ESSENCE OF CASABLANCA

If you are looking for a sign to skip Casablanca and go right to Essence of Casablanca, this is it right here. It has everything I love about the original Casablanca. Beautiful grape and apple scent that dries down to vanilla woods. Reminds me a lot of the winter holiday season in North America where we cracked open bottles of virgin cider and sparkling grape juice. Nostalgia hit for sure! The Essence just has the slightest bit more of a more prominent woody vanilla base, which I believe is exactly what Casablanca needed to take it from a love to an obsessed love. It is worth the $80 and you can get a similar experience with Casablanca for about $40, but I think the price increase is worth it if you love these notes and just avoid doing what I did! Get the best experience possible, most economically, and in a most timely fashion. The fragrance oil too is excellent and can be a good addition if you already have the original Casablanca but can't justify shelling out the $80 but you need the balsamic vanilla in your life. Thank me later!

This is a very high quality blend, opens fruity then the dry downs goes into the vanilla amber. In the opening might seem a little fem because of the sweet grapes, but after 5minutes it totally goes unisex and it's not that sweet anymore. Think about an Erba Pura type of scent that is much better blended, not overly sweet and in your face , replace the fruits with a very unique grape scent and also overall better quality imo. Longevity and silage out of the box is not great, but the thing is it stays quite the same for about 4hrs, then it fades progressively, projection in the first hour is alright, but after that you won't leave a scent trail. I will come back after a few months to see if maturation helps, because is a swiss arabian there is 90%chance after maturation it will improve. Came back after 2 months, and oh this has improved. The blend is just amazing, it smells like nothing else. Overall i would give it a 9.5/10 due to the weaker silage than other swiss arabians bangers.

Was a blind buy that turned into one of my favorites. Don't be fooled by most tiktok reviews, it’s not all “sweet and juicy apple and grape”, it does have a burst of that, sure, but the musky vanilla that, on my skin, is more of a suede vanilla hits in. I was highly confused about the silky woods comparison here, but it is reminiscent weirdly enough. That same suede vanilla, without that bit of Oud and chocolate I get on my skin from silky woods is there, toned down and presented with grapes and apples. Basically a toned down silky woods with fruity notes. Initially I didn’t like it, as my expectations were just juicy fruits, and a bit of vanilla. Not a 50/50 basically, but over time it grew on me. Now it’s a daily driver. I don’t recommend blind buying it, although it lasts incredibly long and projects well, if you don’t like fruity musky vanilla that’s in your face, leans a bit feminine, you might not like it.

This used to be one of my gate-kept favorites, but I’ve decided it’s too good not to share my thoughts. It smells absolutely beautiful, a perfect blend of vanilla, amber, and musk that makes me want to literally eat my arm every time I spray it. Sometimes I wear it just to lift my mood, it’s that comforting. Of course, not everyone will love it (taste is subjective), but to me, this is one of the best vanilla fragrances ever made. It’s richer and more balanced than Diorama or Tobacolor in terms of vanilla and amber, and smoother than Vanilla Powder in the vanilla department. It’s not better than Babycat but just different: Babycat leans smokier and powdery, while Essence of Casablanca is a more yummy, edible vanilla. Both the opening and dry-down are flawless. Longevity is excellent, 8–9 hours easily with just 2–3 sprays. One of the finest oriental niche perfumes I’ve ever smelled. 10/10 for me.

If you spray this on your hand and smell it, you will get a grape smell over an airy vanilla. Which a lot of content creators have said and done. This is an airy perfume. So in the air you will get more of that airy vanilla than the fruit. Thats how you get the full picture with this one. Not up close but in the air. I must say, it is fantastic. The sillage on this because it is airy is excellent. It’s elegant, smooth and perfectly unisex in my opinion. It’s a year round fragrance because it’s not overly sweet and mostly airy. So it won’t be cloying. The balsamic notes take the bite out of the sweetness adding a nice touch. People will overspray this one thinking it’s faint, it’s built for sillage not projection. But is still above average. This is for those laid back days. Screams weekend morning/afternoon. Swiss Arabian Crushed this one.