Top Notes 
Mandarin orange
Nutmeg
Pepper
Heart Notes 
Ylang-ylang
Provençal lavender
Leather
Base Notes 
Amber
Marine notes
Coumarin
02/15/2025
Halolo
44 Reviews
Translated
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Halolo
One of the weakest Zaras - a muddle of mandarin, lavender and synthetics in excess
The first Zara where you can really say that it's only worth a 10. The reason for this is the almost non-existent sillage and durability (3 to max. 4h), but above all the unpleasant fragrance mess for the first 60 minutes. One after the other:
4 sprays on the chest, 3 on the throat and neck and 3 on the arm. This was necessary after I realized how bad the atomizer is ...
Immediately after spraying:
A pleasant cooling freshness, paired with lots of tangerine synthetics and incongruous nutmeg. I do not perceive any spicier/notable pepper. After 5 minutes, a very synthetic, rather tart lavender joins in. Ylang-ylang makes it a little sweeter, creamy, but only very subtle.
After 15 minutes:
Rather unpleasant synthetic mix of mandarin, ylang-ylang, lavender and amber. There is also something "metallic" in the background, which definitely doesn't belong here.
The undefined "maritime notes" bring in a freshness, but they create even more confusion ... a very tiring opening of the fragrance, not balanced.
After 45-60 minutes:
The synthetic bomb of mandarin lavender and a light mix of cinnamon + pepper, which is cooled down by an indefinable freshness, is already beginning to weaken considerably. Longevity has never been the strength of Zara perfumes, as is the case here. But I am actually really "glad" that the intensity of a fragrance is fading.
The fragrance DNA now seems much more balanced, but still not perfect craftsmanship.
After 1.5 hours, the Cities Collection - Seoul 532-8 Sinsa Dong Gangnam-Gu is at its best. This disturbing metallic and irritating note is gone, the drydown is composed of mandarin + lavender + amber + something-what-brings-freshness. What is generally noticeable is that the fragrance is really synthetic. Yes - this thing is a cheapie, what else would you expect? But Zara usually never delivers such annoying synthetics despite their competitive prices ... Too bad, I'm disappointed :-(
After 3 hours, the fragrance is only perceptible closer to the skin, after 4 hours only very close to the skin. The course has hardly changed in the last 1.5-2 hours. It "simply" became weaker and faded.
-
Conclusion:
I've just seen that the perfume is available for €3.99 (as of 15.02.2025) in the online store. At this price, I would actually recommend it without reservation, because 4€ is nothing.
Apart from that, I have to say that Seoul is the weakest Zara I've smelled and owned so far. On the fragrance strip in the store it was quite chic, but on the skin it was anything but. Just goes to show once again: people test perfumes on their skin - not on the strip ;-)
Briefly on the key points:
Unisex? Yep.
Time of year? Spring, more like summer. Definitely not dark and cold days.
Occasion? School, leisure time, "the main thing is to smell like something"
Recommendation? For 4€ = yes
For 10€ = no
4 sprays on the chest, 3 on the throat and neck and 3 on the arm. This was necessary after I realized how bad the atomizer is ...
Immediately after spraying:
A pleasant cooling freshness, paired with lots of tangerine synthetics and incongruous nutmeg. I do not perceive any spicier/notable pepper. After 5 minutes, a very synthetic, rather tart lavender joins in. Ylang-ylang makes it a little sweeter, creamy, but only very subtle.
After 15 minutes:
Rather unpleasant synthetic mix of mandarin, ylang-ylang, lavender and amber. There is also something "metallic" in the background, which definitely doesn't belong here.
The undefined "maritime notes" bring in a freshness, but they create even more confusion ... a very tiring opening of the fragrance, not balanced.
After 45-60 minutes:
The synthetic bomb of mandarin lavender and a light mix of cinnamon + pepper, which is cooled down by an indefinable freshness, is already beginning to weaken considerably. Longevity has never been the strength of Zara perfumes, as is the case here. But I am actually really "glad" that the intensity of a fragrance is fading.
The fragrance DNA now seems much more balanced, but still not perfect craftsmanship.
After 1.5 hours, the Cities Collection - Seoul 532-8 Sinsa Dong Gangnam-Gu is at its best. This disturbing metallic and irritating note is gone, the drydown is composed of mandarin + lavender + amber + something-what-brings-freshness. What is generally noticeable is that the fragrance is really synthetic. Yes - this thing is a cheapie, what else would you expect? But Zara usually never delivers such annoying synthetics despite their competitive prices ... Too bad, I'm disappointed :-(
After 3 hours, the fragrance is only perceptible closer to the skin, after 4 hours only very close to the skin. The course has hardly changed in the last 1.5-2 hours. It "simply" became weaker and faded.
-
Conclusion:
I've just seen that the perfume is available for €3.99 (as of 15.02.2025) in the online store. At this price, I would actually recommend it without reservation, because 4€ is nothing.
Apart from that, I have to say that Seoul is the weakest Zara I've smelled and owned so far. On the fragrance strip in the store it was quite chic, but on the skin it was anything but. Just goes to show once again: people test perfumes on their skin - not on the strip ;-)
Briefly on the key points:
Unisex? Yep.
Time of year? Spring, more like summer. Definitely not dark and cold days.
Occasion? School, leisure time, "the main thing is to smell like something"
Recommendation? For 4€ = yes
For 10€ = no
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