Marieschoice

A stormy fall afternoon. The wind is blowing outside while you sit in a cozy café waiting for your friends. You look out and see the red and orange leaves swirling through the air, while you yourself are overcome by a pleasant warmth and the smell of warmed milk with honey, almond cake and Black Forest gateau wafts into your nose from the neighboring table. You order a cup of tea. It's an English black tea with wild cherry. Next to your cup is a small Amaretto cookie. As you pour a dash of milk into your tea, you watch the dark color turn into something very creamy. You place the amaretto cookie on your spoon, dip it briefly into your tea and then let it melt in your mouth. Your friends are here.

Sensory overload. This fragrance is so tasty that it makes my mouth water and my brain freezes for a moment because it is flooded with so many images and associations. One moment I see myself on a tropical beach watching the sunset and the ripe mangoes tumbling from the trees behind me, the next moment I remember the long summer evenings as a teenager and the bike ride home from the outdoor pool. Past blossoming rapeseed fields that exude a light floral sweetness, with a Cuia Mara split ice cream in one hand and the other hand on the handlebars.

In terms of longevity, bottle and sillage, the Lattafa fragrances are outstanding anyway, but this scent is so exotic, creamy and feminine with its bright florals, it could have been called Mango Tango. Coconut does not penetrate the fragrance, but rather appears gently in the background to my nose. The mango and passion fruit also don't come across as synthetically overloaded, but rather ripe. They make the fragrance pleasantly fruity. This fragrance is neither tangy nor too sweet and sticky. As it progresses with cashmeran and vanilla, it becomes increasingly creamy and balanced by the musk.

Just last night I was talking to a friend about "clean scents" and how I'm still looking for the right one for me. Replica Bubble Bath gave me a headache, Lazy Sunday Morning was quite nice, but also a bit "lazy" in performance. A few days ago I read about Louis Varel's "Extreme" range. That same afternoon I went to the local drugstore and bought the Extreme Oriental and the Extreme Rose. You can find a short statement from me about both. The Extreme Oriental left my collection the very next day. But wait - there was another one on Mr. Varel's website that I found interesting: the Extreme Jasmine. Unfortunately not available on site. So on the way back I ordered it online without any particular expectations. I was expecting a fresh, floral fragrance. And it is floral at its core. Actually, it's not that far-fetched and I could have come up with the idea myself beforehand, as jasmine (blossom) is a common fragrance in fabric softeners. In any case, this scent reminds me strongly of freshly washed laundry. As soon as I took the cap off my blind-buy, this clean scent wafted towards me and I was immediately in love. Was this finally the clean scent I had been looking for for so long? And yes, it is definitely my current favorite in this direction. H/S are perfectly fine for the price and the scent is simply wonderful. It's not a classic "clean cotton" fragrance, but a floral one. It goes without saying that you should like jasmine. The fragrance is surrounded by a light green freshness. I imagine fresh laundry on a washing line in the garden in the early morning, when light morning dew still covers the meadow and the woody-earthy scent of the trees gently sways in the wind. An absolute stroke of luck.

I hear your voice
It's like an angel sighin'
I have no choice
I hear your voice
Feels like flying
I close my eyes
Oh God I think I'm fallin'
Out of the sky
I close my eyes
Heaven help me
When you call my name, it's like a little prayer
I'm down on my knees, I wanna take you there
In the midnight hour, I can feel your power
Just like a prayer, you know I'll take you there

This fragrance has called to me and it gives me everything I need. It is reminiscent of a visit to church, but at the same time provocative, somehow mystical. Never before have I perceived frankincense and myrrh so clearly in a fragrance, and on top of that, they are brought into a positive harmony, because everything is harmonious and yet so surprising at the same time. Tobacco, vanilla and cocoa make this fragrance sensual. I can't think of a more fitting association than Madonna in the late 80s. She broke all conventions with her song "Like a Prayer" and the accompanying music video. She provoked, made people speculate and dream. That's what this fragrance triggers in me too. It is somehow wicked. It makes me dream and without being blasphemous - everyone can speculate whether I am on the side of a sexy devil or a holy Mary today.

Before I get to the actual fragrance, I'll start with the packaging, because the price-performance ratio here is simply unbeatable. The packaging and the bottle itself can easily compete with higher-priced niche perfumes. Heavy and high-quality, as is the fragrance itself. Due to the red berries, it starts off a little pungent and almost soapy, but wait and see! After it has settled for a few minutes and the top notes level off, it develops into a delicious cocoa pudding. Every now and then I detect a hint of mandarin, which reminds me of Jaffa Cake. The rose and vanilla come through and play around the cocoa, like the decoration on the dessert plate of a Michelin-starred restaurant. Its sweetness grows, but tonka bean and sugar harmonize wonderfully with amber and the tartness of musk in the base. As a blind buy, this fragrance was not a disappointment. Gourmand lovers can get a high-quality fragrance in a 100ml size for "little money".