Signature Collection

Afrika-Olifant Nishane 2014

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7.2 / 10 160 Ratings

Afrika-Olifant is a perfume by Nishane for women and men and was released in 2014. The scent is animal-spicy. The longevity is above-average. It is still in production.

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Main accords

Animal

Spicy

Leathery

Resinous

Woody

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Labdanum

Frankincense

Ambergris

Myrrh

Heart Notes

Castoreum

Civet

Leather

Oud

Base Notes

Civettone

Muscenone®

Muscone Thibetone

Perfumer

Jorge Lee

Ratings

Scent

7.2160 Ratings

Longevity

8.5143 Ratings

Sillage

7.9144 Ratings

Bottle

7.9142 Ratings

Value for money

6.865 Ratings

Submitted by Mefunx, last update on 09.04.2024.

Interesting Facts

The fragrance is part of the "Signature Collection" collection.

Reviews

9 in-depth fragrance descriptions

05/12/2018

8
Bottle 9
Sillage 10
Longevity 9
Scent

EmergeR
13 Reviews

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EmergeR

Top Review 29

Welcome to the elephant cage - why the excitement?! ;-)

When I buy a pack of cheese in the supermarket, I'm not surprised that there's no sausage in it, but what it says on it.
On this bottle Afrika Olifant is written, that sounds like a night animal and is exactly what it contains: Elephant in pure form ;-)
Animal scents are not everyone's cup of tea, I totally understand that. Animal fragrances are actually used almost only in European countries in fragrances. In perfumes from America or Asia, you usually look for them in vain (unless the new generation of indie perfumers dares to do so). This also shows, however, that animalics must be harmoniously integrated in order to work...
I personally love animal scents and this one in particular. I always say, "It's a smell, you gotta have an ass in your pants for it. The stuff stands out and makes an impression. For tender souls and introverted people, who prefer to be left alone, it's nothing.
And yes, anyone who has ever been to the zoo in the elephant house (especially during the mating season) knows that the contents keep what the label promises...
I especially like the elephant's raw, impetuous power, which is at the same time very gentle and caring. Anyone who has ever experienced the social interaction, the care for the boys and the courtship display of elephants in the elephant enclosure will surely understand what I mean. And that's exactly what the scent reflects for me.
First he screams "Hello, here I am!" and then he wraps you in a trusting atmosphere (or should I say "cloud"?) at the same time.
This interplay of "Here I am, don't come too close to me" and the familiarity of "I am strong and there for you" describes the fragrance best for me - and that is perhaps also the reason why I feel so comfortable with it.
And no, I couldn't wear it every day. For me it is a symbol of a strong moment and I like to wear it when I feel comfortable and strong in myself.
It's worth trying ;-)

05/05/2020

8
Bottle 9
Sillage 9
Longevity 10
Scent

Yharnam79
63 Reviews

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Yharnam79

Top Review 20

Grab the elephant by the tusks or he'll eat you for breakfast!

Surely, I am tempted first of all to talk about the actual origin and the (wrongly) twisted feeling of animalistic fruit notes in our culture.
I'm saving that as much as possible It is also beyond question that not everyone likes to smell or even wear animals.
With Afika-Olifant the love for - at least the openness towards - animalism is (almost) a basic requirement.

*As the previous speaker has already mentioned in a very charming example: one could well guess what one gets with such a fragrance name and by additionally reading the fragrance pyramid. I am puzzled by reactions of incomprehension about how animalistic the fragrance appears. What did you expect?*

Africa-Olifant, true to its name and without hesitation from the very beginning, hits you with all its strength.
But where, for example, zoologist with Hyrax simply caused breathing difficulties in my - very animalistically inclined - nose, here the tightrope walk between raw, honest, dirty animalism and not drifting off into a striking animalistic club succeeds.

Crunchy oud, (incense) smoke, sweet herbal myrrh and always present, sometimes damp, sometimes dust-dry leather waft around the earth-covered elephant skin, on which grasses, leaves and pieces of branches still hang in some places. Resin also sticks to one or the other place.

As friendly and pleasing as this may sound, the animal, in this case the 'Olifant', is and remains the main actor. So almost all popular animal ingedencies have been installed here. However, if you don't like Zibet, you will not have any fun here. It is similar with Bibergeil.
Nevertheless, I do not perceive the fragrance as a slap-on-the-job anomaly, as everything is so well interwoven and interspersed with the non-animal notes that it never drifts too far in the direction of penetrating or fecal
*Faecal in the sense of excrements, by the way, smells here for me really nothing at all at this smell. Even less so after 'Donnerbalken'. I myself have been going to camp for 20 years, including Thunderbox. And believe me, it smells different...*

And yet:
animalistic and through and through, he's gonna stay that way in any case.
All in all, it is probably animal-resinous-smoky-spicy.
And he roars and sounds out the power and masculinity just too strikingly.
Hats off for all the ladies who can win something for themselves!

I like animal scents and in this category Afrika-Olifant is a weirdly wacky, quite wearable and fantastically designed scent

01/24/2024

7
Sillage 8
Longevity 9
Scent

ElAttarine
28 Reviews

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ElAttarine

Top Review 15

My power animal

I know quite a few animal and plant allies, but I never met my power animal during a vision quest or nature meditation, nor did it appear in a dream, but it escaped from a pocket atomizer.
It is not clear to me how such a huge creature could have been in the small TC. If I hadn't been prepared, I'm sure I would have had a huge fright. And not only is it there immediately, it speaks to me - at least when I take the space to listen:

Don't be frightened by my
Size am huge but friendly
just freshly rubbed with something resinous
Anti-mosquito in my skin folds

You can hardly see me as a whole at once
but I see you with
Benevolence
see everything with my little eye
as you are
and I can smell you all your
Body feelings fears courage boldness desires

I am very old and have
already seen and experienced everything
i judge nothing
no shame no guilt none
Yesterday

I tempt you too
what is your longing?
You no longer need to hide it
with sweet warmth and hairy skin
Beaver and cat rest against my body
bodily scents mingle become
gently in the evening

come
let yourself
fall into my scent aura fall I
give you strength protect you
-----
A little alcohol evaporates quickly and the fragrance is immediately beautifully animalic and sweet. Leather, oud, castoreum, civet, all together. For me, nothing fecal at all, as some people perceive it, but a, yes, neat, but beautiful and warm, very slightly sweet, alluring animalism. It has a very strong presence AND is trusting and caring at the same time. Something very slightly resinous is added by the incense, and just a tiny hint of bitter myrrh. I only know elephants from Asia, but the elephanty smell fits, like elephants in the forest in the dry season in Southeast Asia. I associate it with something slightly pungent and medicinal like anti-buzz, but it never becomes pungent or irritating. I don't get anything smoky. I also see and smell the partially dried earth that sticks to my leathery skin, as well as a few dried leaves and grasses that have stuck. The highway and the next town are quite far away, but from somewhere the dry wind occasionally brings a hint of coking waste and plastic remnants on the side of the road, which mingle with the smells of the soil and other animals. At the end, the scent becomes very soft, but remains animalistic throughout. There are no flowers at all, nothing ambery.
Despite their strong presence, all the attractants, oud, civet and castoreum are beautifully interwoven and never overpowering. And the synthetic base also works well and harmoniously for me. It's somehow also cool, but not of the exciting, breathtaking variety, but courageous, daring, bold and shy at the same time.
So far I had only tried a few newer fragrances from Nishane and didn't particularly like most of them. But this one is great!

Another very practical thing, I really like wearing it in small doses for sports! It gives me focus, speed and strength. And it even works for me in the office - provided the dosage is appropriately moderate. It lasts a long time for me.
The bottle is running low, so I'm afraid there'll be a bottle soon...

Thanks to @Can777
for the bottling and the exchange! (and the beautiful handwritten label ️)

11/02/2021

Amadea70
58 Reviews

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Amadea70

Very helpful Review 16

When the Teletubbies almost toppled the blue elephant

The show "Sendung mit der Maus" has been around for 50 years now and for 46 years the blue elephant has also been part of it, so that the mouse has a friend. A show that probably everyone knows and that you like to watch with the whole family, because it is not only fun, but also smarter. And then at some point came the terrible Teletubbies, little round plushies that somehow made a moronic impression on me. They were supposed to be educational for children of toddler age and hijacked the TV program. I was not interested in this thesis, I found them stupid, annoying and did not want to see them and decided for us that are not so valuable. I saved the blue elephant at home at that time, because I was the ruler of the remote control. The little elephant was namely my favorite.

Nishane's elephant isn't blue, the glass is brown when you light up the bottle. And he really is an elephant. It feels at first like you're really sitting in an enclosure with predators - animalistic, but not too much. Adulated elephants and wild cats that are also cute right from the start. Don't know if this could get tiring in the long run, so we'll see. There's also a slight mint note resonating and slowly the leather comes through. It lasts a couple of hours, then the oud stands alone and I like the drydown best, still sweet but nicely balsamic. So the animalicness fades as it goes on and gets weaker and weaker. As if someone had once properly hosed down the elephant with a hose and chased the cats away with the hose.

11/09/2020

7
Bottle 8
Sillage 7
Longevity 7.5
Scent

Ropanski2020
11 Reviews

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Ropanski2020

Helpful Review 14

Unleashed greatness of pleasure

Anyone who has read my brief commentary on Tom Ford's London will know that I am quite fond of animal scents. At least I'm not going to go far
In principle the many slick scents (of various houses) are a horror to me at the moment. Courage to the gap - no chance! Apart from a few niche houses, risks are shunned in many places like the use of natural ingredients. These powdery excesses and overloaded "Synthi-Ambroxan bombs", which one encounters in public transport in many places, sometimes stink to high heaven! With pleasure I take note of every form of olfactory variety that tries to make a statement across gender boundaries and against the offensive efforts of the mainstream fragrance industry - to smell clean - even if it means to push the limits of what is reasonable.

Nishane is an interesting house, with partly first-class scents. The present one, however, clearly stands out from the in-house assortment, because it does not want to attract the attention of the masses, but rather to cause a stir and to wipe out that disproportionately represented shower gel folklore fraction, it is worth a try.

As soon as the pack of mounted elephants starts to move, the (faecal) oud basic component stands out together with the myrrh. The whole thing is overwhelmingly omnipresent, one might think, if only it weren't for this lovely component, which increasingly slows down the elephant's movement and makes it move together much more pleasingly than the stormy start would have led one to assume, thanks to the labdanum. Although the cowshed romanticism is not completely shed, it is largely domesticated. Great - after 20-30 minutes the fecal strictness gives way to a cosy warmth. It surrounds you like a newly created, freshly tanned leather jacket. Cuddly and beguiling at the same time, the fragrance is much more wearable than expected. Nevertheless, it should be a challenge for most noses.

Durability is one thing. But after several tests I can say: consistently good. Depending on the temperature conditions and how you feel on the day, you can expect it to last between 5 and even 8 hours. Not a too bad value, as I think.

Afrika-Olifant reminds its wearer and its surroundings that despite intensive care efforts or antiseptic care mania of postmodern households, one remains a living being of flesh and blood, through whose pores exhalations and emanations penetrate, which one can trick, but cannot get rid of them completely, apart from unconventional cosmetic interventions. When in doubt, ask your pet, it is always right.

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