if you like scents like A*Men and dislike the heavy handed use of patchouli, tar and powdery notes of chocolate in A*Men, then Byblos is a pretty good alternative.
Overall, it comes across very differently than A*Men. for eg. Byblos Cielo opens with very soft and couldy notes of Vanilla with hints of coconut milk and white florals. by mids caramel adds to the creaminess and makes this one really smooth. Mids to basenotes exudes one of best interpretations of Patchouli to be found in designer fragrances. i mean it's totally niche quality.
Although i could draw parallels to A*Men, i would say, this has a very different mood and approach. in the sense, it comes across as very airy, soft and the loght florals give it a "white" touch..unlike A*men which comes across as brown (to me). and on it's own, it's a very well constructed scent which doesnt come across as chemical stu or synthetic milk-shake. on the contrary, it smells divine right till the end.
it comes in two versions, one is a very cheesy lookin bottle (as pictured) and there is another version (second pic) it was orignally released as a set of 8 fragrances Terra, Mare, Cielo, Ghiaccio and Fuoco, Brezza and Uragano. the names are in italian and supposeldy mean earth, sea, sky(cielo) etc etc.
if you are looking for a really well contructed scent(gourmand), with excellent staying power and good feel in terms of the quality of ingredients/composition then, look no further.
