Vie Feu

The first few weeks with this fragrance, I was unsure about where to place it or when to use it. It was relegated to a corner until months later, when I gave it another chance and what a surprise! The oxygenation/maceration/maturation did wonders for the blend. The saffron and citrus top notes, which were previously somewhat synthetic and loud, now blend more with the accord (I smell leather, although it is not among the declared notes). It is a perfume that smells much more expensive. The duration and projection are above average (6-8 hs) more in clothes.. I assume it's an acquired taste and I'm enjoying it more and more. If you see it at a good price and the type of perfume doesn't put you off, give it a chance.

The opening of Vie Feu has a brief green-citrus spark, but it dies out quickly. Almost immediately, a saffron-woody composition spills out, with a leathery-waxy shadow that, as a motif, sits in the ballpark of fruity leather in La Yuqawam. The wax here is more like candle wax than anything connected to nature or honey. There's no real progression to speak of. Still, this is definitely one of those perfumes that smells better the longer it sits because the beginning is thin. Overall, it's not bad; I just expected more. I'm not saying it has the same profile as La Yuqawam. It's more about a similar region of dark leather in a budget version. The problem is that Rasasi smells deeper and more natural, while Vie Feu feels thin. It's absurdly expensive at €28 for some mediocre shit from Fragrance World. But then again, this is a copy-paste brand built to milk impulsive sheep. I understand that one can't expect too much from a direct clone of a rare niche fragrance, one I didn't even know about before owning Vie Feu. But prices for the aforementioned Rasasi have already dropped so low (€33) that I have to include it in the comparison. Vie Feu is definitely not similar to Ramaad al Oud, and even less so to Gucci shown here. Its projection is rather weak, and the longevity is ordinary. The bottle also falls more into the tacky Chinese store category. It's not a disaster. It's fine, but in practice, if I filter Vie Feu through what people write about Azaran, it doesn't succeed either at translating that idea into cheap Arabic production. And I know it can be done — sometimes dirt-cheap diamonds manage it easily. Opening note: 7- Sillage/Projection: 5+ Drydown: 8- Longevity: 6+ Blend/Composition: 5+ Versatility: 3- Uniqueness: 7 Value for money: 4- Bottle design/Aesthetics: 3+ Overall experience: 6+ Blind-buy rating: 3