Top Notes 
Mandarin orange
Nutmeg
Pepper
Heart Notes 
Ylang-ylang
Provençal lavender
Leather
Base Notes 
Amber
Coumarin
Marine notes
Halolo
67 Reviews
Translated · Show original
Halolo
One of the weakest Zaras - Jumble of Mandarin, Lavender, and Excessive Synthetics
The first Zara where you can really say it’s only worth a 10. The reason for this is the virtually non-existent sillage and longevity (3 to max 4 hours), but especially the unpleasant scent jumble during the first 60 minutes. One step at a time:
4 sprays on the chest, 3 on the neck and nape area, and 3 on the arm. This was necessary after I realized how poor the sprayer is ...
Right after spraying:
A pleasant cooling freshness, paired with a lot of mandarin synthetic and inappropriate nutmeg. I do not perceive any sharper/noticeable pepper. After 5 minutes, a very synthetic, rather bitter lavender joins in. Ylang-ylang makes it a bit sweeter, creamy, but only very subtly.
After 15 minutes:
Rather unpleasant synthetic mix of mandarin, ylang-ylang, lavender, and amber. There’s something "metallic" in the background that definitely doesn’t belong here.
The vaguely defined "marine notes" bring in some freshness, but they create even more jumble ... a very exhausting opening of the fragrance, unbalanced.
After 45-60 minutes:
The synthetic bomb of mandarin-lavender and a light mix of cinnamon + pepper, cooled down by an undefinable freshness, is already starting to become noticeably weaker. Longevity has never been Zara perfumes' strong suit, as is the case here. But I’m actually "glad" that the intensity of a fragrance diminishes.
The scent DNA now seems significantly more balanced, but still not a perfected craftsmanship.
After 1.5 hours, the Cities Collection - Seoul 532-8 Sinsa Dong Gangnam-Gu is at its best. That disturbing metallic and irritating note is gone, the drydown consists of mandarin + lavender + amber + something that brings in freshness. What stands out: The fragrance definitely has a decent amount of synthetics. Yes - this thing is a cheapie, what else can you expect?! But Zara usually doesn’t deliver such annoying synthetics despite the bargain prices ... Too bad, I’m disappointed :-(
After 3 hours, the fragrance is only perceptible close to the skin, after 4 hours it’s only very close to the skin. The progression has hardly changed in the last 1.5-2 hours. It just became "simply" weaker and faded.
---
Conclusion:
I just see that the perfume is offered for €3.99 (as of 15.02.2025) in the online shop. At that price, I would actually give an unrestricted recommendation, because €4 is nothing.
Otherwise, I must say that the Seoul is the weakest Zara I have smelled and owned so far. On the scent strip in the store, it was quite nice, but on the skin, it’s anything but that. It just goes to show again: People, test the perfumes on your skin - not on a strip ;-)
A quick note on the key points:
Unisex? Yep.
Season? Spring, rather summer. Definitely not for dark and cold days.
Occasion? School, leisure, "as long as it smells good"
Recommendation? For €4 = yes
For €10 = no
4 sprays on the chest, 3 on the neck and nape area, and 3 on the arm. This was necessary after I realized how poor the sprayer is ...
Right after spraying:
A pleasant cooling freshness, paired with a lot of mandarin synthetic and inappropriate nutmeg. I do not perceive any sharper/noticeable pepper. After 5 minutes, a very synthetic, rather bitter lavender joins in. Ylang-ylang makes it a bit sweeter, creamy, but only very subtly.
After 15 minutes:
Rather unpleasant synthetic mix of mandarin, ylang-ylang, lavender, and amber. There’s something "metallic" in the background that definitely doesn’t belong here.
The vaguely defined "marine notes" bring in some freshness, but they create even more jumble ... a very exhausting opening of the fragrance, unbalanced.
After 45-60 minutes:
The synthetic bomb of mandarin-lavender and a light mix of cinnamon + pepper, cooled down by an undefinable freshness, is already starting to become noticeably weaker. Longevity has never been Zara perfumes' strong suit, as is the case here. But I’m actually "glad" that the intensity of a fragrance diminishes.
The scent DNA now seems significantly more balanced, but still not a perfected craftsmanship.
After 1.5 hours, the Cities Collection - Seoul 532-8 Sinsa Dong Gangnam-Gu is at its best. That disturbing metallic and irritating note is gone, the drydown consists of mandarin + lavender + amber + something that brings in freshness. What stands out: The fragrance definitely has a decent amount of synthetics. Yes - this thing is a cheapie, what else can you expect?! But Zara usually doesn’t deliver such annoying synthetics despite the bargain prices ... Too bad, I’m disappointed :-(
After 3 hours, the fragrance is only perceptible close to the skin, after 4 hours it’s only very close to the skin. The progression has hardly changed in the last 1.5-2 hours. It just became "simply" weaker and faded.
---
Conclusion:
I just see that the perfume is offered for €3.99 (as of 15.02.2025) in the online shop. At that price, I would actually give an unrestricted recommendation, because €4 is nothing.
Otherwise, I must say that the Seoul is the weakest Zara I have smelled and owned so far. On the scent strip in the store, it was quite nice, but on the skin, it’s anything but that. It just goes to show again: People, test the perfumes on your skin - not on a strip ;-)
A quick note on the key points:
Unisex? Yep.
Season? Spring, rather summer. Definitely not for dark and cold days.
Occasion? School, leisure, "as long as it smells good"
Recommendation? For €4 = yes
For €10 = no
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