Ebony Wood

N°03 Ebony Wood

Zara 2019 Eau de Parfum

From the very first sniff I felt this Zara is something different. Ebony Wood is a member of Zara Emotions line, created by the perfumer Jo Malone of Jo Loves brand and ex-perfumer and probably the ex-owner of Jo Malone. So what is so different in this Zara line compared to their standard offering? It possesses a standard Jo Malone procedure – the creation is usually based on one or the major notes. Furthermore, the compositions has some natural vibe, especially contrasted to usually extremely “synthetic” Zara style. Ebony Wood is no example from the Emotions line. It opens up very unusual for Zara, fragrance layers are somehow easily recognizable, clean cut and almost very natural. Very nice pepper, accompanied by the herbal vibe of clove and some soft minty nuances. The darker, woodsy base notes of burning Guiac wood and cedar come into play almost instantly. This base is very nice, cozy piece of burning woods dancing on the verge of gourmand composition. Like a light version of Carner Barcelona Palo Santo, a full blooded milky woodsy gourmand. However, this dance ends too early due to the running out of the cash spent.
Ebony Wood is a nice creation with the usual Zara problem of low performance. Nevertheless, a solid Zara spin-off attempt.

Every year, at Christmas time, my girlfriend and I have a habit of traveling and visiting European cities. The last chance we had to do that, we went to Bordeaux. Before I travel, I like to buy a new perfume for the trip. The choice was this fantastic perfume.

Never in my life, I thought about buying a unisex perfume because I had doubts about when to use it. The fact that took me to risk it was that the perfumer was Jo Malone. I never regret this choice, because I ended up being addicted (as well as my girlfriend) to a perfume so different from what is usual. In the streets of Bordeaux, I never felt inhibited in using it, since it is one of my best memories of the trip!

The cold of winter, the Christmas spirit and ebony wood made the trip unforgettable.

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It has good quality for the price, even though it's a Zara perfume. The opening is full of berries, the mid notes are spicy and sweet and there is some woody (ebony) bitterness.

Many will consider a perfume for women (despite being considered unisex), but I think we should expand the horizons because we men can also be versatile in this field. It is not at all a perfume for spring or summer, and I recommend it to be used in autumn and winter.

Longevity is incredible, probably because of ebony wood. The sillage is good, despite not being the strongest point (I didn't care about this factor because the fragrance is strong). The bottle is typical of the style used by Jo Malone: ​​simple and clean.

For this price (100ml 25 €) I recommend!

The declared notes are pink pepper, clove and ebony wood.
Nothing else to spread what I feel a citrus and a aromatic herb with some pepper
About 10 minutes later come out a sweet wood scent. It´s not a realistic scent to ebony wood. I think tan can be a sweet leaf of tobbaco.

Nice aroma, ideal for autumn. It has a good duration in my skin. For the price, 7 € for 10 ml you could to try without any problem.

This is dominated by clove. Yes, it's woody, but not as the main note. If you crush clove, the spice, you'll get this very strong smell that makes you turn away after one sniff. Yes, this smells good, but I can't smell it for too long. The clove won't settle down either, it's the main note throughout. I had big hopes for this one to be the perfect cosy woody scent, that when you smell it, you hear crackling sound of a fire place, and you keep expanding your lungs to get more of the smell. But I'm disappointed by its strength, I take one sniff and that's enough for me, smells good and STRONG. Okay, yes, this is personal to me. We can't be subjective in many areas in our lives, but in the world of scents, that's when subjective is valued. Tell me, what this scent is to you personally! I love how different scents are different to different people haha!

Zara Ebony Wood is 95% similar to Pomegranate Noir. Lacks the fruitiness in the opening, but at least for me the fruity notes were not very long-lasting on the Pomegranate either and it is stronger than PN. It has a woody spicy, warm, and strong, smell. I wouldn't recommend it to people with headaches but for me, this cozy woody Christmassy type scent works.

Now about the dupe part, I am kinda confused. I smelled the Zara one for the first time and thought "Oh, so they duped PN by Jo Malone", and then I saw that the perfumer was Jo Malone and I was like, "Ok she just duped her perfume". Idk, but to my nose the perfume is so similar, maybe not as intricate, but still extremely similar the DNA is very much common, and it also lasts WAY more because on me PN didn't hold that much.