AstaLaVista

So, where do I start?
I generally don't write many reviews. I prefer it short and snappy and writing and reading a review simply takes more time.
Well, yes. We've sorted that out.
However, this fragrance cannot be put into words so quickly.
It literally screams: "Hey, you can't just dismiss me with a few nice words! Describe me, advertise me, explain me!"
All right.

It was a blind buy. I generally don't do that because I'm too afraid I won't like the fragrance. At the price (I paid €30 + shipping), I thought to myself "okay, you can't go far wrong - if the fragrance isn't for you, you'll have a nice bottle in your collection".
Of course, I did a bit of research beforehand and watched YouTube videos.
How could it be otherwise.

I let myself be convinced. When the fragrance arrived... Curiosity was high, I unpacked the bottle, almost with shaky hands, so that the beautiful thing almost fell out of my hand :/ Just barely held on.
Smelled both my wrists to see if there was still one "free" or if I had already used both sides - lucky me - sprayed it on.

At that moment, I had the words of people I had seen in YouTube videos or whose reviews I had read in my head. "La Belle, honey, honey, honey, celery, Maggie spice, Quentin Bisch, nothing special, I'm in love....etc. pp."

I myself first smelled burnt sugar with bitter almond. Something along the lines of "Escapade Gourmande | Maison Mataha" and definitely in a positive sense. There was possibly a hint of apricot, but I could be wrong.
Thought to myself, "hey, at least no celery." That would have been tragic.
At the same time, I sprayed it on a test strip. After waiting a bit... the scent smells much fresher here. I can even smell the rhubarb.

After waiting a bit: honey without flowers (I personally don't smell them)
Towards the end: labdanum, vanilla, musk march towards the drydown.

It's definitely worth waiting for this one. It is heavenly....

I honestly have to admit that I missed the leather a little. A light, very fine touch would have been nice. But maybe it was so finely woven that I couldn't even smell it. Who knows.

I can't say much about the comparison with "La Belle | Jean Paul Gaultier".
I myself only own the "La Belle Le Parfum | Jean Paul Gaultier"
When I compare the two on the test strip, I also recognize a vibe or slight similarities BUT I find that "Teriaq / ترياق | Lattafa / لطافة" is simply much cuddlier, warmer, more caramel-like. And this note of burnt sugar is very present in my mouth.
La Belle is fruitier for me.

Do you have to have both?
Not necessarily. Which one you prefer depends on you.
But I will definitely try layering both ;)

My conclusion:
A beautiful fragrance with La Belle vibes but nonetheless a pretty independent scent. Definitely not a crowdpleaser.
H/S easily a 10, the fragrance scents your fellow human beings as well ;)
I like you!

First bittersweet, then smoky.
One more breath from you, then I'll gasp.
What's wrong with me - do I buy?
Yes, I'll buy you!
You'll stay with me all day.
You don't run away, yet you're not near.
The addiction to you makes me so weak.
Loukhoum & what it does to me.
?♀️

I wasn't sure at first if I wanted to write a comment on this perfume, or if a statement would suffice. But this perfume deserves more than a statement. It deserves a hymn of praise.... A street named after it, a stadium named after it (... Shaghaf Oud Stadium... doesn't it sound good?) and much more.... ;)

Don't get me wrong, but I'm not exaggerating when I say I spray it on my wrist every night so I dream of Dubai in the night.... of freedom, sun, souks full of spices, of scented veils (and other veils :)))
Yes, it's true, I'm in love.... but only in winter or when the weather is a humid summer Dubai weather, not in summer in Germany, because it gives me a headache.

I had already fallen in shock love with Lancome's Oud Bouquet in 2018. Back then in a store in the Dubai Mall.... I spent every day of my 2 week holiday spraying myself with it. The scent lasted until the next day, until I sprayed myself with it again. I was looking forward to the next scent in the evening ;) But every time I stood in front of the bottle, I got a stab in the heart - it wasn't the scent, no, it was the price....
Well, it lasted 2 weeks and on the day of departure, I bought the fragrance discounted from the airline's on-board shop.
I was so happy to take this fragrance with me to Germany, to have this holiday feeling every day with me....
Until the moment where I then went into the office on Monday and wanted to present my "new Arab friend" to everyone.
It was shocking... "Could it be that it smells like incense in here?" or "What's that smell?"
Oh well... I was disappointed. My colleagues appreciate this Lamborghini (Aventador with 770 hp) among the fragrances, unfortunately, not at all :((
In addition, came that I got in the hot weather in Germany on the fragrance hellish headache & him sometime heavy heart unfortunately had to give :( Now we had the salad...

3 years later:
When I was visiting a friend I smelled it again! Was it my old Arabian friend from 2018, who I had to give away with such a heavy heart for my colleagues and my headaches back then? Was it him? Was he also still thinking about me as much as I was thinking about him?
When I asked my friend, he said it was Shaghaf Oud by Swiss Arabian and I was in Love again. Overnight, all the memories flashed through my head and I was back in Dubai - mentally - of course. That saffron, that rose and oud, oud and more oud and some pralines and a big pinch of delicious vanilla.... Three days later, I had the golden bottle in my hand. Even though I can only smell you in winter without a headache, we are reunited, even though your name is different and you look different, you smell, you smell just as good as my old love....

I must confess, I am a little disappointed.... The fragrance pyramid has sounded so tempting & delicious, however, I smell neither oud nor coconut, which is why I actually wanted to try the fragrance.
Don't get me wrong, it's not bad, however not for me & my expectations?
Otherwise spicy, oriental fragrance which has a good shelf life, but with me no real development, but somehow after spraying until drydown smells the same ?♀️