Recently a post went up on the CWS forum from the Red Island Shaver looking for Creed Aventus inspired options that might not break the bank. Like many before him, he was PIFed (pay it forward) a sample of Creed Aventus and really enjoyed it, or more accurately, his wife REALLY enjoyed it. The big problem with that, the suggested retail price for a 120ml flask (quoted from creedboutique.com) is $455US. That buys one a lot of shave soap.
I too was PIFed a Creed Aventus EDT sample. I don’t typically wear a lot of cologne. It is a no go at work, and I guess you would say, I don’t get out much 😛 I did really like this sample. I also happened to have previously acquired a couple of Aventus inspired soap/splash combos which I also really like. To me, I’ve found them to be similar. The RazoRock Emperor is one of my favourite soaps. I picked up the soap, splash and the matching cologne. I also had a sample of Stirling Soap Executive Man and a bottle of the matching splash. I find it very nice, but to my nose, it is different than the Emperor out of the bottle.
So I figured, since I have the real deal and 2 *inspired by* set ups, I’d try to do a bit of a blind test to compare the 3 and see which stood out and compared favorably. So I took 3 cards, lettered them, and hit them with the Aventus, Emperor Splash, and Executive Man Splash. I did a quick smell test myself (obviously not blind). To my nose I figured out a couple things: 1: all 3 are awesome and 2: close enough. lol
I then went to the real authority in my house, my wife. She handled the blind test. I passed her the three cards and asked her to rank her favourites, tell me how alike they are, and which ones are most alike. After a few smell tests, with some resets in the middle, here are her conclusions:
A: Stirling Soaps Executive Man B: Creed Aventus C: Razorock Emperor
- she thought all 3 scents were very nice. all are winners
- B had some similarities with A & C, but was still very unique
- A & C were similar
- B was her clear favourite
- if forced to rank the other two, she would say B – A – C
So, if you are following along, they means Aventus was the clear winner (expensive taste, should I be surprised?) and didn’t pass the match test. Executive Man and Emperor were close and both winners, just not the match I was hoping for. Either would make good additions to your den and are worth a try, but if you are looking for an Aventus clone and have a refined sense of smell, this might not work for you as a match.
I’ve heard of a couple other products like Fine Platinum and Insurrection II Pure For MEN by Reyane that are inspired-by options that are close. If I get my hands on them, I’ll do a repeat test and see what I find. How about you, what are your thoughts on the Aventus inspired colognes? Any you recommend giving a try?
