Creatively Shanghai

I am literally smiling to myself at the sheer & obvious frag snobbery re these written on Fragrantica; espc here - mostly these are indistinguishable from Jo Malones standard range, (not the "intense,") - you cannot (cannot!) "smell the Zara in those compared to a Jo Malone original perfume" - at all; pull the other one.. 🤭 (& no, these aren't niche, but they weren't meant to be!) but they are, some of the most interesting & relevant new releases, & are definitely better than many mainstream designer releases, whatever some ppl are saying here. Decent, classy (pseudo niche) packaging; although rather more monochrome than most - & the labels on the bottles aren't my favourite, but that's being super picky, tbh, they're v nice - recently I got in the sale, sevl giftsets of WLTD & Vetiver Pamplemousse (a dead ringer for Hermes grapefruit; at a fraction of the price whatever they say) - at £15.99 for a 90 ml + a 15ml.. yay me. I shan't say quite how many bc I may hv been a tad too enthusiastic, really, but surely they won't be wasted - WLTD is so beautiful, I almost prefer it to Guerlain AA Herba Fresca; certainly it smells more "modern" but no less fresh & lovely. The lack of lily of the valley is genius, in WLTD - but its not "too simple" - & ppl love it, I wear it quite often & never without somebody saying "Oh you smell lovely, what is that?!" This too, is v good - a spiced but fresh orange, with a cedar-y base possibly suitable enough for summer, but almost Christmas-y in some ways - pretty but not twee, just good - it's not for me but my friend occasionally wears it - but the cedar, should it exist in any perfume - amps on my skin, so this one is just not for me, personally it's unisex, & maybe leaning masculine - this does hv a significant amount of cedar - but isn't too masculine on most ppl, apparently, so best ppl test for themselves. At least 4 of this range are v much to my taste - London is v good, Tokyo I really like - so pretty, & such a great opening - & am thinking Dubai is surprisingly not too middle Eastern to wear from me though, from the reviews, so that's good. I love Seoul & S Korea so would hv liked to try that one - but mimosa & myself don't get along; Arlene, Delicious Delights, loves that one though, so maybe I will test it if ai have chance to. Re this - well if you hv been looking longingly at Jo Malone Orange Bitters - here we hv a close alternative; made by Jo Loves - & Zara (at a much more reasonable price point + subtle, pretty packaging - & not bad longevity.. ) so hopefully ppl can spray away - not cheap; but a far more realistic price than Jo Malone eponymous range. It must really burn some ppl that some of these are so good - go buy niche everytime & don't bother with these if thats how you feel - but you will be missing out if you don't test these (female) perfume "collabs" Zara are doing; & it doesn't bother me at all bc the less ppl who wear these & therefore the more unique when worn, the better for me - but its helpful to know these are good, if there's no way for ppl to afford niche or Jo Malone 99% of the time, (I'm thinking I've spent way too much this previous year on various perfumes; it got silly - so this is a welcome change - but; I must laugh at the pretentious rubbish being written which is without a doubt thinly disguised frag snobbery - you may need to spray them more often, than niche quality perfumes, (& espc with such as Vetiver Pamplemousse; which is just gorgeous - although the longevity of that one is a bit cheeky - but D&G Light Blue is so watered down now, & has even less lasting power + is far more expensive than this) & many of the other Zara/Jo Loves are quite a bit better, longevity-wise, I find. Many designer releases these previous 2 or more years hv been so rubbish; these are welcome addition to all the new releases. I think these ppl hv issues, & should sort them out, instead of bashing this range - which is definitely a decent effort from this house. Zara - killing it; & the packaging really is an almost niche affair - cards/tissue paper & all - so ppl can get that particular fix, too.

It’s a zesty slightly spiced orange! So simple. And of course this is gone from Zara. This and ebony wood were my fav from the Jo Malone collection and course ebony wood? They messed it and it’s not the same! Shame they actually layered well together. CS I would layer to give some brightness to my overly spicy perfumes. (The cardamom and wood in CS are blended so well you can’t tell they’re there really they just play a great supporting role) and EW I would layer with my perfumes that needed some spicy wood facets. I don’t usually like roller scents, but a few yrs ago when these were popular I bought a few of these each for such a great price on sale like $7 for my layering. And now goner... When I went back this past winter to get them both? Couldn’t find CS and there were like two different versions ofEbony wood?? Why!? wtf.and why did they add grapefruit and florals etc ??? EW was popular the way it was by using just wood and clove which is why it layered so well with CS and my spicy scents! Ugh. Waterlily Tea Dress was actually a full bottle buy for summer. But I’m really bummed try that Zara messed with the original collection of these! They got greedy and decided to make 100 diff flankers, and too many collections at once it was a cluster F! Oh well ...both men and women could easily rock these

I am in love with this scent! It smells like a proper luxury perfume and it is also packaged like one. Creatively Shanghai is a stunning mixture of authentic mandarin 🍊 (citrus/orange notes), a bit of wood 🪵, plus warm, spicy cardamom and it is not too sweet. Longevity absolutely acceptable for its price (£20 for 75ml). Much better than many Jo Malone brand fragrances and great value for money!!! If you like me a lover of citrus, green, and slightly woody smells you will like this as well. I used Jo Malone Orange Blossom as a signature fragrance for a while, and this scent is a totally different one. I would say it is even better one! If Jo Malone was making this perfume I would still buy it even at much higher price. Amazing job Zara!!!

Creatively Shanghai is mandarin orange. It's fun and happy; juicy citrus sunshine in a bottle. At first I thought, where's the cardamom? It's definitely a realistic juicy mandarin orange, but it took me some time with this perfume to appreciate the light cardamom and wood base that the mandarin citrus rests upon. Creatively Shanghai is a gorgeous uplifting mandarin that blends so beautifully with other scents - I've paired it with Boldly Seoul, Magnificently Dubai and Gracefully Madrid. But even on it's own, it's a gorgeous citrus bomb full of flavour and happiness. Longevity is about 4 hours, projection and silage about arms length. Bottle is classy and gorgeous.

Woah. I’ve had poor experiences with other Zara scents but this one hit it out of the park. This isn’t a cara cara or Sunkist Orange, but true Chinese mandarin. The type my mother would buy off street vendors for us to eat, and later save the peels to dry and cook with. I love how literal it is - I can smell leaves twigs and all, no sugar sweetness that doesn’t come from the actual fruit itself. It is a bit of a one note exercise, and it turns my nose blind after about an hour of wear. I’ll get compliments long after I think it’s worn off because of it. I’d love to layer this with something more transformative during the day and see if that helps.