La Yuqawam Homme

Revised 1/21/25: WOW!!! I've done a complete 180 on this! If you don't like this fragrance at first, LET IT MACERATE! It will COMPLETELY change it's character. This perfume was original VERY harsh, dry, chemically, and ozonic on the opening. After 15-20 sprays and 3-4 weeks it has COMPLETELY changed. It actually smells like leather, and a believable raspberry note. This has gone from being absolutely disgusting to me and nearly ended up in the garbage, to now being one of my favorite scents. Again, if you buy this, give it 10-15 sprays then LET IT SIT FOR A WHILE! It will massively improve! Revised review 1/14/25: Original review below. AMAZINGLY this stuff is starting to grow on me after initially HATING it. I also hate wasting money so despite not liking the smell, I was trying to find a way to use it by layering it to balance out some of my sweeter frags. Upon doing so, I started to "get it". I'd describe the leather scent as less of a warm western American saddle leather smell and more of a super concentrated high-end Italian briefcase leather. More Tuscany and less Arizona. Not surprising given what it's cloning. I'm also kinda starting to "get" the raspberry note. I'd say it's a pretty terrible raspberry, doesn't smell real at all, but I get it now, I guess. I still don't love it, but I hate it a little less. Let's give it another month or so and see how I feel. I'll update this review if anything changes....again. Original review 1/9/25: Imagine the smell of warm paper fresh out of an inkjet printer. Now multiply that by 10,000. That's what this stuff smells like. If "the new formula is watered down" as some reviews have stated, I can't imagine how strong the previous formula was. And it's DRY AF!!! This smells, very, very, very, very dry and sharp. Like imagine a very dry martini or white wine x 100,000, add some kind of chemical super powers, and you get whatever this is. Have you ever smelled the sharp, pure chemical lingering aftermath of one of those ozone generators used to kill odors and "organic substances" in a cheap hotel room? It kind of reminds me of that smell. I absolutely love raspberries....real raspberries. They're probably my favorite food period. And I absolutely love the smell of leather....even my cheapo leather car scent spray smells great to me. I own a ton of cheapo colognes, mostly knockoffs, some just bargain bin crap. Most of it is great, or at least acceptable. I'm by no means a scent slob. Hell I'd be happy with Old Spice or Irish Spring bar soap. But this stuff? No way! It's terrible. I guess you can say it smells clean, because it's like a chemical cleaner. And you gotta give credit for being strong. Like INSANELY strong. Two sprays of this stuff and it's all I can smell. I tried to layer it with a sweeter gourmand type thing to mellow out the dry harshness.....nope. This stuff is all I can smell. I could imagine how a tiny, tiny bit of this stuff layered might be able to mellow out a super sweet, marshmallow candy kind of scent because it's so insanely dry and flat....but the fake chemical harshness would ruin it. How does this get such amazing reviews??? Did I just get a bad bottle? Does it need to macerate for 10 years? Am I just some freak of nature like one of those "cilantro tastes like dirt/soap" people? If you're considering blind buying this, don't. Unless you're a huge fan of the fragrances listed as similar, just avoid this like the plague. In fact, plague probably smells better.

Soundtrack for the review. Necessary to read the review properly. Playing it at least once while reading my review is a must; it's just got the same energy as this fragrance has: https://youtu.be/2qga9QLAaZ4 La Yuqawam opens with a dramatically vivid and luxuriously textured velvet-lined raspberry smell that immediately greets you. As we venture deeper to the middle, the heart is predominantly based around artemisia, which I can clearly identify due to its herbal attributes. Moving towards the base, a smooth blend of woody suede emerges, which, despite the earlier changes, still projects decently, when you might be thinking it's the end, defying expectations of a swift fade. In terms of projection, it doesn’t quite live up to the 'beast' level that some claim. It's super strong at first and despite the complex metamorphosis, quickly dies down compared to how loud it was in the beginning. It still projects, but not as much, gracefully becoming a subtle, intimate presence. The longevity, however, is impressively transforming without losing its narrative thread. Reliable and steadfast through each phase of the fragrance's evolution, remaining consistent and engaging through each evolutionary phase. I can’t stop thinking about a comment I read which said, 'it smells like those rubber Halloween masks'. I spent a few hours sniffing it on and off my body to write this (just like any other review). After reading that comment, I had a huge nostalgia flashback for about 2 seconds, remembering when I wore such a mask at around 7 or 8 years old. When I freshly sprayed the fragrance again, especially the opening for the first 10 minutes, it smelled PRECISELY like those masks. It’s amazing what subtleties you can catch; congrats, man. A perfect nose. You found the hidden funky rubber scent. Nonetheless, this doesn’t change my opinion about the fragrance; I still think it's great. I love these kinds of quirks in fragrances. Far from altering my perception, they only deepen my appreciation for each fragrance's unique character. This is a very classy men’s fragrance. If you want to try something similar with a combination of raspberry and leather, I’d recommend Italian Leather by Just Jack. It is and smells slightly cheaper than La Yuqawam but it's still spot on. While slightly less opulent, it echoes the same refined blend of fruity suede. By the way, finding out about the Halloween mask smell gave me the same uncanny eerie feeling as when I found out that the Boney M. singer isn't the black dancer but an older German guy, and the black dancer can’t really sing at all. Or when I heard the burglar's warning music in The Sims 1 for the first time ever in my life, exploding from my speakers. Opening note: 8 Sillage/Projection: 7+ Dry down: 9- Longevity: 9- Blend/Composition: 10 Versatility: 6- Uniqueness: 8+ Value for money: 7 Bottle design/Aesthetics: 9 Overall experience: 9- Blind-buy rating: 5-

As has been mentioned over and over this smells like Tuscan Leather. The differences are slightly noticeable but as scents vary depending on skin chemistry i'd be shocked to find someone who will smell this on a person and not think it was Tuscan Leather. I did a side by side and the differences are so slight it amazed me. Another Middle Eastern Frag with quality ingredients making a Niche scent from a western brand seem unnecessary. This scent lasts on my skin at least 9 hours and on my clothes double that plus. The sillage was strong for the first 3 hours before settling down to a still very noticeable scent cloud for another 3 hours. After this it became more close to the skin but hardly dead. I smelled it on myself without trying 9 hours into 5 initial sprays. LY has a very nice raspberry note which lasts longer than the same note in TL. This makes LY more wearable as a result. I receive a TON on compliments when i wear this out. I've heard this a few time also..."Tuscan Leather, Right?"...I just laugh in my head and say in response, "Nice Guess"...lmao...A women in a bar actually said I smelled like Cocaine...I've heard people, including the rapper Drake, make that same comment about TL. Go figure...La Yuqawam is one of the best alternatives to a niche scent ever made under $75. If TL and LY were both made by Creed, TL would be Batch# blah blah and La Yuqawam would be Batch# blah blah blah. 9/10 YouTube Channel- Simply Put Scents

This fragrance is quite a paradox for me. I blind bought it last year basically due to mostly (so not all) positive reviews, not influencers review, which I always never trust, but reviews in forum, including here. Upon receiving it, and tested it for 3-4 times, including 2 weeks after I received it to let "maceration" or "maturation" or "aging" or "compensating shipping shock" (whatever you prefer the terms, but basically I am more to the latter term), I was directly disappointed. I feel it was off balance, like the raspberry and leather notes, which basically the fragrance's most dominant notes are like fighting to each other, like they are competing. Also the leather note was kinda harsh. I could not understand the high praise. Maybe as it is also newer batch (2024), I assumed I got bad luck getting not a good batch, as I read the newer batch is not that great. Therefore, I put this fragrance back in the box as I believe longer "aging" wont help as it was already 1 years old frag when I received it. Long story short, after like 6 months, I revisit my La Yuqawam box when I reorganized my cabinet, and sprayed it. Wow... I find now the balance is there. Raspberry and leather notes got smoother. It is not super-smooth like 300 € + frag (it is 40+ € fragrance guys, so we need to adjust the expectation), but now I can say it delivers more than it's price. Now it becomes one of my rotations. 40+ € spent is justified now.

This is a great complex scent with a wonderful leather opening and dries down to a raspberry sweetness. It keeps a dusty leather aroma for the duration like the inside of a raw leather belt. The sweetness becomes more prominent turning into an incense fragrance with wisps of sweet smoke after several hours. The projection and sillage are outstanding throughout the day so use sparingly depending on the occasion. You will smell this on your skin and clothing the next day and it will even have a slight to moderate projection. Its comparison to Tom Fords Tuscan Leather is spot on though TL is a bit smoother in its opening and dry down. TL has a raspberry that is very reminiscent of the fruit where this is more reminiscent of a raspberry candy or candle. La Yuqawam will have a bit of a synthetic underlying aroma close to pencil shavings or a light Play-doh, not terrible and its only really present when the brain starts to dissect the distinct notes subconsciously. The overall performance is excellent the fragrance is great and the value is fantastic. You get well above what you pay for with this fragrance. The presentation is unquestionably the best and some of the larger most expensive houses should take notice. In summation, La Yuqawam is a masculine leather scent that mellows to a dusky dusty raspberry and incense. Its a great performer with excellent presentation. 9/10