Ajwaa

أجواء

Lattafa Pride 2023

I hated this the first time i tried it. Reminded me of a specific brand of cough relief candy called Dr Bayard.

After some time i got a decant sample and it started creeping up on me.

I never had liquorice one day in my life, except for those cough drops, but this became different with time.

A big chunk of myrrh sprinkled with elemi to take some of the rubberiness out. A bit of dates but not like in "Khamrah / خمرة | Lattafa / لطافة" .

A Persian dessert yet to be invented, with edible chewy myrrh, liquorice infused with citrus balsam and tons of sugar syrup.

Competent performance, but totally unique. Do not blind buy. Very specific.

With some fragrances, you know from the very first moment that it is a love or hate fragrance.
"Ajwaa / أجواء | Lattafa / لطافة" falls exactly into this category.
With the first spray, my reaction shifted from oh cool to oh no.
Ultimately, it became a must-not-have, but there are worse scents.

But what exactly divides opinions so much?
It’s this mishmash of sweet, sour, spicy, fruity, and resinous notes.
In the opening, I thought it smells like a Haribo bag.
I immediately detected sour lemon, sweet dates, and an excess of licorice.
In the drydown, the sour lemon recedes a bit into the background.
The resinous notes take command along with dates and licorice.
I don’t know how Lattafa managed it, but the licorice is really very realistic.
Unfortunately, I am not a big fan of it.
While I do enjoy it occasionally, I don’t want to smell like licorice, and for my perception, it is the most prominent note in the perfume.
Even more prominent than the dates, which is why I actually bought the perfume.
As the scent develops, it becomes slightly oriental, perhaps due to the myrrh? I have no idea where that comes from.
But the scent never becomes typically Lattafa or oriental.
The fragrance then remains quite sweet and lightly resinous with licorice, dates, and resinous notes in the foreground.

In fact, the scent is quite unique; I know nothing comparable.
Whether that is good or bad, everyone must decide for themselves.
Lattafa does like to clone, but Ajwaa seems to be an original creation, just like the two Ajayeb.
And definitely unisex, this beautiful piece.

The performance is quite okay.
As is often the case with Lattafa, it’s not a beast but also not weak.
You will definitely be noticed in the first 2 hours.
But I usually only applied 4-5 sprays of it.
Less is more here, as it is not entirely safe.

You can get a 20 ml bottle of "Ajwaa / أجواء | Lattafa / لطافة" for 10 euros.
This way, you can test the fragrance before buying a whole bottle.
And I would advise everyone considering this fragrance to do just that.
On some days, I simply cannot wear it; it actually makes me feel nauseous.
But then there are days like today when I think it’s quite okay and definitely wearable.
It convinces many others completely, judging by the statements I read.
But perfumes are indeed a matter of taste, and that’s a good thing.

This fragrance also arrived today along with the "Breeze | Lattafa / لطافة" and was tested on my other wrist.

As the title suggests, it does have a slightly burnt scent due to the elm resin and dates, not "who stole the coconut" but rather "who set the palm tree on fire." The opening is very smoky and boozy, but then bam, here comes the licorice... it smells a bit singed on my skin and gives the impression of being forgotten in a pan on the stove... but who does that? Well, the licorice keeps coming through, and I thought I was sniffing like my predecessors at a bag of Haribo.
But then, over time, a twist comes with a bit of vanilla, and now I can also perceive the two citrus fruits from the top notes. In the end, there's a mix of the woody and slightly resinous top notes, softened by musk, and the incense adds a touch to it all.
Ultimately, I could perceive slight parallels to the fireplace, only here it's oriental and with a different touch.
I like it; it's something different.

I never thought I would be into a licorice-myrrh-frankincense combo. But Ajwaa is simply amazing.

From start to finish, you have licorice that is harmoniously accompanied by the other fragrance notes, sometimes more, sometimes less. At the beginning, it is briefly fresh due to the bergamot, but that doesn't last long. It quickly becomes resinous and smoky, and thus the licorice is initially surrounded by it. In my perception, the date joins back in the drydown and adds a sweetness to the whole thing, but it's never too sweet.
It is generally never too sweet, too smoky, too resinous, or too licorice-y (?). Everything is perfectly dosed, at least for my taste.
Well, almost everything. Unfortunately, I have an aversion to (for me) overly noticeable musk. There is a brief phase in the first hour and a half where the musk comes through a bit too strongly for me, but fortunately, it fades away after a few minutes. I perceive vanilla and benzoin extremely minimally. But that's not a problem for me; I really like what I clearly perceive.

Ultimately, the drydown is just as described in the title, as if you have licorice with date syrup in front of you, embedded in smoky notes.

I simply love licorice...

As some of you have already mentioned, Lataffa Ajwaa also smells to me right from the first moment like a freshly opened bag of Haribo Colorado, licorice and sweetly spicy.
In the further development of the scent on my skin, it becomes a bit resinous and stays in this direction for a while. It actually reminds me a bit of Bo by Liis, which is also quite resinous...
In the dry down, it becomes softer and more vanilla-like, with a very delicate hint of smoke... mmmmh, already delicious!

In terms of sillage and longevity, I actually find it really good; after 8 hours, I can still detect it gently on my skin!
I think it is suitable for both genders.

The bottle is for me actually just successful, really special and beautiful! However, I bought it as a blind purchase in the 20 ml variant, so unfortunately it is simply housed in a small square bottle. This, however, does not detract from the scent itself!

Absolutely recommendable for the money!