum is an Aventus clone but, having just smelled Creed Aventus, I find the Fine version close (now that the Aventus has dried down and had time to set) but I'm unsure how close--have to smell them side by side.

So I'm asking. What is your experience with knockoffs approximating the originals? From an ethical standpoint, I have no issue buying Joe's Acqua di Parrrrrmaaaa if it smells just like the original and costs a fraction of the price. So many of the pricey fragrances are marked up so astronomically that it's disgraceful. But I'd rather save and get the original if Joe's version is an olfactory shadow.

You are spot on that Fine's L'Orange Noir is a dead ringer of Terre d'Hermes. I actually bought Terre d'Hermes after I discovered it through Fine Accoutrements. This is why I don't have a problem with purchasing a knock of aftershave. If I want to smell like that the entire day, I buy a matching cologne and everybody wins.

Generally, the knock offs don't last as long and don't have the same dry down scent as the originals. The originals tend to have more costly ingredients such as oakmoss extract that helps the scent to linger. I learned this from YouTube so don't accept this as gospel.

There ok but can't be the original