Pasha Cartier

It's all about the concept. Pasha is not just a word, it's a lifestyle. It's an indicator of class, wealth, and breed. Pasha is an Ottoman prestigious title held by men of state and status, typically middle-aged or older men formally dressed in suits with fezes (tarbush)on their heads, large mustaches on their faces that reflect rigid but wise features and driven by in their luxurious horse-driven carriages or black shiny automobiles. They are serious, successful, confident, and leading men. The word is commonly used in the Middle East, nowadays, to address people with respect and/or cordiality and reflect their status and wealth. It's more of an informal title used freely by the public to indicate a positive attitude. A pasha is refined, looks great, smells great, behaves well, noble and attractive, Pasha is the equivalent of an English gentleman. Now about Pasha de Cartier. The bottle comes in the form of a minerate, with the cap taking the shape of a dome (particularly a fantasy 1001 nights dome type or an Ottoman dome) which is still the shape of a certain type of fez (tarbush). The bottle speaks the concept. It looks and feels luxurious, worthy to be worn by a pasha. The smell is what a Pasha should smell like: wealth, confidence, and power. If fragrances are geometrical shapes this is a circular shape not a square, it's well-blended, aromatic, no sharp edges, very refined and smooth. It's spicy and a bit sweet; soapy in the most positive meaning of the word. It isn't Oriental but isn't pure Western also, a Pasha is a hybrid species, since the Ottoman empire was on the crossroad between the east and the west. I can't describe it but it's love at first sight. Comments below do a great job breaking the notes, but I don't care much about it here, it smells great and performs great for me too, and that's all I care for and I haven't paid much for it, compared to other brands I got it for a great price. Now is it for older men? definitely not for teenagers who use Axe anyways, but 25 and up and perfectly suits a man in his 30s, like myself. While it sounds formal, it still feels flamboyant and alluring, and although it can be worn for any occasion and any season too, I prefer to wear it in the evenings, that's where it shines, in the depths of the dark quiet night, it just shines and fills the atmosphere with you: the Pasha, himself. Silage is great and so is longevity. It lasts with meaningful silage for 4-5 hours, fantastic, but on my skin it lasted as a faint skin scent almost for more than 20 hours, I know because I applied it in the evening and I kept sniffing my arm the next evening without applying anything else. It doesn't feel outdated to me at all, it's fresher and cleaner than anything modern I have, maybe it's the oakmoss that makes it smell 80s, but no really. When people say contemporary fragrances what hits me is metallic and aquatic notes that I dislike. I like 36thDisciple's comment below that states Pasha is for traditional wet-shavers. I second and relate to that. Pasha has a pleasant colognish vibe to it and yes I wet-shave with razors that hold double edge blades and lather traditional soap with a boar brush. A typical pasha would feature a large mustache, but no need to stick to that rule with Pasha de Cartier, since wearing it, your mustache would grow in no time. I rarely rave about a fragrances and hardly write lengthy reviews, but Pasha is compelling. This is the only fragrance that when I wear, I feel like a Pasha.

This is a truly, absolutely, positively, stunning masterpiece. Within a short timeframe, I blind bought three Cartier fragrances from my local CVS that were either on sale, or I had so many coupons/discounts, it made them cheaper than anywhere else. The first one I purchased/opened was Santos, which I wrote a less-than-satisfying review on. This sullied my opinion of Cartier from the start. I worried that the rest of the fragrances would smell similar. I opened Declaration second, and to my happiness and surprise, it smelled nothing like Santos. Declaration is soft, yet crisp, classy, timeless, and smells like freshly printed money. As much as I would love to wear it every day, I feel like I'd have to have on at least a dress shirt and khakis to match the style that one exudes. Today, I opened Pasha. Now...prior to buying this, I remember smelling Pasha years ago. I was walking through Needless Markups (Neiman Marcus) and stopped at the men's fragrance section and sprayed what, by default given the year, had to have been Pasha EDT. I remember loving it then (but at that time, wasn't spending that kind of money on a fragrance), and I love it still today. It's becoming clearer to me that Lavender is a note that when done cheaply (F Black by Ferragamo), smells REALLY cheap, and when done on less of a budget, like this, smells amazing. Also, when paired with spices/aromatics, does a better job of not stealing the show, but blending together complementarily. Pasha smells clean, toned down but noticeable, and has a different but still timeless scent profile that over 30 years later, can still feel relevant given the right situation. Wearing this with a super casual outfit (think a t-shirt and gym shorts) would feel out of place, at the very least, I'd think a polo and a pair of khaki shorts would feel appropriate. That said, Pasha does create a new baseline for me as far as Cartier fragrances go, so that I don't have to get "dressed to the nines" just to wear one of their fragrances. Best of all, it definitely takes me even farther away from my original opinion of Cartier fragrances from when I smelled Santos. That's probably the best compliment I can give it. 9/10

I was searching for this ever since I read about it being very similar to YSL Jazz which I consider to be my signature fragrance. Jazz is no longer available in my country so I was happy to find 2 unopened Pasha tester 100 ml bottles (January 2016 batch) available from a local online shop at the end of November 2019. I fell in love with Pasha from the very first spray. It is indeed very similar to Jazz and I am sure they share certain notes. Jazz is a bit stronger though from what I remember. I haven’t tried the Jazz la Collection yet but am awaiting a couple of bottles ordered from the USA. I am wearing Pasha once or twice a week in our summer weather and works fine in the heat. I have a feeling it might be suitable for all seasons as it is not a heavy fragrance. Longevity is quite good and I can still smell it on my arm in the evening about 9 or 10 hours after spraying. This stuff really makes me feel clean, fresh and like a million bucks whenever I wear it. My sister smelled it on me the first day I got it and almost convinced me to sell one of mine to her for her husband as she also fell in love with it just like I did.. Will definitely source more from overseas once I run out. Pricing seems to be quite reasonable too. I paid the equivalent of about $67 per bottle locally which is still a bargain for such quality. 9.5/10 for me. UPDATE: I have realised that Pasha is much closer smelling to another newly discovered classic, Ralph Lauren Safari, which I only bought now (2 March 2020). For me Pasha is better than Safari both in smell and longevity. UPDATE NO.2: I bought 2x sealed 50ml of the original formulation in late 2021, both from a 1995 batch. I must say the 2016 formulation is very close to the vintage and definitely one of the better modern formulations of classics. The vintage is richer smelling with more oakmoss. If you can find the vintage at a reasonable price (like I did), go for it otherwise buy the one available. That is if the 2022 product still smells like that of the 2016 that I own. CLASSIC & TIMELESS.

Been wearing Pasha a fair bit lately as a work fragrance. Steven from Redolessence said in his review that Pasha is somewhat of an old school powerhouse and is super masculine and I don't get quite that vibe. Its definitely masculine smelling (and not unisex), but it doesn't scream old school masculine or powerhouse like something of a Kouros, Lapidus pH or a Drakkar Noir. Its possibly my new bottle, but Pasha is relatively tame; I don't get wild projection out of it and the scent to me feels sophisticated, gentlemanly, clean and fresh. It carries a similar smell to my bottle of Tsar but without the green feel. I think its the sweet lavender and the oakmoss that make them smell similar. Pasha is super clean to my nose, no dirty notes at all; feels closer to a barbershop fougere than an 80s powerhouse fougere, but its not particularly barbershopy or soapy. I'd put Pasha in that wave of late 80s aromatic fougeres that are considered proto-aquatics; something in the same vein as New West, Safari, Jazz and Cool Water. I'm wearing this to work today and I think it makes an excellent work scent as long as you aren't trigger happy (I wore 4 sprays). I can't see anyone truly being offended by this scent, even if it isn't your cuppa. Maybe its because I have a taste for older fragrances, but this doesn't smell dated to me at all and I think it would fit in line with any modern mens work/school scent. Because of the slightly sweet overtone, I think Pasha could work for any age; I think teenagers can pull this off and it wouldn't smell strange for a senior to wear this either. At the price available at discounters, Pasha is an absolute steal. Can't wait to try it out in every season

Pasha by Cartier belongs to a great series of exceptionally luxurious and complex masculine fragrances starting in the 1970 with Hermes's Equipage and continuing through Guerlain's Heritage in 1992: they have a million beautiful notes, usually including carnation, sandalwood and/or rosewood, and they smell like luxurious British country homes and corporate boardrooms. You cannot smell anything less than classy wearing these scents, and Pasha is no exception. These were all conceived of during the Reagan/Thatcher/Bush Sr. era of excess and success, and it really shows here. (And not just because of the ridiculously over-the-top bottle, which looks like a sapphire-topped minaret for George IV's Royal Pavilion at Brighton.) As beautiful as Pasha absolutely is (and I genuinely love it), I still cannot put it in the same class as Heritage, which is really at the level of the sublime given how beautifully blended the notes of that latter fragrance are. (It is one of the greatest fragrances of all time, in my opinion.) You can wear Heritage, despite its opulence, almost anywhere, but Pasha would be something you would only want to wear for special occasions or for a corporate job--and the message Pasha's sumptuous wood notes send is that anyone in your presence better be minding their p's and q's. Its fanciness is a bit self-conscious, given that the edges of its notes are not nearly as soft. But still, even to be spoken of in the breath as Heritage (or Safari, to which it is frequently compared, although it lacks Safari's softening buttery leather note) shows how remarkable this fragrance is. They just don't make them like this anymore.