Hamsah

So my friend is getting married next month and I wanted to buy this perfume as a gift for her. I personally love gourmands and florals and she almost always compliments my perfumes and asks for their names. But since I didn't own it myself, I bought it this morning to test it out first. After all, I can't recommend a perfume that I never tried myself, right? So here I am, about half an hour after spraying it on myself, wondering if I like it. I ADORE Elie Saab's "In White", and I was hoping it would smell at least somewhat similar, but alas, it doesn't. It's very floral, to the point of almost "80's grandma floral". I'm guessing it's the gardenia's work, as I am familiar with the rest of the notes and love them. By now this overwhelming grandma smell has calmed down a little and I can feel the honey coming out and warming up the atmosphere. I'm really not sure if I should gift this to my friend, as this is not at all her taste. I, however, will give this a fair chance. I think that I will learn to like it more. Edit: after wearing this for 6 hours, I can tell for sure that this is very similar to Happy Spirit by Chopard when it sits closer to the skin. The honey is pretty much all that's left at this point. I'm not the greatest fan of this. This is definitely not a safe blind buy, nor is it a safe gift. Edit 2: it actually smells wonderful when sprayed on the hair. It smells very feminine and welcoming on the hair, as opposed to "grandma-ish" on the skin. I will definitely keep using this as a hair mist, and perhaps on the skin on a different weather. I think I will eventually get used to it and love it to death. However, I still stand by my belief that it is not a safe blind buy or a gift. I ended up choosing Intimately by Beckham as a wedding gift for my friend, now THAT is a wonderful safe gift. I have been wearing that one for over 10 years already and can't get enough of it. That one is a universally flattering beautiful, feminine floral, definitely "bride material".

I'm so glad I gave this a chance to macerate. I disliked it so much I reeled back and my nose scrunched up automatically the first time I sprayed it on my wrist. The passing hours didn't improve it, until I finally just washed it off and applied something else. Then I put it in my closet for a few weeks, then took it out today when moving all my fragrances to a new organizer I just assembled. Well now I absolutely love it. Reminds me of Elie Saab, which is my go to daily perfume for just smelling good without breaking the bank. Where ES features jasmine, this one features gardenia. It also leads more prominently with the orange smell than the ES does. I am glad to have both. I still think that ES is more my style, more sophisticated, but for a variation, especially in the coming warmer months, I suspect I'll be dipping into this one more and more. In fact, at only about $20 a bottle, the fact that it improves with time makes me think I should go ahead and buy a backup for next Summer. The only drawback to this fragrance is that while the bottle is a beautiful design, the cap just won't securely stay on. I've dropped this twice already. Thankfully it's a thick glass and I dropped it on a padded rug, but I have to remember to always pick this up around the broadest part of the bottle and not go for the smaller regions near the top. My hand slides up and grabs the cap if I'm not at/below the widest part of the curve of the bottle. It's a bit awkward, especially taking it out of a rack sandwiched in with other bottles, but I won't have it long at this rate if I don't get used to picking it up that way.

OK, wow, I have to add another review of this one. After my initial review, I kind of forgot about it and let it sit for a month and a half without touching it, I was THAT unimpressed. I should have known better when testing it for the first time, that perfumes change and evolve after the very first spray, when they get some air. Please don't take the first try seriously and make sure to let it "breath" a little before judging it! :) First of all, NO GRANDMA SCENT! YAY! The gardenia is much more calm now, and not at all overpowering. It's also much sweeter now and I can clearly feel the honey, which didn't really happen the first time. It was ALL flowers then, and just a little bit of honey at the end of the day. It still DOES remind me of Happy Spirit, though it's more on the floral side rather than on the "grape-ish" side. I have been testing it a few days in a row just to make sure that I'm not wrong again :) It's one of my favorites now! I'm still leaving my first review here though, in case someone wants to know what it smells like the first time and that they should definitely give this a fair chance.

This is really nice. It smells classy. It definitely smells similar to some of my great grandma's perfumes I used to smell, but it's not to the extreme. I've never smelled the Elie Saab this is supposed to smell like, however this has something in it that reminds me of L'interdit from Givenchy. Super perfume-y, floral, sweet, with a slight spiciness. You definitely get that touch of honey. Moderate sillage and lasts at least a day or more on clothes, lasts probably 3-ish hours on skin before it's basically gone. This could be worn as a daily scent but I also find it very classy so it could be a special occasion perfume too. Personally I just wear whatever I want, any time I feel like it lol. I would repurchase this again because I love this scent profile. Edit: Actually I think I would just repurchase Fakhar Rose over this, as FR is much sweeter, stronger, and less spicy (and also smells like L'interdit.)

This perfume was a blind buy on Amazon I took a chance on because of good reviews. I love it! I expected a citrus scent because this has orange blossom in it but on my skin it never showed up. On me this perfume is gardenia, Rose, and honey in a very soft feminine way. Projection was surprising at least 6 feet with a strong trail that lingers in hot air. I live in Arizona desert where temperatures exceed 120 in summer often. This perfume I put on in morning when postman delivered it and after running around in heat it was still on me as strong skin scent at end of day. (Most perfumes last a couple hours if I’m lucky in this high heat.) This perfume does not bother my asthma or allergies. No headaches from it either. It stays soft but strong in high heat without being overpowering. I highly recommend it!