Opulent Red

Flaming Red Like The Alfa Romeo Giulietta After purchasing Opulent Oud, and Blue Oud, I decided it was time to tackle Opulent Red by Lattafa, a perfume often associated with Armani Privé - Rouge Malachite and Alien EAU DE PARFUM. To start, Opulent Red is beautifully packaged in a red and gold satin, velvet box containing a handcrafted glass bottle, crafted in the same gorgeous colours, a lacquered, metallic, intense and shimmering red. The Alfa Romeo Giulietta car I had ten years ago comes to mind. It was exactly this metallic cherry red colour. Well, the packaging is the same as Lattafa’s other Opulent items, both in the package and in the bottle. I can anticipate that this Eau de parfum is striking because of the intensity of its aroma and the fragrance that belongs to the fruity floral group. From the packaging and the bottle, the first impression could be that of something strongly fruity, sweet, sugary or gourmand. And this, perhaps, is what pushes people to refrain from purchasing it. Opulent Red opens with a blast of aldehydes and strawberry bubblegum. I immediately perceive the dense, sweet and syrupy floral heart notes, with sambac jasmine and tuberose, which perhaps create a bubblegum effect. I can understand why other people associate this fragrance with Alien, they have too much in common in this explosive and intense opening. Yes, they are like two parallel lines, going in the same direction but never meeting. There’s a fruity undertone, not sure if it’s pear, but definitely something semi-sweet and juicy, I think, thanks to the blood orange peel and pulp. The cool spiciness of the cardamom is there, not too heavy, not overpowering, just refreshing, so it never becomes too minty or balsamic. But there is a generous touch of pink pepper, so you must like it because it is noticeable in the initial phase. The heart is opulent. Here we are, thanks to heavy tones of jasmine, tuberose and heliotrope. The first two appear already at the opening, and jasmine is dominant compared to tuberose, while later the almond aspect of the heliotrope exudes and takes part in the scene. Even if it is not too nutty, its vanilla and almond characteristics are perceptible behind the pink woodiness of the Brazilian wood. Sometimes I even get a deep musky note from the green moss, like the moss that grows in the damp, shady forest. I think this dark musk blends very well with the sweetness, keeping Opulent Red from becoming cloying. Well, I don’t get any alcoholic accord in this or other phases, those of the Cognac which should be among the heart notes. Finally, Opulent Red leaves a sweetish powdery trail. Oud is not used in overdose and is never medicinal, scary, or barny. A tamed patchouli balances the otherwise too-sweet base with notes of creamy sandalwood, velvety and mossy cashmeran and toasted tonka bean. If you add vanilla on top of all this, it might become cloying, but instead, it’s perfectly balanced. An oriental touch, not unpleasant, is what remains on the skin for a long time. I wanted to try the comparison with Rouge Malachite, which is very strong on the camphoraceous tuberose note. In Opulent Red, however, the jasmine note predominates. Despite the adjective Opulent, this is not a beastly fragrance. However, it projects a lot in the first hour and lasts many hours, all day or until the next morning with nighttime application. For me, it was a blind purchase, since in Italian stores it is not available as a Middle Eastern fragrance for testing. Furthermore, the fragrance needs time to become pleasant. It took me several tries to completely love it, and now the more I spray it, the more I get the beauty out of it. I’m wearing it this cold spring and I have to say it’s perfect. But I think it’s also great in autumn, both during the day and in the evening. If you love floral, slightly sweet scents, with a strong hint of jasmine and tuberose, and an impulse towards the feminine universe, then Opulent Red could be for you. I based my feelings on a bottle I’ve owned since April 2024.

This is the first fragrance in my collection that has gotten me a compliment from a stranger. This was a complete blind buy based on curiosity of its comparisons and a love for a few of the notes listed. After letting the bottle sit for a month after shipping I gave it a couple of tests at home and was really struggling with where I would be able to wear this out in public and it make sense/not offend because she is strong and funky. The progression on my skin works as; • Pepper, pepper, and some more pepper (10 minutes, not bothersome as I love pepper) • Pepper & Gasoline (5 minutes, nervousness starts to set in) • Straight gas baby (10 minutes, holy shit what have I done) • Gasoline with vanilla starting to peak through (30 minutes, okay maybe there’s something to this) •Vanilla, oud, gas, and dirty florals (10+ hours, why is this so good??) While I liked the ride I still didn’t wear it out until last Saturday, on a complete last minute whim. I’m big into alternative fashion and I dressed full 80s goth for the bars that night. All black, mini dress, fishnets, boots, chunky belt, opera length Madonna gloves, hair to the sky. The look was massive and I stood in front of my collection feeling like all my scents were just a little too small for it. My eyes landed on Opulent Red and in that moment she screamed “big 80s” in my head. My party ready to walk out the door, I quickly grabbed it and sprayed, but this is where I began to really question my life choices that lead to that moment. In a hurry and not thinking too deeply about the largeness of the fragrance, I did my typical 4 spray I use for all my lighter, more office friendly scents. Décolletage, back of the neck, back of the knees, wrists. It all happened so quickly I’d forgotten about the cacophonous progression and its strength. By the time I put on my coat my stomach was in knots thinking I’d just seriously messed up. The walk to the bar I kept getting massive whiffs puffing up through the neck hole in my coat making me more and more anxious. By the time I’d made it to the bar and dancefloor we were in the Gas & Vanilla stage. The dancefloor was sparse with only a couple other gals dancing, so we all danced together. One complimented my outfit before leaning in and saying “wow you smell good”. I gave a nervous chuckle while thinking to myself she must have just caught a trail of the vanilla and she’s in for a rude awakening in a minute. Next song comes and goes, she leans in again and says “but no really you smell really good, what are you wearing?” I stopped dancing in a moment of shock and told her the name, which she seemed to love even more. Now on cloud 9 for the rest of the night, my confidence shot through the roof. It completely changed my thoughts on both the perfume and how overly cautious I’ve been with some of these fragrances. This is your sign to wear the big perfume that scares you! I’ve since washed all items worn that night, my gloves still smell strongly of funky peppery floral gas. Amazing.

I have had this perfume for a little over a month. I can now give you my honest opinion of this perfume by Lattafa called Opulent Red. This perfume seems to either have some people confused, upset, in love or not in love with it. I have read in the comments section of Amazon and Fragrantica that this perfume smelled terribly like gasoline or mature. However, I do see some of their points and I nearly given up on it until after a month of letting this perfume grow on me. This perfume to me is sweet, elegant and classy. It has this creaminess of Vanilla, Tonka Bean, Heliotrope, Jasmine,Tuberose, Cashmeran and Amber. I think why people are smelling gasoline is because there is a mixture of cognac (if you ever drink cognac it smells a tad bit like gasoline in it), patchouli, sandalwood and argawood. Also, I believe that this fragrance is misunderstood because some people immediately spray it on their wrist or paper and immediately 😅 smell it right away and says they smell alcohol. I am guilty of that too, with every fragrance, you will smell the initial alcohol once you spray it on and a true perfumer will tell you to wait 10 to 20 minutes after you spray it on skin before smelling yourself. Heck i still keep forgetting to follow that rule. Also, don't just spray it on paper because you will not get the benefit of it changing. The perfume needs to be on skin in order for it to meld into your chemistry to create an fragrance from within to be expelled outwards. I can only say I genuinely love ❤️ it and my husband, kids, friends and colleagues love the fragrance on me as well. Again, it depends on your body chemistry and also what notes in the fragrance that you love that melds well with your skin. I can't speak for the rest of you....... but if you like, it GREAT but if you don't like it, gift it to a friend or family member who might enjoy it or sell it online like Mecari or Ebay. You are spending less than $30 and that something I would not be upset about.......however I would be upset spending over $100 for a perfume that doesn't work for me or can't return. Lattafa Opulent Red seems like a more of a Niche brand with my all time favorite perfume Rouge Malachite. They both smell similar but different and I did mixed the 2 and I can say, they are both POWERHOUSES together ❤️. All in all I will purchase 2 more bottles as back ups. Here is my rating of the perfume below: Longevity- 7/10 (Moderate 3 to 6hr) Sillage- 8/10 (Strong) Seasons- (Fall/Winter) Gender- Female Price- 10/10 (GREAT VALUE)

Rarely do I put my nose to something so unique and yet familiar! I instantly got nostalgia somehow, which shouldn't at all be possible. Then it hit me. This reminds me of alien. This is NOT an alien dupe at all, it’s 100% still its own fragrance. Her ghost does live here though. Her soul encased in this gorgeous red bottle for all time. This fragrance is so unique, that I would suggest throwing the $20 towards it, as I don't think words will ever be able to describe this beautiful potion perfectly, but I will try to give the closest description. So, a YouTuber named Helen, who reviewed this fragrance, said something that was absolutely spot on when I smelled it. "The notes are a mess but somehow work together really well". Yes!! This scent is a gorgeous, hot mess in the most perfect way. It manages to stay sexy, classy and opulent as its namesake, all the while it shouldn't. In the dry down, I get white florals but they are sweet white florals, not at all starched, bitter or sharp. Sweet, dense but ever so gently, pillowy? I told you, it's so mysterious. You get the big heliotrope, light swig of cognac, lots of amber, lots of tonka (I'm realizing that amber and tonka give a more mature elevated sweet vanilla like scent, as oppose to actual vanilla notes) sandlewood and cashmearan for sure. I also get the oud, so any gasoline, rubber or plastic smell its pulling, is likely the oud I presume, which I prefer clean sharp or rubber/plastic/gasoline oud to barnyard oud anyway, personally. I also detect no patchouli at all. I truly wanted leave an extensive review for this fragrance in particular, because not only is it really great, but I was expecting something incredibly challenging based on other feedback, and it was not at all challenging in the least. It simply smells like a much sexier, interesting, elevated and classy mish mash of everything that's being sold on the market right now, with a pinch of oud lol no boogey man to be found here, just a wonderful fragrance, that is definitely worth more than the $20 I spent. Back up bottle worthy for sure. I absolutely LOVE it.

This one is pretty hard to describe, it's very different. I can honestly say, I don't have absolutely anything that smells like this. I totally get the alien essence people speak of, but this isn't as rich as alien, or as beautiful. This is not a dupe of alien by any means, but it smells a bit similar. And, I totally see why people say it reminds them of gasoline. The conac mixed with some of the other notes, definitely gives off some similarities in that smell, but not in a bad way. What's really weird is, getting whiffs of this in the air,smells really different than when you stick your rose right up on it. In the air it's sweeter, fruiter, etc. But up close it smells more medicinal, and a bit harsh, it's rather strange. I've never encountered something like that before. Because of the mix of notes, I can't pick up what I smell first, last, etc. I think I need more time with this one to really break the notes down. It's one of those things you'd just have to try for yourself,especially on skin. It's really different ............................................................ Side note, out of all the opulent line. I'll give a quick little opinion for each one. Opulent musk- most fresh, most clean, good amount of citrus. And the most amount of saffron. Opulent Red - The most unique and most strange. It doesn't smell like anything I own. Least safe blind buy. It's a weird fragrance. Opulent Oud - The most dark, the most rich, the most amount of oud and sweetness. Perfectly unisex. Opulent blue Oud - The easiest to wear, and the least funky. Minimal oud. Has a mineral quality to it. Very mass appealing towards men in my opinion. Leans more masculine than feminine.