Hawas Kobra

Side by side Hawas Kobra to Marwa, Kobra clearly has superior performance and has a stronger scent profile overall but there is some minor differences as well which might make one preferable over the other. While Marwa is cleaner and more delicate, Kobra instead hits harder with more distinguishable notes in the opener which carry into the mid. Kobra definitely presents a more masculine version of the DNA and while that would sound like a huge difference I almost believe it is strictly from the sheer power of the fragrance in comparison to Marwa. Side by side on skin they are still similar to the point that an untrained nose would have a tough time telling them apart in the air. What is accentuated in Kobra for the strength is mostly the green tea and the base notes and it still smells very clean I'd say that it has more depth and feels a little less flat. I would actually say straight up scent versus scent I like Marwa more but I feel with this kind of fresh fragrance performance means a lot and so I would give the edge to Kobra but I would not ever doubt someone could like Marwa more. Specifically detailing the dry down in which both become extremely similar the tea note carries heavily through creating the unique clean smell and the real difference is mostly an amber woody tea sweetness versus a cleaner woody tea sweetness. Every once in a while I get a strange note from Marwa that's not in Kobra but maybe that's in my head. Super tough decision to make hard to go wrong with either again I think performance is everything here so unless you'd prefer to be more low key, which might be appropriate for some use cases, Hawas Kobra would be my choice. I believe there is no reason Kobra couldn't work even in cooler weather as well because of it's strength.

The reason why I bought Rasasi Hawas Kobra was because I wanted something that smelled like Zara Sunrise on the Red Sand Dunes (another LV Imagination dupe that I have) but with better perfomance. The opening is definitely similar but more floral and a little harsh (probably from the ginger + green tea). To be honest, at the beginning I wasn't enjoying it, mostly because I really wanted the opening to be smooth, citrusy and musky opening of like the Sunrise on the Red Sand Dunes, without the floral note and the spicyness/slight harshness of the ginger + green tea. This means my expectations were very specific, being the main reason why I was actually not enjoying it as much as I thought. But, to be fair, after trying it more times, in fact this fragrance still delivers plenty of that citrusy musky DNA very well, so with time it has been growing on me. This scent is basic, but beautiful. This means that its evolution will be linear: basically it begins citrusy, musky with the floral scent following. Then, the floral note starts decreasing, making the fragrance a combination of citrus and musk. This is not the harsh citrusy kind of note you find in a lot of summer fragrances, it actually feels like a "sweet" kind of lemon, probably because of the amber, just like Sunrise on the Red Sand Dunes. The scent profile actually has resemblences to lemon iced tea to me because of the sweet lemon vibe it has, definitely not because of the green tea (green tea is not sweet guys!). Perfomance wise, looks very good for this kind of scent profile, that usually does not last. On my skin, projects well for 2+ hours, around 6/7 hours longevity Definitely unisex and an ammazing fragrance for layering, just like sunrise on the red sand dunes. My score: 8.5/10

It is simply..... AMAZING. Probably one of the freshest frags i have ever tried, a top fresh frag in my book it is not only perfect for summer but it is an all year rounder, i have no idea why people vote less for winter, i feel like this can be good for the colder seasons as well. Exceptional longevity almost 9-12 hours, you can wear this any time of the day or night, any occasion, any event, dates, whenever. Sillage is amazing very strong and LOUD which i love and i prefer these type of fragrances, strong and loud it gives you that confidence you need to start up your day. For that kind of price you will get one of the best fresh frags for all year round use, but in my opinion do not buy it right away let it settle on skin or paper and think about it for a day or two if you want but nonetheless a very good fragrance the performance is amazing on this. For gender? it is a men's fragrance c'mon haha, it's not a problem for a women to spray it but idk it's just weird even thinking about it. Verdict: Think it this way: you spray it, smell it and as if you are in a luxury hotel room, a clean room then you ask the portier for a tea and that tea smells so good that you feel better, you boost up for the day giving you the confidence you need for your business meeting, meeting with friends or meeting with the lady you love the most. Overall: 9/10. Why 9/10 you say? It is loud which i need in a fragrance but the performance does not exceed 12+ hours which i am disappointed but nonetheless amazing fragrance.

I don't own the original but if you're not comparing this 1:1, Kobra is a very decent fragrance. Kinda blind bought it considering it's dirt cheap and I am happy with the purchase. Some people are complaining here that it's synthetic but honestly, when smelling it on its own without comparison to the original, "synthetic" is definitely not my first thought. I do own Sunrise On The Red Sand Dunes from Zara and they are similar but Zara is more fresh and definitely masculine while Kobra is more sweet and powdery, and I would even say leaning unisex. Having one doesn't make the other one redundant as Zara is perfect for summer while this one should be good whole year round. Haven't worn Kobra to the office yet but I'm 100% sure it will get compliments if you care about that. Performance on my skin is only average but I do have dry skin and it's extremely hot where I live now (almost 40 degrees centigrade). Maybe it will improve over time. If you like fresh fragrances and you're looking for something that will give you LV Imagination vibes, I think this is a very good choice. But if you're a hardcore fanboy of LV, you should probably skip this one as nothing other than LV will be good enough for you anyway ;)

Kobra is a solid, non-offensive, soapy fragrance, I have not smelled the original Imagination; however, from all the dupes I have smelled, this one is pretty refined. I have yet to try Hectic, though. I will not go into detail on the notes since many people have done that already, but in the initial spray, it is a slight bit harsh, but that went away a minute or so into the fragrance's life. Since then, it projects well for the next 1.5 ish hours, where it is a nice, clean guy scent that has enough complexity to be intriguing to the masses. Afterwards, it remains as a clean hand soap-like skin scent for the rest of its 6-7 hour life. All in all, this is a good fragrance. I used to consider something like this good value for money, but since these clones are getting a bit more expensive lately, and the sheer amount of options out there, I would not give this that title. EDIT: since my original review: I tried marwa and hectic, and both of them dont come close to kobra, hectic is more expensive here in europe and doesn't last nearly enough time to justify it. I found Kobra for 25 euros and got it just to have this DNA. now it is more like "value for money" rating: 8.5/10