Are Match Fragrances Any Good? And are they really a cheaper option to the real deal?
Match Fragrances are a copycat fragrance brand. The company specialises in creating aftershaves and perfumes that smell like high-end, expensive products without a big price tag. This brand is based in the UK. As a business idea, Match Fragrances are not the first company to try and be a clone. Creating discount versions of expensive fragrances is common. As clones go, this isn’t a particularly special brand. There are definitely better clones out there, and it shows. It’s not that the company doesn’t have a good range or doesn’t try - of course, it does - but the inescapable issue comes from the challenges of trying to replicate high-street smells. You either get it right, or you don’t, and this is the latter.
Products We Liked: DS, 540, Lost Cherry Dupes We Really Didn't Like: Aventus, Spicebomb We generally recommend either CopyCat or Essence Vault for better quality dupes than those made by Match Fragrances. With CopyCat having a better mens offering and Essence Vault for women.
So, when we set out to rank or review a clone fragrance website, it’s important to look at objective criteria. First of all, is the brand value for money? How much do you get for your cash? How effective are the fragrances on offer? How much do they resemble the original product that they are copying? Match Fragrances does okay in this regard. The value of money isn’t bad. You wind up paying about £35 for a large bottle. That’s not so bad, but when you consider the massive price jump that happens each time you change sizes, it does stack up. Regarding authenticity, it’s important to remember what we’re dealing with here. A proper clone fragrance brand can’t fully replicate the exact ingredients and smell of a leading perfume. There are copyright laws which prevent that. With that being said, some fragrances are lacking. It’s clear that creating something 99% accurate doesn’t always work, and this is a good example. There are quite a few options in the range which are very pale limitations of the existing fragrances they try to replicate.
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Yes, inspired by fragrances are legal, there is some issues if they are using the brand names around trademarks, but yes it's completely fine for you to own a clone perfume.
When we talk about fragrances, we will make reference to top notes, heart notes, and base notes. Essentially, this is the order in which the smells sit inside the bottle. So, you will encounter the top notes first, followed by the heart notes, and then the base notes will creep in at the end.
It’s an important distinction to note because this helps to give fragrances some complexity. It’s not just one smell - there are multiple aromas in a single fragrance.
Whilst we don't like to put a lot of faith in curated on site reviews, they do actually agree with our experience of Match Fragrances, it doesn't take more than a second to see which of their product people actually like. We do agree that their lost cherry is good, and their black orchid is decent (although it does lean heavier on the feminine scents) so we can understand the positive match fragrance reviews. The catch with curated reviews is that there's also a lot of products we tested that were just bad, and we don't get to see those.
Naturally, this is a product which has been inspired by the original High Street label. You will notice that the top notes are very citrusy. There is grapefruit, black pepper, and pink pepper. The heart notes are quite spicy and herbal. There are things like rosemary, cinnamon, and lavender. Finally, the base notes are very woody. It’s not the worst smell in the world. There are plenty of other options which are better; it’s not a bad reproduction by any means. It’s just not quite as charismatic as the original. We generally recommend the spicebomb clone at copycat over match fragrances it’s pretty much the same as the original.
Next up is a men’s aftershave, which is inspired by Bleu. The first thing that you notice about this one is the citrus top notes. Orange, grapefruit, and lemon are all part of this. The big thing about this is that both the heart notes and the base notes are both woody. However, there are two different types of wooden scents. The heart notes are much more floral in the sense that you have ginger, jasmine, and cedarwood. The base notes, contrastingly, are much sweeter. Things like frankincense and sandalwood are present. This reproduction is not very good. Which is a shame, because there aren’t actually many Bleu de Channel clones available, so we were really hoping that Match Fragrances would get it right with this one. It just doesn’t hit the right note the original does, and the result is therefore disappointing.
Next up on the list is this option, which is Inspired by Invictus. It’s meant to be a bold and charismatic choice, but it’s not that good. Starting from the top notes, you’ve got an interesting marine choice. Ruby mandarin and pink grapefruit are two examples listed. The heart notes are very spicy wood. Cinnamon is a particularly important one. Finally, the base notes are quite musky. With the Amber of Aden and various other masks, it’s quite a punchy smell. Unfortunately, this is one of those fragrances where only the original really got away with it. As a reproduction, the smells just don’t work together.
The last men’s aftershave product that we will take a look at is this Black Orchid, OK technically it’s unisex, but you get the idea which is inspired by a Tom Ford offering. In keeping with the theme of flowers, this is quite floral. The top notes are gourmand floral, with things like truffle and blackcurrant. The heart notes are a more fruity floral, with things like orchid and lotus, and then finally, you have gourmand woody base notes, which are things like dark chocolate, vanilla, and sandalwood. They’re pretty close to the original, when you first spray it on it is overly busy, but after a couple of minutes the match fragrance black orchid dupe settles to being in line with what we’d expect. The problem is that the woody notes do fade a little bit too soon, but not so dramatically you’d notice unless you’re really looking for it. This one is a good clone.
All in all Match Fragrances generally comes in distant third when it comes to its men’s offering, trailing a mile behind Copycat Fragrances offering and also behind The Essence Vault. We rate Match Fragrances 3/5 for their mens offering.
This next choice is the first of some women’s perfumes that we will be taking a quick look at. It is supposedly a seductive, floral kind of fragrance. It’s okay, but it’s not perfect as a reproduction. The top notes are definitely floral. You’ve got rose and sambac jasmine. Sadly, after this, it starts to become less floral. The heart notes are very wooden, with a hint of solar. Finally, you have the base notes, which are more sweet than floral. As a concept, this is pretty confusing. It’s not quite the floral scent that people want. In fact, it’s much more wooden and sweet than floral, which will definitely confuse people.
Second up for the women’s perfumes is this interesting number which strives to be a very warm and spicy mix. It does an alright job at it. You’ve got the top notes which are much spicier, with lemon and black pepper. The hot notes are floral, sort of like orange blossom and jasmine. Finally, the base notes are very woody, with things like sandalwood and white musk. As an offering, this sort of fails to hit the mark. The official product markets itself as kind of similar to the smell of coffee. However, the end result is something closer to Earl Grey tea.
Next, we have that one perfume from the adverts that everybody recognises. Was it the one starring Keira Knightley? Regardless of what it is, the product is, by its own admission, bold and charismatic. With citrusy top notes of orange and Bergamot, floral heart notes of jasmine and rose, and woody base notes of vetiver and patchouli, it definitely strives to hit the same notes as its inspiration but doesn’t quite have the same finesse.
This final option on the list is touted to be both strong and subtle at the same time. It does have a lot of interesting smells. The top notes are fruity and citrusy. You’ve got things like melon, pear, peach, and Bergamot. After that, there are floral notes for the heart notes, with things like Violet and Lily of the Valley. Finally, at the bottom, the base notes are things like sandalwood and cedarwood. The entire scent smells a lot like a fruit tree in a field. That’s not a bad smell, but it’s probably a bit too unique to appeal to most. We recommend that you get a Jadore clone from the essence vault instead.
We've said it once and we'll say it again, don't use matchfragrances, unless you're buying their Lost Cherry dupe. Everything else is pretty poor. That said if you're looking for a Lost Cherry Dupe then Match Fragrances offering is actually pretty good. Overall they get a 2/5.
We have unfortunately for Match Fragrances, picked up some of their worst offerings, but with the exclusion of their black cherry dupe, we can't think of a single product from their line where they would not be beaten out by either CopyCat Fragrances or The Essence Vault. Which are two examples of good dupe perfume makers.
There really is no contest here. Copycat is actually pretty good at dupes. The overall quality is better and much more authentic. The reproductions smell a lot like the actual products they are mimicking. Plus, there’s a pretty good selection of big-name tributes out there. Particularly their mens offering. We recommend you use copycat for Aventus, Dior Sauvage, Tobacco Vanille and Baccarat 540.
Again it's a loss for Match Fragrances, it's not quite so much of an embaressing defeat. But, the essence vault is better for all of the womens options with the exception of Lost Cherry and Black Orchid. And as for the mens, they do beat them there too, just not by as much as copycat.
So, Match Fragrances falls just a little short. The problem with trying to create clone fragrances is that you have to faithfully replicate the original product or create something inspired by the original product which has enough of a unique twist to make it stand as its own smell. Unfortunately, the one thing that Match Fragrances doesn’t do particularly well is either of those things. The products they do have smell a lot like imitations, but there’s nothing unique about them to offset that. Instead, they just come off as a bit cheap and cheerful. In some cases they do actually last a bit longer than the original, especially if compared to Dior Sauvage, which just never seems to last as long as we'd like their eau de parfum to. When you compare Match Fragrances to someone like Copycat, the difference in quality is night and day. Copycat fragrances are near enough exact reproductions and with only a couple of flops we’d highly recommend them over the competition. Alternatively, The Essence Vault is also a better option than Match, especially for women’s options where CopyCat’s range is a little bit more limited.