Reflection 45 Man
Extrait, Amouage (2021)

I like the original Reflection Man as it was pleasant and fresh but it was also a little too thin and metallic. This 45 version is richer, darker, and sweeter while still maintaining that airy, metallic feel. It is vastly improved over the original in that sense because it needed some added depth. Both suffer from a value proposition as Reflection Man smells like it should be priced at a decent designer level and 45 smells like it should for normal Amouage pricing. However, on smell alone, 45 is fantastic and the easy choice of the two.

Some similar fragrances to compare (outside of the original) would be PdM Pegasus and Tauer L'Air des Alpes Suisses, but I prefer Reflection 45 Man to both of those. 45 is the more wearable, less abrasive of any of the previously mentioned scents.

Projection is pretty good but not massive. Longevity is excellent with the higher oil concentration, lasting into the next day.

Reflection 45 Man opens with a camphorous lavender and pine-like juniper tandem with very faint underlying bitter-orange neroli support before gradually transitioning to its heart. As the composition enters it early heart the camphorous lavender remains, now joined by musky aromatic angelica and astringent myrrh as co-stars, with dry sandalwood rising from the base in support. During the late dry-down the perfume eschews most of its earlier aromatics, leaving remnants of the dry sandalwood to meld with mild cedar as the new focal duo, with sanitized patchouli support through the finish. Projection is excellent to outstanding, and longevity outstanding at around 20 hours on skin.

Amouage has been all over the map in recent years, with most of its recently prolific output frankly disappointing. Gone are the days where brilliant offerings like Dia Man and Jubilation XXV (not to mention sublime attars) were the types of perfumes one could look forward to when new releases were gradually announced. That said, one of the early days' weakest offerings was Reflection Man. Of all the compositions for Amouage to slightly re-imagine with an extrait concentration it would have probably been near the bottom of my list of wants (or lack thereof as the case may be). Alas, Amouage decided on churning out Reflection 45 Man. While the choice of perfume is unfortunate, I hoped going in to be pleasantly surprised... Now having worn Reflection 45 a few times, I can honestly say that the re-imagining of the previously fresh and pleasant smelling, but wholly forgettable original perfume does add in some wrinkles to the boring formula to distinguish the new release from its predecessor like the focal camphorous lavender and astringent myrrh, but the fresh overall character of the former release still is at "45's" core. Now, the composition is a bit less pleasant smelling, but equally "just good enough" to make the grade and again unimpressive (though admittedly the late woody dry-down smells quite nice). The bottom line is the $500 per 100ml extrait bottle Reflection 45 Man adds a few new wrinkles to the original's benign formula while ratcheting up performance metrics, but alas, like the prior release that kind of smelled good but never merited buying or wearing ever again, "45" gives a similar indifferent feeling until the all too late finish, earning an above average 2.5 to 3 stars out of 5 rating and a neutral recommendation to all except fans of the former release that have an extra $500 to burn.