Scarlet Sands

First Impressions: This isn’t the fresh, fruity floral I was expecting! This is akigalawood with zero rough edges. The opening is sweet and fruity. Orange blossom is the dominant floral; but it’s not overbearing. I don’t even notice the freesia or jasmine. On my skin (which tends to amplify patchouli) the Akigalawood is the star of the show. It’s very warm and sweet with a modern, fuzzy, synthetic texture that I often enjoy. It really does evoke the feelings of a city sunset. I’m very intrigued and immediately got a larger decant. After wearing this several times: A loud, sweet and fruity opening that settles down within about 30 minutes. I imagine I go noseblind around the 1-2 hour mark. After that I can’t smell it on myself anymore, but I get random compliments (from strangers) up to 5 hours after application. Originally I had not planned on sampling this. Raspberry, jasmine, freesia, and akigalawood are all problematic notes for me. But, I was kindly sent a decant by a fragrance friend. I think this is worth trying even if you might not typically enjoy all the notes. Everything is extremely well blended and nothing is too prominent: a warm, sweet ambery floral that’s perfect for spring.

Firstly Scarlet Sands is an absolute powerhouse with incredible projection and presence - now that I wasn’t expecting. From the reviews I was expecting a very light airy raspberry forward perfume but it’s much more dense and heavy. It opens with a burst of fruity pebbles/candy like sweetness and juicy raspberry, but at its heart, this is very much an akigalawood, freesia(!!!) and orange blossom-centred composition, and these three notes remain the most dominant throughout the wear. I’ve genuinely never smelt anything quite like it. It’s distinctive, unique, and beautifully textured and the vanilla in the dry down adds a creamy sweetness.While I’d say it leans feminine, men could still rock this easily. The akigalawood brings an earthy, slightly peppery dark edge, while the sweet fruity notes and luminous white florals provide contrast an indolic thickness but also brightness. That interplay between light and dark is what makes it so captivating. This should not be blind bought - I can imagine many people not enjoying the akigalawood or indolic floral notes. Edit - Layer with Cedar Chic!!

This is the #1 Ex Nihilo for me. I had mixed reactions to this one due to the fact that it was an expensive blindbuy. The opening smells feminine, bubblegummy and reminds me a bit of Cosmic from Kylie. But when it dries down it gets so beautiful. Delicious raspberry with soft white florals which give it such a clean and light, airy composition and the vanilla and amber in the drydown gives it its warmth. The Jordi Fernandez signature Akigalawood gives a lift in the sillage and makes it a bit less feminine. This stays for 20h+ on my skin- no joke! And for several weeks on fabric. It's fruity but not too fruity, sweet but never too sweet. Everything is in perfect doses which makes it perfect for me. My favorite part is when it becomes a skin scent, it literally becomes one with the skin and smells so light and beautiful with no rough edges at all. 10/10!

Scarlet Sands by Ex Nihilo is a delightful perfume that would be a valuable addition to any Ex Nihilo collector. The opening is gorgeous, with a juicy hit of raspberry that blends beautifully into a creamy mix of sandalwood and amber. Throughout the wear, I keep getting this surprisingly addictive bubblegum vibe, which makes it very unique. Performance is around 7+ hours on my skin, and the sillage is great. It's a Dubai exclusive, so it's very hard to get hold of, but I managed to grab one from Harrods, who had a very limited number of bottles available. I paid £350, and while I'm glad to have it in my collection, I don't think it's worth that price. That said, it's still a fantastic perfume which I rate 9/10.

I am one of those people who just bought it a little over retail price. I will be giving my full authentic review once it gets here however I’m a little hesitant to take anyone’s advice that did not buy it. Did you even try it? People who haven’t even bought it question the review from people who actually spent the money. How about this leave it to the people that can afford it and give an authentic review. Stay out of it:) I’ll be giving an update shortly when it arrives. Not a sample... an actual purchase.

Kudos to THEE Jordi Fernández for this very well executed tangy raspberry note that lasts as the fragrance develops on your skin. For me this is a low sillage romantic cool girl fragrance with a soft peppery woody dry down. It reminds me of Fetiche La Rose (they do not smell alike). The vanilla doesn't really standout to me which I appreciate. It sits quietly in the blend adding a subtle warmth to the tangy raspberry and sweet mandarin. I would buy this if I could find it anywhere.

Someone sent me a decant of this in the post and I wore it today. This is definitely one I will upgrade to a full bottle in future as it was love at first sniff. To me the fragrance shares similar dna vibes to LDBS but they are in no way the same. This is its grown up older sister - sexier and darker. The vanilla is not as prominent though it’s definitely there with a grown up twist from the fruit amber. Gorgeous cooler weather scent

Fruity but elegant, warm on the skin after a few hours. Very unique scent, is one my fav ever

I love it. I get a marshmallow type of feeling.

Smells like blue Raspberry Bon Bon’s 👌🏻

This initially has a very bubble-gummy, raspberry juicy opening. However it quickly turns into a an akigalawood bomb. It is very strong, and has longevity. If you do not like oud/akigalawood or deep undertones to a fragrance, don’t be fooled by the reviews talking about how fruity this is. It is not light, airy or fluffy. It is a fruity, akigalawood fragrance. To the lady who thinks only people who have a full bottle can review - don’t be rude with that superiority complex - attitude. I am reviewing my full bottle, but wish I’d instead of had a sample to make my review from - since I don’t love it. Kudos to those who were smart enough to sample before buying. I also have candy rush - and the only likeness is the juicy/tart fruitiness (which the strong orange blossom & marshmallow give that almost candied vibe in candy rush). While both are strong, this one is akigalawood dominant- the other doesn’t even have that in it.

Another overhyped concoction. Very light and lasts may be 30 minutes or an hour if you spray heavily. To my nose it’s quite ambery, and I have smelled this before, in another fragrance I have sampled but just can’t remember which one it is. It also has some similarities to Tilia, another one that I don’t get the hype around. If it is pretty and it last decent amount of time, I don’t mind paying for it, but when it is fleeting and has no originality, it seems like you’re being ripped off. Is it the perfumer? He’s got Impadia, which is very similar to Guidance/46/delina and now this which is similar to Tilia and something else I just can’t put my finger on, or in this case, my nose. I’m not a fan of Tilia either and I’ve noticed that the same influencers who like Tilia, promote this as well.

The market for fruity florals is so over saturated and even somewhat frowned upon in a sea of Niche fragrance where everyone is trying to concoct the next edgy combination. Because fruity florals are so done to death, they have almost become the guilty pleasure of frag com, and are consequently hard to do well. Scarlet Sands is, in my opinion a good one, this is because the tartness of the raspberry comes across making it juicy and mouth-watering while interlaced with those creamy white florals. Sure, it is not reinventing the wheel but it is good!

I tried this scent twice when I visited Bloomingdales and Harvey Nichols on separate occasions. It was blasting with berries which is so good and lasted for more than 10 hours. However, it may lean more on being a feminine fragrance. I might purchase this in the future subject to its availability as it is a Dubai exclusive perfume. Initial Rating: 9.17 / 10

On very first spray, this reminded me of Erba Pura, but it settled down fairly quickly to a nice fruity floral. It dries down to a semi-camphorous woody scent that I'm not sure I like. It's not a bad fragrance by any means, but I don't think it's FBW.

I'm normally a sucker for a fruity floral. I'm not a sucker for this one. It's distinctly middle of the road, to the point of almost being sterile. It evokes no strong images, no strong sensations, no memories; the woman who would wear this isn't old, but isn't young. She isn't sexy but she also isn't girlish. It feels like AI was tasked with designing something as mass appealing as possible, and ended up spitting out something almost clinical in its composition. In the opening, even though it's not listed in the notes, I got a bright, jammy rose scent quite strongly. I don't know if it's the raspberry or my fervent imagination, but I felt something rose-shaped blooming. That did fade quickly, and I felt like what was left was a slightly jumbled, jangly concoction of well-meaning, quite expensive quality ingredients that had been stuffed together and weren't quite in harmony. For me, the patchouli-influenced "akigalawood"(it's a synthetic patchouli derivative) and heavy freesia hang awkwardly out of the bottom, and the over-ripe raspberries bounce out of the top. Maybe it's a macerater (I doubt it- the sweetness is already a little too dialled up for me) but this smells a little generic and designer to my nose.

As the owner of 15 different Ex Nihilo perfumes, I felt like I had to get Scarlet Sand when it came to market. But this time, I decided to play it safe and test it before paying crazy money—and oh man, I’m glad I did. It’s not love. It’s not even like. It’s just... okay. I honestly don’t understand the hype. It’s a very floral scent, but to me it feels plain and boring, with the typical Ex Nihilo DNA. When men leave reviews saying it’s worth every penny, it almost feels like they’re trying to convince themselves they’re not crazy for paying twice the retail price. When Blue Talisman came out, I absolutely loved it. I also love the new Lust in Paradise Extrait and ran to buy it the next day—yes, that one is worth every penny. Will I buy Scarlet Sand one day? Probably yes, just to complete my collection. Will I pay over retail? Never. It’s not what you think it is—save your money.

Alright, I’m in the minority here but Scarlet Sands is a big NO for me and here’s why: First off, I did not blind buy a full bottle from Harrod’s, thank Zeus and all of the Greek Pantheon 😬😬 Secondly...This isn’t about the quality of the perfume because honestly, you can smell that this is an expensive and luxurious product. No, the problem for me is the notes. I hate freesia (with a passion) and I think that here, it is absolutely out of place. The other florals and fruits are beautiful but freesia comes and destroys all that making this unbalanced and a little jarring. The bottom notes are also fighting for center stage especially the woodsy notes and after a while, it feels like there’s this dryness that makes me absolutely parched 🤭 and not in a good way! Third, price wise and the fact that this is an exclusive made me feel like I was missing out. Thank goodness, I was able to get a 5ml from a generous friend to try and I am sooooooooo glad I did! Though I did suspect that with that freesia note, things were going to be bumpy. What I’m bitching about here is the price of an exclusive bottle of perfume. It’s ridiculous. Though in the past year, everyone and their dog has increased all of their prices so there’s that... Now listen, again, this isn’t a stinky fragrance at all. It just doesn’t work on me and that is my personal taste but what I can say for sure is that SAMPLING IS A MUST!!!!!!!! And now, I’ll see myself out 🚪 💨

I tested this like a year ago before it started gaining all it's attention, it smelled like Smarties (the candy) to me on paper. It didn't even come close to me liking it enough to test on skin. Light/airy, transparent, powdery and sweet. It doesn't smell bad by any means, but this is a poster child for when "hype" is created from the right person talking at the right time to an impressionable audience, along with the exclusivity and a prohibitive price point.

Over priced, linear but airy. 750 USD for a 100ml is insane. not worth the price