Cherry Smoothie 2022

Zara fragrances are generally pretty decent budget fragrances and you get what you pay for. They are usually pleasant, reminiscent of popular fragrances, but pretty poor performing. But there are always a couple of releases that are gems...beautiful fragrances with solid performance. Cherry Smoothie is one of the latter. It seems to have been inspired by TF Lost Cherry, but is still it's own fragrance. Lost Cherry is a boozy cherry liqueur, but Cherry Smoothie lacks that booziness and is more cherry pie filling...tart, sweet, syrupy and delicious. The opening of Cherry Smoothie is not great, it's a bit sour and astringent. Thankfully that opening doesn't last. It fades away in 2-3 minutes revealing a tart, juicy cherry dessert that smells far more natural than I expected. It doesn't smell like a fresh ripe cherry, but cherries poached in a lightly spiced syrup. I expected this fragrance to be a sugar bomb, but was pleasantly suprised that the sweetness is balanced quite nicely by a little bit of depth, richness and from the plum, resin and vanilla/tonka. The almond is pretty elusive to me, I don't really smell any nuttiness, I am a little disappointed because I love the scent of almond, but Cherry Smoothie is still beautiful without it. Cherry Smoothie is much more feminine than Lost Cherry which is more unisex leaning feminine, Cherry Smoothie is fully feminine to my nose. I find it an ageless fragrance, any age that wants to smell like a scrumptious cherry dessert will love this. For me this is a casual daytime fragrance that I am most inspired to wear in cooler weather. It's fun and playful and not something I would choose for a more serious occasion. This fragrance has really solid performance, it lasts all day, at least 10 hours. The projection is moderate, reaching around arms length, maybe just a little beyond for about 4 hours, after that it stays closer to the skin. I have worn it all day and still been able to smell it lightly on my skin the next morning. I like the presentation. The bottle is simple, not really anything special, but nice.The box it comes in is really cute though. Much nicer than I would expect for a fragrance at this price point. Cherry Smoothie is great value, one of Zara's gems and I am happy to see it has been kept around for more than a minute. I have even considered getting a back up bottle even though I really don't need to.

In perfumery, the cherry accord is the cherry accord. It doesn't matter what brand it is, all cherry scent is the same. What distinguishes a cherry fragrance from another is the supporting notes added to give it extra dimension. With that said, I don't think this is comparable to Tom Ford's Lost Cherry (TFLC) or Maison Alhambra's Lovely Cherie (MALC) at all. What differs TFLC from MALC is that in TFLC, the cherry is backed up by additional sour cherries, bitter almonds and nothing more - so it simply smells like real photorealistic cherries with all its tart, sour, earthy harshness. MALC's cherry OTH is supported by citrus which gives it a "boozy" quality. MALC is also much more blended than TFLC so it's more "perfume-y" while TFLC's notes are more distinct. Zara's Cherry Smoothie is closer to the latter. While the almond note here is more pronounced than it was in MALC, during initial spray there was a stray citrus/fruit note. The cherry note here is also 'creamier' than in TFLC and MALC by the addition of milky vanilla. That's where the smoothie part comes from. Once the citrus disappears and Cherry Smoothie dries on skin you're left with a 'creamy' cherry+almond combo. So it has elements of both those other more renowned cherry fragrances yet still treads its own path. But the reason anyone is reading these comments is because they want to know if this is a good dupe of the very trendy (and very expensive) Tom Ford. I think it gets close. About 80% or so. >2hrs later, the scent is down to the unmistakable vanilla+tonka bean combo. >Amazingly, this frag has lasted 8 hrs on my skin. I was in bed as well. Scent is still that vanilla+tonka combo. I don't think it changed much while I was asleep. Nose on skin, I can still smell it w/ no effort. I think this may get to 10hrs. >10 hrs in the vanilla+tonka is still there and hasn't diminished one bit. Now I'm thinking this is going to last half a day.

I shall soon review it, but here is a brief comparison between old edition and the new reformulation in the 30ml format: The new edition is more chemical, more synthetic. The cherry is a black cherry kind (what in Italy we call "amarena"), wich is different from the pure cherry this had before. In the new version it is more like a black cherry lollipop, before (pink cap packaging) it was a canned cherry, less candy like and more true to the fruit. New version is less syrupy, but more boozy, more like an amaretto liquor; the pink cap bottle had such a beautiful hawtorn...that is now toned town, so the doll head effect is less pronounced (consider that this version, the pink cap one, was a cousin of Mukhallat by Montale in terms of style, doll head effect, and intensity of the balsam/resins). The almond in the new is more amaretto like, the old had a superior almond, that was both nutty, bitter and sweet. In the new version the perù/tulù balsam is very light, the old one had it strong and much balmy. At least the tonka remained the same as did the plastic/waxy effect (which I generally enjoy a lot). They destroyed it. I still bought a bottle of the new but it is too sweet and cloying now...too childish; before it was still a very sweet cherry/almond/balsam combo but it was really well executed and nuanced, especially for its price, the doll head and play doh effect so well done...in a mature way, in a wearable way. And it costed much less...15,90 € for a 100ml, now it is 12,90 € for a 30ml. It is still the same scent, but undressed of everything that made it complex, wearable and worth nothing. I will leave my new bottle to macerate a bit and update my review for further consideration. I should cherish the old one with the pink cap.

It's a blind but and I don't regret it at all. It's the type of fragrance that as soon as it becomes popular will disappear from shelves. I was almost dissuaded by the bad reviews but sometimes I don't know what people are expecting from a low price perfume... And yet, this one has exceeded any expectation. On my skin it opens with a cheeky cherry, strong, scandalous, slightly sour cherry, like that on those OG yogurts in which you had to mix a compote from the bottom with a almost unsweetened vanilla yogurt, as you were mixing you would discover a macerated, sweet and natural cherry smell mixed with the slight sweetness of the yogurt and a hint of vanilla... the opening is just like that. The almond is there too, slightly bitter like the actual skin of a fresh cherry. After a few minutes the cherry will settle down but remains there, more moderate but slightly sweeter along with the other fruity notes, and it won't go away, which is surprising. I really don't get the cough syrup smell at all, and we all know it has to be with our pH and not the fragrance. That strong sweetness will remain with the same strength for about 3 hr. On the clothes it can linger for another 3 hr easily. The dry down is still cherry with a syrupy vanilla mixed, no offensive at all, today is very hot and I don't find it too sweet for a warm day. It really cheers you up, or should I say cherrys you up (I'm sorry, I had to do it). The final duration on the skin is of about 5 to 6 hours which is very acceptable, once again, for a low-cost perfume. I would say it's a safe blind buy IF you like gourmands. I think is perfect for layering and Vanilla Cake by Montale is the first that comes to mind. Totally worth, I'm buying a backup because we all know Zara.

I bought this today after poo-pooing this for months. I have been wearing Lost Cherry by Tom Ford for two months now, loving it. Spraying it liberally in the best points - behind my ears, chest, shoulders, etc. I love it and did go to Zara, to try out Cherry Smoothie and thought very clearly - NO. Not the same, the Zara was cheap and flat and just a shell of the TF. Wrong. Oops. I make mistakes and I made one today but have since corrected myself. I had been testing Cherry smoothie on the back of my hand, my wrist, on the wrong places. But today I was perfume-less and I went into Zara and grabbed the Cherry Smoothie and there was only a wee tiny bit left in the tester. I sprayed whatever I could into my shirt, onto my skin, not on my clothes. And the WHOLE DAY - I am smelling the exact same smell as my (once beloved but NO more) TF Lost Cherry - wow Mr. Ford. You are really making a lot of money off of people like me aren't you? I hope you enjoy your Yacht parties while they last but whoever put together Cherry Smoothie from Zara - you're one hard working bunch aren't you? You little geniuses. Kudos. And Cheers! Meet you at MY Yacht party. Mr. Ford is no longer on the guest list. Zara Cherry Smoothie, at least to me, lasts longer than LC by the one who shall remain unnamed now. And I literally only had two half a sputter of a sprays - since the tester bottle was nearly done. Spray this one on your hot spots. I know what TF LC smells on me, I've been wearing it regularly for two months. On me, it lasted two/three hours tops. Loved the smell but come on. Today, I bought Cherry Smoothie and finally I get the same smell (to me this this is the same smell, ok? It's exactly the same) but it LASTS. Test both before you buy!!