Tasnim (Tasneem)

When I first deliberately smelled Guerlain's Samsara (at around 20 years of age in a department store) I was stunned to realise that I recognised the scent from my childhood (the only other fragrance for which this has been true is Chanel No 5). Samsara released in 1989 and I was born in 1997, and was attending school in the early 2000s, so either a teacher or a mum on the schoolground was wearing Samsara (or, likely, multiple women around me were). Ever since, Ylang-Ylang, jasmine-sandalwood type scents have always had a nostalgic quality to me. Tasnim likewise takes me back to some variant of the past, where gargantuan, enveloping yellow flowers reflected the fact that adult women are indeed physically much larger than children. There's a rich, thick, buttery, creamy orientalism which weaves together this floral scent into a dream of sleeping in late into the morning whilst someone makes crème brûlée in the kitchen downstairs (in a giant yellow gown). Amongst the spices, custard and warm burnt sugar notes, an indolic and languid ylang straight from a botanical fantasy yawns wide its yellow petals, the most soporific shade a yellow floral can be. There are only the subtlest hints of banana and perhaps just barely something like peach or citrus (both in reality are just part of the ylang profile), and there's a nondescript woodiness (not a particularly sandalwoodesque note) which creates the plinth on which the floral can pose. It's soft peaks of yellow cream all the way down, one of those semi-angelic dessert type scents which never becomes overly sweet or cloying but rather remains sheer and airy throughout the wear time. It's incredibly giant and yet also weightless, like a cloud or a parachute made of petals. As is typical for ylang ylang, the scent overall has a warm profile, evocative of tropical Asia and islands scattered amongst the sea. It lacks the greenness or vegetal quality of some other yellow florals. Mercifully, I find ylang-ylang's more burnt rubber aspects have been totally silenced in this scent, such that there's nothing to disturb the wearer's enjoyment. It's one of the best ylang ylang scents I have smelled, and is utterly intoxicating to wear. 10/10, perfected soliflore.

un accordo incentrato sulla nota polposa e fiorita di ylang ylang, che pare un gelsomino con sottotoni di banana, con una evoluzione piuttosto semplice su fave di tonka, vaniglia e un fondo ambrato. speravo di intercettare l'incenso che non riesco a percepire se non come nota remota nell'assestamento, purtroppo. rimane comunque un bel profumo di quell'esotismo non troppo floreale tantomeno da crema-solare di cui siamo fin troppo saturi. buono.

Stunning, addictive ylang ylang opening that unfolds into a spicy amber. Perfume blogger "Take One Thing Off" (or maybe Kafkaesque?) calls it a floral comfort scent and I think that is the perfect description. It gives me that same warm embrace as Bois des Iles. One of my favorites from the line.

Superb , very long lasting, oriental -floral perfume , very rich , deep ylang ylang and sweet vanilla accords. I love it !

I'm testing this perfume for the first time. Unfortunately, I must say that I'm very disappointed. I just smell incense...the ylang-ylang and vanilla must be buried in it, I can't really smell them. This perfume is indeed extremely strong, which makes it even worse. I'm afraid that this is not for me...