Duftbursche

What is being offered here, you ask?
A lot - very much!!!

And please: the Amouage fans, don’t click away just yet…. One thing right off the bat: it is NOT 100% Interlude.
Phew - hopefully, there will be peace on the fragrance front????
I am a big fan of the Amouage fragrances myself - but less so of their prices (high pricing policy)

The Lattafa fragrance has been in my fragrance cabinet since early November 2022 and has also been listed on Parfumo since yesterday.
WOW - the Dutch were indeed "faster" this time (just a little joke) -
Why Dutch? Well, I was there in November for some shopping and stopped at a department store to check out the fragrances: of course, where else would a man stop (another little joke?)
A whole range of Lattafa fragrances were there, all on "offer" -
This brand from the UAE (United Arab Emirates) -
is also found in Germany with a branch in Karlsruhe-Stupferich and has already secured a large and growing fan base.
This is, in my opinion, thanks to their excellent fragrances at moderate prices. I have never really been disappointed by Lattafa fragrances so far. I cannot say the same for all Arabic fragrances! Of course, their Oud fragrances in particular should always be approached with caution (when applying) for our European noses used to different scents. Also, the heavy sweetness that doesn’t always sit well with me is, like for other perfume lovers, more of a "divorce reason" from the respective fragrance. However, this has nothing to do with the quality of the fragrances.

So back to the beginning. What is offered for the €18 I paid for it? I call that more than affordable.
From my perspective: The bottle alone is already a true feast for the eyes. A show! Tall and slim in rectangular glass, held in a dark, elevated blue. The bottle has a gold-colored stripe about 4cm wide stuck on the front and back. The cap is also gold-colored. The bottle is really heavy, fitting well in my hand as a man. If it slips into the washbasin or onto the tiles = that will be expensive…

The fragrance itself seems to me to be very smoky, with a not too heavy incense note.
At first, it is slightly sweet for me, but that soon subsides and the scent strongly reminiscent of Amouage Interlude comes to my nose. I am reminded of Ard al Zaafaran Midnight Oud Eau de Parfum - many also remember it as a true sillage & longevity bomb.
Regarding the tedious topic of longevity and sillage, I don’t want to lean too far out of the "fragrance window." Viewed purely subjectively: H & S very good! My skin, which often behaves differently than your descriptions of fragrances, tells me: 6 hours good to sniff, more than 8 hours close to the skin, etc.
But it’s not Amouage - something is missing! (or perhaps a bit more?) Well, dear Amouage fans, are you feeling a bit milder towards me again?
For the uninitiated fragrance lover and for people with a smaller budget (of which there will surely be more in the coming times due to rising living costs), this Lattafa is a good fragrance twin/similar to Interlude!
I find the scent very appealing; for the price of the original Interlude, you could easily get at least 10 or more fragrances from Lattafa -

I was not familiar with the scent beforehand. Thus, it was a blind fragrance purchase that has convinced me more than I expected and leaves no regrets.

Please keep it up at Lattafa and surprise & delight me (us?) with more wonderful, high-quality fragrances -
I am certainly ready for it…!

“A fragrance must evoke the best moments of life” (Karl Lagerfeld)

Yes, and such a fragrance is - was - “Gianfranco ferre for man” at least for me. For what feels like my (fragrance) lifetime, it has held its place in my fragrance cabinet. Time and again, I gladly reached for this scent and wore it countless times in the morning before leaving the house. I was surrounded by the aura of a spicy men's fragrance, those scents that I have loved since my youth, always desired and still revere today! A men's fragrance. Because, without wanting to appear macho, that is what it is: a scent for men and for those men who still want to feel this spice like a sailor feels the waves and the salt on his tanned skin. Like the lumberjack with his saw in hand, which his calloused, strong hands guide with certainty. So confidently did this fragrance by Ferre once lead me.

And now?

On a foggy day fitting for this time of year, I felt the urge to use this fragrance once again. Oh, yes, my fragrance friend “Ferre for man” wanted to be on my skin. Now the bottle, as I noticed, is slowly but surely becoming emptier. So I went online to search for it. But what do I discover to my dismay? This fragrance has been discontinued! Only available at the now outrageous (unfortunately common) moon prices that one is offered as “vintage” to then demand astronomical prices. Speculators want to quickly get up to 200 Euros for the bottle, which I once purchased for 39 Euros. It is up to each individual and their wallet to decide whether the fragrance is worth it and whether they want to support such practices!

This Ferre fragrance, which has been around since 1986, has never been changed, meaning reformulated, to my humble fragrance knowledge. If I am mistaken, please DO NOT let me know. PLEASE! -
I want to remember the fragrance with a clear conscience…. I hope you understand what I mean. Old proven things do not always have to be bad! Must everything be changed in today’s fast-paced world? Slowing down is my motto! As a report aptly stated some time ago… what must change so that everything remains as it is…

I have always remembered the fragrance as spicy leathery with very good longevity and, as confirmed by those around me, with a well-perceived scent trail, that is, sillage.
Now this fragrance is also a thing of the past. Like so many of the spicy classics from the 70s to 80s that have been taken off the market or reformulated to death. Ferre for man was one of the men's fragrances with character for me, not mass-produced, not a scent for everyone! No, it will continue to live (scent) in my memory of the wonderful 80s, THE decade, as many of my acquaintances refer to it. This wonderful men's fragrance, with which I also “grew old,” is now lost to the fragrance world… unfortunately!

I may quote someone more knowledgeable, who wrote a wonderful article about this fragrance. There, Serguey Borisov writes among other things… at its core, Ferre for Man is far from innovations and upheavals, as the fragrance is very traditional, fougère and dark. From dirty lemon, lavender, and sage to spicy clove and geranium (with a noticeable resinous, piney undertone) and a typical base of moss-vetiver-patchouli, with just a hint of tobacco and leather. The overall profile of an aromatic fougère of that time, with slight differences from other men's fragrances, emphasized a dark, conservative base. Essentially, it is a continuation of the fragrance ideas of Azzaro Pour Homme and Quorum Puig -

Thank you for allowing me to know you, “Gianfranco ferre for man.”
You have brought me so many unforgettable happy fragrance hours.

I will miss you….

Arrivederci, amico mio profumo speziato
- Fragrance Guy -

There you are, you wonderful musk fragrance, languishing unnoticed for years and days with not even a small statement, let alone a brief review… What have you done to the world of fragrance that you are treated so stepmotherly? Yet you have such a great appearance! Your scent is not too intrusive, even if one might think so with the term musk. Sure, you certainly stand out in the room, gifting us your wonderfully powdery-sweet musk scent as a pure male experience - of course also for the woman with the courage to embrace the “macho” - or is it called Machoin .-) .-) - One wants to fulfill the clichés, right? Well, your staying power is no “Rocky” in the ring - you quickly go down on your knees but then manage to last a few hours. Not intrusive at all! Of course, it depends on the dose that one extracts from your substantial 414ml content in a plastic bottle that is not exactly labeled as “beautiful.”
But many a fragrance manufacturer could take a thick slice from the GREAT content to let us partake in “more” content than the meager obligatory 100 milliliters they offer…. Therefore, one can also use you a bit more generously.

From time to time, I feel the urge on those days that I title “this-year-the-musk-is-out” .-)
First the relaxing bath, then the elegant wet shave of the old school with the razor, and then a splash-on happening is celebrated with Jeris-Musk. In other words, the “bath” after the bath .-)
WOW - then he, the Jeris, is one of the wonderful lighter musk gifts.

There are descriptions/sentences about you on the internet like:
!!!! One of the hottest musk macho scents of the 1970s.!!!
Or (forgive me for posting this):
- With musk and pheromones for the female gender, there is no skimping here. -
- With the sexy scent, a man does not hide his light under a bushel. -

Okay, okay... you’ve long noticed: Jeris is one of my favorites because I love to wear the so-called “Old-School” scents as my eternal bests, I enjoy using them, and I am surely addicted to them!
Oh yes: Jeris is now part of the Clubman empire, but was once independent in the States -

The scent can be used as aftershave or Eau de Cologne.
Or just to let the musk out of you…. .-)

I would like to post a short review of this so far overlooked fragrance.
I purchased it from England before Brexit!
This is important, as I found out while searching the internet today, that it is often not (anymore) delivered to us in Germany. The shipping costs have also risen exorbitantly. Whether additional customs fees apply due to this, is beyond my knowledge.

The company Al Aneeq is based in Great Britain.
Founded in 2011, it initially sold fragrances from other manufacturers. It imported well-known brands from the Middle East directly from their factories. Starting in 2014, they established their own brand with the same name, "Al Aneeq." The name of the fragrance I am describing is: "Nawaf" -
Additionally, I found the designation "French perfume." This means at the company that they are not made in France, but the French label is an indication of the scent profile.

The fragrance comes as a so-called "roll-on" in a 10ml bottle as a slightly oily substance. Therefore, when I first used it, I only moistened my index finger with the rollerball and applied a little of the perfume oil. A slightly shiny film of oil is visible on the skin. I should note that such so-called perfume oil can cause skin irritations!
Al Aneeq also states this on their website! -

At first, the fragrance struck me with its (to me very) citrusy heart note combined with the clove, which I do not like, rather (dis)concerting. However, this is known to fade with the quickly fleeting heart note. After that, an aromatic-floral note takes over (the rose, which I find disturbing again - SORRY to the rose fragrance lovers). I also think I can sniff some cinnamon. Its full character develops after about 1 hour as a lightly woody-floral scent.
P.S.: It is said to contain amber. As a non-perfumer, I cannot categorize and thus confirm this. SORRY: but I also do not know how amber is supposed to smell… .-)

I really like the fragrance after its citrusy start. However, it does not have the lasting presence I feared in/with its sillage. This sillage - as I recently learned here in the forum - can hardly be judged by the user. It requires the perception of other people, who can still smell the fragrance trail in the room.
My partner consistently gave me positive feedback about the fragrance, finding the sillage neither disturbing nor intrusive. Longevity for me is over 10 hours - but last sniffed closely.-)
Nawaf is certainly a unisex fragrance suitable for both genders at an affordable price -
in a convenient small bottle for ladies' bags - as long as one is willing to overlook the high shipping price.

Oh yes: the fragrance has mysteriously "disappeared" in my partner's handbag… so something like that :ö-)

How to begin?
More precisely: What should I write about such a fragrance colossus?
As far as I remember, this MUSK is a true monster of sillage and longevity!
I was still enveloped by it in the train after 11 hours, to the extent that I was asked about the fragrance I was wearing. That surely says it all, especially when today H&S is considered GREAT with a laughable 6-7 hours!
Just one sentence about the actual scent: Musk fragrance in its purest, perfect form for me!!!
First the sad part: it is no longer available.
Unfortunately, I can't recall how long it was around. I even believe, forgive me, that I bought it before 1982.
Through my search for Musk today, a nice Parfumo showed me the link to this fragrance.
How long, it seems to me, I have been searching for this scent (again!) without the necessary energy.
After the initial joy of (re)discovering it, I had to lower my head and realize that such an EVENT no longer exists. But I should have been aware of this beforehand, many of you might think.
Otherwise, there would surely be a whole "lineup" of reviews & statements.
Such earthquakes in fragrance form from the "good old years of perfume" have almost completely disappeared.
If not, then certainly reformulated to the extent that one turns away in disgust.
So off the market, reformulated, or available as "vintage" for seemingly utopian sums.

I am thus (trying) to put a review on "paper" about a fragrance only from memory…. Can that go well?
We all know that memories fade and even blur over time.
Both the good and the bad. Humans tend to shape what they remember.
Only by the fact that terrible events hopefully fade from our mental eye, can we endure, for example, the loss of a loved one or pet - eventually….
It is good that the beautiful events of a person's life overshadow the mountain of melancholy - …. Remembering can bring bliss!
The past does not have to hurt; it can, as in my case, be very beautiful regarding this scent…..

Oh, how young I was. A small perfumery near my apprenticeship, filled to the roof with the most wonderful scents. Every day when I passed by, it smelled of perfumes at the traffic light across the street - For a whole year, I went in there from time to time and let them show me something. Just as occasionally, a fragrance was purchased. You should know that back then, there was only pocket money.
A whole 10 marks a week! Everything else had to be given at home as so-called "board money." But now, after summer, as I was starting my second year of apprenticeship, everything suddenly changed.
The perfumery had a new face. No, it wasn't just a face; it was… an angel! I stood fascinated in front of the window, and instantly my heart raced wildly.
What was happening to me?
I could previously "live out" my "thing" (as my acquaintances called it) with fragrances in the perfumery, sniffing everything I wanted to. But with the new enchanting being inside, all my self-confidence faded… Oh yes, that's quite a thing when you're not a macho….
But eventually, I bravely stepped back into the perfumery. Should the owner, who knew me, come or…. the angel…. And it was precisely this one who approached me. She smiled at me, and I was no longer sure what I actually wanted. Embarrassed, I asked for the fragrance I had been eyeing for a while. Don't ask me which one it was…. I was just glad I didn't blush… or did I? -
Well, the angel showed me the fragrance and casually mentioned that they had a fantastic new scent in stock for a few days, asking if she could show it to me. She returned with the mentioned MUSK and politely asked if I would like a spritz on my wrist.
Oh yes, how I wanted it!
My eyes didn't see the MUSK bottle at all, only HER.
And now came that still vividly memorable magical moment of my young life. The angel gently took my hand, turned it, and sprayed the fragrance on my wrist… oh man, can you fall in love so quickly - my experience in this regard was zero at that time… the fragrance, what can I say about it… I heard her voice from a distant place - I was completely lost in dreams…
Oh, oh, yes,... the fragrance. Um, ... so wonderful ... I stammered my way through the situation. I only had her perfume in my nose - what MUSK was she talking about .-)
Of course, I bought the MUSK. Had I ever desired another fragrance (so) before….
She lovingly packaged the fragrance, and I fervently hoped the angel would never finish. I was allowed to be so close to "my" dream being and stand in front of her, even if silently…

That’s how I came to this fragrance.
Now you’re surely asking, did we get together? NO!
She was older than me and, above all, in a committed relationship. I was too young, too shy to ask, and, and ----
It was not meant to be. This surely one-sided "being in love" ended after just under a year. Just as suddenly as the angel appeared in the perfumery, she disappeared again…
I was left unhappy - …. C'est la vie

But every time I later used the fragrance, I stood "young man" in front of the blonde angel, my enchanting being. I felt her delicate, warm hand touching mine and saw her before me - smelled her perfume and twirled around in love with her in a dance we unfortunately never danced together…

MUSK now remains like this angel only a memory - but a wonderfully beautiful one…..

Memory is the only paradise from which we cannot be expelled.
--- Jean Paul (1763-1825) ---