Dankop77

Guys, I found something great here by chance. The Grandeur brand is brand new and I've just received the Soaked Sun. No review yet, but here's the first one.

The Sun has one of the best fresh fruity top notes I've ever smelled. 3 sprays on the arm and the fruit basket is vigorously swung around the room. Don't sniff the spray for the first 10 seconds, it's very pungent and a little alcoholic at first. But then the madness begins. I immediately opened my eyes. The whole thing is extremely tasty and has a strong radiance. I can't say which of the fruits dominates here. But it is very fruity and goes in a citrusy direction. After 10 minutes, the fragrance calms down a little, but it remains citrusy and fruity. Just not quite as overwhelming. Fragrance pyramid? Forget it. The fruit basket from the top note continues from the beginning to the end. It just dims down bit by bit until it is gone.

It is supposed to imitate Afternoon Swim. I can't say whether it does it well, as I don't know it. But maybe that's why I like the Sun so much, without any preconceptions.

Sun is perfect for the height of summer and is very refreshing. Is it totally natural? No, it's definitely not. It's quite synthetic, but in a cool way. And it's linear, very much so. The fragrance journey doesn't happen. You get fruity freshness from front to back. But that's exactly what I want at high temperatures.
The niche lovers will certainly loathe it and tear it apart here. But that in no way detracts from the fun it makes.

The bottle is stylish and even has a magnetic cap. However, the cap could have more grip. Lifting it is not possible. I would also have preferred the bottle to be yellow, with yellow contents. That would have suited the fragrance better. The blue color suggests an aquatic, which it definitely is not. The sprayer is fine. As a tip, pick up the packaging. Only this one has the batch code on it.

Sillage? Quite strong up to a maximum of 2 hours, then still perceptible at close range. Longevity? Hey, this thing costs €25. Re-spray if you feel like an encore.

Conclusion: My fragrance this summer when the temperature is hot. Give it a try if it sounds interesting to you.

A well-known designer brand launches several fragrances in a range. One of them is different from the others. One of them is mocked and scorned and does not have an easy life. He stands lost and lonely on the shop shelf and watches as his brothers are bought and allowed to go out into the wide world. But then, one day, a buyer comes along and puts it out of its misery. It is finally allowed to fulfill its purpose and is used. And now the ugly Intense'lein becomes a beautiful and proud fragrance that is in no way inferior to its brothers.

I had to take up the cudgels for this fragrance because I think it is massively undervalued with a current score of 7.4. When I see that every other Zara fragrance is rated 8.5 or higher, something is wrong. Zara dreams of having such a cracker in its repertoire. Nothing against Zara's products, some of them are really quite good. But the ratio in the rating is not right. I don't want to write much more about the fragrance here, as previous speakers have already described it well. Yes, it is different from the EdT and the EdP, but in NO WAY !!!! In any case a whole point worse. It is sweeter than the other two and less spicy. Many had certainly hoped for a long-lasting version of their beloved EdP. Perhaps this contributed to the poor rating. You have to free yourself from that thought and look at the Intense in its own right. Then you can also love it. It would certainly have been rated better if D&G hadn't sold it under The One.
It doesn't last much shorter or longer than its two predecessors. The three fragrances are at the same low level in terms of sillage and longevity. Nevertheless, they are beautiful winter and date fragrances. The EdT and the EdP are rather sweet and spicy and the Intense is more sweet and spicy. The EdP has made the EdT obsolete. The Intense is not superfluous due to its independence, but enriches the range. They suffer from their poor performance and the resulting poor price/quality ratio. And yet I recommend it because it is not a 08/15 designer but a beautiful and proud swan in the fragrance world.

At the beginning of my journey of discovery into the wide world of fragrances, Shock was one of my first. At the time, I found it really very pleasant and enjoyed wearing it. I have to be honest, I no longer enjoy it as much today. But that's more down to me than the Shock itself. My nose has tasted many other fragrances and now I can smell the cheap one. It's not bad, by no means. That's not meant to sound snobbish, but it's not high quality or classy either. But it's hard to re-educate a spoiled nose. In a nutshell, it's an average sweet and spicy fragrance with oriental notes.

But now more about the fragrance itself. It starts with a fresh fruity sweetness, which is really nice and probably comes from the clementine. It's really sweet at the beginning. I've never smelled cucumber here before. Maybe it's just added for that little bit of freshness. After the top note, I primarily smell cardamom. I would even go so far as to say that the shock is cardamom-heavy. The whole thing still has a certain freshness at this point. This freshness then fades as it progresses. Maybe it was the remains of the cucumber, which I can't smell individually, who knows! The Shock now becomes a little darker, spicier and loses some of its sweetness. The tobacco is already pushing up a little from the base. Cardamom and tobacco fight an intense duel for the next few moments. In the base, the tobacco finally kills the cardamom.

I only find the sillage perceptible at the beginning. After an hour, it starts to weaken noticeably. After 2 to 3 hours at most, it is almost skin-deep.

You can argue about the bottle. I don't like the whole principle of Calvin Klein. Delivering the bottle with a cap screwed on, then having to open it to unscrew the tube and the sprayer. And in the end, there is no protective cap on the sprayer. This is a rather poor solution for taking with you. Incidentally, the sprayer is not the best either, just within the limit.

The P/L ratio is good. With the large 200ml bottle you can make quite an alarm for little money.

I recommend it for fragrance travelers in the early stages. It is probably not for very spoiled noses. I still like to use it from time to time though.

My batch is from 05/20

First of all, I have to emphasize that there is no oud in it and the ANO doesn't smell like oud at all. Where the name comes from, the vulture knows.

After spraying it on, you are greeted by a sweet, spicy blend in the best oriental style. I think I perceive a mixture of caraway and sage.
It then becomes a little woodier at the heart. However, the oriental notes continue to accompany the fragrance. A hint of leather is added in the base. However, you have to press your nose to your skin, as the fragrance then slowly says goodbye.
The whole thing is very rounded, harmonious and not synthetic. The ANO is also not too sweet and pleasant to wear.

The sillage is in the lower-middle range depending on the spray routine. The fragrance is by no means loud, but also not skin-deep. It lasts about 5 to 6 hours on me, which I would have liked a little better. For a winter fragrance, that's not so great.

I really like the bottle. The lid is just a bit rickety, but it holds. The sprayer works properly.

I bought the ANO new for €25 and that was a good PL ratio. Today it costs almost twice as much, which I honestly wouldn't go for. If it becomes cheaper again, I can recommend it without reservation.

The Ambre Noir was another one of my blind purchases, because it attracted me with a good price and I generally have a soft spot for sweet, spicy fragrances. I have to say that it far exceeded my expectations. Its fragrance profile, longevity and sillage are convincing in all respects.
It starts with a slightly tart, spicy opening.
Relatively quickly, it shifts in a warm, sweet direction. It is a very pleasant dark, resinous sweetness that is not annoying. Not as squeaky sweet as many new releases. Whether it is the elim resin or the amber is already noticeable is hard to say. At the heart of the fragrance, you can also smell the vanilla from time to time. Nothing really changes, which is a good thing.
The fragrance makes a high-quality impression on me and, in my opinion, is not at all synthetic.
I am also well perceived and get positive feedback with it. Sillage and longevity vary. It just depends on how much I spray. But I would rate it as very decent, in the upper mid-range.
But it's definitely not a howler monkey ala Amber Star or the like.
The bottle is classically chic and simple. The cap snaps on well and stays in place, even if you lift the bottle. The sprayer does its job well. It comes out a bit much, but still as a mist, not as a splash.
All in all, you get a great fragrance here, for the cold days, for about 30€ / 100ml. I read that it has been discontinued. But you can still get it from various online retailers. Grab it if you're interested while it's still available.