Vivaguevara

After Paris Shenandoah from this series had already convinced me completely, and I bought it for the late summer days, I wanted to try it now, as the cold days of the year were approaching, to see if Carven could also convince me with Paris La Havane as an alternative winter scent.

As I am more of a friend of fresh scents, it is often not easy for me to find winter scents that I don't find too pompous-sweet-heavy, which is why I already became curious when I looked at the scent pyramid of La Havane. No vanilla, no tonka bean - promising.
What awaited me at the test, however, blew me away. Rarely has a fragrance captivated me so much from the beginning. A fruity and spicy, but still not sweet prelude, in which the mandarin can only take over the helm for a short time. Already here La Havane's deep, smoky character is revealed. A wonderful tobacco note, which in combination with the elemi resin, leaves a smoky-dry impression.
Not the usual sweet pipe/shisha tobacco "Gedöns" that is found in so many winter scents, no, rather the heavy, noble smoke of a wonderful cigar. After a short time, the leather in the background starts to resonate, but never becomes so dominant that La Havane could be described as a pure leather scent. The only discreetly appearing notes of lavender (and rose - I couldn't really perceive them) support the gentle transition of the fading tobacco to the leather, which plays the leading role for a few hours, whereby the smoky note is never completely lost. Only after about eight hours does the leather also fade somewhat and reveal a soft, amber base note that lets the fragrance fade away pleasantly.

The durability of the fragrance is, even with economical dosage, at least for me, enormous. If you want to get rid of it before the end of the day, scouring milk and Abrazo are probably needed. Even if it is not at all room filling, the sillage is neat and the scent is clearly perceptible even at a distance.

I, for one, have found a winter favourite that actually takes me to Havana. There, when I close my eyes, I sit in deep leather armchairs with a Cohiba in the Social Club in Buena Vista and listen to Compay Segundo and Ibrahim Ferrer.

Since I was chosen by the great "D" as the product tester for this new fragrance from Dolce & Gabbana (I applied for the job for fun), I would now like to share my impressions in my very first comment, even if I don't like writing. When I held the bottle in my hand for the first time, the question arose whether the "K" stood for King or kitsch. Rarely seen such an unnecessarily ugly cap for a perfume bottle; but as is well known, you should not let yourself be influenced by outward appearances. So a first test on the skin. The fragrance begins pungently synthetic-citric, which, according to the fragrance pyramid, is probably due to the blood orange and Sicilian lemon - as if such a fragrance had ever seen a real lemon, and a Sicilian one at that - but so be it. Luckily, this pungent opening fades after a few minutes and a fresh, orange note remains, which accompanies the fragrance in the background - beautiful. This fragrance has its best moments for about 30 to 90 minutes after application. The somewhat dry juniper berry comes to the fore, under which a slightly peppery-fresh tone lies, which, according to the pyramid, could be chilli, I do not want to commit myself to. However, a slight cedar wood note emerges from the background, which is very good for the fragrance in this phase, which somewhat softens the obvious overall synthetics and makes the fragrance appear round and successful. From the indicated lavender and the rose geranium, at least for my nose, but no trace. As the fragrance progresses, it fades a little too quickly and ends up in a somewhat boringly graceful, freshly woody "vetiverigem" nirvana that can be found in so many current fragrances. So I lose the scent even after about four hours, when I can still perceive it directly on the skin. Altogether no bad smell, with which one can make weinig wrong, but also not much right, for it it is simply too smooth grinded. A rift, however, would be clearly exaggerated. If you like Sauvage and Dylan Blue, for example, you should test it, but the question is whether you need it if you already own the two before mentioned, it is simply too meaningless and too little independent. I, for one, wouldn't have bought it, especially for the price I had quoted. I am too much a penny pincher for that and, in my opinion, have better fresh scents for little money.