Kar-Wai

Ok, Carine did not come to play with this collection. Each perfume represents a mood,memory and imagined inspiration from 7 of her "lovers" each from a different region in the world. Kar-Wai is her tribute to Hong Kong and film director Wong Kar Wai. This is a smokey, musky, tea fragrance with osmanthus glowing at the edges. Its truly dark, sexy, mysterious and unisex. I got the discovery set because I somehow knew I'd want to smell and explore all of them. Its not cheap, but the quality is there and its breathtaking. Finally for the price and advertising something that lives up to its claims!

Interesting fresh but at the same time sexy and dirty scent. It smells like aromatic herbs, cooling spices and latex for some reason. Very unusual! The rose here is dark but also green, but not a jammy one for sure. It can be a younger (and slightly softer) sister of Eau de Protection Etat Libre d'Orange in my opinion. Follow me on ig: scent.guide

I ABSOLUTELY ADORE THIS FRAGRANCE. IT IS A COMPLETE SAFE BLIND BUY AND VERSATILE FOR ANY OCCASSION. THE LEATHER IS NOT OVERWHELMING AND NEITHER ARE THE FLORAL NOTES. SPOT ON PRICE.

My favorite tea/leather fragrance in my collections. Absolutely seductive.

I love this early on when it's all rose and osmanthus--the leatheriness of the latter is put on display beautifully and subtly, and the juicy/tart topnotes complement both the already fruity osmanthus and the drier tea. It's also beautifully universal and complex--floral, aromatic, green, fruity, woody--it hits a lot of notes that tend to skew a perfume in one gendered direction or another for most people. I don't hate it later, but a high dose of a dry, woody aromachemical like Norlimbanol or its similar ilk come in and dominate (on a paper strip at least) in the drydown. Haven't worn it on skin yet, so I wonder if that aspect blends more easily with skin. I really like it, and maybe would've loved it if the screechy woods had been toned down!

Really authentic leather fragrance, this is like expensive leather chair scent with light rose and tea notes in the background. One of top leather scents for me. It is an intimate skin scent on my skin and would prefer a little more projection and sillage. Later settles more like musk scent after couple of hours. Fitting name as a big Wong Kar Wai fan, it makes me think of the atmosphere and scenes in many of his hit movies.

Cardamom bomb! Leather and musk play the supporting roles, and that's it. It's simple, but it's a statement fragrance. Empowering if on a woman, dark and sensual if on a man (at least this is what I would imagine).

Winter fragrance for me, leather and cardamom mix shape the scent to be Smokey but in a special way, that’s the twist I like about this perfume

Opens pretty osamathus/cardamom heavy , fruity and slightly floral.Soon after it quickly becomes a realistic tea scent with a very gentle leather accord , clean and tame musks and slightly indolic florals. I find it well blended though and it never becomes too sweet. If you’re already into the niche/ ultra niche world and explored tea scents, I can’t really say there’s anything new being offered here but I think it’s executed nicely. It’s not particularly challenging and smells really nice. Since it’s not to sweet it’s definitely unisex. Honestly though as far as concept goes, I don’t particularly find this represents Kar Wai’s films at all. Too tame and slightly too typical.

This is a short review for me - I don't hate this one, it is light and airy, it just has far too much going on in terms of competing notes. Not bad, but I didn't settle with it.

There's a note that's really common in designer fragrances that's overwhelmingly synthetic to me and stings/hurts my nose. Unfortuntately, Kar-Wai contains this molecule and I'm unable to smell the rest of the fragrance. Unsure if it's super amber or something with the leather, but it's stabbing my nose and it's literally all I can smell.

dirty & bitter (not a bad thing). i think the leather and heady florals just pull too animalic for my taste. the tea is strong, almost over steeped, and that saves it. it’s giving unshaven, leather jacket, drinking cold day old tea. he lives in a shitty apartment with only cheerios and liquor in the cupboards after his brutal divorce but he’s hot so you keep coming back for more. i loveeeee all of these notes individually but its just a little too skanky for my liking. the kind of scent only conventionally attractive people could pull off. if you can make this work it would really work you know what i’m saying?

My experience, applied on skin: First there's a brief moment when I almost get a mosquito repellent, but then it shifts toward a fresh citrusy tea and herbs, maybe even a hint of eucalyptus. It's definitely dirty and intense–a bit weird, but once it settles, the citrus softens and gives way to rose, which isn't jammy but more dark and elegant, as @Scent.guide described. I also notice more latex than typical leather notes. Leans toward a night fragrance, yet for the right wearer, it could be a recognizable signature scent.

This may be the second favourite from the 7 Lovers line (after Aurelien) another classy and elegant perfume. I have found this equally comforting and well as if wanting to feel dressed up and confident it will also give that vibe. It’s the kind of perfume that doesn’t project much, but you sniff your arm and then sniff it again seconds later as it is that good.

Initial Impression: Smells dated and slighlty fem. If I had to guess the culprits are leather, rose, and musk. With some warmth the cardamom will surface but it gets masked by the notes mentioned above.

had the pleasure of smelling this at bloom perfumery in london. also got a sample! sweet cardamom and tea with a smooth leather

Sweet cloying cardamom... honeyed, sweet, syrupy cardamom and tea.