Istanbul

To me, this is Love Don't Be Shy, but just better. I do prefer Love Don't be Shy for the first three minutes, its opening is one of the best I've ever smelled. But that is short lived. After that, Istanbul is just way better. It's smoother, not as agressive, doesn't smell as unnatural and is wayyyyy more potent. The opening is pretty great, I can definitely get the grapes and there's a very fresh background that tries to appease the extremely sweet components that are present in the fragrance. Then the fragrances goes on to be pretty much Love Don't Be Shy. Sweet, with some floral facets, smooth with a creamy vanilla. This DNA is just incredible. But what they managed to do here is really good, to take such an iconic DNA and give it a fragrance that's just all arround so much better than the original is pretty crazy. 100ml of this very high concentrated, very potent juice with superb presentation and quality costs LESS (at discounters) than 50ml of Love Don't Be Shy. This is absolutely crazy. I used to want to buy the Killian, but now I've smelled this one I'll 100% get it instead. If you love Love Don't Be Shy, please try this. It's not 100% like it, but it is definitely extremely close and in my opinion just way better. This is 100% unisex. Performance is outstanding, the sample kinda struggles pumping out the juice as it is EXTREMELY thick and oily, just a little bit on the arm is enough to radiate for hours and hours. Using a normal bottle with normal sprays will probably create a nuclear cloud arround you so spray with caution. I'll get a bottle for the next winter hopefully.

Unique e Luxury's Istanbul is the brand’s best crafted fragrance, imo. I'm not a huge fan of gourmands, but there are some I really love. When they are done well, gourmands are among the sexiest fragrances on both genders. I fell in love with Istanbul from the first sniff. A sweet-floral scent, with a deep rich base. Yummy. The opening of this perfume is wonderful. It smells like juicy and ripe grapes, with lemon tea and citruses that gives it sparkly feeling that makes it a very pleasant in the summer as well (its 30 c here). You can also smell the toffee and vanilla from the base of the fragrance, and they remain a dominant notes in this perfume. The toffee creates a scent that reminds me of burnt sugar, and vanilla is rich and full, definitely smelling like quality stuff rather than the cheap vanilla i usually smell in the designer fragrances nowadays. The geranium and the pepper in my opinion, serve to balance the sweetness a bit and prevent it from becoming too suffocating along with the woody notes that gives the scent a bit of creaminess. These supporting characters do a great job of giving this fragrance exactly the right amount of sweetness to be "yummy" without feeling like you sprayed a cake on yourself. Comes in a concentration of extrait de parfum. The sillage of this fragrance lasts for about two or three hours. After that, it stays closer to the skin.I wore this fragrance yesterday too, and this morning, woke up with the most beautiful woody-musky-slightly vanilla drydown. In my opinion this fragrance will smell sexyand will definitely attract both genders.

When I sample a batch of fragrances, I usually end up buying the one that creates the strongest instant attraction—the “love at first sight” rule. Istanbul was exactly that for me. After smelling through the Unique’e Luxury lineup, this was the first bottle I purchased without hesitation. It falls into the gourmand white floral category. The opening shows a noticeable blend of fruit and sweetness—something reminiscent of toffee or a grape-like accord. The sweetness is not entirely clean or crystalline; there is a faint caramelized edge, giving it a slightly toasted nuance. As the scent develops, the toffee note begins to recede. Tea and white florals gradually unfold, while the grape and floral tones move forward and form a more refined structure. The sweetness becomes rounder, with a syrupy fruit character touched by a hint of caramel. From a compositional standpoint, it maintains a fairly balanced position between sweetness and gourmand richness. In the drydown, soft musks appear, creating an amber-like, marshmallow-toned aura on the skin. The sweetness remains controlled and wearable. Over time, the florals soften further, leaving behind an amber note with a gentle caramel facet. Many reviews mention similarities to Love, Don’t Be Shy, though to my nose Istanbul comes across as the sweeter of the two. It performs particularly well in autumn and winter. In spring—and especially in summer—it can feel heavy. Longevity and projection are both strong. The most suitable setting is clearly an evening or date scenario, and it is best kept away from light-colored clothing.

Besotted with this scent! The comparisons to Love Don’t Be Shy are accurate but this is deeper, richer, projects more and just a beast of a performer overall. Call it LDBS intense if you will. A thick vanilla & toffee blend with some florals. Definitely smell the grapes on initial spray and wish that lasted into the dry down but beautiful nonetheless. Packaging is very luxurious and gorgeous. I got 3 compliments within 10 minutes of wearing this the first time. It’s a compliment magnet and it lasts all day on skin and clothing. Presentation is 10/10 - bottle and cap are nice and heavy. Will gladly repurchase as never want to be without it. Scent is 10/10 for me. Autumn /Winter/ Early Spring appropriate. Very feminine and decadent. Pricey but worth it. I managed to score a good bargain for it online on Notino- grateful, eternally.

This reminds me of Mancera's Velvet Vanilla on my skin. That and Istanbul share a lot of similar notes if you compare them side-by-side. HOWEVER this is syrupy and more natural making it feel more mature, with enhanced ingredients, better blended, more smooth to the nose than the powdery, hard candy, pink bubble-gummy, nature of velvet vanilla. With Istanbul you get a delicious boozy toffee syrup that has a considerable hint of fruit and flowers. The scent profile in the dry down projects heavy with vanilla and toffee giving this a lip-sticky and waxy texture but mounted on rich jasmine tea. A potent unisex fragrance that leans feminine but can be worn by the confident metrosexual male. Istanbul will no doubt command attention. 🍇 8.5/10