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.

Lattafa struck again, but this time it took a completely different direction than the DNA of the original Asad (known dupe of Sauvage Elixir). Asad Zanzibar is a bold fragrance with an intense structure. Unlike the classic "blue" or hot spicy profile we are used to, Zanzibar explores the Tropical-Mineral theme. The opening notes are dominated by black pepper, it is very present in the first minutes, giving a pungent boost that mixes with lavender. Don't expect a clean, relaxing lavender; here it is functional to give an aromatic and masculine touch. In its heart the fragrance reveals its true soul. Coconut water is not as sweet as sunscreen, but is salty and lactonic. The salt accord and iris create a "dusty-maritime" sensation reminiscent of skin warmed by the sun after a swim in the sea. At the drydown the vanilla emerges, but remains dry thanks to the incense. It never becomes a cloying gourmand fragrance. It is described as a summer fragrance, personally I wouldn't define it as such. Sweet sillage. It makes itself felt without overwhelmingly filling the room.

I personally do not get why so many people hate this fragrance. I say that both men and woman can easily wear this, the mix of vanilla, coconut, and iris is very sweet and smooth and I see it was a unisex smell. My bottle i brought all the way back in around September of last year, I haven’t tried it in quite a while but when I wore it regularly i definitely had to overspray because the scent went away after some time, I guess that it lasts longer not that it’s been sitting for a while. On this article it says it’s more for summer time wear but I heavily disagree, I wore this lots when it was colder out and it went great with the snowy weather, again the vanilla is the strongest note above all the other ones here and it just smells great all around, don’t listen to the hive mind haters all over. Lasts around 6 hours last I tried which was months ago, projects decently, for $30 it’s awesome and I say both genders can easily wear this. God bless

I'm just gonna be honest...: Not all perfumes should be mass appealing(obviously), it's as subjective as every other thing on this planet. To me this is NOT tropical, it's smooth, sweet, slightly soapy, and pencil-shaving woody. it is beyond creative. this for sure doesn't have the highest quality ingredients, for 10-30 bucks that's a given. but the story that Fanny Bal has put together? Genuinely worth tuning into. Smooth, powdery vanilla, with a woody classy backbone. This smells versatile, unique, and appeals to those open that can get behind it. And isn't that the point? It's so easy to convince yourself whether you like or hate a fragrance before you actually can form an opinion. C*m is insane, i just got to say that. Disliking is absolutely ok. But PLEASE don't discourage experimentation, it'll only hurt the world of parfumerie. I'm sorry for the long comment i just had to get this off my chest. I LIKE ASAD ZANZIBAR. there, i said it.

#18 on my Fragrance Review Journey I have owned Asad. I currently own Asad Elixir, Asad Bourbon, and decided to add this to the mix. I have been victim to fake Lataffa fragrances in the past. I wonder if many of these bad reviews are because users have counterfeit cologne or maybe it was a bad batch released. This fragrance smells good. There is nothing screeching, there is no sour or spoiled milk smell, and it certainly doesn't make me want to run anywhere to wash it off. Sprung it right out of the box without any additional maturing and I was met with a lavender and pepper bomb. It was nice and sweet with wonderful sillage. I can smell some JPG and Invictus DNA. The dry down smoothes out to Iris and vanilla for me. I never smelled the coconut milk note. About 7 hours on skin and 10 or more on clothes. All in all this was a great sub $20 purchase and another nice release, IMO, by Lataffa.

This is an excellent fragrance that appeals to a wide audience. The hate you might see below is ridiculous. Like many fragrances from this brand, it benefits from some time to mature. I found that mine improved significantly after wearing it a few times and giving it some “closet time.” It opens with fresh coconut and marine salt, then evolves into a sweet vanilla in the dry down. Eventually, it settles into a toasted and creamy coconut/vanilla scent that I absolutely love! Though it leans slightly masculine, I'll be wearing it a lot this upcoming summer. It has a high-quality feel and is very long-lasting. Kudos to Lattafa! Update: I recommend spraying from a distance. When applied too close to the skin, the opening can come off as a bit chemically tart, in my opinion. Dani @deepgreenbeauty

Lattafa Asad Zanzibar is one of those colognes that must be macerated. If it's not matured long enough, for me, I picked up on the 'sour notes' that some other reviewers have mentioned smelling. But if you let it mature for a few weeks, it starts to smell better. I've had 3 bottles of this so far and when the scent is matured, it smells like sweet, fresh, creamy coconut, sea salt and those earthy notes.. also sweet vanilla and incense. Best for spring and summer wear, but year round won't hurt. This cologne smells better the longer it matures. And when it matures it honestly smells pretty good. Also received mutiple positive feedback and compliments wearing this one. Scent Profile: 9/10 Longevity: 9/10 (6-8 hrs) Sillage: 10/10 Overall: 9/10

This is lovely. I bought it for my teenage son and he loves it. It’s light, refreshing, subtle and perfect for young men wanting to smell nice without falling for the “beast mode” scents flooding the scentosphere, and seem like they’re cosplaying as stockbrokers or businessmen. I smell vanilla, lavender and light citrus. Beautiful. Is everyone here reviewing the same fragrance? Asad Zanzibar in the blue bottle? Some of the descriptions here are bizarre and I do not recognize the scent I know from them at all. Nauseating? Disgusting? What? Is it possible a lot of people received a rancid batch, or there was a large scale batch that was messed up? Regardless, maybe don’t believe all of these reviews.

Call me the minority – I like this. A lot. I don't care for much by Lattafa. However, I find this to be extremely addictive and unique. Probably my favorite that I've tried by them, actually. It's also a far cry from anything I'd typically wear. So, exception to the rule, I guess. It being dirt cheap, because everyone else hates it, works out well for me. Normally I find anything with iris to be to be too 'dressed up' or formal to be worn casually, but this works well imo. I'll wear this just loafing around in jeans and a t-shirt. If you happen to buy this and it has a tire rubber accord, give it a few weeks to mature – all that will disappear.

This is an absolute beautiful fragrance; it takes me back to late dinner on the beach of Hawaii. I can't stop smelling it on my skin. This is what it smells like when you have an evening dinner on the beach of an island like Hawaii and you are surrounded by the island dancers around your table. The moodiness from the incense is there reminding you of the torch lighting, but so is the coconut water and salt from the beach. I spray it all the time just so it can take me back there. It sits so beautiful on my skin and yes, it's absolutely unisex and I share this fragrance with my partner.

Not for everyone admittedly but I really like this fragrance because it is not mainstream. It has a strong resemblance to Penhaligon’s The Omniscient Mr Thompson which I tried in the Penhaligons shop. It’s a bit sweeter and creamier than the aforementioned but that actually adds to its appeal. We all like different scents which is why I love fragrance, one persons garbage is another persons treasure! Considering I most recently paid £16 in uk beauty base, compared to the £245 OG it’s a steal Well done Lattafa for the Asad range 👍

This fragrance is a hit or miss. Some could like it, and hate it. For me it smells great, like coconut. Very versatile in my opinion as for me it smells something that could be versatile for any season. I get around 7-8 hours of longevity, and overall smells not that strong, but more moderate sillage. Smell: 7/10 Longevity: 8/10 Sillage: 6.5/10 Overall rating for me: 7/10 Would I recommend this fragrance? Depends, this is a hit or miss fragrance, but for me, it was a hit.

This is not as bad as I thought it was when I first got it. After a couple of months, I started wearing it confidently. I actually love it and use a base of Monocline 05 to smooth out the initial strong opening. I love the longevity, and it goes well with casual wear. I get a clean and fresh vibe from this. One spray behind the neck, one on each inner wrist and one in lower torso on my shirt and I am all set.

Safe blind buy ! This blind buy was not disappointing! I get 5 hours on skin with about arm's length silliage. You can find it for around $15-$20 at Ross - very good fragrance, I personally would wear it in spring, summer, and maybe even fall! It's a very powdery fragrance, and if you don't like that, I would stay away from Zanzibar. I love the iris in this fragrance! Very safe blind buy!

Please let this macerate before you review! I love fragrances with coconut and I was overjoyed to get my sniffer on this. It smells like a sweet milky coconut that leans masculine. Its not a clone of anything so you will smell unique for a low price point but please remember to MACERATE if you don't have the patience its unfortunate that you will miss out on a really nice fragrances. 9/10

Just received this one today. A blind buy. It is sweet in the opening, from there you will be greeted by creamy coconut, and I can say that from mid towards drydown it is more on that powdery iris note that gives me a Dior Homme vibes with a little bit of Invictus Victory Elixir. They keep saying it is a summer fragrance but for me you can use it all year round day or night.

wore this to work and my coworker who hates me, could not get away from me and kept asking "that can't be you smelling so good" take from that what you will lol but i will be adding this to my work fragrances it doesn't do too much but it also is just enough for a office where maybe 2-3 people wear fragrances not overpowering, not loud and definitely lasts at least 12 hours

Content creators say it's bad, so the masses say it's bad! Monkey see, monkey do!🙄 I don't know if it's people skin chemistry or what, but every time I wear this a random female stop and compliment me. Fragrances are subjective, but I like it! Try for yourself without the influence of an influencer.

After maceration this has become a beautiful iris scent, reminds me vaguely of a coconuty DHI. Also, would the 2 bit tightarse muppets buying Chinese fakes off ebay and amazon kindly stop commenting on those perfumes altogether?

A very beautiful fresh scent that starts kinda blue and aquatic then takes a salty sweet turn. Perfect for summer nights and holidays works fine for winter too. If you don’t mind coconut scents this is a no brainer. 8.5/10

Anybody that hates this fragrance has absolutely zero taste or class. This is a phenomenal fragrance. I suggest cleaning the infection and filth from your nose and quitting your drug habit if you hate this fragrance.

PowderLovers approved. Truly unisex to my nose. Be warned, the fresh spicy category needs to be moved up a bit. This is one of those fragrances that you love or hate there really is no middle ground.

very good fragrance for starting easy 10/10 blind buy will buy again i already have a massive dent in it and it smells great atleast 4-5 compliments a day at school I RECOMMEND YOU BUY IT

Coming back here a couple of months later and now suddenly everyone hates it???? This fragrance is absolutely amazing and works well with any season 💙

Very nice. Don't believe for the negative reviews. High quality beast mode. Perfect night club fragrance for guys.👌🔥

I've had this for a year and i like it more than when I bought it. Perfect tropical vacation/cruise scent for me

Woody, soapy and kind of sweet. Good 4-5 hours on skin projection. Not bad for a teen daily driver scent.

This gets hate online but it's a compliment magnet for me.

Oh look, the usual insta-downvoters. Get a Life !

The the most synthetic perfume I ever smelled.

Love it, smells great. Fresh, clean, powdery

#137 of My Fragrance Journey - Asad Zanzibar: The island that splits opinion before it splits skin This one doesn't sit still. It doesn't make its case by standing firm - it pulls you into something that keeps shifting underneath you, and the rules change while you're mid-breath in it. It opens dry and sharp, black pepper doing its best impression of a boardroom - commanding, almost cold. Then on skin it just... softens. Warm salt and musk come up underneath, and suddenly it's not cold at all, it's unguarded. Almost like watching someone mid-argument change their mind. On paper, it reads airy, aromatic, well-mannered. On skin, it's thicker than that - cream and spice, much more intimate than the first ten seconds promised. Then comes the part that's going to split people right down the middle - coconut and raw sea salt, but not the kind you're picturing. Forget sunscreen, forget the cocktail-bar cliché. This is something stranger. Mineral, slightly lactonic, glowing in this odd way - like watching a storm build over a coastline you can't quite see clearly yet. Pepper sits in the background like wet pilings. Iris shows up, but barely, more like texture than a note you could point to and name. It binds the salt to your skin without ever turning powdery. I'll be honest, the coconut-salt thing isn't creamy or tropical in the way most reviews of stuff like this promise. It's a little uneasy, actually - there's tension in it, the same kind you get from something like Fusion d'Issey Extrême. It projects, it leaves a trail, and the heart of it sticks around longer than you'd expect. People talk about iris-and-coconut like it's going to be powdery and pretty. On me, the iris barely registers. What you actually get is this creamy, salty, slightly off atmosphere that doesn't smell like anything else I own. That's worth something on its own. But it doesn't keep climbing forever - that's the thing. All that loud, untamed sillage eventually runs into a wall of pretty conventional vanilla, and the wild edges get sanded down into something a lot easier to wear. Safer. The mineral tension cools off into sweetness, which makes it more casual but also feels like a small retreat after everything it just put you through. For a lot of people, that boldness in the middle is exactly the point. It gets something most tropical fragrances completely miss - islands aren't just fruit and white sand, they're salt and humidity and sharp green things and sea air sitting on your skin. This one's honest about that mess instead of smoothing it over. It feels less like landing in Zanzibar and more like remembering it weeks later, half-accurately. Most people will already know if they love or hate this by the time they get to the vanilla. It's not a subtle fragrance, and it never pretends to be. It's not flawless, it's not for everyone, but it's memorable - loud, a little messy, genuinely its own thing. For what it costs, that willingness to be weird is worth the ride, even if not every mile of it lands. It ends up feeling like an island at dusk - tense, a bit unpredictable, with a strange pull that doesn't let go once the sun's down. Vibe: storm light over a coastline, salt and pepper on warm skin Performance: loud and persistent, with a heart that outlasts expectation Fit: for anyone who wants tropical without the cliché - and doesn't mind a little friction Does this read as Zanzibar to you, or more like a memory of it that's gone slightly wrong in the best way? More scent stories and visuals on Instagram - @lavendercloudsjd

Glad I waited till after 3rd full wearing to write this review, bacause I would need to edit what I would wrote after first and 2nd wearing. First I want to say it looks like we have here fragrance that smells differently on paper and skin, and further different way on different people. On paper I smell a lot of pepper and iris, while on my skin iris becomes subtle and pepper is gone almost completely. More smoke but less salt on paper, and opposite on my skin. My female co-worker asked to test it, and on her skin it smells like 100% dupe of Xerjoff 40 Knots, only with less projection and sillage. On my skin it smells in between 40 Knots, JPG Le Beau and new Boss Bottled Pacific. Like if you would make triangle out of 3 mentioned, Zanzibar will be right in the middle of it. Now to performance. At first full wearing I was disappointed. It lasted about 4 hours and was a skin scent. Next day same 4 hours, but projection was moderate, I was getting occasional whiffs of it first 2 hours. 3rd wearing was week later. I brought bottle with me to work with expectation of need to re-spraying it. All day I haven't received any compliments from my co-workers who oftem compliment me, or had complaints from one who always says I'm smell "like a whole Sephora store". In the end of the day we had to do some physical work and I broke in sweat a little bit. I received few back to back compliments, and sarcastic comment from one who always bitching "Are you seriously just doused yourself in perfume in the middle of the work?" ...It was about 8 hours since I applied 6 sprays in the morning heading to work. Conclusion: it needs time to macerate and heat or sweat to project. I'm not sure if hype around it warranteed, but it is pretty good fragrance. Not necessary replacement for 40 Knots, but if you don't have Xerjoff already it is definitely full bottle worthy. Maybe a must if you into this type of scents. Despite of already having bottles of 40 Knots and Le Beau, I have no regrets buying Zanzibar. Now I can scratch Bottled Pasific from my wish list because Zanzibar serves same purpose but has much better performance.

Super interesting. Good, even. Not great, not horrible, just good. I see why it's polarizing, but people are tripping. I smelled it a bit, put it away to let it macerate, and my conclusions are the same - it's a strange frag, but there is nothing about this that gives "sour milk," "rotten coconut," "vomit," or anything like other people are saying. However, it is pungent, overwhelming, and eventually sweet, all at once. You get a blast of black pepper in the opening, no sweetness at all at first. There's some herbaceousness going on. And lots of synthetics, some plastic and burnt rubber. I didn't love the opening, but it's just such an interesting scent that i found myself coming back to smell it again, over and over after just a few seconds. After a couple of minutes, the sweet coconut starts to poke through, and suddenly the herbaceous, pepper, chemical, and coconut notes all somehow start to make sense and balance each other out like some kind of unlikely, complex cocktail. My plan was to take this back to try and exchange it, but i've started to come to crave smelling Zanzibar most days, it's just so dang unique! The same way i want to smell Burberry Hero Parfum when i'm curled up by a fireplace, CK One when i'm out at the mall, Bad Boy Elixir when i'm on a date, or Spicebomb Dark Leather when i put on my black bomber jacket, i want to smell Zanzibar when i'm out driving on a warm summer day with the sun beating on my face. It just has a certain vibe and addictive quality to it. Don't blind buy, but I would strongly suggest giving this a try if you come across it, give it a chance. Just don't go in expecting to smell a "cologne." This ain't Bleu de Chanel, despite its color. I probably would have made the bottle silver or orange or something.

* Tropical version of Asad * Love child between JPG Le Beau and Bentley for Men Intense. * Good blend of sweet, floral, fruit, vanilla and powdery aromas * Prominent notes of lavender, vanilla, coconut, iris and incense * Good for all ages * Good for all seasons * Unisex * Great price * May be too different from Asad and Asad Bourbon for users * Divisive reviews * Underrated and underappreciated * Has been outshone by the other flankers in the line and the original Lattafa's Asad Zanzibar is an interesting and curious addition to the line. Asad is a clone of Dior Sauvage Elixir that adds sweetness to the DNA. Asad Bourbon adds a boozy note to the DNA. The upcoming Asad Elixir adds a tobacco note to it. So you'd figure that Zanzibar would just add tropical notes to the same DNA. ANd you'd be wrong. Zanzibar is actually more like the love child of JPG Le Beau with its sweet fresh coconutty DNA and combines it not with the sweet fougere notes and cinnamon spice of Asad but rather the dark smoky DNA of Bentley for Men Intense. So you have a blend of sweet, spicy, floral, fruity, vanilla and powdery aromas with prominent nots of lavender, vanilla, coconut, iris and incense. Essentially, nothing like the original formula that has made the original Asad and Asad Bourbon so popular. The result is a good fragrance, but one that is underrated and undervalued and is divisively reviewed. It has been outshone by the others in the line and likely will be by future additions like the new Asad Elixir. This has fallen to an absolutely great price and shouldn't be slept on. Just don't expect anything similar to Asad or Asad Bourbon. Recommended.

For the snobs that appreciate shelf appeal: The bottle design is abysmal. It feels like a toy that you would receive from a discount store like Dollar General (my Americans know what I mean). The design is not appealing at all and it holds an eyesore spot among my other frags. But who would care that much about the bottle? It's not like you're going to walk around with the bottle in your hand all day. Now on to the scent profile, I hated my first spray. It was extremely synthetic and cloying. My nose felt uncomfortable trying to hunt for notes so I was extremely disappointed. A half hour later, it died down into this saltwater toffee, coconut cream, gourmand type of scent that I ended up dousing myself in. Then I let it sit for a couple of weeks and it ascended into its intended glory. I don't get a noticeable note of florals, but it is present to add a level of freshness. But, the main star is THE SALT! Like the saltiness is so apparent, and beautiful with the coconut and gourmand. What remains on the drydown is blissful -- nice notes of sweet and salty that are a safe play for public consumption. Projection was a mixed bag; I felt like it was radiating, but only in the first three hours. Afterwards, it toned down closer to the chest. But it certainly stayed on my t-shirt for a few days. In summary, the hype is real. Do not judge out of the box; give these Arabian frags their time to adjust and mature. This punches way above its price point and is everything the hype says it is. Again, it certainly needs time to mature (but not long; maybe two weeks) so be sure to allow that time before passing judgement.

I got this about a year ago (last spring) when it was around $18 on Amazon. At first, it was solid—I wore it on hotter, more humid days and got compliments. By summer, though, it really started to shine. I was getting called a “tropical resort” or “the beach”... which is funny considering I’m in the middle of Kansas. The only knock I heard was that it would be even better in an actual beach setting. Since then, I’ve mainly used it for beach-themed parties, lake days, and similar occasions, and it hasn’t disappointed. It lasts a long time and projects fairly strong for the first couple of hours. I’ve never needed to reapply—on skin it holds up well, and on clothes it’s still noticeable at the 12+ hour mark. For me, this is more of an “as needed” fragrance. I wouldn’t wear it daily to school or casual hangouts unless it fits the vibe. But when the occasion calls for that beachy, tropical feel, it absolutely delivers. If you want an affordable beach fragrance for related events, this is a great option. It gets positive reactions, and I’ve never gotten tired of it. If you already own something with a similar beach vibe, though, you could probably skip it. Longevity: 8-10 hours on skin but 12+ on clothes Sillage: 4-6 hours but still smells good at 8 hour mark Rating: 8/10 - Does its job

Starting off, I really disliked Zanzibar at first. It felt like such a mess of light and heavy notes that it was borderline nauseating. After that god awful experience, I put the bottle in my closet and didn't even think about it for the past 5 months. With that out of the way... This is such a strange fragrance. It starts off with a hit of vanilla and lavender with a bit of black pepper. It's very soft, yet just a little spicy. I'm also getting whiffs of coconut and iris during the dry down, which makes me want to believe that this may be good for summer. However, the heavier lavender and vanilla notes make me think otherwise. Definitely passable in the spring and fall, but probably not winter. Side note: I know there's an incense note listed, but I'm not really picking up on that unless it's meshing together with the black pepper scent. Like I said, I really didn't like it at first, but it's starting to grow on me. I'd like to try this out during the summer whenever that rolls back around. It's a very soft and clean type of fragrance. Fairly average longevity and sillage, totally unisex in my book. It's cheap enough to not feel too upset if you don't like it. I'd personally recommend buying a decant or getting it at a store that allows returns on cologne (Burlington, etc.)

Okaaaay, it's time to shamefully update my review. I reviewed it about 3 months ago, saying it was incredibly good, and I still partially stand by that. I think my nose matured a lot more (teenager, btw), and now the opening is just a straight blast of alcohol (obviously still smells like the actual fragrance, but it became much harsher). Maybe it's because it macerated for a while, or idk, but it just throws me off now. Dry down and everything else is still the same, and I like it overall. So going down from a 10/10 to a 6.5/10 for me. Good dumb reach for teens/young adults getting into fragrances without breaking the bank. Maybe it's just my bottle, but I don't get any and I mean any of that spoiled milk stuff. Once again, if you're shying away from it because of the other comments, look at any review on YouTube, and you'll see that they are tweaking. Side note: the og asad got waaaay better now as well. The burnt rubber I used to smell is much less, and it gets a lot of compliments.

I reviewed this one shortly after buying it and wasn't crazy about it. But once again I'm finding that Lattafa scents can really change with some time to macerate (see Asad Bourbon & Khamrah Qahwa), and this one has grown on me. It's definitely unique with it's blend of prominent lavender, pepper, salt, and coconut. It's schizophrenic in the opening but surprisingly dries down nicely with a pleasantly sweet and gently spicey marine feel while still pushing lots of lavender. I like it much more now than I thought possible when I bought it. I consider this one unisex and could definitely enjoy it on a lady, but I don't feel emasculated wearing it either. Longevity is stellar, with traces of skin scent still detectable after 12 hours. I wouldn't recommend it as a blind buy and I understand why plenty of people don't like it at first - I didn't either! - but I'm glad I held onto it and gave it a 2nd chance. Really nice and nothing else smells like this one.

Clean, warm and well balanced. Leads with fresh and bright lavender and salt, rounds out with creamy iris, and develops into lots of vanilla as it dries down. Incense and black pepper are soft and pretty, floating about from the beginning and a good way into the dry down. After the lavender fades, this reminds me a bit of CK Reveal. There's not as much coconut as I expected. I barely smell any tbh, but there is kind of a coconut water like texture to the scent, if that makes sense? Like it has that hydrating, salty/sweet and smells like it should taste like it contains electrolytes, kinda body to it. Opens quite masc but ends up as a unisex and quite nice vanilla. 10h longevity on bare skin in warm weather. Strong to moderate sillage over the first half hour or so, then stays arms length with a low intensity for most of the rest of the wear time, but is more noticable when the skin warms up from movement. Layers nicely with Green Lover by Łempicka.

Bought this almost two years ago and hated it to my core. It was pepper and who knows what else. Then I completely abandoned it at the far back corner of my perfume wardrobe and kept going with more appealing fragrances. Today, in high heat, with over 34°c and 75% humidity I wore it again. No pepper. No weird stuff. What I do get is dry coconut and some incense in the drydown. Not at all feminine but nothing too masculine. Totally unisex. Soft, so soft. Understand. Melancholic perhaps. And against all odds, someone paid me a compliment. She called it soft and clean and comforting. I had it on for about 7 hours at that point so longevity is pretty good. I'm now 14 hours after applying it in the morning. It's a skin scent but not a faint barely there kind of skin scent. If you're willing to give it time to find its footing, this is such a great niche quality on a budget perfume. If not, save your coins.

Opens pretty harshly as others have said, like a cheap drugstore body spray for teens. Doesn’t really bloom well without body heat, I tried spraying on the box mine was delivered in and it just smells, unfinished. So even though it isn’t my favorite profile, I lended my wrist points to it for a few fair hours. The opening is super sweet and coconutty. The iris and lavendar aren’t super floral here to me, more resembling the dried version of themselves, maybe even tea-like. My favorite note in this perfume is the chamomile. I think its both highlighted and blended extremely well. The peppercorn is sharp and spicy, the vanilla and coconut soft and creamy, the lavendar and iris sweet and dry, and the chamomile is like a fluffy pillow for it all to rest on. Not at all my fragrance identity as a gourmand girlie but I love having fragrances in my collection that I enjoy, even if they don’t smell like “me.”

This wasn’t what I expected at all. It actually reminds me a bit of CH Cobalt Electrique. Based on the reviews I read and watched, I thought this would be a creamy, lactonic coconut scent, almost like a coconut smoothie. But no, this is straight up coconut water. And not the sweet bottled kind either, but the real, fresh coconut water you get when someone cuts open a coconut right in front of you. To my nose, the fragrance is very iris dominant with a noticeable amount of black pepper. It’s powdery, and I agree with others who say this is not a summer scent. The powderiness and the sharpness make it much more fitting for spring, fall or winter. When I tested it on my wrist and on my clothes, it came off surprisingly strong , so strong that I had to roll down my windows while driving because it was overwhelming. I definitely can’t see myself reaching for this in the summer.

Honestly IMO this fragrance is hated due to the ridiculous amount of hype surrounding it's release. Taken at face value it isn't bad. Is it my cup of tea? Not really, but that's a stylistic preference. Is it going to blow you away, I doubt it but for the price point it's actually pretty decent. If you like powdery, semi coconut and creamy fragrances this would be right up your alley, I'd say sample it yourself, or if you are into that type of profile take a chance since it's only like 20 bucks or so. This is unisex down the line but IMO this is not a summer fragrance, it's way too powdery and dense for summer, so I'd recommend wearing it in early spring or early fall.

Anyone giving this a bad review is gatekeeping, its not a bad fragrance, its by no means up there with the best in my collection but its still better than average in both scent profile and performance. It reminds me of JPG paradise garden and you can definitely pull this off in summer but look the main thing is that this does smell decent and its really really cheap so its costing you hardly anything to have in the rotation, its definitely blind buy safe and as stated at the start anyone giving this a negative review is either gatekeeping or they just dont know shit about fragrances full stop. Get this its dirt cheap and its decent.