004: Ultra Glitch

Check my old review if you want to see my previous opinion on it. The more I wear the more I believe this is a misunderstood masterpiece. It smells very creamy and buttery with a side of peanut. Where I live there is an ice cream parlor which has some unusual flavors like vanilla peanut ice-cream. This smells exactly like that. At first when I wore it I thought it was odd, it still does remind me of white chocolate sometimes, but I grew accustomed to this smell and I believe this is niche level quality, I don't have anything remotely similar to this in my collection and I own 150+ fragrances. Do yourself a favor and at least try to test it, it's so worth it. I am considering making it my signature scent.

Zara 004 UG smells like a delicious vanilla cake. @Alek17 I absolutely agree with your assessment of the fragrance. It’s very addictive if you can be patient with it. It took me repeated use of it for me to fall in love with it. I can’t get enough of it at the moment. I hope it comes back on the Zara website. Because, I’d love a back up bottle.

This is extremely weird. Sometimes I smell peanuts, like someone else said. Other times it smells like a famous polish sweet, called Alpejskie Mleczko. And even other times it smells like stale white chocolate. I am torn between hating it and loving it. It's artistic and futuristic for sure.

Ultra Glitch lives up to its name: a dangerous game of olfactory anomalies that spill into reality. Part of a collection built on “daring overdoses” of synthetic molecules, this fragrance highlights three intentionally exaggerated notes on its bottle—pastry cream delight, cashmeran, and akigalawood. If you own Zara’s "C4SHMER4N | Zara", "C0R4N0L | Zara", "S4ND4LW00D | Zara", or "4MBR0X | Zara", Ultra Glitch may trigger an immediate sense of déjà vu. Provocative and polarizing by design, this is no comforting gourmand. It is a scent that resists easy understanding and asks for patience. The opening is arresting. Sharp black pepper crackles at first spray, quickly enveloped by an unexpected fatty, waxy gourmand accord that creates an almost confrontational contrast. The phrase “pastry cream delight” suggests something sweet, soft, and indulgent. What emerges instead is far stranger: thick, buttery notes reminiscent of the moment you melt butter at the start of a béchamel—warm, glossy, and heavy, but not burnt. It hovers dangerously close to excess. Smelled too closely, it can become cloying and tiring, turning faintly stale—like a rich note left under heat for too long—while stubbornly refusing to fade. It lingers for several minutes, underscoring the fragrance’s high concentration. Among the listed ingredients, benzaldehyde is most likely responsible for this sensation. In this type of modern, synthetic fragrance, benzaldehyde creates an almost plastic-buttery effect, especially when combined with vanillin, Peru balsam with a slightly fatty sweetness, and patchouli. Zara's Dystopia line plays heavily with unusual olfactory contrasts and futuristic synthetic notes. That buttery, almost rancid perception in the opening might be intentional—a way to create an unsettling, dystopian effect. On skin, it leaves behind a noticeable shiny, almost oily film. As the composition settles, Ultra Glitch pivots toward balsamic warmth. Spicy vanilla and resinous benzoin begin to soften the edges, intertwining with the plush, woody hum of cashmeran. Vanillin and coumarin contribute sweetness with a hay-like warmth. This stage feels more approachable, yet still unconventional. Like a person with stiff manners at first meeting, the fragrance reveals warmth only once you give it time. Beneath the surface, musks begin to weave themselves through the composition, adding depth and cohesion rather than overt cleanliness. What starts as unsettling—almost “wearably unsettling”—gradually becomes more comfortable in the base. The dry-down reveals earthy akigalawood fused with the smoky density of guaiac wood, wrapped in a clean halo of musk. The woods deepen the earthy, smoky facets. Benzoin acts as the balsamic anchor, binding the composition together and preventing it from collapsing into chaos. This is where the promised sweetness finally materializes: edible amber, vanilla, and lactonic notes emerge, supported by warm woods rather than sugar. The result is dense, intense, and unexpectedly addictive. On my skin, Ultra Glitch ultimately unfolds as a rich blend of sweet amber, vanilla, lactonic nuances, and warm woods—preceded by a disorienting spicy-fatty opening and anchored by a musky, balsamic base. It feels almost dystopian in character, standing firmly apart from mainstream, crowd-pleasing fragrances. Performance is unmistakably “beast mode”: exceptional longevity well beyond eight hours, with powerful projection that fills a room during the first few hours of wear. This is a fragrance best reserved for cold weather, day or night. In warmth or heat, its richness risks becoming suffocating. Ultra Glitch does not aim to please everyone—and that is precisely its strength. Written from a bottle owned since January 2026 (BC 52460, PD 2025-09-03). — Elysium

I didn’t like it at all, smelled like a weird , extremely strong pastry scent with some kind of strange stale spice. I can see how it would work for some people but for me it just smells like I was rolling around in pastry dough and sprayed on a cologne afterwards

Smells like you inhaled toffee pudding powder (Merino Musk on steroids) and after 1h it reminded me of a long open & forgotten pack of Brazil nuts

Beast mode fragrance from Zara with a polarising buttered pop corn opening. It is probably the thickest perfume I've ever sampled and it has the strange privilege of being pleasant and off putting at the same time, depending on your frame of interpretation. It can smell like precious woods and balsams heated by warm skin or it can be interpreted as poor hygiene and unnamed secretions. It can be satisfying like eating a cake all by yourself or revolting... like eating a cake all by yourself. In any case its presence will be felt and it's certainly not a safe fragrance to use in the office, in the heat or on a first date, but it is a statement piece that fume heads will surely appreciate for what it is. In the drydown it quiets down a bit turning into a safe milky amber but it takes its sweet time to get there. I am not a fan of overly sweet compositions but I would have bought it just for its artistry and strength had it not disappeared from the stores in my country. Oh well🤷

I am confused😳 this perfume upon spraying smells like cinema buttery popcorn with a few cheesy ones, then if you rub it, smells like vomit? Genuinely confused! It smells good but soo bad at the same time. Definitely has the amber tobacco ish dry down but I am not sure if I can tolerate it from the start😫 However, I lowkey want to try it again to make sure what I’ve smelled was true. Also, this fragrance is one of the most long lasting Zara perfumes, I’ve washed the dishes and washed my hands and the smell is still there, but after washing there is nothing apart from tobacco, vanilla and amber, which is stunning! Again, I am still confused 😕

Strangely addictive and beautiful skin scent gourmand ❤️ thank you zara for this one.