Pista Kunafa

The notes don't give what they promise, if you're here for feminine gourmand nutty sweetness. Its sweetness isn't ultra feminine. It starts off fresh, spicy-peppery, balsamic masculine, with a crude dark coffee smell which smells like chocolate as usual for a brief moment like some chocolate dominant scents by The Dua brand (Salty Choco Coffee to be exact). The coffee is dark and gives off a woody vibe which is peppery as it mingles with the nutmeg so the result is a dark woody peppery nuance in the opening and which lasts, added to the chocolatey coffee scent as if there's driftwood in this (usually this note smells peppery dark fresh woody to me). Its opening reminds me of The DUA's original creation Creamy Coffee Abode with notes of Coffee, Caramel, Tonka Bean, Vanilla, Milky Notes, Amber, & Musk. They're both fresh spicy/peppery, chocolatey (at first) with an austere crude coffee vein, but Dua's becomes creamier, sweeter faster and it's not that ambery so after 15 mins they smell different (same league tho). To think I had thought Creamy Coffee Abode is spicy and manly. This starts off even more masculine though due to the bitter dark coffee, the spice(nutmeg) and the ambery feel it has, I suppose from the praline-knafeh combo. It's not the fresh, heavy type of ambery effect reminiscent of men's deodorant tho. The vanilla in the middle smooths it out early on even tho the peppery woody spice persists and it adds a creamy sweet element that intensifies. It quickly becomes balsamic like a latte with caramel, peppery spice and a woody background. It is balsamic as I expected it to be from the praline-caramel and knafeh but not entirely boozy. It also has a green aromatic undertone early on at the drydown from the hazelnut/pistachio. The hazelnut always smells dark, woody and slightly masculine on me and here it's offering a nutty woody feel. As for the knafeh, having over 200 perfumes by The Dua brand, I'm used to these middle eastern dessert notes translating on my skin very ambery balsamic and sometimes masculine. The praline note here as usual comes off as a deep balsamic note influenced by the hazelnut-knafeh. The caramel amplifies the balsamic tone of the scent but it does offer a lactonic creamy sensation at the drydown along with the vanilla and pudding hence why I'm getting that latte caramel scent. I do smell the lactonic creamy effect from the sprayer like a smooth balsamic latte. After maceration, the sweet notes develop faster so I get the vanilla brown sugar earlier at the drydown with the coffee bitterness and the nutmeg peppery spice persisting. So it reminds me of a darker unisex leaning manly BBW Vanilla Mocha Martini, just no boozy effect, only balsamic. The nutty element is subtle on me at first but more prominent after maceration at the drydown and I don't smell the usual sweet pistachio scent of feminine scents. It has sweetness as I said, but it's neutral more austere and dark. It's spicy from the nutmeg as if there's cardamom in it - maybe something about that pistachio and nutmeg pairing along with the coffee (the driftwood note impression). Creamy Coffee Abode is spicy too but in a warmer way like gingerbread spice. Despite the gourmand notes I get a freshness from it along with the spice, almost herbal and green - from the pistachio nutmeg as I said - well I just speculate. The spicy, fresh woody effect in this reminded me of Santal 33's corresponding fresh, woody spice from the cardamom-leather woody notes, and likewise it reminds me of Jennifer Lopez One's manly fresh spicy, cardamom-like accord from the suede/pink pepper combo there. Good thing tho it's not smokey. It's pretty woody from the hazelnut and tonka's woody undertones. After maceration I get more of the tonka at the drydown. Bbw Vanilla Mocha Martini has tonka too but the vanilla orchid makes it feminine. This is the unisex or manlier version of it. As much as I hate the smell of brewed coffee and I'm allergic to caffeine, I love the smell of coffee beans and I love coffee in perfumes. So I do love the coffee here. I think it's ideal for summer too because it's not overly warm on me. If it seems too manly to you, let it sit for awhile and it will get sweeter, smoother, creamier and less spicy.

This is a beautiful pistachio chocolate vibe, and perfectly blended. It reminds me of Dubai chocolate candies. Not too sweet the perfect unisex fragrance for cold months. So glad I found this beauty definitely keeping in my winter/fall rotation

Liquid Brun is miles away from this. Hazelnut with a very distinct coffee in it. Not your typical gourmand, it isn't that sweet. No alcoholic opening at all.

Update to my old review : it has zero resemblance to Choco Brown to me. This is super nutty with coffee, that one is 100% chocolate.

This is not a sweet scent, it's very-very nutty forward fragrance, and despite the colorful scent pyramid, it's kinda linear. Let's see, how maceration works on this. Because at this state, it's a lackluster experience. We wait! Otherwise it's genuinely pleasant. It's smells like Nutella. The drydown bugs me a bit.