Casbah

Wow. Where to start? This is Queen of The Casbah. Unearthed. Bottled goth. Straight up. I stumbled across a 1.7 for a steal. Avon pulled a true *sookie sookie* with this scent. Though I have been equally impressed with Avon as disappointed, Casbah is a trippy scent and I am impressed. If you love clove and nutmeg with a strong disposition towards fine ancient spices and heady orientals of the middle and far east, chances are you will love Casbah. I am one of those women, so greatly appreciate the smell of powdered iris, smoky clove and nutmeg wafting around. This is a very unusual treat for me, as the only big clove bomb I can think of right now is Dana Tabu, and Casbah smells nothing like it or Samsara, which was mentioned somewhere here. I can rarely detect nutmeg in a blend but in Casbah it's there. This blend is off-the-chain ancient. Ancient unleashed! I agree with roseombre's unfavorable phrase words "ancient" and "coffin". It does smell of what I imagine a mummy Queen would be embalmed in and I think it is a beautiful, very interesting smell. Certain aromas of ancient times fascinate me. The smell of this fragrance smells of the time in which perfume was BORN and I'm diggin' it! (up). It is mostly dark iris, spicy clove with a hint of nutmeg; dusty, almost musty but not quite. The powdery note The Master Nose chose for this frag is spot on Royal Egyptian Mortuary with all its finest most glorious florals and spices, nailed it right on .... into the sandalwood coffin. I find that brilliant and quite beautiful. The soft powdered floral is present; sweet but not overly so, and the old clove is positively present and remarkable mixed with a good sandalwood. Casbah is one many would cry "old lady" on; a description I detest. I have smelled dank, matronly perfumes and Casbah is nowhere in that category. It is ancient in the exotic, true, old world spice way. Softly elegant, spicy, rich, even sensual. Despite the morbid imagery it conjures, it's an unexpected softy, perfectly executed, that will scare the hell out of gentle-clean-safe-white floral girls and the tooty fruity florals girls alike. Casbah is purely gothic as it gets. It's a dare, which smells nothing of today's perfumes. It is "once upon a time, in a land faraway.... a long, long time ago" extract. A must-have for collectors of fine and unique blends. A connoisseur's delight. :) Now, if I wanted to be snarky which is, of course, so far beneath me... *wah!* I would say a few great names for Casbah would be "Ruins L'Iris" "Nile Dust", "Royal Ehumation", or something on that 'note'. Jokes aside, this Casbah is an obscure blend. I have never smelled anything like this, feel I have unearthed the treasure of the ancient queen's favorite smells personally adored so much by her she chose them for her burial... and I am Rockin' The Casbah. (Yes!) ....and I don't care that "Sharif don't like it". The Clash - 1982

Casbah is my first love...and the most precious treasure in my collection. I was 13, when I smelled first this beauty in 1992.After when it's came out to the market I've got a tiny little sample from my ex-classmate whose mother was an Avon-lady in the 90's.I guarded this tiny purple sample for long years in a small jewelry box.:)After 18 years (in 2010) finally I got a full bottle on my hands. Casbah is about powder and spices. For those who in love with powder, musk and orientals-Casbah is the heaven itself. No doubt, Casbah has the typical late 80's vibe, it's absolutely reflects the animalic and oriental floral features of this decade. If you like CK Obsession, 273 Rodeo Drive by Fred Hayman and Bijan Bijan, Casbah is your jam. Casbah is a powder bombshell in a good way.Sultry and captivating.Rich and bold floriental twisted by warm spices.Seductive marriage of the notes,hazy yet intensive combination of iris and musk.Rose, sandalwood and spices makes the heady accord rounded and deep.It’s becomes more intimate as the skin’s heat pulses through it. Intoxicant and mesmerizing.It's well blended and nothing like the perfumes Avon releases nowadays. The longevity is amazing as it ingrains into the skin, this beautiful smell just lingering around me more than a day!!Well made quality perfume is this. I'm a proud owner of this splendid fragrance.

Sultry, intoxicating, heavy with so many spices. Jasmine pierces into you with an immediate animalic sense, Iris packs an earthiness while nutmeg and cloves spice this musky mix that bewitches and spellbinds. Casbah is a fully potent woodsy scent that needs to be worn carefully. A sweet mixture of heaviness, wear this lightly in the colder weather or sparingly on pulse points. I envisioned Rita Hayworth wearing this as she danced her Caribbean sensual moves in Fire Down Below with Robert Mitchum watching her lasciviously. Rita Hayworth was a Hollywood beauty who graced the big screen with mature sensuality. She knew who she was and dictated it easily with the arch of an eyebrow, the look in her eyes, the toss of her hair. Casbah transforms you into that type of woman. A woman who can captivate and Casbah does just that. Casbah heats up and radiates stronger with the heat of your body as time goes on. A little does go a long way with this fragrance. I dabbed a bit on my wrist only and I can smell the aroma many hours later. Casbah is a sexual magnet, a fantasy perfume. Such a shame it's been discontinued, but it's still available on the secondary market, thank goodness.

Just bought a bottle off Ebay as this used to be my signature in my late teens and I remember loving it and missing it when Avon stopped selling it. On first sniff I can tell it's "vintage" as it has a definite 80s vibe. It is also strong! I found the smell quite OTT at first but it has settled after ten minutes or so into a beautiful powdery spicy slightly smoky PERFUME (capitals required...this is full on!) Beautiful and dark and captivating!

Somehow I missed buying Casbah and have always regretted it. Recently, my Avon lady included the tester bottle of Bohista from the past in a clearance bundle. Very nice. Both products were created by named Noses. Waiting for Delcroix Nuit here in Texas. Waiting, waiting, waiting...

Like Vivavoice, I have a vintage gift set on the way that I purchased for a song on Ebay. The set has full-size EDTs of Casbah, C'est Moi! and Perle Noire. This was a blind buy based on fellow Fragranticans' reviews and I can't wait to get them! Feedback to follow.

Es un aroma muy especial persistente con excelente estela aromatica dulce y oriental.A la vez se siente fresco y limpio creo que es facil de llevar en cualquier lugar se hace notar de una forma agradable. Una composicion aparentemente inimitable.

Fresh spiced and powdery sweet. My grandmother used to wear this ... when she comes to visit us this fragrance used to invade the whole house. Cashbah for me is the happy place of my childhood forever.

This perfume starts out like à sister to Byzance, but it turns to the twin of Samsara. Love them both so an Avon favorite for sure!

I bought Casbah because I liked the name, typical for me. And because of reviews, which convinced me its spicy sultry little gem It has faaaaaraway similarity with Byzance for exact 3 minutes at the beginning and has nothing in common with Samsara at all. And its absolutely not spicy-powdery on me) I would never guess there is nutmeg in it. I can blame of course that not knowing fresh Casbah, I judge upon possibly slightly turned juice, that I bought on ebay, but still its nothing special to me at all. I believe people who used and loved it in past might want to have a bottle for sake of sweet nostalgie. Otherwise, its too simple, sweet flowery, almost fruity-flowery on me, too strong on orchid and on jasmine, where I would prefer more iris and clove, for example. I just don't get this fragrance at all, even though I was prepared to like it a lot, not Avon girl for sure, no development here, - same peachy syrupy orchid blast from start to finish. Sorry, guys.

I could be wrong after all this time but without looking at the olfactory pyramid I would have said that it was slightly floral, ultra powdery, very woody and very spicy. That’s what I liked about Casbah ; as far back as my memory can take me, I have always loved oriental and spicy perfumes. Looking at this pyramid now, I tell myself that my memory is perhaps not so wrong ; jasmine, iris, orchid, rose then sandalwood, nutmeg and clove, it fits, right? (on the other hand, I don't recall citrus fruits). According to some people, it smelled a lot like Samsara but I find Samsara better crafted and more subtle (well, still according to my memory of Casbah).

This smells like a luxurious and expensive body powder. This scent is very powdery, and deep, so if you are not a fan of powdery scents you would likely not be a fan of Casbah. This was a relatively recent blind-buy off of eBay, and I'm not disappointed. This lasts all day and has good sillage. It is dark and heavy, and I do pick up the spices, but to me it's not a warm/cozy scent, the iris keeps it rather cool in my opinion. The bottle is also very pretty. I'm glad to have this in my collection, especially for the winter months.

this opens with sandalwood and clove and immediately reminds me a bit of samsara. later on i get the iris, a hint of citruses and nutmeg. besides iris, the other florals seem nondescript for me, but there may be a hint of orchid? it's mostly iris and sandalwood though, which is nice-it has a kind of sheer, airy feel.

There is a slight undertone of petroleum... But it wears off and the resulting mysterious , middle eastern feeling comes through. Bottles available on eBay retain the original fragrance.... It is dressing table quality in appearance. It is unique. A great fragrance for cooler weather.... Long lasting as well!

I revisited this after finding a sample from the 90's when I sold Avon. It is gorgeous! Very similar to Byzance, but even more powdery. It is beautifully balanced between warm clove and cool iris. Wish I had bought a full bottle in the 90's.

sandalwood, iris, orchid, nutmeg, spices

Sometimes you should never revisit past loves.. Casbah is one of them. Loved it when it came out. Reminded me of Avon’s Elusive. Was very excited to find a sealed Casbah on EBay for not too much so bought it. Looked forward to it and oh dear. I remembered spicy, souks etc. Did I get it? No, sadly. Too sweet and sickly, literally has turned my stomach. And powder off the scale. On one squirt-so so strong. Samsara is one of my all time favourites and I definitely can’t see the comparison. Hasn’t the depth and mystery of Samsara or Cinnabar for that matter. I’m getting old ladies handbags and I’m an older woman myself. I’ve got to wash this off. I’m not feeling 100 er cent and maybe it’s that but I dunno. Will give it another try at a later date but I won’t hold out much hope.🤢

Smells incredibly similar to Guerlain Samsara. The opening is almost an exact dupe, but it doesn't have the layers, booziness, or staying power of Samsara. Not bad though!

This one is ok. I smell a rubber or gasoline undertone in the base, that really put me off. The top and middle notes are nice, though.

Having noted that many reviews here noted similarities to 2 of my favorites, I picked Casbah up for a song on Ebay. I take reviews with a grain of salt and never expect 'reminds me of' to mean duplicate - but still, when a fragrance has many 'reminds me ofs' I can ordinarily see *some* resemblance. I found this to be a bit similar to Byzance (like, if I closed my eyes and tried hard) for about half a minute and nothing like Samsara. I don't dislike Casbah, but it just doesn't strike me as anything very special either. I know that people loved it, as I've loved perfumes other people weren't madly in love with - it's not a *bad* fragrance, though not for me. It'a a little powdery with a hint of very mild spice at the start, but, sadly for this powder lover, it never came near being a powder bomb and quite shortly settled into a semi-musky, warm, soft, almost fruity, sweet, inoffensive white floriental. Good longevity and sillage.

Thank you Nectazee, for your generous and beautiful giveaway! I might never have tried Casbah otherwise and you are so great do so this! Casbah has one of the most beautiful boxes I've seen, in an exotic blue and gold pattern.The Iris note instantly reminded me of Guerlain's L'Heure Bleue and other quality iris fragrances such as the greener, spicier XOXO Kundalini and fresher Yardley Iris. The notes listed are a good representation of what this is like, except there is no grapefruit. Sandalwood and iris dominate, with powder and rose rounding it out. A musky, earthed-out base holds the rest of the notes together as a graceful whole. The spices are part of the light powder and musk, but although I usually am blissfully distracted by nutmeg or cloves, they are so well mixed in I became completely absorbed in the soft iris and sandalwood.Yum! Good longevity and moderate sillage. This is going to make summer lovely!

Based on Fragrantican's posts (Thankyou for sharing your knowledge and experiences!) I bought a vintage lay-down flagon of Casbah on Ebay, for a reasonable price. Yum! I I have a novice nose, so I can't comment eloquently as some, but here's my take: First minute or two was LOUD, though I could tell it would become good. Then the powdery woods and dusty floral composition wafted out into deliciousness. If I put my nose close to my skin I can detect the smoke, and just barely detect whatever it is that some have labelled as petroleum or rubber (is that the Iris?). However, in the sillage of goodness that wafts from me as I move, and that radiates from my body heat even in stillness, all is perfectly blended into a smooth and sultry accord, with no single note blaring out. This is what ancient harems would have smelled like, in my imagination.

I've always loved Casbah. There were three perfumes released by Avon at the time, but this my favourite. I had bought the original bottle when released and it was gorgeous, spicy but not heavy, silage and longeivity was outstanding. Whilst it was softly spicy, there was a huge depth to it with a soft powdery iris that lifted it. When I repurchased 2 more bottles from Avon I got 2 round bauble, blue glass bottles. They seem to have changed bottles really quickly. I still have the round bottles, both almost full, I really don't think its the same fragrance, its not as powdery as it was. It smells "thin". Its as if Avon realised its popularity but ran out of the original bottles and rushed out the blue bottles. I will try layering it up with an Iris fragrance to see if I can recreate the "missing" notes.

Recently I purchased a lot of minis, one of which is Casbah. At first I thought it to be a Yves Rocher frag, but in fact it's by Avon. I'm not a big fan of Avon ... most of their frags are too sour on me. Casbah isn't sour. Spicy, and a little sweet and powdery, the opening is lovely. Alas, the perfume has almost no sillage and no lasting power at all. A few minutes after application the scent has nearly disappeared. Which is a real shame because Casbah would be a wonderful perfume if it lasted. I happen to like oriental scents, and Casbah has the potential for greatness. It smells like a high end fragrance, elegant and refined. If it could be reformulated to have better lasting power, Casbah could become very popular.

Casbah. The name might suggest a spicy-resinous (fl)oriental or the like. ...but what I'm getting is powder and peach, overlaying a rich woody vanilla, lots of vanilla. Those listed spice notes must be subtle and blended in deeply. ...so yes, I do understand why this is being compared to Samsara. Another way to understand this. Layer Grojsman's Exclamation by Coty, at 1:1, adjacent sprays, with a rich vanilla, preferrably one leaning toward vanilla absolute. This recipe will approximately mimic casbah, ...though, if properly prepared, it will likely exceed it in richness.

Iris/nutmeg/musky...a tad of woods..orchid/vanilla sweetness....This is actually a well-balanced scent. I only bought a mini of this. I do think I want to get a full bottle...???... This scent gives me something different each time I have tested it on skin. very likable scent. Sillage/projection....???....light/medium IMO.

I bought a sample vial of this at a garage sale several yrs ago and tried Googling (what I thought) was the name as the print had wore off the vial. I am SOOOO excited to have found that it truly does exist! And shame on Avon for discontinuing this rare gem~!

Just bought this on ebay as part of a three set of minis. It includes C'est Moi and Perle Noire. All blind bought based on reviews here. I trust you perfumistas! I am in heaven wondering what they all smell like.Can wait!

I have a vintage sample from 1993. Very powdery. It reminds me of Passion. With Casbah’s purple bottle and purple liquid, I wonder if that was Avon’s intent. A nice fragrance for musk lovers.

A most Beautiful Fragrance - I still have some left - I shall be sad when it is gone - I amm now a little older - not much wiser but as enthralled with this fragrance as ever

Ancient Iris. Coffin's iris. the powdered toilette room of a ultracentenary grandmother. similar to Iris by l'Erbolario and then Villoresi's teint de neige but more musty.

Just received a bottle off of eBay and I do like the soft powdery scent not bad for the price...

I wish if AVON bring all the old staff like Natori , Sunny Skies, and all the old gold staff

Wore this when I was sixteen. lovely warm scent. Wish Avon would bring it back.

It was my favorite for a long time. Great scent.