Dollar Tree imitations

[The_Cologneist]

I dunno about you all, but my local Dollar Tree has a massive amount of knockoffs. Most of which are a brand called Jean Philippe Paris, I believe. Now I'm not really a fan of knock offs, but some can be knocked off very easily.. like Obsession and Eternity. Obviously I can't try all of these knock offs nor would I want to. But hey.. if we can do a thread on it to possibly single out which ones actually smell okay.. that would be fantastic.

Like I said I noticed their version of Obsession to be okay.. although it has sort of a milky touch to it. I found their version of Pleasures to actually be better than the original. Finally they have a version of Polo Explorer in which the juice inside is a crazy looking green, that's quite attractive -- the smell itself is what I found to be a more powerful Polo Explorer, and surprisingly, this one actually lasts for a little while.

-Obviously you're not gonna get the longevity and sillage of the originals, impressions usually focus more on just a layer of base notes rather than the 1-2-3 process. And usually their base notes are really what are meant to be top notes.. or you could say they just focus on the top notes and lack a middle and base - which primarily explains it's longevity issues.

[MFfan310]

I bought a Jean Phillipe A*Men designer knockoff from Dollar Tree once just to see what it was like. They're made by an Inter Parfums subsidiary (albeit in China from US aromachemicals as opposed to 100% France/US), so they're made by a reputable company... and hey, they're only a buck.

But I may have chosen the wrong fragrance to test-compare. Many here have said that A*Men would be hard to clone, and boy, were they right: This smelled more like Coppertone Water Babies sunscreen than A*Men. In fact, when my bottle of A*Men went off, it smelled rather close to what I remember the Dollar Tree impostor smelled like. I threw it in the trash quickly. Still, if you're low on money, buying one of these frags at Dollar Tree is a far better idea than buying counterfeits of questionable quality off sketchy sites at 20+ times the price...

[russnug]

I wouldn't put anything made in China on my skin. Their production of cosmetic product is dubious at best.

[Bigsly]

I tried the Lapidus type one and the drydown was quite nice, like a refined One Man Show. Next time I might buy a few, just for variety.

[Scentational]

There's a local store here which sells this kind of knockoffs, and I laughed my ass off when I see the names and the plagiarized bottles matching :
Allure --> Accent
Aramis --> Amoris
Hugo Boss --> Dany Dos
Acqua di Giò --> Acqua di Bello

A few years ago I bought the "Matcho" version, a knockoff of Le Mâle, but even if I never smelled the original one, the one I had smelled really chemical and since I read these knockoffs could being produced with hazardous materials, I'm not confident enough about them to try again.

[Bigsly]

If they were so hazardous, there should be people dying all over the place, considering how many outright fakes there are and that it's much more likely that the fakes have high levels of supposedly dangerous substances (as opposed to what is being legally sold in stores). It's too bad we don't have any agency, public or private, in the USA, that will do a study of some kind. How much could it cost to do this sort of experiment?

[Scentational]

Well, I wasn't mean "hazardous" in a fast lethal way, but you know... like asbestos there's maybe some particular materials that could favorize some cancer or other health problems if used over a long period of time, and we don't know it yet cause it wasn't studied or used enough. And that could happen even with the "real" fragrances, and I guess that's why IFRA is banning some materials.

[Bigsly]

Also consider all the substances in the old frags that are now banned because they are considered too dangerous. How many people who wore frags every day, any time between 1920 and 1990, for example, died because of it ?

[The_Cologneist]

I bought a Jean Phillipe A*Men designer knockoff from Dollar Tree once just to see what it was like. They're made by an Inter Parfums subsidiary (albeit in China from US aromachemicals as opposed to 100% France/US), so they're made by a reputable company... and hey, they're only a buck.

But I may have chosen the wrong fragrance to test-compare. Many here have said that A*Men would be hard to clone, and boy, were they right: This smelled more like Coppertone Water Babies sunscreen than A*Men. In fact, when my bottle of A*Men went off, it smelled rather close to what I remember the Dollar Tree impostor smelled like. I threw it in the trash quickly. Still, if you're low on money, buying one of these frags at Dollar Tree is a far better idea than buying counterfeits of questionable quality off sketchy sites at 20+ times the price...

Oh ya..I actually have the A*Men clone as well laying around somewhere. It's in like a more triangular bottle. Although I've never tried the real one yet, I found their version to have a nice smell. Nice for spraying the room for sure. But ya, you really can't beat the prices.. since all impostors use less quality ingredients.. ya might as well just spend a buck -- or save up for the real thing.

[Organic Panic]

Having extra pennies around I bought every one of the male fragrances of Jean Phillippe Out of the 15 or so, three are OK. IN order of 'bestness' (and I"m not judging the colognes, just the scent of the knockoff). Tommy for men was the best. Followed by the Lacost Essential knockoff, and finally, the Light Blud D&G knockoff.

The rest were unwearable messes. There is some kind of industrial smelling alcohol they use for these that I can't quite wrap my nose around. One smell is formaldehyde. The other smells like Thompson's water seal.

The ones that were almost tolerable were so short lived there was no hint of fragrance 15 minutes after the alcohol evaporated.

Maybe some of you find them enjoyable. Maybe I didn't give them enough time on my skin because they chemical smell was so overbearing. But if I had a choice of wearing these knockoffs from Dollar Tree or going without cologne, I would go without.

For a buck though it can be a cheap thrill. You won't be out too much money and who knows you might find one that works for you. With the powerful alcohol content you can use the juice as a fire starter if you can't stand it.

[Bigsly]

I have the Obsession one now also. It starts off with lavender, geranium, and spice, like Montana red box, and then changes significantly into a benzoin/amber/vanilla type base. I tried the women's Angel one and that was good, but I didn't get it because I didn't think I'd wear it more than once a years, because I've got similar ones I like better.

[The_Cologneist]

I found the men's Angel to be the longest lasting of the ones I've tried (I've tried about 10 or so of the JP brand) Obsession to me smelled ok but creamier which was interesting. Polo Explorer was a fun one to try, the super green liquid is fun to look at.. the smell itself smells 10 times heavier than the real thing but still maintains the Polo Explorer feeling (I actually enjoyed this one more than Explorer which seems like a very very light fragrance for something with pine/woods) The Light Blue knock off smelled pretty close to the real thing, I must agree.. but you can really smell the alcohol reeking out of that one. I also got an impression of CK Crave by them, it's strange to see something like that; nevertheless it smelled a little like Crave but more syrupy.. Crave is not exactly something that's clone worthy IMO. I have several others from their house, they're not bad and as Organic mentioned "a cheap thrill" Unless anybody makes a request, I don't think these are worthy of full reviews.

[man114]

To resurrect an old thread, I rarely go to Dollar Tree but every so often drop in to test the new knockoffs. Now they've got Jean Paul and Paco knockoffs.

I did buy a few bottles, at a $1 I can use them to freshen my car. I sprayed them on, one spray, about 2 hours ago. They seem to be holding up longevity wise decent enough for $1. I mean think about it, if you had use 1/4 of the bottle its still only $.25. The Angel knockoff seems like a half dozen sprays would last a good while. Same with the Paco. Jean Paul has run its course. They're far from identical, but you could burn through a quarter bottle at a time if thats what it took you to get through an 8 hour work day and you'd still probably come out ahead. They're not terribly bad. I wouldn't say they're true to the original but they are only $1, which in today's money is more than fair. I've always treated them as hey I'm going to work for a couple of hours and need something cheap, or I was in the yard all day long and I'm taking a run to the store and need something quick fragrances.

[hednic]

I got a few kicks from some of these. Nothing I would ever consider buying, however.

[manicboy]

The best one is the Paco Rabanne PH knock-off. Use to scent my bathroom.

[odioustoilet]

You B'Noters mention Jean Phillipe but another one I seem to come across EVERYWHERE now is JORDACHE.........ack!
I've come across this once mainstream fashion brand name at dollar stores and all over ebay.

Poor Jordache, they were big in the 70's & 80's now its name is being used to push flea market knock-offs!

[BrianH1016]

I bought the JP knockoff of Cool Water awhile back at Dollar Tree. It's actually fairly true to the original, but doesn't last very long at all. But Cool Water is my all time favorite fragrance, so I use it to spray around the house as an air & fabric refresher. And I also put it on when I go out to mow or work in the yard.

It's a good deal to use as a Cool Water air/fabric refresher. I think I'll pick up a couple more & try them. I may try the Polo Black knockoff next.

Oh, on a related note, Dollar General is selling an Axe type body spray that's a knockoff of Acqua Di Gio. I can't remember the name, but they have the ADG one & one that's a takeoff on Fierce. They smelled pretty good & would work well to layer with those two fragrances.

[pimiento]

A friend gave me the jean phillip paris version of CK one which i don't love to begin with but it was awful IMO

[Geektracker]

I used a whole bottle of "My version of Polo by Ralph Lauren" from DollarTree. I also use Gucci aftershave. People have told me that I always smell fresh when they hug me. Not sure if it's the after shave or the fake Polo.


But, I like it. Saves a lot of money and since it doesn't last long, you can't put too much.

[shamu1]

I recently bought Jordache's version of Quorum from Dollar Tree. Oh my god, that stuff reeks. It smells nothing like Quorum, but rather like lemon scented Palmolive dishwashing liquid. It's not even worth the one dollar I paid for it. And I do wear knockoff frags!

[Bigsly]

The Ladipus Pour Homme reminded me of a dilute One Man Show (just a little) but the Paco Rabanne Pour Homme is quite good. Harsh top, and then a couple good hours.

[dampier]

I decided to poke around and learn more about the dollar store fragrances. It turns out Jean Philippe Fragrances is just one division of the wholesale knockoff factory of Interparfums, Inc. They have licensed the Jordache brand (which shows how little cachet that brand has left these days), among others, including:

Intimate, Royal Platinum, Johnson Parker, Tristar, Elite, and Aziza

The entire line of Jordache/Jean Philippe fragrances seem designed for dollar stores and flea markets. They are sold in enormous pallets and the best wholesale prices can be had when a buyer agrees to fill a standard sea-bound shipping container (about the size of a semi-trailer container) where they run about $0.64 each. Most flea market sellers seem to buy these wholesale in much smaller quantities for $0.99 each, so they might as well buy them off the shelf at DT. The suggested resale price is $3.99 (ripoff).

You can browse the entire current selection here: http://jeanphilippefragrances.com.p8...che_fragrances

Hilariously, the current woman's fragrance from co-brand Tristar is "Corset."

Also amusing is Elite's Yacht Club Blue and Arctic Blue, which tells you just how frakin' trendy the cool water scents remain. Others include: Carla Ferrara, Chic, Aqua Dino, Show, Uno, Possession, Ice Gems, Forever, and Dakota.

Some of these have gone over the top, but they don't beat the funniest knockoffs I have found in some Chinese retail stores which included a Tim McGraw-ripoff called McGruff (Who knew the crime dog had his own scent!) and Chinglish grammar screwup "Old Spic" which was obviously an Old Spice ripoff except the sailboat was replaced with a Chinese junk.