Afnan, the UAE-based fragrance house founded in 2007 by Imran Fazlani, built its 9 Series around a simple idea: a fragrance for the morning and a fragrance for the night. What started as two bottles has grown into eight, split between the bright, citrus-driven 9AM side and the warmer, sweeter 9PM side. That growth is part of why the line confuses so many shoppers, since a name like “9AM Dive” or “9PM Elixir” reveals almost nothing about whether it smells fresh, spicy, fruity, or floral. Each fragrance carries its own identity, shaped by different perfumers, different release years, and in several cases, different designer scents it gets compared to.
Our Ranking Method
Each fragrance is judged on scent quality, how long it lasts, how it compares to similar scents on the market, and how many types of people it would suit. A fragrance that only works for one specific person scores lower than one that performs well for most wearers.
Price also matters, since the whole point of the 9 Series is offering a big scent without a big price tag. A fragrance priced above its siblings needs to smell noticeably better to rank above them.
1. Afnan 9PM (Original)
The original 9PM is the fragrance that put the entire 9 Series on the map, and it still sits at the top for good reason. It’s the bottle most people mean when they call the 9 Series a “Jean Paul Gaultier dupe line,” since it echoes Ultra Male’s sweet, fizzy energy at a fraction of the price.
| Notes | Details |
|---|---|
| Top | Apple, Cinnamon, Wild Lavender, Bergamot |
| Heart | Orange Blossom, Lily-of-the-Valley |
| Base | Vanilla, Tonka Bean, Amber, Patchouli |
This is the loudest, sweetest bottle in the collection, often compared to Jean Paul Gaultier’s Ultra Male because of its fizzy fruit opening and warm vanilla-amber finish. Reviewers commonly describe it as a “bubblegum” scent thanks to how the fruit and vanilla notes blend, and it projects strongly enough to be noticed from across a room.
Among the entire Afnan 9 Series, this is the fragrance most people mean when they talk about “the Afnan dupe.”
It also remains one of the most affordable options in the lineup, which helps explain why it is still the best-known entry after all these years. Fragrance databases don’t fully agree on when it launched, with some listing 2015 and others 2020, but the 100ml bottle sold today is the version most retailers carry worldwide. In the US, Afnan also sells this same fragrance under the name “9PM Black,” so shoppers may come across two different names pointing to the same bottle.
2. Afnan 9PM Elixir
9PM Elixir became one of the most talked-about Afnan launches in recent memory almost as soon as it hit shelves. Fragrance communities frequently describe it as one of Afnan’s closest clones yet, sharing the same cardamom-vanilla-leather DNA as Jean Paul Gaultier’s Le Male Elixir Absolu at a much lower price.
| Notes | Details |
|---|---|
| Top | Nutmeg, Cardamom, Elemi |
| Heart | Pimento, Lavandin, Leather |
| Base | Vanilla, Patchouli, Labdanum, Rock Rose |
The spice up top is intense for the first few minutes, but it settles into a smooth blend of vanilla and rose that most wearers end up loving. That spice-then-warmth pattern makes Elixir a much better match for fall and winter than for hot summer days, since the richness reads as cozy rather than heavy once the temperature drops.
Elixir costs a bit more than the original 9PM, and the added complexity in the notes justifies that gap. It lands at number two because it is a genuinely different experience from the original rather than just a variation on the same theme. Launched in 2025 as an extrait de parfum, it sits between two fragrance styles: part gourmand (thanks to the vanilla and rock rose), part chypre (thanks to the leather and labdanum), which is part of why it built such a strong following in its first year on shelves.
3. Afnan 9PM Rebel
9PM Rebel’s pineapple note is the star of the entire 9 Series, described by many wearers as strikingly realistic. Its warm, ambery dry-down sits right between two well-known niche releases, picking up some of Creed Aventus’s fruity-smoky signature and some of Baccarat Rouge 540’s sweetness, which makes it feel like a genuine hybrid of the two rather than a clone of either.
| Notes | Details |
|---|---|
| Top | Pineapple, Granny Smith Apple, Mandarin |
| Heart | Oakmoss, Cedarwood, Vanilla |
| Base | Dry Woods, Ambergris, Caramel, Musk |
Rebel earned its reputation fast because that pineapple-and-amber combination reminds people of pricier fragrances built around a similar warm, slightly smoky feeling. It is not a straight copy of either reference point, but the family resemblance to both is part of why it is so popular.
What keeps it at third instead of higher is that the scent tends to stay close to the skin after the first couple of hours rather than filling a room, even though total wear time is still long. For most people that is actually a plus indoors, but it does mean less “walk-in-the-room” impact than the original 9PM. Launched in 2024 and created by perfumer Gael Montero, Rebel is frequently held up by reviewers as one of the best value-for-money releases Afnan has put out, since the notes read as far more expensive than the price tag suggests.
4. Afnan 9PM Night Out
9PM Night Out uses a stronger concentration than most of the eau de parfum bottles elsewhere in the line. Unlike most of its siblings, it isn’t marketed or widely discussed as a dupe of anything specific — Afnan describes it as an original creation built to expand the 9 Series rather than echo a designer scent.
| Notes | Details |
|---|---|
| Top | Dragon Fruit, Bergamot, Cognac, Lavender, Apple |
| Heart | Cardamom, Mahonial, Suede, Toffee, Cedar |
| Base | Tonka Bean, Akigalawood, Ambrofix, Patchouli |
The suede and toffee combination in the middle gives Night Out a more textured, grown-up feel than the fruitier entries in the collection. Early reactions are mostly positive, though as the newest fragrance in the 9 Series, it has not built up the years of reviews that the older bottles have.
Being an extrait also means a higher price tag than the standard 9PM releases, which is worth factoring in before buying. Afnan chose Gossip Girl actor Ed Westwick as the face of the launch, which the brand describes as its first partnership with a Hollywood star.
5. Afnan 9AM Dive
9AM Dive is the freshest, most citrus-forward fragrance in the entire 9 Series. It’s widely discussed online as a hybrid dupe of two designer blues, opening closer to Yves Saint Laurent’s Y Eau de Parfum before settling into a drydown that reads a lot like Bleu de Chanel.
| Notes | Details |
|---|---|
| Top | Lemon, Mint, Black Currant, Pink Pepper |
| Heart | Apple, Incense, Cedar |
| Base | Patchouli, Sandalwood, Jasmine, Ginger |
It stands apart from every other entry because of its cool, ozonic feel, and it works well for the exact opposite occasions the 9PM side is built for: mornings, workdays, gym bags, and anywhere a sweet, heavy scent would feel out of place.
Dive ranks in the middle of the pack because it is excellent at what it does, but its cool, aquatic style has a smaller audience than the sweeter, more universally loved 9PM fragrances above it. Its base of ginger, sandalwood, and jasmine is a little more grounded than most aquatic fragrances, which tend to fade into not much of anything by the end; Dive keeps some warmth underneath the freshness instead.
6. Afnan 9AM Pour Femme
9AM Pour Femme is marketed toward women and built specifically for daytime wear. It shares the 9AM side’s citrus backbone but swaps aquatic freshness for a fruitier, berry-driven personality, making it the everyday counterpart to 9PM Pour Femme’s more romantic, floral evening version.
| Notes | Details |
|---|---|
| Top | Mandarin Orange, Grapefruit, Bergamot |
| Heart | Raspberry, Black Currant |
| Base | Musk, Amber, Orange Blossom |
The citrus-and-berry combination gives this fragrance an upbeat, energetic quality that matches the “morning” identity of the entire 9AM side of the collection. It is lighter and less complex than the 9PM fragrances above it, which fits its purpose as an easy, everyday scent rather than a statement piece.
It ranks here because, while pleasant and well-made, it has a narrower use case than the more attention-grabbing 9PM entries and does not stand out as strongly within its own category as 9AM Dive does. It launched in 2022 alongside 9PM Pour Femme, rounding out the “for her” side of the collection with a lighter, more citrus-driven option than its evening counterpart.
7. Afnan 9AM (Original)
The original 9AM is the daytime counterpart to the original 9PM and one of the earliest fragrances in the entire 9 Series. Where 9PM built its reputation as a JPG dupe, 9AM has always stood more on its own, valued less for imitating a specific designer scent and more for how much it changes over the course of a single wear.
| Notes | Details |
|---|---|
| Top | Mandarin, Cedrat, Cardamom, Pink Pepper |
| Heart | Lavender, Orange Blossom, Rose, Green Apple |
| Base | Cedarwood, Moss, Patchouli, Musk |
Wearers frequently describe it as citrusy-fresh at first, then surprisingly floral and even slightly smoky by the time it fully dries down, which is more scent development than most fragrances at this price point offer. Despite that, it gets less attention online than its nighttime sibling, largely because “daytime fresh” scents are a crowded category with a lot of competition.
It ranks near the bottom of the group only because it is a quieter, less distinctive fragrance compared to the bolder 9PM entries, not because the quality is lacking. Released in 2015 as one of the earliest fragrances in the whole 9 Series, it has drawn at least one direct comparison from reviewers to Hermès’ Terre d’Hermès Eau Très Fraîche, thanks to a similar bright citrus opening, though the citrus here is generally described as softer and less sharp.
8. Afnan 9PM Pour Femme
9PM Pour Femme takes the fruitiness of the 9PM name and pairs it with a much more floral, slightly woody direction than any other fragrance in the collection. It doesn’t carry the same “dupe” reputation as the men’s 9PM, which may be part of why it flies under the radar despite sharing a similar berry-and-vanilla opening.
| Notes | Details |
|---|---|
| Top | Raspberry, Apple, Violet, Orange |
| Heart | Rose, Iris, Peony, Jasmine |
| Base | Pine, Cypress, Amber, Cedar |
This fragrance gets the least attention online out of the entire 9 Series, which makes it harder to judge against a large pool of reviews. The notes suggest a softer, more traditional floral scent that could work just as well during the day as at night, despite the “PM” name.
It lands at the bottom of this ranking mainly because there is less independent feedback confirming consistent performance, not because the note combination itself is weak. Anyone who already likes rose-and-iris florals with a woody base has good reason to try it. It launched in 2022, the same year as 9AM Pour Femme, filling out the women’s-marketed side of the collection with the more oriental, floral-forward option of the two.
Compare All Afnan 9 Series Scents
| Rank | Fragrance | Best For | Often Compared To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9PM (Original) | Parties, first-time buyers | Jean Paul Gaultier Ultra Male |
| 2 | 9PM Elixir | Cold-weather evenings | Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male Elixir Absolu (close clone) |
| 3 | 9PM Rebel | Dinners, dates | Hybrid of Creed Aventus and Baccarat Rouge 540 |
| 4 | 9PM Night Out | Leather-note fans | None — Afnan markets it as an original creation |
| 5 | 9AM Dive | Daily wear, workdays | Hybrid dupe of Bleu de Chanel and YSL Y |
| 6 | 9AM Pour Femme | Everyday, warm months | An original citrus-fruity composition |
| 7 | 9AM (Original) | Mornings, daily wear | Hermès Terre d’Hermès Eau Très Fraîche |
| 8 | 9PM Pour Femme | Floral-woody fans | An original oriental-floral composition |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Afnan’s 9AM and 9PM fragrances?
The 9AM fragrances are built around fresh, citrus, and floral notes meant for daytime wear, while the 9PM fragrances lean sweeter, spicier, or woodier for evenings and nights out. The names describe the mood of the scent rather than a strict rule about when it can be worn.
Which Afnan 9 Series fragrance is the most popular?
The original 9PM remains the best-known fragrance in the entire series, largely because of its resemblance to Jean Paul Gaultier’s Ultra Male at a much lower price. Most shoppers try it first before exploring the rest of the collection.
How long do the 9AM and 9PM fragrances last on skin?
Most fragrances in the series report longevity between six and twelve hours on skin, with some lasting even longer on clothing. Actual wear time depends on individual skin chemistry, climate, and how much is applied.
Is 9AM Dive different from the rest of the 9AM line?
Yes. 9AM Dive leans aquatic and ozonic, while the original 9AM and 9AM Pour Femme both lean more citrus-and-floral. Dive is the closest thing to a “beach” or “summer” scent in the entire 9 Series.
Are any of these fragrances unisex?
Several are marketed as unisex, including 9AM, 9AM Dive, 9PM Elixir, 9PM Rebel, and 9PM Night Out. The original 9AM and 9PM, along with their Pour Femme versions, are split by gender in Afnan’s marketing.
Why do 9PM Elixir and 9PM Night Out cost more than the rest of the line?
Both are sold as extrait de parfum, a stronger and more concentrated formula than the eau de parfum used for the other six fragrances in the series. Extrait blends typically use a higher percentage of fragrance oil, which is why they tend to last longer on skin and carry a higher price tag.
Conclusion
The Afnan 9 Series covers a lot more ground than its name suggests, running from the citrus-fresh 9AM Dive in the morning to the sweet, iconic original 9PM at night. For the fragrance that built the entire line’s reputation, the original 9PM still earns the top spot. For a daytime option instead, 9AM Dive stands as the strongest pick for wearers who prefer fresh, clean scents over sweet or spicy ones.
