Flash Back In New York

To simply describe this perfume in terms of notes is to not do it justice. If that’s what you’re after in a review then the following simple description would suffice: Top notes are Saffron, Cumin, Linen and Clary Sage; Middle notes are Leather, Violet and Jasmine; Base notes are Birch, Papyrus, Vetiver and Tonka Bean. But what does that give you? That’s a shopping list of ingredients, that’s not a scent. That’s not an emotion. To truly capture the true spirit of this perfume you need to think of it as a person. She is both feminine and masculine, yet the feminine energy prevails without a doubt. A sort of dominatrix if you will. She will meet you in the light, in a reasonably well lit public space. At first you will be disorientated, you won’t know what’s left or what’s right. From a distance she will seem warm, sweet and innocent. Yet as you approach you will start to see her true darker side. Your eyes move from her face down to her body, she’s dressed in a black cat suit. The light casting shadows on her toned body. Black boots and a belt of leather glisten and you can almost hear the sound of tightening leather above the chatter of those around you. She will stare you straight in the eye, a cool yet warm stare. She’ll say to you “zullen we gaan dansen”. It’s framed as a question, but you have no choice in the matter. It’s an order. From the moment you met her stare, her middle notes if you will, you were trapped. There’s no escape, you become intoxicated, obsessed, unable to think of anything else. She’ll brush past you, you’ll follow without a word. She’ll lead you down the dark streets, like a creature of the night. The next thing you know you’re on a dark dance floor surrounded by smoke, lights and sweat. She’s there in front of you, your eyes locked together. There’s no escape.

Wow. Always strange how people get different experiences from frags. Man I love this! you definately gotta love violet and vetiver. It starts very strong with a sour violet note balanced out with a little leather just to round it off. For the next 3-4 hours the vetiver slowly comes in getting stronger and more recognizable as time goes on. It settles at about the 5 hour mark or so into a really nice smooth vetiver with some tonka I imagine to maintain the sweetness. Performance is good. Sprayed this morning about 7am and still recognizable at 11pm. I'd say it projects moderately about 4-5 hours. One of my favorite vetiver scents in my collection!

Yeah, this is pretty much a Santal 33 dupe with some added spices and smokiness. Like, 85% similarity. Don't worry about the cumin in the note pyramid, it's near impossible to single it out. Even less so if you're susceptible to the (in)famous dill pickle accord in Santal - it's back with a vengeance in 'Flash Back in New York' (much to the dismay of my gf..). I, on the other hand, couldn't be happier to have found this gem of a fragrance. Santal 33 is the scent that first got me interested in perfumes, and to find this much, much more affordable alternative is just perfect.

The first and only fragrance marketed with the NYC name that actually fully delivers on the marketing. This juice IS NYC with all its charm and darkness. It doesnt play safe at no stage of its outstanding performance, the marijuana vibe in the very late dry down makes this even more authentic and cool. Warm and cold, heavy and light, happy and grim at the same time. The best niche fragrance release of the decade! Bravo!

Intriguing leather & saffron masculine + alpha-fem scent (@ProductivePuffin describes this olfactive juxtaposition w/ creative perfection). Only the slightest bitter bite - just the right amount - typical of saffron-leather scents. The birch smoke wafts into dry down, swirling & curling around the leather & vague (to my nose) florals in an intoxicating way. Masterful blend.