Tara Mantra

Wow! What a spice bomb. Strong but not diabolical like Kenzo jungle elephant. Elephant is too strong and harsh. TM opens with lots of saffron, cardamom, caraway and patch. I'm not sure about esfoetida. Does it bring a sort of fennel note to the mix or is that the caraway? There is also this sweet, creamy lactonic aspect. Softening and rounding the oud and spices. The oud and rose are low key here. It does remind me a lot of a chai masala. I really like this one. I might have gone fb but it's longevity and sillage is surprisingly less than average. If it's going for a bargain price then I might be tempted.

All of Gri Gri perfumes are inspired by some tattoo technique. Tara Mantra is a reference to sacred Buddhist calligraphy on skin when ink becomes continuous mantra prayer. The perfume is a dry oud with a salty nuance and lots of bitter herbs or if you go with the concept the tangy aroma of the darkest of inks.

Tara Mantra is classified as a unisex scent, though I find it leaning very much on the masculine side and understand why it's categorized as for men here on Fragrantica. To sum it up, it smells like a masculine, medicinal, not at all gourmand version of Angel by Thierry Mugler! The jasmine/patchouli shares the same scent the combination in Angel, so much that smells like it was lifted directly from Angel's DNA. The first thing I smell is something that reminds me of vinyl/latex that is warmed by the sun, to the point of melting or bubbling and burning. Unless you're close and actually smell the skin, this might be all you smell at first an it's not bad at all. As a fan of odd, synthetic notes, I do like this aspect. Testing and smelling it close up, I notice that behind this warm latex scent, it has this minty, almost medicinal smell, like Vick's Vapor rub, that trails off smelling much like Flinstones vitamins. As it settles down, the spices start fading away. Every 20 or so minutes, it smells vaguely of Angel by Thierry Mugler, then it doesn't. Initially this is a very STRONG, LOUD medicinal scent, but overtime, it softens to reveal a light/moderate white floral/warm latex scent and during the last 2 hours, of about 4-6 hours of noticeable wear, only the warm-latexy scent remains. That Angel vibe is gone within 3-4 hours. Overall...This falls more on the masculine side, though it's unisex, I can see it being way too masculine for some people who prefer feminine scents. A great choice for someone who wants Angel without the gourmand, and more on the masculine side, with a medicinal twist. I would like this more if it had more sweetness, be it from sugar, caramel, or even fruit, but I'm a BIG gourmand fan! I don't hate this one but will I wear it often? Probably not, just when I am in the mood for it. I tested this over a few days in the heat, 80-106°F, but will update my review during colder months. It's certainly unlike anything I've ever encountered. I would also like to mention the packaging. The lid is a thick, black plastic lid and the glass bottle is very heavy, the heaviest bottle in my collection! I really like the sprayer too, it looks and acts almost identical to the sprayers from the Dolce & Gabanna Anthology line (10 La roue de La fortune, 3 L`Imperatrice, 18 La Lune, etc.) The bottle also does not have a white label with black writing on the front, as it appears in all the promotional photos for it, but rather it simply has the black text and logo over the bottle.

Lots of saffron, in fact so much that it's not the nice spice anymore, turning into the moldy bitterness of a tree bark infection. Also, some burned synthetic rubber, deliberately put there. Nuances of old leather saddles, leather boots along with their fragrant soles, Some sparks of sweetness, an finish almost like amber. All in all, it's a bit of a disturbing scent, just in case you expected some kind of new age-y olfactive mantra. No, it's like facing a certain kind of not very comfortable reality, the strange beauty of something raw, an ingredient in its unrefined state. And yet, oddly enough, Tara Mantra blends very naturally with my skin, like it's part of it. Not an easy fragrance IMO, but I can tell there's been a clear intention to be so. I'm curious about the other ones.

I'm reminded of Dune by Dior. To feminine for me and frankly a little dated.