Those who personally know me know that I love trying out interesting fragrances. Sure, sometimes I get excited to try a designer or niche fragrance, but it's typically a different kind of excitement than when I bought Kitten Fur by Demeter, for example. I think it's because with designer fragrances, I am able to predict how well the fragrance will perform based on the company's credibility.
Anyway, I was pretty excited when I came across Trump Empire. Perhaps because he's now the president or just because he's a top-tier business guy, but either way, I thought it was fascinating that he had released a couple fragrances back in 2015.
The one major thing to note about celebrity fragrances is that they typically suck. They are super generic and typically have very poor performance. Also, the celebrities who's names are attached to the fragrances usually don't even put much effort into making them; rather, they are akin to another form of memorabilia. I would be willing to bet that most celebrities don't even wear their fragrance.
Trump Empire is a slight exception, but still nothing to go crazy over.
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| Trump Empire 50ml |
The exception is that the scent is pretty unique. It has notes of spicy mint, tea, apple, orange blossom, jasmine, amber, musk, and Tonka beans. When I first apply it I get a lot of the mint, amber, and apple. Unlike Khateer, which I reviewed in my seven days of oud post, the mint and amber in Empire works really well with the apple. I don't get much of the tea note which is disappointing. Overall, it is a very pleasant scent.
The performance is where this one fell flat. Honestly, I was expecting a lot more from this considering Trump has the money to create a beautiful long-lasting fragrance if he wanted to. I did get six hours out of Empire, but I had to apply a lot of fragrance. When I first applied it I used 10 sprays. It immediately became a skin-scent though with no projection. About four hours after I initially applied it I sprayed it 15 more times, and was able to get 30 minutes worth of light projection.
Bottom line: this stuff it's extremely weak.
Really for a scent that was created for optimal use in a professional setting, I'm really disappointed. This stuff would easily be subsumed by your first collegue who's wearing Bleu de Chanel (i.e. the most overly saturated office scent). Sadly, it's pretty much your typical celebrity fragrance. I'll probably use it to spray around my apartment, but not to wear.
Overall, because of the great scent, I would give this one a 5/10. It's not bad, but it's definitely not good either. It is rather cheap, costing $30 retail for a 50ml bottle, which isn't bad really. But I think there are some much better alternatives for under $30. I'd probably pass on Empire unless you like Trump and want his fragrance. Otherwise, you can find better.
-Ryan S.
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