If you believe the website of DUA Fragrances, Midnight Rendezvous will provide you with a clone of the long extinct La Nuit De L'Homme from 2010, and to go into detail, this is a copy of the very popular and long-lasting Batch 0BAB.
But what was it like in 2010?
Oh, yeah, right... I was a student in Munich, had a more or less steady girlfriend and was not averse to one or the other date. How did I do all that back then? I mean, the stress of exams, the stress of the state exam, the partner and her annoying mother... ...and the countless dates I was successful at.
In addition to One Million by Paco Rabanne, which I consumed like shower water, and the original version of Fierce by Abercrombie & Fitch, which I had brought with me to Munich from a study trip to the UN in New York, I wore La Nuit De L'Homme in the evening with great affection.
I have been asked about this fragrance so often, so often I have received compliments and so often, I still believe with the utmost conviction, this fragrance has helped me to be successful on my dates.
Now we all know the dilemma that goes along with this once so potent and beautiful fragrance: it has literally been watered down, reformulated to a light touch of itself. A drama.
For a long time I was looking for a suitable alternative, but never found one. And I simply didn't want to put up with the newer versions of La Nuit De L'Homme any more, the disappointment was simply too great.
At some point I came across the brand DUA Fragrances, which was supposed to create such great clones. Curious, I bought a couple of fragrances blind in spring 2020, including a clone of the Fucking Fabulous by TF and the Herod and Percival by Parfum De Marly - all three fragrances I also own in the original. After receiving these fragrances, I was so impressed by their quality and durability that I soon couldn't stop. More and more of these very cheap looking 30 ml flacons found their way into my collection. And one day I finally held the Midnight Rendezvous in my hands.
Three sprayers on my wrist - and I was back in 2010, this time without university pressure, exam stress and state exams in the back of my mind. This time with a really steady girlfriend, without a single date on the side, but with a spectacular mother-in-law and an even better father-in-law.
Although - I'm still dating: but with my partner. Once a month we dress up really nice, get dressed up and then go out with each other very elegantly. //offtopic. Sorry!
But now the scent: This scent catapulted me like a time machine back into the past:
In the first few minutes after applying the fragrance, the almost tangy-bitter opening by the bergamot literally envelops me in a cloud of fragrance. For a short moment the whole room literally smells of bitter-sweet bergamot. Immediately afterwards, cardamom comes into play, giving this fragrance an incredible seductive power and at the same time a distant coolness.
Looking back on my dating behaviour in 2010, I think the great success of La Nuit De L'Homme was due to the cardamom note, which on the one hand shouted loudly "Girl, here I am!" and at the same time radiated a certain aplomb and detachment through this elegant coolness. This is exactly what happens on Midnight Rendezvous.
Lavender and warm and cosy cedar wood are quickly joined by relaxing lavender: Lavender, still accompanied by the cool cardamom from the opening, has a calming, relaxing effect and makes attractive and interesting. The added cedar wood adds a warming component to this wonderful, cuddly-cool composition and gives a well-dosed charge of masculinity.
From this moment on I increasingly hear a nutty chocolaty note, similar to when my partner smears herself a Nutella bread from a reasonable distance. Am I even allowed to say Nutella? Never mind, I say nut nougat cream.
So now I smell this wonderful composition of cooling cardamom, relaxing lavender, warm, masculine cedar wood accompanied by a pleasant scent of nut nougat cream, which I never consciously perceived in this intensity in the original La Nuit De L'Homme, but which would never have bothered me.
Later on, cumin is added, which I perceive as a peppery note in this fragrance. This pepper, which we already know from other mainstream compositions (I just say "sauvage"), gives the fragrance an additional attraction.
But the fragrance always remains smooth and creamy. No pungent notes ever gain the upper hand or even become obtrusive. And yet this fragrance is very strong, very room-filling and very clearly present. But never aggressive or penetrating. Simply beautiful.
So beautiful is that these very strong fragrance components never try to dominate each other, but always accompany each other harmoniously and highlight each other.
Like a perfectly well-rehearsed orchestra or team. The team #Dating2010.
So beautiful is also the fact that this fragrance is in my eyes a 99% identical clone of the vintage La Nuit De L'Homme from 2010 - with the well-known above-average durability and the room-filling Sillage.
Two splashes on my neck, two on my shirt - and in just one day of "test wearing" I was told four times that I smell particularly good today.
A woman in the elevator told me that she could smell my "ravishing aftershave" despite my mask and that it made her "crazy".
In 2010, I would have invited her for coffee.
In 2020 I get out of the elevator, thank my partner and run towards her, who is already waiting for me for a date night dinner on the roof terrace of a well-known Zurich restaurant.
As a greeting I give her a kiss on her cheek, with a straightforward gesture I indicate to her that she should go ahead to the table. As we sit down she says, "God... what's that ripper scent you're wearing today?"
"Midnight rendezvous," I say, stroking the back of her hand.
"Fits!" she says and winks at me
In love like on the first day.
Into the fragrance. And into my girlfriend
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