Jezebel

Taking a deep breath and starting up a new and independent fragrance house is either really stupid - or, as in this case - really courageous. I should note that I have a friendship with the perfumer (we've never met - he may not even really exist outside of FB for all I know), but the bottle was purchased for myself. There were a lot of late night chats and pushing (I can be pushy), but what a result. I do agree (and love) the final scent and how it can be perceived - it is ever changing and finishes up dark and sensual. Not dark and foreboding. This is where we disagree. Now, perfumer friend and I differ on who we believe Jezebel was in history. He sees her biblically as a harlot, a fallen woman, a worshiper of idols. I don’t. Yes, historically, she may have been that as well, but I see her as a woman of great strength, character, and determination. She was a survivor and did what she needed to in order to survive each day. I see her as a feminist, one of histories first suffragettes. And when her time came to answer for all her "sins", she sat in the window - in full view - and awaited her destiny. Courage. In the context of the scent – it simply doesn’t matter. It is strong, well rounded, full of character, will stand the test of time, and feels like it could become a classic. She is rather bold in a fragrant way – a woman who took great pride in how she presented herself to the world. She had great beauty, and had a complex intellect – no one note wonder here. She will be loved and worn by both men and women - the days of scents - truly well made scents - being either feminine or masculine, I believe is long gone. She smells ancient and modern at the same time, is appealing to both men and women, and you will find her scent clinging to your bedding in the morning long after she has gone. I wear her close – I wear fragrance for MY pleasure – and she is indeed a pleasure. A little spicy, a liquid sweet softness, and a spine of ancient wood – this broad’s no pushover. I like her a lot. I would imagine she has many interesting stories to tell. She makes me feel calm and in control. That’s asking a great deal of a fragrance I know, but this one has come from the magical mind of a perfumer who was meant to create. I purchased my bottle and the contents and opinions are mine.

Jezebel is a behemoth of a perfume. A huge, bombastic rose-osmanthus done in the Middle Eastern style - people are going to know you've walked into the room with this on - with a development that shifts hour by hour for at least half the day. It begins with a huge cacao and pear opening that smells animalic without being animalic. There's something very decadent and gothic about this perfume. It is shameless and bold in the way that Dior Poison was in the 80's - similarly, it will either hook you or repulse you. Don't be fooled by the gourmand notes listed - Jezebel is 'gourmand' in the way that Tom Ford Black Orchid is 'gourmand' because it has a truffle note. Then we get to the middle, where this perfume unfurls like a flower and really shines - it is a moody rose with an osmanthus spine and a sandalwood drydown that hovers in the air around you like you're the seductress in a film noir. There is a sense of beautiful decay with this perfume, much like in Black Orchid and Portrait of a Lady - the florals here aren't fresh or bright, they are inching towards death and all the more heady and beautiful for it. When I first smelled Jezebel, I was not a fan at all - it was too big, too lush, too gothic, too much, and the glimpses of the rose I could smell weren't enough to hook me. But I gave it time, and a few more wears, and now I own a full bottle. All of AnkaKus' perfumes are like this - complicated but worth it if you stick with them and try to puzzle them out. This is perfumery at an artisan level we rarely see from my local Australians! Beastly projection and performance, you only need one spray and I mean it. You will come back and back to the sample and eventually be seduced by Jezebel, too. A must have for anyone who loves: huge/complex perfumes, complex florals, gourmand notes that aren't sickly sweet, or osmanthus.

Jezebel is such an unusual fragrance. It’s one that imposes on sexual urges. It’s fruity. It’s floral. Its indolic. It’s chocolaty. It’s leathery. It’s animalic. The fruitiness of the opening Pear note is both ripe & sweet, & soured like a pear fermenting into wine. With that you have the immediate floral presence of Jasmine along with it’s pungent indoles that smell on the verge of being Poopy. I don’t smell “Smoke” like other reviewers have mentioned. But I do smell a very subtle ash. Blended in with white floral aspects of the jasmines note is a subtle Rose note. The Rose adds a soft powderiness to the fragrance that makes one think of luxury. The chocolate comes in pretty strong & it gets reinforced with both the sweet ripe nuances of the pear note, as well as its dark fermented nuances, with the not at all shy poopy nature of the Jasmines indoles. It’s a very beguiling scent at this point. As the fragrance continues to open up on your skin the Osmanthus note lends a subtle Leathery nuance accompanied by the animalic nature of Cashmere Musk. Jezebel is a dark fragrance that smells like a Hedonists lust. Jezebel is very similar to another fragrance. Charlatan by Fort & Manle. We have an adult store here, & when you first walk in you’re immediately hit with this combination of incense, with Jasmine Incense being the loudest & most pungent. The combination of those incense along with the smell of leather whips, lace panties, sex toys, chocolate, & the nervous energy that releases sexual pheromones triggered by the perverse lustful desire for smut is what this fragrance smells like. It’s a true assault on the senses that conjures images of BDSM Dungeons thats unique, & oddly beautiful on both men & women. It’s not a fragrance for everyone. You don’t choose Jezebel, it chooses you.

Okay, here's what it is..... The note not listed here, is the tuber note, which I believe when combined with the liqueur of the chocolate and the pear, produces the challenging opening. I tried my sample a few times, because each time, the sour airiness evaporated to a tolerable dryness within an hour, and it morphed into an almost gourmand and very smooth dry down. Very unique and alluring dry down. I normally only purchase fragrances now where I love all the stages: opening, middle and base, and I don't like to waste my time with openings that I don't care for. In this case, the dry down which to me is where the party is, was undeniably unique and worth investing in. I just purchased a full bottle. I noted when compared to Charlatan that this is actually quite different than Charlatan. Charlatan doesn't have an offensive opening. Charlatan has similar notes, but it stays fairly linear on me the entire time. Charlatan does get a bit medicinal to me during the transition to the mid stage, and I don't think it is as sensuous a scent in the dry down, nor as lovely or attention-getting. It's not as "bad girl" a vibe. The florals and osmanthus dance in and out throughout the stages, and the pear becomes less dry and more juicy to me as time moves forward. The result is a smell that is cunning and enticing but also bends the rules and does not conform to standards. This is why I like it. I recommend you spray this an hour before leaving the house....and I don't agree that this is only for naked rendezvous purposes. I actually think this becomes a scent that draws people in to say, "There is something about you that is crazy naughty and bad, but I like it". There it is. Give it a try....or a few tries, and see if you go back to an empty sample that requires a FB :-).

Opening is harsh and intense. When you first sprayed it, animalic side of jasmine overcomes the other notes. After 5-10 minutes animalic note calms down and then you can smell the flowers like osmanthus and little bit of rose and the sweetness from pear, chocolate and an amazing vanilla(which stays to the drydown). If you smell the fragrance from close animalic side of jasmine is really disturbing but on air OMG it smells like heaven. I got compliments from people that i don't expect. When I first applied it, i thought that with this animalic note people are going to hate me. It turned out exactly the opposite of my guesses. Jezebel is an unisex fragrance, I sprayed it to my mom and she was smelling amazing. I think I am going to buy a full bottle of this. AND I wish "ALİ ERKEKLİ " success in his career. Congratulations, this is a great work.