Craze for Men
Armaf

The notes, top, middle and base , are identical for Craze and for PDM’s Pegasus. But there has to be a difference, surely? Today on Amazon I see Pegasus at £299 and Craze at £26. So can they be identical? Well, yes and no.
From memory, the opening heliotrope and bergamot of the Pegasus come across less harshly than in the Armaf opening, but that said, only the most finely developed nostrils could claim to register offending differences come the dry-down.
What both fragrances offer is a truly glorious phantasmagoria of accords that brighten the dullest day. With heliotrope, lavender and vanilla well to the fore, the scent could risk being overly floral, but with bitter almond, amber and sandalwood pinning the whole together, the result is one of the best amber fougeres around. A joy to pick-up in the mornings. One which hangs around me for the best part of the day with a sillage that hangs around in my office lift for a fair time, too. And at a tenth of the price of Pegasus!

Armaf's PdM Pegasus clone. I haven't tried Pegasus. But I was intrigued at the bitter almond/vanilla/amber combo so gave this one a shot.

Out of the gate, bright and metallic with a strong blast of alcohol, which almost immediately gives way to that bitter almond. I could do without the metallic component honestly, but after 15-20 minutes that mostly (not totally) transforms into the florals of jasmine and heliotrope. Those florals are both wonderful compliments to the almond. Heliotrope tends to bounce around between vanilla and almond on its own, sometimes even branching into cherry. Here it bolsters the vanilla and almond and really helps push them, while the jasmine rounds it all out. I am not getting the bergamot.

Wrapping all this up is a nice powdery veil of vanilla and amber. And as it dries down to a skin scent (which takes a very long time on my skin - 3 hours at least) - sandalwood joins the amber with its powdery richness. The almond note never leaves and is obviously the star of this long-lasting show.

This isn't a scent that I find altogether pleasant when I dig my nose into it, especially for the first half-hour or so - but the projection/sillage on this stuff is truly amazing. I have already received two compliments of the "ooh, you smell nice" variety, so I think the trail that Craze leaves more than makes up for the abrasive skin scent. That pungent, cloying metallic note seems only to exist on the skin, not in the air. Later in the wearing, I get whiffs of myself and they make me smile - it's a comforting, cozy, rich (and very sweet) scent. Probably best suited to the colder months, but I could see it working on cooler spring and summer days and nights as well. Seems versatile enough for most occasions - from home, to date, to club.

Overall I'm quite pleased. The scent is good, longevity seems good, and the projection/sillage and compliment factor is out of this world. For the price, unless you or your skin do not favor sweet/gourmand almond/vanilla - this is a no-brainer. If you're on the fence with those accords - maybe grab a sample of PdM Pegasus. Everything I've seen/read says this clone might be the closest yet. If you like it, save yourself a whole lot of money and grab the Armaf.

A note about the bottle: it's terrible. Too wide to be a comfortable grab-spray-and-go. The shiny, mirrored top is a fingerprint magnet and breaks apart easily, and the atomizer on the bottle I got was misaligned and shot juice into the outer part of the atomizer rather than onto me. I fixed that, now it's fine, and the atomizer is performing decently. The faux leather belt that 'squeezes' the bottle doesn't bother me, but screams gimmicky and cheap rather than quality, and when the juice is quality, you'd think someone would have classed this up a bit.

Thankfully, the juice is quality. I should add that this $25-$35 wonder is an eau de parfum!! Very rare.

I am apparently one to make a specific distinction between a "knock-off" and a 'clone'. A knock off watch is a cheap imitation Rolex bought commonly right on the street, whereas a clone would be a known watchmaker's 'homage' to rolex that is available from proper retail channels. Armaf is in this case in the latter category of a reputable clone house tackling Parfums De Marly's Pegasus with this fragrance they named Craze.

Craze for men stays true to the notes listed. I think it is the way the heliotrope and bergamot lead to the almond, lavender and sage that create this sophisticated clovey-licoricey-almond that is intoxicatingly beautiful.

It has good power and longevity so spray light if you are going to wear this as an office scent as you will be toeing the fine line between brash and unique vs brash and obnoxious. I think it would work excellently as a 'clubber' and even though it's niche influences make it less targeted to the very young or old and very much suited for the 25-35 crowd it is not exclusively so and I intend to wear this plenty.
Thumbs up for Craze, another affordable Armaf to crave!

Armaf Craze is a nice sweet gourmand type of fragrance. It opens with a warm vanilla note, the sandalwood gives a nice masculine accord to the opening. As the fragrance begins to dry-down the very nice almond, like a sweet almond biscotti, begins to emerge. Later in the dry-down some more floral notes begin to come through, very nice heliotrope, and the jasmine in the background. After a few hours on the skin I can detect the cumin, it provides a light spiciness, seemingly to elevate the composition a little. Armaf Craze is well blended, interesting and enjoyable. It is a very bold scent, and perhaps a bit too bold for my personal liking, however I think many younger men would enjoy it. Craze reminds me of the bold type of sexy scents that you may catch at an Indian nightclub or a Lebanese wedding reception. Performance wise this has great longevity, to the extent that this strong, sweet scent may outstay its welcome and if over sprayed could easily become cloying. Craze lasts all day on my skin and projects beyond arm length to leave a noticeable sillage trail. Overall I think it is a good fragrance but one that I would consider very carefully where and when I would wear it. But for a younger man who wants a good clubbing/party fragrance, perhaps something that would be a sexy attention grabber in a boisterous social setting then I think Armaf Craze would be a good option. I'm certainly glad that I've tried it, and I'm sure I'll find occasion to enjoy wearing it again.

Armaf Craze is essentially a clone of Parfums de Marly Pegasus, with its signature sweet-and-sharp almond-dominant delivery, also containing mixed florals, citruses, spices, and a creamy based of sandalwood, vanilla, and amber. It doesn't come off terribly floral but surely has a mixed sweet, spicy, woody, and powdery blend, not at all atypical of almond-heavy fragrances. It's not controversial, but is still interesting, a cold weather option that walks the line between playful and serious.

It performs reasonably well, comparable to the original based on my recollection, and I'd certainly suggest that fans of Pegasus looking for a cheaper option at least look into it, as Pegasus tends to be $150+ for a 125ml bottle, even on the grey market. I purchased a 100ml bottle of Craze on FragranceBuy.Ca at around $23 US, so at that price, it's a bargain even for those like me that aren't dazzled by its scent. It's decent but not outstanding to me, something nice to spray on a cooler day, but it could be the answer to Pegasus' fans prayers as a cheaper alternative or stop gap.

6 out of 10

Has the same powdery, clean, sweet vanilla-almond smell that you also get from Pegasus. I wore them on opposite arms today at work and I find Crave to be very similar in development and performance to Peg with Craze maybe being a little more airy with regards to smell. This is a safe blind buy in my opinion, especially if you like Pegasus.