Mazaaji

Garden party surrounded by casual elegance, cream and white fabrics blowing in the breeze, large chaise lounges, scattered about a clifftop yard overlooking the Pacific highway. High-end sunscreen gets picked up on the breeze and wafts along with trellises of confederate jasmine and honeysuckle, warm sand and honey. Not derivative, it stands out without begging for attention. For anyone looking like a solid, comforting, and warm white floral that isn't a clone of anything else I'd recommend Mazaaji all day long. In fact, I kind of want to gatekeep this one and prefer that it remain obscure. It's one of Lattafa's best-blended fragrances if you let it macerate long enough. On first receipt all I got was coconut, but let that thing sit a few months and you have a smooth, creamy white floral on your hands that is so well-blended that the other notes are kind of imperceptible. Not woody exactly. Not musky. But more than just the flowers, and deeper. Before maceration I also layered that with the Iso E Super and Ambroxan molecules from MiracleLayer, (and still do sometimes) and got compliments everywhere I went. It's also a beautiful woody flower bomb layered over vetiver. For comparison: When you add in the Turab al Dhahab (Ard Al Zaafran) or another coconutty fragrance to something much more basic and linear like Maison Alhambra's Libbra or its YSL equivalent,, what you end up with is a tolerable floral-forward beachy scent that is inoffensive and fun. But when you add it in to Mazaaji, you smell like a warm summer day in the absolute best of ways. But I have also grown to love it on its own merit. It reminds me of the 90s formulation of Coty's Sand & Sable if you didn't know there was supposed to be gardenia in it, but smells more expensive. Projects enough to get noticed without causing annoyance. On my skin, I can apply it in the late afternoon and still smell it faintly on my skin the next morning. In cooler weather Maazaji is less noticeable unless you're up close, and is more mellow. In the heat, it will get noticed when you walk by- and this fragrance will transport you.

My initial thought on this one was "this is something very similar to what my aunt wore when I was little". Mazaaji is a bit warm, a bit bright, and a bit loud and proud of it - much like said aunt. In a good way. I love this one because on my skin it's a bright, warm floral without the screech and therefore a very easy wear for me. The depth from the light touch of patchouli and the slightly powdery sandalwood keeps it from just screaming FLOWERS, but the orange blossoms and roses are definitely at the forefront. With 1 spray under my shirt it easily lasts 8hrs to the degree I can still smell it, but about 4 hours for projection past arm length. I don't want to overwhelm the people around me, so that performance is perfectly fine with me. This is the only perfume I have that my husband will routinely stop and say something about me being the smell he's smelling, and that I smell really nice, which is all the more reason to reach for this one often enough that I'd happily consider Mazaaji signature-worthy. The manufacturing date on my box was roughly one year prior to purchase and the colour in my bottle resembles that of the picture above. My experience with this perfume has been since directly after purchasing, with no months-long ageing afterwards others have required. Based on other reviews of Lataffa perfumes, the bottle being at least a few months old before trying seems to be a key thing to watch for.

Bravo to Lattafa for making such a rich, decadent, gorgeous spot on dupe of Elie Saab Le Parfum Royal. I wore Mazaaji a lot in the spring but put her away to make room for my fall and winter fragrances. Last week I ordered Le Parfum Royal (a tester bottle) on eBay. Anxiously awaiting its arrival, I wore Mazaaji yesterday and was once again blown away by the performance. She was still going STRONG after a long day of shopping, and that never ever happens to me. My menopausal skin just eats up fragrances and at midnight, I was still smelling her like I just applied it. WOW! I love this scent so much! So Le Parfum Royal came in the mail today... Broken and leaked all over the box. Just a teenie tiny bit on the bottle. I wasn't mad, but happy. Now I can get a refund for le Parfum Royal because Mazaaji is freaking IDENTICAL. Not watered down but identical. Rich. This is one of the best blind buys I've ever had and one of the closest dupes I've smelled.

Initially I detect a very fruity scent, maybe it’s the orange blossoms, it is a little citrusy, and there’s also a beautiful blast of white floral which blends beautifully with the rose notes. A little powdery, a little musky but mostly I detect the rose over the top of white floral. It’s really quite beautiful! Feminine, fresh and pretty. An easy reach fragrance for me, suitable for any occasion. It projects at least arms length, maybe more, and lasts on skin about 6 hours, longer on clothes. There’s something really yummy about this scent, but it’s not a four kind scent at all, but I keep wanting to smell my arms :-) it reminds me of another scent I’ve smelled before but I just can’t put my finger on it. Maybe a little like Chanel’s Coco Madamoiselle? Not sure but if I figure it out I will update this. This fragrance is really great value too. Oh & the bottle is gorgeous :-)

I just got this and to say I'm excited is an understatement. When I tried this in store I completely fell in love and had to have it. So I just got it and after one spray, I absolutely positively cannot stop sniffing my hand. This fragrance embodies me to a T. What I've always wanted a perfume to be. The descriptions below are spot on so I will not waste time describing the scent. I don't have anything in my collection quite like this. The dry down is the best part of this scent. This is a spring, winter, date night, intimate gathering kind of scent. I really absolutely love it and it was cheap as chips!. Just got it so cannot speak to the longevity but I will update if impressive. Thank you Lattafa. Update: So I get up to 7 hours on skin,3-4 hrs loud projection. Not bad.