Africano

I used to feel bad about buying fragrances ‘inspired by’ something else (i.e. blatant rip-offs), but not anymore. I mean, many niche (and designer) houses are ripping us - customers - off; and if they don’t feel bad about charging ridiculous money for weak, obviously synthetic scents, then why should we worry about their wellbeing? If Hany Hafez is capable of making something as nice as Bal d’Afrique, but actually stronger and more durable, not to mention much cheaper, then I’d rather support his business. I buy fragrances because I want to smell nice, not because I want to emulate a certain lifestyle or show off. As to Africano, it’s a very potent fruity-aromatic scent. Normally I’m not a fan of fruity fragrances, but this one is very well done, with blackcurrant and citruses nicely balanced out by vetiver, musk, violet and jasmine. Luckily, orange blossom is barely there and doesn’t bother me. Africano lasts 8+ hours and projects beautifully. It’s quite a linear scent, so if you like the opening, rejoice - it stays pretty much the same until the end. :)

I used to have a sample of Byredo's Bal d'afrique and I fell totally head over heals with it. I never invested in a full bottle though. Now I have a sample of Africano and if memory serves, Africano smells pretty much 99% the same as Bal d'afrique. I don't have a side to side comparison though, but this smells exactly the way I remember it. Only even slightly better if that is even possible. Longevity is absolutely outstanding and sillage is amazing as well. I think I can say for sure that I will be investing in a full bottle this time around - 10/10.

I don't know how close this one is to the OG because I've never sampled it, but this is a really nice uplifting perfume, clean and fresh without being soapy, one of the best I've sampled from this house, worth a full bottle.

Orange graham cracker-scented shaving cream.

After getting a sample of this it actually pushed me to buy the original Bal D’Afrique. This was not sunny Joy in a bottle like I find BdA to be. I find the house of Alexandria to be hit or miss. Some are incredibly close and have the same “feeling” as the originals, like Amber Night, Dark Knight, Fructis Virginis, and China Affair. I love those. I was also disappointed however by Retro Flare Gold, which lacked the fluffy texture in the vanilla though the notes are similar enough. I think those where I don’t care about the texture difference are hits but to me, it’s a defining feature of Bal D’Afrique and the citrus used in Africano takes over in a bad way.