Casablanca

There isn’t a tart element to the apple nor grape in the top, the fruit here is pleasant at first spray, sweet, slightly caramelised... sometimes I feel I get a little pear in this too? I love the way this dries down and really does shine in the cooler weather and wind. I also tried it on a summer's day with the ocean breeze and it was also very beautiful then, too. The caramel and iris were elevated. The iris is a stunning supporting note that I feel really brings the composition together, it allows the woods to have a silky and powdery nuance. The woods stay prominent into the dry down where the caramel plays another supporting role for the other notes. It smoothes out the woods and rounds out the fragrance. The Peru balsam is my favourite facet in this perfume along with the suede combined with those wood notes it’s just really quite lovely and smooth, I like how the resin plays with the caramel and musk also. The suede in this is not overly leather like it’s pillowy and plush. This is one of my favourites. I’ve had my bottle for 3 years now, I have around 10/15ml left and it’s deepened a lot over that time. Despite having the apple and grape along with the caramel it really isn’t overripe or toothachingly sweet and sugary—it is quite beautiful, actually. This perfume isn't dessert-like and I don't get creamsicle, I'd say it is woody gourmand with touches of musk. The patchouli grounds this scent and the iris note allows the fragrance to retain an airy quality threading through, its one and only floral note keeps everything within balance. The musk in the dry down is simply lovely. I hate the bottle. I wish they’d scrap that and recreate it but wudeva. I need to get another bottle of this but I just want the perfume inside to be dark apple juice in colour like the one I have now. It’s quite pale in the beginning but well worth waiting for it to deepen up. I wonder if I'd be able to get hold of an older batch...? 🤔 Anyway... really lovely fragrance, my husband loves it too. It's cozy and slightly edgy and quite different to my usual tastes—not incredibly groundbreaking but I actually really like it. In the dry down and what lingers on my skin the most is a dense but sophisticated woody caramel, fluffy musk and a slightly powdery vanilla. Great longevity and creates a gorgeous sillage. I actually think it’s a rather sophisticated and elegant perfume that isn’t as gourmand as what you’d think after reading the description and note pyramid. EDIT—Swiss Arabian have introduced a Cities line with an extrait concentration of this perfume named “essence of CASABLANCA” and the bottle is just gorgeous! My prayers were answered ✨ (hated the original bottle—although we’re not all about bottles and aesthetic here)...because it’s an extrait, the price is £85 as opposed to the EDP at £42 but you still get 100ml which I think is great. This will be my next purchase I think 🤝 I need another bottle anyway 👀

Sweet, Fruity CARAMEL-APPLE-GRAPES Scent Punctuated by a Suede Note. In the first couple of minutes before the spray dries, I can feel the sweet apple-grape with a touch of ambroxan. Once the spray dries and the sillage opens up, I get the apple supported by grapes that help elaborate the sweet & fruity facets of apple, and already the suede is swelling through. The apple is nicely done here and not too tart. As it transitions to the heart, a woody-patchouli emerges with an earthy, powdery iris and it's carrot facet. As it's drying down, it sweetens with caramel and the suede-leather note becomes more obvious - built mostly from amber-oud-ambroxan - and helps to contrast the sweetness and supercharge the performance. Overall I get a sweet, fruity caramel-apple-grapes scent punctuated by a suede-ambroxan note, and beast mode performance. I didn't love this initially and found the suede note overpowered the rest, but as other reviewers have mentioned, this got better with age (more than a year) and the notes feel in balance now. This could be worn year-round with careful application, but I would be most likely to wear this in winter. Overall: super sweet caramel-apple-grapes scent punctuated by a suede-ambroxan note that supercharges the performance. For what it is, it's a love for me. Enjoy! Contrast to Noir Toscane/Vanille Raisin La Maison de la Vanille: These are different, but there are similarities with a sweet grape scent punctuated by suede-leather note (osmanthus' leathery facet in the case of Noir Toscane). Casablanca has a more forward caramel-apple. Both have excellent performance but both required dark storage after first sprays to balance out. Update 08/08/24: Plumeria, suede Smarties & caramel...Sprayed this on at noon - one spray to the wrist - as it's cooler outside today, and lately I been enjoying scents with a leather-y floral facet. I was hoping the suede note here would hit the spot, and it did. This time it reminds me of Siren Paris Hilton, which also has plumeria & a leather-like facet, and a note which some people describe as Smarties. This is sweeter than Siren, but I get the Smarties here too in the leather/suede. There is probably something near oud here as well, and this won't be for everyone, and I admit this was the very reason I didn't like this at first, but now I've come 180 degrees and love that aspect.

I think this perfume is overall very great and I highly recommend it! At first spray, I had mixed thoughts as I thought it had a very heavy alcohol smell, but that almost immediately dissipated the moment it dried. On my skin within the first few hours I personally got a strong grape smell and it smelled, to me, very fresh and cleanly, with maybe a hint of the suede and caramel. It seemed like a very clean Spring scent at first to me, but the character of the perfume changes as you wear it (explained further below) When I first sprayed it, I was around several other folks, and people on the other side of the room were absolutely able to smell it so the sillage seems quite powerful, but mellows out over time. I recommend applying it liberally, more than two or three sprays may seem a bit excessive. After a few hours of wear, at least on my skin, it seemed to have changed quite a bit. It went from smelling fruity and very clean, to almost like a baked apple cake w/o icing, not being overly sweet like many gourmands. The caramel and suede notes absolutely come out the longer I wear it, with the apple and musk coming out as well. I don't get patchouli from this at all, but then again I'm also relatively fond of patchouli. At least for me, at the beginning of the day it feels like a very presentable perfume, a very nice neutral perfume that's not excessively ambery or gourmand or anything of the sort. As the day progresses, I feel it becomes a more casual perfume and honestly feels more intimate! The ambery caramel baked scent begins to come more to the forefront and it takes on a more mature or sexy characteristic to me. The scent lasts (at least recognizably to me) for about 10 hours before fading out of much recognition. In the very last hours of wear, the caramel note begins to die back again to me and leave behind a sweet grape/suede/woody(?) smell, which may sound a bit earthy to some, but it honestly just comes across as clean to me. I also recc. shaking the bottle before use, I'm not too sure why, but I always seem to get that very strong alcohol/nail polish smell at first if I don't shake it.

I love this one! Sweet caramel apple with a woody undertone. It's very long lasting on me and has a strong sillage. One time at work, I went to the cafeteria to get some food and the lady working there (she was at least 6ft away from me and I was wearing Casablanca for at least 4h already) could not stop complimenting me. She asked me what fragrance it was and wrote it down. When I went to get food again the next day she told me that she had ordered the fragrance immediately when she got home lmao. Also, this fragrance reminds me a LOT of Silky Woods from Goldfield & Banks. I got a sample of Silky Woods in Demi Rawlings first sample box with Jovoy and I sprayed it on my hand. I immediately recognized it, but couldn't really put my finger on it. Once I realized that it reminded me of Casablanca, I tested them out on both hands. Casablanca opens up sweeter and that sweetness stays for longer, but the drydown is basically the same to my nose. It's SO weird to me tho, that I have never heard any reviewer make this comparison, especially because a lot of people in fragcom own both of them. So I tested them both out again a couple of days ago, and had the same exact experience. I don't know if it's just my nose, but if you want to blind buy Silky Woods and you already own Casablanca, try to get your hands on a sample or decant of Silky Woods first.

Let me start by saying I love having a big collection and I love that I can wear a different perfume everyday for months and not run out if options, and I do wear a different perfume everyday. Rarely that I wear a perfume twice in two days. With that being said I received Casablanca FOUR days ago, I haven’t worn anything else since we met and fell in love at first sniff. It came in a box with three other blind buys btw. It’s strong and long lasting but I find myself reapplying just to smell those delectable fruits at the opening. I already have a sizable dent in my brand new bottle. I might have to buy another if I keep it up. Will update in a week or so. The scent reminded me of vanilla 28 and silky woods they definitely used the same type of vanilla. The fruits are mouth watering. The Apple is like a mix of apple and pear. And grape is more like a grape jam. The caramel is not too dense or overly sweet, in fact it’s got kind of an airiness to it that surprised me. The same airiness that expensive perfumes have. This cost me $25. I don’t smell suede and I love suede and leather notes but nothing here. This is a gem and the price oh my goodness! Honestly if I had smelled this first and it was packed and priced at 150 I would have bought it.