Nikolai

Taif T04 is actually not a fragrance that I would have immediately assigned to myself. I do not consider myself someone who can wear dominant oud and admittedly - I do not particularly like it. Nevertheless, I do not harbor a common aversion to oud, just to make that clear!

So when I came across Taif al Emarat and clicked through the various creations, I was almost sad that a large part of the Taifs but apparently has a very strong oriental touch and all dripping with oud and hot spices, which now so not my taste and probably does not really suit me.
However, I finally came across Taif T04. Honey is for me usually already a blind buy reason, I'm totally on the honey smell and the now rather unusual combination with oud and a generally (at least for me) unconventional note of cranberry, aroused my curiosity. For this, the ingredients mentioned were already enough, with Prunus dasycarpa I can of course do nothing and the base notes did not strike me at all great while reading.

In my research about where and especially at what price I could get a bottle of the yellow elixir, I thought my dream but first again for burst. Scarce 100€ on 75ml are now long below my pain threshold - 93€ for shipping from the UAE unfortunately not.

By a very happy interaction of some unlikely coincidences, I managed but actually already the next day half a bottle of T04 in the hand to hold, without having to pay the horrendous shipping costs.

But we come now after the rather longer outlandish prehistory to a few short praises on the flacon, to the fragrance itself:

The bottle is valuable, heavy and looks very handsome. The racing yellow liquid does not fit in my opinion to the otherwise noble presentation of the whole, but is made up for by the excellent atomizer and the great, elaborate packaging.

And now to the fragrance:
Spray T04 on my skin, I smell first and foremost one note unmistakable and naked, in all its fullness. Oud. To my delight, it did not repel me, however, but hit the mark. This oud, behaves like oud I hold in high regard. It is less bitingly animalic, and more woody and airy, without holding even a hint of mustiness. In fact, the top note of the Taif reminds me unmistakably strongly of "Oud Wood (Eau de Parfum) | Tom Ford".
This is probably not for animalic fanatics and oud purists, but in the portfolio of Taif al Emarat probably still find.

Full of excitement I waited for the honey, which comes to my disappointment not such sweet and full-bodied as I had hoped for him. Presumably, however, that is nothing but a gain for the fragrance. By a honey as in honey jar it probably delivers danger of being completely torn by this sweetness combined with vanilla into the mass of the sweet-woody gourmands. Because that's exactly what the T04 is not: sweet.

Sure, it's probably more sweet than fresh and more sweet than smoky or bitingly leathery, but really sweet? No.

I would primarily assign the quality of balance to this fragrance. Balanced in the sense of "all notes are similarly clearly perceptible", as well as balanced in the sense of the fragrance pyramid and its development: for me, no clear division into head, heart and base notes can be made here after a while. When applied, it is indeed clear - the oud dominates at the beginning, honey, cranberry (equally little sweet, rather tart-bitter) join in, but do not detach the oud. Likewise, all parts of the base note, none of the predecessor notes dissolve. In drydown, the fragrance merely adds fragments of its DNA to itself and ends with a harmonious coexistence of all the listed notes. A small imbalance I smell only between the oud - which is anyway by a small margin the most dominant ingredient - and patchouli, which unfortunately I can not sniff out practically at all.

To the durability: top of the upper class. The
T04 remains the whole day even for one perceptible on the skin and is not unpleasant.

To the sillage: At most upper middle class. Oddly enough, the sillage is less impressive in contrast to the excellent durability. It is not weak, but you have to be close to actually really perceive the fragrance.

Without having tested other Taif al Emarats, I can imagine that T04 is the softest and most pleasing, at least of this series from the house. A crowdpleaser he is nevertheless not, because I have received very mixed reactions to him. If you are looking for the total oriental spice bomb or the Urinstinkt-triggerdem oud overkill, you are wrong with T04.
If you want a fragrance, at least in Germany but very unusual, which seems unadulterated oriental and quite needs one or two attempts to like him, T04 is probably a good choice. I advise anyone who has an opportunity to buy or exchange without the criminal shipping costs: strike!

Oh, he is in my opinion, by the way, relatively clearly male, but with the right charisma also by a woman to wear!

"Spray To Play | Julia Beautx" is of course neither of the presentation, the packaging or the flacon even close to the level of "Kirkè | Tiziana Terenzi" - and thus just as far
below the price level.

Nevertheless, I can not help but permanently compare the Rossman-Cheapie with the aforementioned Terenzi and the similarities do not get out of my head, or nose.

Spray to Play starts just like Kirké when spraying on full. One is a heavily sweetened fruit basket with all sorts of ripe, juicy fruits before the nose slammed, which is not lacking in intensity and also presence. Nevertheless, Kirké seems more complex from the outset, in direct comparison, it lacks here definitely the pear and the fine nuances that appear through currant and passion fruit in the Kirké again and again.

As can also be expected, Spray to Play does not really evolve. On the one hand, the rather average durability of only a few hours does not allow for long-term development, on the other hand, the Youtube fragrance probably does not hide much more than what is already clearly in the foreground shortly after application. Rather, all components of the fragrance pyramid play here to the sweetness, musk and vanilla are also reduced here only to that.
For me, Spray to Play thus smells quasi permanently of pineapple and peach (or nectarine, who smells a difference?!) with additional sweetness.

May it be the knowledge that Spray to Play was created by a beauty Youtuberin for their predominantly female fans, or actually the subtle differences in the DNA (osmanthus and tiare, but no patchouli) - he just seems more feminine than the expensive role model and probably you will be looked at askance as a man, if you have neatly fogged with Spray to Play. Nevertheless, this is a matter of taste, even with Kirké many claim that it is rather to be classified as a women's fragrance.

About the bottle need not be lost big words. With the price tag of 16€ no miracles may be expected. Nevertheless, it seems in its entirety really extraordinarily cheap.

All in all, it still represents a nice alternative to my beloved Kirke for the tenth of the price. No, they do not smell the same, but there are still many similarities and strong similarities not to be dismissed. Spray to Play nevertheless runs the risk of sinking in the swamp of fruity-sweet women's fragrances, whereas Kirké escapes the doom by a small bit of originality.

"Space Cake | Xyrena" is in a strange way a divisive fragrance. Not that the DNA and development itself are particularly polarizing here. It is rather because the fragrance evokes clear associations and firmly anchored childhood memories, most perceive this fragrance as pleasant and delicious and virtually everyone is familiar with this smell.
However, probably the very few have smelled it as a perfume so far, or even thought that such a fragrance outside the kitchen or bakery to find and also still pleasant and meaningful could be.

As has probably already become clear and is also suggested by the name, it is here about cake batter.

Who does not become attentive and curious at the fragrance pyramid, I really can not understand in the slightest. Somehow, the fragrance notes is of course clear what to expect, but I could still badly imagine how such a space cake should smell and whether the notes are actually tuned so that they smell like cake.

Space Cake smells when applied, however, truly like cake batter, in which perhaps a yeast cube has fallen too much. Quite quickly joins a sweetness, generated by the icing, the vanilla and benzoin, which is never too present, however, and is only really noticeable, so to speak, in the "aftertaste" (My equivalent of aftertaste ;)). The salted butter listed above I can not smell out specifically here, but presumably it supports the overall work and its absence would be quite noticeable.
I was really surprised at how realistically and clearly identifiable the Space Cake smells and think the idea of a cake scent is simply brilliant. It makes you feel like you've been transported back to your childhood days of trying to grab scraps of fresh, unbaked cake batter in the kitchen. The cannabis does not interfere much with this association, as it really only has a subliminal effect on the overall work. Should you be looking for a perfume that smells like cannabis and exudes stoner vibes, you are definitely not on the right track with Space Cake.

But unfortunately, the cake for me here has a little too much of that certain something that so many actually great fragrances lack (e.g. "Voulez-vous coucher avec Moi | Kilian" ). I can not clearly identify which note disturbs me here and the actually really successful and angenehem cake fragrance shattered, but guess the already mentioned yeast. Either here is simply too much yeast contained, or - this is my personal impression - it is too synthetically intense designed, asdasshe reflects the fresh yeast in a real dough. The disturbing factor here is a bitter-mushroomy conspicuousness that disruptively intrudes on the delicious cake association.

Interesting is de facto the earth in the base note, which is once a pleasant alternative to the usual woods as a base. Funnily enough, it also does not interfere with my association with fragrant cake batter, as it is warm and sweet and comes more to the fore with time, but does not dominate. However, it is still so prevalent that I would clearly classify the fragrance as earthy. In my opinion, the earth note represents the actually very strong balance of the perfume, which I find quite remarkable due to the unconventional fragrance notes. Even after hours and increasing presence of the earth, mixed with a subtle and pleasant cannabis note, the so distinctive smell of cake batter does not give way a bit. One has really put time and know-how into this fragrance and designed it quite with consideration for balance of notes and harmony in itself - at least that's my impression.

As strange as it may seem with such a wacky perfume, the whole thing turns out to be exceedingly high-quality with a pronounced quality impression. This ranges from the ingredients and the fragrance itself (it is an Extrait de Parfum!), to the bottle and the atomizer - which atomizes finer and better than many a premium atomizer (... uh Creed *cough cough*) - to the truly terrific packaging, which is designed in the style of a plastic case of VHS tapes from the 80s. The picture of the bottle here on Parfumo does not do it justice at all. The lid is heavy and cool, qualitative and handsome. Only the imprint arouses, in my opinion, the association with a cheap fragrance that can be bought for a tenner in the hip new CBD store.

All in all, I love the idea of the fragrance. The vibe and the spirit, which are still reinforced by the packaging, have been implemented here really thoughtfully and tastefully (except for the imprint, argh).
The shelf life of Space Cake is good, he is still rudimentarily perceptible after a long working day. The sillage, on the other hand, is outstanding - even with a single spray you radiate this fragrance and is perceived by its environment well and long.

Whether you really want to smell like cake every day, is up to everyone. I personally do not want it, but would wear the fragrance quite occasionally to radiate attention and openness. He is definitely worth a test for every Parfumnerd and I can imagine that really some people would at least like to have a bottling for special occasions where it is appropriate to smell like cake with shallow earthy cannabis touch.
So a sharing could really be worthwhile!

With "VaneXstasy | Maison Tahité" I expected an ultra-heavy vanilla gourmand, about "Tobacco Vanilla (Eau de Parfum) | Tom Ford" level.
A typical fragrance reminiscent of Christmas, unwearable in summer and pleasantly stifling.

I was completely surprised, as it turned out. VaneXstasy starts very unobtrusive and rather unspectacular. Coconut can be detected relatively clearly, especially after you know it.
From caramel I smell here honestly nothing.
But vanilla is also present from the beginning. But here came the surprise for me. I perceive here no vanilla, as I have in all the sweet fragrances ( "Tobacco Vanilla (Eau de Parfum) | Tom Ford" layton | Parfums de Marly" and and and). VaneXstasy reminds me from the first moment rather as if I put my nose in a jar of vanilla beans, which are not cut or rubbed off.

Unlike apparently many others here, I perceive this vanilla note as exceedingly natural. Quite without artificial sweetness and far from vanilla sugar, as some describe this fragrance. The woods form a nice base for the fragrance and complement the impression of the natural, herbal vanilla bean, without being really present-isolated in the foreground.

All in all, VaneXstasy is very linear. I do not hear any great fragrance development, it remains virtually the same from spraying on to the drydown to its disappearance. Only a little bit of sweetness joins with time.
For me, this is quite positive, I like the fragrance with its natural impression extremely well and it creates insofar self-confidence and calm, asdassich you always know how you smell in about, even if you do not smell yourself just once.

The Tahité is for me a great opportunity to wear vanilla outside of the winter without being immediately noticeable. A way to apply some self-confidence and uniqueness, without imposing itself on the environment.

To lose another brief word about the flacon: I find the simple but thoughtful brown bottle extremely beautiful and handy, in addition exceedingly handsome in a collection. Also the price-performance ratio is top at about 90€ for 100ml!

On this fragrance, with the name in question, which I spell as a non-Frenchman steadily wrong and therefore decided not to write it out at all, I became aware of a very friendly perfumer who had the Kilian in the souk.

In principle, I am a friend of floral fragrances and a rose or tuberose in the fragrance pyramid gives a fragrance a bonus point with me in advance.

Nevertheless, even with fragrances that contain my favorite favorite notes, I am always curious to see how well they harmonize with the other fragrance notes, how well they are balanced, override each other or complement each other.
Unfortunately, I was somewhat disappointed by the Kilian here, or at least not positively surprised or amazed.

My two favorites, the rose and the tuberose I perceive very strongly and practically also through the entire course of the fragrance, but quite isolated. A touch of ylang-ylang is present for a few minutes, as well as possibly jasmine. The gardenia may well be strongly perceptible, perhaps I just have a hard time distinguishing it from tuberose.
The woods and vanilla, as you might expect, are not perceptible in the top notes, but form a nice base after a few hours, which don't really add specialness to the scent, but do make it a bit more durable. Rose and tuberose remain present throughout and can also be smelled reasonably far and not just skin deep.

The durability overall is acceptable, a few hours it is definitely well noticeable, but has no great sillage such as "Atomic Rose | Initio" .

The fragrance is yes in the community relatively clearly classified as feminine, which I can understand, but not necessarily confirm. Clearly, is such a floral fragrance without corners and edges less masculine than many others and also when spraying on you think for a brief moment, whether you would not rather assign the fragrance to his girlfriend.
Nevertheless, I associate with the fragrance quite a well-dressed, stylish and self-confident appearing younger man, for example when going out, at balls or fancy events. I would put it this way: as a women's fragrance may be the Kilian little special and get fierce competition within their own ranks regarding Anizehungskraft and appearance, as a man, however, you can definitely stand out if you wear it and radiate a bit of self-confidence, openness and taste for unconventional.