Asad Zanzibar

You have no idea how happy I am to be writing a POSITIVE review of Lattafa's Asad Zanzibar!👍🏿 I have owned this fragrance for about a year and a half now, and, truthfully speaking, it's been nearly a year since I last gave it a try. Like SO MANY others, I was almost disgusted with what I was smelling, when I first blind-bought it -- the spoiled milk smell was pervasive in the opening, making it nearly impossible to wear. Being relatively new to fragrances at that time, I had, though, already seen how maturation/maceration truly could change a fragrance, so, not being one to throw anything away that I spent my money on, I let it sit for about 3 months, then, tried again. Pretty much, same results, but, it did seem as though the extreme ugliness of the spoiled milk smell had lessened somewhat...still, though, not a tolerable smell, just to get to a better dry-down. Fast forward to today, almost a year later, and, for whatever reason, something prompted me to pull it out, see if anything had improved. HALLELUJAH! It has finally arrived! Is it the best thing I own...no. But, it is now a really good, creamy type of coconutty-vibe, and, there is ZERO trace of the spoiled milk smell. I can truly say that I suspect that the majority of these negative reviews haven't given it the patience that I have, nor would/should they be expected to, I guess. But, as luck would have it, I am so glad that I waited, because, this finished product is much better than anything you're gonna get for that low price. 8.5 out of 10!

Reading through the comments here, made me feel compelled to give my two scents as well. The hate towards this scent is completely overblown. I blind bought this with the expectation of it being a sunscreen scent, like Piz Buin, and from that angle you can say that I was disappointed, because this smells nothing like any sunscreen lotion I have ever come across. But, looking at the scent head on, this is an absolutely wonderful scent! The opening is fresh, sweet and powerful, but not in a cloying way. And there is currently a heatwave here in Europe at the moment. The coconut in it is great, but differs from the traditional coconut note, perhaps due to it coming from coconut water. From here it slowly, but surely, evolves as it dries down. It becomes more "mature" as especially the iris and lavender notes moves to the front, until the vanilla note takes over and drives it home. The salt and incense notes are absent for me, but that only makes it better. It is an unique scent, that does not smells like anything I have smelled before, which is not a bad thing. My wife pretty much thinks that a lot of my fragrances smells the same, but thing one she picked up right away and complemented. The performance is fantastic with easily 10 hours of longevity, with great projection throughout th day. For the price of just a little over 20 euros, I think this is a no brainer to add to a collection, and I would even call it blind buy safe.

I was glad to see lattafa think outside the box and hire master perfumer "Fanny Bal" to create a flanker for the long time hype beast "Asad". The fact they decided on an original scent was a bold move considering they had big shoes to fill! (In the world of cheap middle eastern frags that is.. 😆) I think they nailed it! If your not a fan of iris then you won't like it, but if you like iris like I do then your in for a treat! On my skin it's a very creamy iris and vanilla with some tropical salty coconut in the background. The good coconut that doesn't give off that cheap sun tan lotion smell which I think makes this a better more versatile fragrance. Just letting it sit for a couple days it's already becoming smoother so I can imagine like most middle eastern fragrances, if I let this mature a bit we definitely could have the next "Asad" hype beast! The first night I got it I sprayed my hand before bed and I could still smell it 8 hours later when I woke up... and that was fresh out of the box. With some maturation time, this could easily be a 10 hour fragrance. Projection and sillage are pretty good for the first couple hours. I give it a 9.5! [Don't listen to the F*cking trolls in the comments or pay attention to the bad votes. Somehow it received some bad reviews the second it was released probably just to screw with the company or to try to kill the hype it already had. Either way it's a fantastic fragrance.]

Those of you who have smelled Axe Anarchy for Him will understand what I'm saying. This smells almost spot on to it, except it's got this roasted coconut and slight overripe, salty mango to it alongside with some old-school lavender in the opening and some vanilla. Basically a fancier, much more longer lasting version of the aforementioned, discontinued body spray lol Also I don't detect any cheap evernyl/ambroxan. LET'S GOOOO- Why am I biased? Well, because it reminds me of a trip to an island my mom did with (then 19 year old) me as a birthday gift in late 2013, makes me think of those 2-3 days we spent there, it's a memory forever ingrained in my mind, which I sadly cannot relive because said hotel we stayed in no longer exists, for those of you who know Venezuela, it was the "Hotel Laguna Mar Margarita", a 5-star hotel with all the bells and whistles. it's a memory I'll always carry in my heart, mom and I at the Maiquetía airport, then enjoying the hotel's pools, beaches and restaurants, and then the Santiago Mariño airport and Maiquetía again on our way back home. Gracias mamá. May you live a long healthy life ahead and may God give me health to care for you. DISCLAIMER: I'M VERY BIASED, PLEASE TAKE MY PERSONAL OPINION WITH A GRAIN OF SALT. Projection: 4/5. Sillage: 4/5. Longevity: 4/5. Scent Quality: 3.5/5 Overall experience: 3.8/5.

First impressions. Seeing all the negative comments, I somehow knew this would be a worthy blind buy for me, and I was not wrong. I haven't smelled anything like it. I don't get any specific notes or accords, but I do get a synaesthetic impression of a luminescent light gray or off-white matte sphere. Like a futuristic ice cream scoop, but warm and dry. Like a "moloko plus" cocktail from Korova Milk Bar, a bit of comforting mother's milk before ultraviolence. It is indeed lactonic, but there's nothing sour about it, so I don't get the sour milk complaints. Rather, there is something futuristic in addition to the powdery milkiness, like the sizzling plastic or hot wire smell from ELDO Ghost in The Shell. Or some kind of synthetic office carpeting. It could be a clever combination of lavender, coconut and salt, but it's so well blended that I don't perceive any individual components, I just get the general effect. It's definitely unisex, even leaning into feminine. It's very sweet, but not quite gourmand (due to the futuristic aspect). It's comes across as clean. And it could be a summer scent in the way you could wear Fahrenheit in the heatwave.