OK guys, I have to be realistic here. First of all I am not a competitor to Perfumecrush, I sell phone systems for my living:)
I bought two perfumes from perfumecrush.com, Azzaro Onyx and Jaguar Black. nicely packed and delivered to me by BLUEDART. All appeared well and good outside. opened the first packet named’Azzaro Onyx’, (read, it is labelled Azzaro Onyx), sprayed the perfume on a piece of clean white paper, and tried to catch those opening notes after I let the paper dry out for a minute. I was like.hmm.did I miss something?.ok.it may be this overcooked kerala fish curry spoiling the entire perfume experience, do decided to wait for mid notes and finishing notes. well nothing so far. this time I couldn’t blame fish curry though:)
being a frequent traveler, I used to buy perfumes from duty free shops. none of the duty free shops sell fake perfumes to my knowledge(India, UAE, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Qatar, Bahrain. those are the areas I travel in asia). Yes, I have seen some cheap perfumes in Dubai duty free, hey. but those are original cheap perfumes, not fake ones. So the point is, pretty much I know what exactly I am talking about. believe me, I know what I get for what I pay:). My main reference guide is review forums like https://fragrantica.com. BTW, fragrantica.com reviews are close to expertise, they go detail. read them.
I couldn’t find any of those particulars explained in fragrantica reviews with this perfume bottle I am holding! exactly after 30 minutes I started getting this cheap soapy/powdery smell, that you usually get from perfume bottles of street vendors in Mumbai, Dubai and Kuala Lumpur. you know what I mean, no matter what bottle you pick from them, most of them has same price and same irritating powdery smell. I started leaning towards the point "money wasted". But still looking at all those positive reviews about this website on MS, I decided to be 100% correct before I make a claim/blame. called-up a friend in Safilo-italia(safilo italia is owner of leading luxury brands you know, Google them), he asked me to send pictures of package and bottle. he cross-checked with someone working in Azzaro, and confirmed it is fake. I didn’t follow-up to further details, since my contact is very busy and I am thankful to him for the help. non-stop cheap soapy/powdery smell from my side table reminded my mind to believe this is fake, and not pursue further investigation:)
While rotating and thinking(sure thinking about wasted money) the package in my hand, I noticed someone in a review mentioned that this perfume is labelled’Azzaro Onyx’ in USA and Canada, ’Silver Black’ in other countries. The packages I received is labelled’Azzaro Onyx’. I am not sure, this may be the reason my Azzaro contact immediately decide this is a fake one? I dont know. wish whatsapp had a special mechanism to transport perfume smells:)
Later I went for a shower, decided to test’jaguar black’ in my skin direct, believe me its the same sh*t. but small difference is there, Azzaro Onyx cheap powdery smell vanished after 1 hour time, but the Jaguar black cheap powdery smell stays there even after 2 hours. well with jaguar it is not the cheap powdery smell, this is like .hmm. u know that old scented fabric softner smell. I dont know how to explain:) anyways I decided to keep both. jaguar black I will gift to the tea-boy where I work(many times he asked for one), Azzaro Onyx might help my neighbor while he wash his dog cage(if the dog is fine with that(:).
will I buy those brands again: Yes, but from a genuine outlet.
Will I buy any perfume from perfumecrush.com: NO.
Do I recommend perfumecrush.com to anyone: NO.
Do I need a refund/replacement form perfumecrush: NO
Again, this is not meant to ruin their business, nor to tarnish promoters of the website. they might’ve sold genuine perfumes to others, but my experience is different. As a consumer, I do have my rights, and I wanted to express concerns over the quality of the products I received, sold as counterfeit to me, without mentioning that they are selling fake products to me.
Regards
Mohamed Thayeeb
Kochi