Istanbul

Stunning. My favorite of the five perfumes I’ve tested from Gallivant. This blend reminds me of something Andy Tauer would create: a dry, exotic, resinous, spicy affair. The addition of tonka and vanilla makes it different from a Tauer creation though, and I’m happy for that balance of sweet and spicy. Cardamon is the first note I pick up, then this scent blooms without any obvious floral notes. There’s opoponax and patchouli which adds depth, and the reason this fragrance legs, leading to very good performance. Perplexingly, I don’t understand the comparisons to Musc Eau de Parfum Molinard. I tried that one yesterday and it was a scrubber. Even though Musc has a high rating, I found that it turned to urine on my skin and was way too animalic for me to get past. Istanbul and Musc could not be more different, and it makes me think that maybe my Molinard discovery box is off. In any case, I love Istanbul.

Istanbul is a lovely, polite, comforting scent. There is no awkward phase or non-harmonious note. I don’t adore it but I like it very much. On me it is sweet, dry, and aromatic. Unisex. It is well blended and the only notes I don’t perceive from the list above are the bergamot and musk. I’ve had a bottle quite a while—until tonight but I made a nice memory... there was a restaurant worker who had served at our table and complimented me on the perfume. She said she loved it so I pulled it from my purse at the end of the dinner and suggested she try it. She tested, then had such a huge smile that I told her to keep it. She asked if she could hug me. Perfume is so magical—why not make the world happier on spray at a time?

Istanbul is first and foremost a comfort fragrance for me. I don't wear it out and don't wear it when I meet people, new or old. I occasionally have scents like this that I don't want ruined by potentially bad experiences. This is my fragrance I wear when I want to be held, embraced but it just isn't possible. As people have mentioned, this is spicy and resinous and also has a beautiful vanillic aroma. It's perfect and hard to analyse without going too in depth. This doesn't need to be analysed at all. It's just perfectly comfortable. Lasts so long, too. 15 or so hours without reapplication.

Of the Gallivant perfumes I have tried this is my favourite. The initial scent is a combination of leather, smoke, spice and vanilla all mixed in together. It is not a scent for those who like to smell of fresh flowers. There is a sultryness to it though not grubby. It lasts well on my skin eventually fading to a scent that is like caramel. I find myself sniffing my wrists. This is going on my list of favourites. I could happily wear this during the day or at night but for me living in the northern hemisphere definitely a winter perfume.

This is amazing in every aspect. Smell, uniqueness, and performance are out of this world. It’s in that vein of dark, creamy, and spicy genre but completely different than all of them. Remember this, never trust negative reviews on Fragrantica because these same people leave negative reviews on fragrances that haven’t even been released on here. Buy a decant and be ready to be amazed. I sprayed the inner bend of my arm 9 hours ago and I’m still surrounded by a scent cloud. This is absolutely stunning.

Picked up this gem recently and wow. I can't keep my nose off of it. Although i wish they offered it in a 50ml bottle it doesn't take away from the beauty of the fragrance. Lots of spices followed by heavy resinous amber and vanilla. Projection is good for the first 1-2 hours then settles into a skin scent, longevity is amazing on me as i get around 10-12 hours on my skin. I believe this to be a masterpiece if you like grand soir and its DNA you have to get your nose on this. 10/10 imo

This is nice. Spicy ambery vanilla for everyday use and even office/work. This scent also lasts a surprisingly long time on skin. I consistently get 8-10h. However, similar fragrances usually projects a lot more but can also be a bit too much for certain situations. If you’re expecting the projection of e.g. grand soir then you’ll be disappointed. If you want an everyday, easy to use spicy amber you’ll be very satisfied.

This is very nice, a warm fougeriental, yes, I made that up. Woody spicy amber with vanilla and lavender, it has a masculine touch but is very unisex. I find it very warm and comforting. I don’t get the cold alcohol thing like others have mentioned and that makes me wonder if there is a batch out there that was too new and had not macerated long enough. Nothing ground breaking here but it is an enjoyable fragrance.

I like it, it's not your ordinary amber fragrance, I get the cardamom, vanilla, tonka bean and amber, but then I get a fresh twist of tooth paste, but in a good way. I just got this so haven't been able to try it for more than an hour but so far it's pleasant. Update: 3 hours later and the two sprays on my arm is almost gone, this isn't a powerhouse so don't be afraid to spray it 10+ times

This is divine! I would say this is a super smooth vanillic patchouli and amber scent. Patchouli is the lead role at the opening, and then the vanilla and amber/resins quickly come on the scene. I also get a fair amount of the bergamot...which comes across like a lemon dessert to me. This is like a combo of Cormandel, Dior Addict, and Kalimantan with a bit of Lira thrown in. LOVE this.

Love, love, love this absolute beaut. I'm not even sure what does it for me over other scents with similar profiles, but it's one that just feels cosy and yummy but still has enough freshness to not feel cloying or heavy. I normally steer away from the sweet gourmandy vanilla/tonka heavy scents and they are both obvious here, but not in a way that's too much at all. Just gorgeous.

Smells very much of incense and spices...lasts 12 hours and sometimes even more on my skin. Projects like crazy, i've had people several meters away asking about the incense smell. Cant really wrap my head around the people that gets poor longevity and projection out of this...its borderline nuclear on me. Perfect for the nordic climate with three rather chilly seasons.

Lovely labdanum, has been my main thought upon sampling this! I am very surprised labdanum isn’t in the list of notes. It’s ambery and rockrose-y and spicy and warm. Pretty linear and fades after about half a day, but pleasant throughout. It reminds me a fair amount of L’Occitane Labdanum de Seville, now sadly discontinued, so if you miss that one, try this.

I tell ya, this thing NEVER gets old. I have my bottle from 2018 that I got from a friend and I think it may still be my favourite scent of all time. Its toward the end of the bottle, though, sadly so I use it very sparingly. It is the warmest, most comforting scent imaginable. Absolutely nothing compares.

Sweet, warm vanilla/amber - really lovely. Nicely blended and easy to wear. I tried this today and I really like it a lot. It’s not as complex or as sophisticated as grand soir or Ambre sultan however it’s great if vanilla and amber are your jam and you want a quiet, subtle, close-to-the-skin scent.

This scent is amazing! It is an elegant, cozy, barely ambery amber. It’s very round, someone compared it to musk ravageur and that’s a great comparison. This is to spicy amber what aquarelle is to painting. It’s transparent and light. LOVE!

It smells of a trip, pleasant and warm. I get cardamom, vanilla, amber, sandalwood and Tonka. It is a warm and sweet hug. It has something sharp right in the beginning but mellows beautifully.

This scent is a spicy Amber It really works well, and I bought a 30ml after trying a tester However, this is not for fougere fans imho...don't let the lavender note fool you!

woow that is a masterpiece...to my nose combination of grand soir and coromandel with a sloght gourmand touch...great woods and lavander here

Gallivant does amber well, and Istanbul is a case in point. A sweet amber with warm spices, it is a lovely example of its genre without standing out. It is smooth throughout, mellow and approachable, subtle enough for everyday use. Istanbul is smoothly balsamic from initial spray, punctuated by peppery cardamom up top, enhanced by some aromatic herbal notes. It becomes sweeter as it develops, with dry vanilla evident from the early stages. I get some lavender, punctuating the vanilla-amber with its aromatic brightness. Tonka bean keeps things smooth and sweet as it dries down, with patchouli adding a nice earthy counterpoint. The vanilla becomes increasingly dry, alomgside the the soft, dry sandalwood. It fades to a sweetly musky skin scent, with vanilla lingering until final fade. Sillage and longevity are moderate. It is a unisex scent, best worn in autumn/winter but is light enough to work as a year-round sweet amber. A deliciously smooth sweet amber scent, complemented to perfection by spices and herbal notes, Istanbul is pleasant throughout, good quality and is vaguely Middle Eastern in style, evocative of its name. It is nothing groundbreaking, but is lovely. 4/5.

Istanbul rounds out my sampling of the first six offerings from Gallivant Perfumes, and Istanbul is clearly the most cold-weather-friendly of the lot. Like Amsterdam, it's primarily resinous but also has sweet elements (vanilla, tonka) and a spicy mix of geranium, patchouli, lavender, and mostly regionally interestingly, cardamom. The result is a blend that's very agreeable and does not hit the extreme highs and lows of sweetness and spiciness; it flirts with being a gourmand while never quite being fully so. It also seems to be a nod to the currently-popular rose/oud combo fragrances without being on itself. Surely the superlative performer of the line, Istanbul boasts strong projection with only a few weak squirts of the atomizer samples on each arm, and boasts superior longevity to pretty much the rest of the line, and certainly this adds to its value, making the $95 for 30ml pricing for a full bottle seem more palatable than it otherwise might. For my money, on scent alone, Berlin remains my favorite of the line, but certainly, Istanbul is in the mix, and certainly is the winter choice. 7 out of 10

istanbul does not waste much time in its top notes and gets right down to its sweet core in a flash. i grind cardamom, cloves, fenugreek,every morning to add to my yogurt for breakfast. and while not all of these notes are in istanbul, its smell reminds of ground spices with lavender and myrrh. all of it very balanced, nothing too dominant, but showing different whiffs at times. the effect is pleasant and is like a few italian sweet amber fragrances. it is much more polite and well groomed than i had expected. a scented silk scarf. ____________________________________________________________ 04/12/21 six months later and my impression is the same, gentle lightly spiced "amber." spring is here, sunny with a gentle breeze, tea on the terrace overlooking the city, late afternoon, harmony. ______________________________________________________________ august 2022, it's gone--finished the bottle and altho it will not be replaced, i miss it. it was always a pleasure. a little exotic.

The first thing I notice? Oppopanax........then a hefty punch of spices and aromatic kick around a cuddly vanilla centre. It's very nice and very unisex. One to wear in cool to cold conditions as it's very potent. You would be in danger of knocking yourself out in a warm room. I suspect that some ladies might find this rather masculine. It definitely leans a touch that way after a couple of hours. Probably the effect of the lavender and geranium. I get good longevity and sillage in a cool room. Revisited: I'm a vegetarian now and what a difference. The oppopanax is more low key and now the lavender and geranium are more evident. They provide almost a soapy herbal quality.

What a gorgeous warm, herbal amber fragrance. Not that avant garde. Not that heavy on the resins as the herbs and geranium lift everything. Geranium is like a light bulb note. Hard not to love if you love spicy/resinous fragrances. Cardamom happens to be my favourite spice note. It really does conjure up images of wonderful Istanbul. The gateway to the spice lands. Non-binary. Great for warming you up on a chilly day. Great affordable price point. Average longevity and sillage in this 12 degree room. I'm a fan of spicy scents, vegetarian and eat a fusion diet so that sort of colours my view of this lovely fragrance.

Not a typical amber, with a bracing, medicinal herbal note from the thyme and lavender present throughout. It’s one of the good Gallivants, with their trademark British take on Orientalist spices to evoke the exotic, and they really do it well, with scents that are naturalistic, attractive and well-blended. It’s the late dry down that really turns me away from this one though - the final dry, scratchy musk lingers like a well-travelled guest, done telling you all their adventures, now poking through your cupboards and quite overstaying their welcome.

I tested that fragrance in Merz apothecary in Chicago, IL - btw the best niche place you can find in Chicago ! Anyway I liked it so much I was dreaming I need it one day! And today Eduardo my friend from work have give me a little present! I cant believe I have it ! Eduardo usually gives for me a little bit to use so I have like 10 ml to enjoy! What I can say a sweet - tonka and opoponax and Cardamon... for some reason.. the cardamon style reminds me - Black Jade form Lubin ...serisuly.. I am 100% sure ..they got insporation by Lubin!

Naming a fragrance after a city is a risky gamble, because it is so hard to create one of the former that would evoke everyone's idea of the latter. But Gallivant's Istanbul actually DOES make me think of that city: it opens with opoponax and cardamom, which make me think of Istanbul's great mosques and former churches, and then the vanilla and tonka kick in, reminding me of opulence and luxury. This doesn't smell like much else I've tried, and I enjoy it.

Huh, upon initial smelling it reminded me of Tom Ford Noir. Just checked if it was just me because I saw no one else mentioning it. If you compare these 2 you can see that there are a lot of similiar notes. Why does no one mention this? Will definitely put this into the "reminds me of" box. It's heavier on the vanilla compared to TF noir. I don't own TF noir so I can't really compare the quality of the ingredients or their similarities and differences.

Opens with a medicinal lavender and sharply spiced geranium that gets toned down by a smooth cardamom and a powdery patchouli. There’s a dusty resinous quality to the scent that offsets the sharpness from the opening. The dry down is where it really shines with a softly sweet vanilla and powdery sandalwood and tonka combo. There’s remnants of that herbal tone coming from the geranium and patchouli, as well as a resinous warmth.

This is a nice one! The vanilla is well balanced and the drydown reveals a beautiful lavender. Unisex but can be worn by men without giving off a feminine vibe. I’m not really in to unisex perfumes because they always tend to lean towards the feminine. But this hits different! Get yourself a sample and enjoy!

So far, the only one I liked from the brand. Really nice and complex. Not overly sweet despite the use of apoponax AND tonka. I think the sandalwood here doesn't smell "creamy", but rather woody(like a softer cedar.) I also detect some smokiness. I'll try it again, but so far, it's a like.

Received nice compliment from a female customer service worker. She noticed me wearing it and absolutely loved it, said it reminded her of some period in her past. She asked what the name of the fragrance was. All in all, a great complement for this fragrance and a keeper for sure.

Light but nice fragrances from what youd expect from Istanbul. I wish the sillage was greater but that doesn't tale away from the quality ingredients. I will need to try this on again for a more quality review, but so far am a little disappointed,

This is rich amber, very soothing. Don't think I'd wear it because it's a little too sweet/heavy for me, but I still like testing from time to time. In the larger picture of amber scents though, this is very wearable, not cloying. Give it a try!!

BLIND BUY WORTHY. Reminds me of a more niche vanillic version of givenchy pi with a touch of hermes voyage. Absolutely gorgeous stuff. Creamy delicious vanilla and tonka.

Very nice scent, reminds me of pure havane. It is niche quality, well blended. cannot pick out any individual notes just a nice cozy scent great for the fall months.

One of the more toned down Gallivant fragrances, it's blended nicely and everything connects. Vanilla is pleasant and works well with Tonka bean and amber.

Maybe my sample went bad but it smells like butt but sits close to the skin so you won't offend anyone but those you love. I am gna go scrub it off

I'll keep it short - it's a pleasant if synthetic smelling fragrance. Edit: couldn't get through a full wearing. Was a bit too plastic-like.

Lovely ambery, woody, spicy that reminds me of Grand Soir. Excellent unisex amber. A must try for amber lovers. -

Comforting amber experience, and frankly, I quite love the opoponax note. Low sillage but long lasting.

Meh,... nothing original or outstanding here. At first it is harsh and actually burned my nose, then it settles down with cardamom, into myrrh, then to its base of amber, Tonka and wood. Nice, but projection is low and IMO, just not spectacular. Bought a decant for testing, have worn it in both warmer and cooler weather now, definitely does better in cooler temps. But once this decant is empty, it won’t be a full bottle replacement.

I might re-consider my personal tastes. I was of the opinion that I liked opoponax, but Istanbul just made me to realize I don't. Istanbul is a HUGE amber scent for me: very sticky, Heavy and viscous. It just cocoones me, not in a good way. Like there is no way out of the prison. Very loud for the first couple of hours. You might like it if you like MFK Grand Soir for example.

This smells great but in no way is it original. It pretty much smells like at least half a dozen ambers. Ambre Precieux,Ambre 114, Ambre Russe and Blue Amber to name a few. It projects just enough and longevity is excellent but the price tag for a 30ml bottle is $160! You can get 3x as much for a few that I listed at half the price.

There's a weird nose burner here - it's the same sensation as smelling rubbing alcohol. From the notes, I would have bet that this would be a winner for me, but what should smell rich and warm comes off as cold and sterile as a doctor's office.

The opoponax destroys the balance of this fragrance, just horrid. This is exactly how I dont like amber fragrances. It smells old, dusty, almost like when you enter an old house filled with mold. This was an instant scrubber for me.

Istanbul is a sticky-sweet, ominous-smelling amber, a modern conventional “going out in the evening” fragrance type that I don’t enjoy at all. Unisex, leaning masculine, but tooth-achingly sweet. and also evil. it becomes slightly less evil and more (literally) vanilla over time, but that’s all. it’s Generic Corporate Amber all the way through. yeah no thank you.

It smells like some old, dusty garment that you just found in the attic. Horrific.

The fragrance of Istanbul portrays, in its creative concept, the meeting of civilizations and cultures, all in one place. The old Constantinople was once a major trading center and stage for battles, earthquakes and empires. It is also known for its shadowy side and for depicting it as scenery for vampires and horror tales. And even before I speak about the composition, I can say that it is, without doubt, the most mysterious of the four initial creations of the Gallivant House. It has notes of bergamot, cardamom and red thyme in the output. In the body of the fragrance were combined notes of lavender absolute, Egyptian geranium, patchouli and opoponax. And notes of sandalwood, tonka bean, vanilla, amber and musk, in the base. On the skin, Istanbul is not a nocturnal perfume, although it is the most suitable for this purpose. Although it has spices and denser notes, such as sweet myrrh (opoponax) and vanilla, do not think that it is an opulent scent or that it was made for ballads. It is an oriental fragrance with an exaggerated dose of lavender, which keeps all the others controlled, as if it were a dome around the olfactory pyramid. When the fragrance is applied on the skin, immediately appears a sweet and resinous cardamom, different from the spicy that many know. There is also a comfortable nuance of suede, which comes from the leathery facets of thyme. With the passage of time, the myrrh gains more prominence and makes way for the base, creamy and sweet, without being gourmand. Here, the tonka bean is the boss, not the vanilla. And all this, as I've said before, remains trapped by a bubble of lavender, which never dissipates. In terms of projection, Istanbul is not as explosive as Tel Aviv or London, but exudes non-stop and without bothering other people around. The evolution is fast and from the moment the base is reached, the perfume remains unchanged until the end. The lasting on me was very good and, particularly, among the first Gallivant releases, this was the one I liked the most, followed closely by Brooklyn.

Hi Clauleesi. You must be with HooHaa. I am too but my post hasn’t come yet! I can’t wait for this one. It sounds gorgeous. I will post an update once I’ve had a chance to try it. 20 days later - I received my decant and my first reaction was much as LMBelvi above - it's very nice but not that distinctive or special. However, the more I have worn it, the more it has grown on me. I was driving at the weekend and spritzed just before I got out of my car. When I came back to my car about 30 minutes later, the interior smelled absolutely beautiful! I have also had the experience of someone asking me what I was wearing. The top and heart notes are there, but the base notes come through very quickly. I find that vanilla and tonka can both become oppressive and sickly, but combined with the amber and sandalwood, plus the lavender floating above them and the amber weaving around them,the impression is of warmth rather than a too-sweet gourmand confection. I don't get the coffee that's listed in the press release at all, or the begamot from Fragramtica's pyramid and I don't miss them. This is the great thing about a decant service - if I had just tried Istanbul on my wrist in a department store I would have written it off as an also-ran. It has taken time for it to unfold in different settings and I can see myself wearing it regularly - I have bought a full bottle.