Musamam Black Intense

I am speechless. At loss for words. I am not being dramatic. For countless months I had my eyes on this, I saw it on TikTok shop discounted to £27 only a week after it had released. I did not buy it as I had purchased a few other fragrances at that point and I also wanted to try it first. Months went buy and it never dropped in price again, it stayed in the mid-30's. Went to Freshity in Sheffield to try it, I got overwhelmed by the sheer choice and almost walked out without trying it, by the time I tried it, I had smelled a ton of different fragrances and I could not really pick anything memorable up in particular. It was £40 over there approximately which I found too pricey as well. Fast forward a few months later, discounted on TT shop for £25. I bought it. I just received the parcel and oh man, what a journey. I cannot fathom how this is being released for this price. Truly stunning fragrance. I wanted this to be my 100th review but Guerlains BPRN came through first. This will go down as the best bang for your buck fragrance even if you get it without discounts because it's so good. Now currently I am only referring to scent profile because I havent been able to test it out properly of course. But what a scent profile this is. Aromatic but not too much, gourmand-esque but not too much, fresh but not a fresh fragrance, sweet but not sticky at all, dark but not a dark fragrance. If this can out perform Teriaq Intense it will dethrone it based on the fact that Musammam Black Intense is so versatile. This level of blend and quality is surreal for this price. This cocoa pulse is not just a marketing ploy, it really does have this cocoa butter like dry down but it’s not sickly sweet, I think the woody elements balance the sweetness out perfectly. Call me crazy but the dry down ever so slightly reminds me of Gissah La Luna, please note this is not a La Luna clone at all but in the dry down I pick up this faint remnant of La Luna which also happens to be one of my favourite Gissahs. Can I also say that whilst I usually do not care for packaging and bottle, this one took the gold medal for that too. All in all. If you are on the fence because you got a decent collection and are scared to blind buy this because you don't just want another similar scent, do not fear because this one will not let you down. EDIT 15.4.26 Wore it a lot since, most recently yesterday. I sprayed it on my chest and undershirt and genuinely could smell it radiating off of me more than 12hrs later. Performance is insane. The wearability is good but it's not a daily driver. I think during warmer days it will be too dense.

GOOD LORD, I was skeptical, this stuff was getting so much hype by influencers and they were making some crazy claims about it, but let me tell you, somehow, this stuff isn’t getting enough hype😭🙏 and I know that sounds crazy considering everybody’s talking about it, but if you sprayed this on a tester strip and told me it was a $400 Amouage frag, I would genuinely believe you and I wouldn’t even question it, this stuff is actual niche quality and for 40$ this shouldn’t even exist, and the fact that it’s not even a dupe is literally just insane, it’s so unique too, to my nose in the opening, I get a spicy aromatic lavender that’s kind of floating over this really rich sweet tonka and maybe a little dark chocolate, and then in the dry down, the chocolate and the maple come through, it’s really rich and dark and somewhat gourmand and it’s just so addicting, and the best part about it all is that even though it’s extremely unique in my opinion and very rich and strong , it’s actually extremely wearable and mass appealing, I couldn’t imagine anyone smelling this and not liking it at least a little bit, I haven’t tested it out yet but I’m sure this stuff is a compliment magnet as well, especially with how far it projects, I’d be willing to say this is the absolute highest quality you can possibly get in a fragrance under 50$ and it’s not even close, I see some knobs in the comments saying it’s overhyped, and I’m genuinely convinced they’re just coping bc they can’t handle the fact that a 40$ fragrance made by a dupe brand is rivaling there high end niche fragrances , but who knows maybe this stuff is just special to me, if you haven’t tried this already please do🙏

Musamam Black feels like an important release for Lattafa. It doesn’t come across as another “inspired by” fragrance, but rather Lattafa stepping into true original creation. The involvement of Jordi Fernández and the use of Givaudan captives like CocoaPulseTM and AmbrofixTM make that clear. Opening: Smoky, resinous, almost tar-like and slightly abrasive, lifted by bergamot and softened by lavender. It’s divisive, but I enjoy it. Mid: The sharp resin begins to soften into a creamy, well-blended floral-woody affair with a creamy chocolate slowly emerging. Dry-down: it takes a while to get to this point ... Smooth, creamy, lightly chocolate-tinged and almost gourmand. Mass-appealing, modern and polished with the early smokiness fading away. This may be too rich for some, but it works well if you enjoy sweet, creamy scents. Performance: Average projection (around an arm’s length). Around 5–6 hours on skin, longer on clothes where it performs noticeably better. Overall, it starts niche and finishes with a high-quality, designer-like dry-down whilst still retaining some niche characteristics as the richness of that creamy, chocolatey dry-down isn’t something I’ve personally encountered before, to this extent at least. 31/01/26: EDIT: it’s been around 4 weeks now and I’ve noticed that the spicy and resinous opening isn’t as challenging and things seem much smoother. It also seems like that chocolatey creaminess subtly makes its self known earlier than it once did. And yes, I still adore this fragrance ❤️

Even though I'm pretty sure many of the better smelling and more successful clones were already ghost-perfumed by known names in the industry, I was intrigued to see that a rising star from Givaudan has worked with Lattafa for a new, original release. This is cheap and will become cheaper as time goes by, so I wasn't expecting it to blow my mind, but it has impressed me. A "gourmand that's not gourmand" chocolate-based three-season scent, something like a higher quality Asad Bourbon, an alternative CH Bad Boy Extreme, like a fresher Invictus Victory Elixir with less vanilla and geranium instead of patchouli. I love the way the aromatics are used to cover up the syntheticness of the blend (and also give a modern fresh touch). Also, the maplewood combination with the cocoa notes makes this very delicious but not cloyingly sweet. It doesn't smell the same as other stuff in the AXE Dark Temptation category, but it does belong there. EDIT: This is also loosely similar in the air to YSL 6 place Saint Sulpice, this is like the carefree younger brother of it, without the leather accord and a fresher creamy aspect. Performs extremely well, projects for more than 4 hours and lasts on clothes an entire day. Also has gotten compliments all three times I've worn it out. Overall a safe blind buy if you like the description and notes. Replace your Asad Bourbon with it. Good one!

With this perfume, Lattafa joins niche corners of the perfume world. This is definitely NOT a safe blind buy. This is not your ordinary fragrance. The opening may be quite harsh for some - not that it smells bad. It's just very aromatic and spicy/smoky. It pretty much punches you right in the face with hit of woody/earthy scents - I can't really find there bergamot unless I'm looking for it. It is there just to soften it down a bit. The scent is very complex and deep, with drydown unleashing fatty aromatic spicy dark chocolate scent that goes more into the warm, welcoming choco-soapy finish (after 5-6 hours on my skin) that lasts for another couple of hours. This is definitely a perfume you have to know how to wear, or it will wear you. Is it unisex? I honestly can't tell - it would definitely suit a certain type of women during certain occasions, but it will be probably mostly worn by men as a daily high-class meeting signature, or sensual high self-esteem dating night frag. Definitely a huge recommendation for every season except summer (I can't imagine it during summer heat, but will try it) , but don't buy it unless you try it first.