Gourmand Leather

Zara Gourmand Leather is a nice fragrance. Gourmand Leather was my first Zara and I was one of those to get it as a decant, mainly because my closest store is Scottsdale's Fashion Square Mall and the one time I went, I didn't find the fragrances... Anyway, Gourmand Leather is a very very close clone to Ultra Male. It is amazing as the only main notes it clearly misses due to accords are the pear note, the mint note and the cinnamon note. It may not has that but has a similar candy accord though not pear based. I find it is more akin to the original Cuba Prestige. It also goes into a slight Eros/Oxford Blue territory though that seemingly is my nose. I say Oxford Blue as the iris isn't as close to say Dior Homme offerings. The tonka is a vanillic tonka so I get the vanilla and the slight leather note adds a nice twist. Gourmand Leather is a BEAST. I have only worn it a few times because I live in Arizona (hence me mentioning Scottsdale) and I typically wear fragrances for work more so than bars, clubs, etc. so wearing a fragrance as strong as this, is asking to choke people out. This is a slight, slight knock, but something people should know. The first time I wore it was to a workday and a potluck after hours and it was still strong on me. I have yet sprayed this on my elbows but I still can smell it if I do two to four sprays to my neck. It lasts about 10 hours on my skin. It is a really good fall winter night scent for bars and clubs, even dates as it is unique (even for what it clones), especially if you are under 40. It is for more playful people rather than serious. I would say this is a 80% clone of Ultra Male. It is about 10% English Laundry Oxford Blue, 5% Cuba Prestige, 5% Versace Eros as well. Overall I HAVE to get over to Fashion Square to see if Zara still has Gourmand Leather and if they have it, they wont have it for long. I got a 1.4oz Ultra Male for about the price Gourmand Leather is supposed to run in Zara stores, which is a bargain. Overall I rate Gourmand Leather 8.7 out of 10. It isn't all season, all ocassion enough for me to rate any higher, but this just plain works and if it was lighter, it would be a great fill in for Ultra Male.

My wife and I decided to go clubbing yesterday. Before going to the club and after a shower I thought "let me see what I am going to wear... blue jeans, a Chevignon white shirt and Ultra Male..." Well... I remember then that my Ultra Male had finished two weeks ago. No issues... probably Ferragamo F Black will do... regular Le Male will do it as well... But what if I give a proof of fire to Gourmand Leather... Gourmand Leather it is!... that's decided. 2 sprays in my neck, 2 sprays in my chest and 2 sprays in my shirt... On the way to the club my wife commented "you know I like Ultra Male but tonight you over sprayed a bit; you are outshining my Sisley Eau du Soir". In the club I received 3 compliments more... "what are you wearing?" and I answered "Ultra Male off course". This morning my wife commented... "you still smell Ultra Male... I really like it". Now only you and me know that I really used Zara Gourmand Leather. Comments: I wonder why some people are so obnoxious with inexpensive good colognes and keep on commenting "cheap, does not last, synthetic, smell of sewage" and so on. I do remember Steven from Redolessence commenting in one of his videos that he was out of regular A*Men and was using Cuba Prestige instead (without the other people noticing it). Are Ultra Male and Gourmand Leather similar? Judging by the people around me, they are pretty similar. But are the 2 fragrances really equal? Well, I also can tell you that probably they are not equal. Zara's Gourmand Leather stained my shirt. I have never tested Ultra Male about white cotton textile staining. For the skeptics of using perfume clones I give another subject for you to comment on. My rates on Zara Gourmand Leather: Scent: 9.0 Longevity: 9.0 Sillage: 8.0 Uniqueness: 6.0 Versatility: 8.5 Quality: 8.5 Price: 10.0 Staining my shirt: 7.0 (it was a barely noticeable stain anyway) Overall rating: 8.25/10.00

If you bought Gourmand Leather as an Ultra Male clone: Use it.... It is a bit softer and less complex than Ultra Mail. By no means it will smell synthetic and cheap. Respray after 3.1/2 hours for more longevity and sillage. It's really a matter of personal choice. It is still 1/8 of Ultra Male price !!!! If you bought Gourmand Leather because of Gourmand Leather: Congratulations. It is an excellent fragrance for itself. No, Gourmand Leather will not last for 48 hours in a row but let's be serious: Nobody expects 12 hours of longevity for a perfume. There is no practical use for it. If you are a perfume lover the most natural decision you face every day is "what will I use in the morning?" and "what will I use in the evening?" and most certainly you will use two different fragrances. In fact, the usable longevity for a fragrance is up to 6~8 hours maximum. And if ("if" in bold) by any reason you require 12 hours longevity from an average EDT without respraying, just apply two sprays per spot in your tshirt or shirt where any EDT lasts a lot longer. Now about Gourmand Leather: - Opens with a very agreeable citrus scent.(1/2 hour) - Continues with a fainting citrus note and a very agreeable iris becomes dominant (1 hour) - The dry down reveals a very strong and very lovable gourmand combo of tonka and leather that lasts a lot of time (5 to 6 hours with 1 good spray in the back of my hand) If you respray after 3.1/2 hours the dry down of the first spray dominates the opening and middle notes of the respray and you get 3~4 hours more of a very acceptable (quite strong) longevity. . Gourmand Leather is a well above average, nice quality oriental fougere EDT available for you to purchase it for a very low price. I thank Zara for making some medium/high quality perfumes available for every purse (some... not all Zara perfumes).

Zara Gourmand Leather is a fragrance on its own right. And it's no competitor of any other fragrance, nor does it claim to be an alternative to some more expensive designer fragrance, just not to name it. I can see similarities in fragrances, after all they are just a blend of notes. What I don't understand is always keeping comparing it to another with comments like "it's less, it lacks, it's nowhere near", etc. Reviewing a perfume is not just talking about what it's NOT, but what it really IS. I think it's a shame people don't see Zara Gourmand Leather as if UM never existed. THAT would result in great, unbiased and independent reviews. Now back to ZGL. I personally find it quite leathery from the first spray although the fruitiness of the opening is well on top. The iris is also prominent and gets more powdery as the citrus notes fade. The drydown is more like a cocktail of sweet faint citruses and leathery vibes. Yes I get the leather more prominently in the drydown. This also projects pretty well when you spray it right after a morning shower, in relatively cold weather. Do not sniff it close as it would spoil your nose's sensitivity and you will think you are not smelling anything. A lot of people make this mistake! Never smell close your wrist just after spraying. Just spray and leave the room right away as staying another ten minutes in the room where you've sprayed your perfume will also influence your perception. To conclude, I would say forget the comparison with Ultra Male and just give ZGL some respect for what it is. Not for what it should be. Cheers all.

This stuff is bonkers, one of my best buys for sure this year although im sure that's gonna change in a few days when my bottle of Baccarat Rouge arrives,hehe just thought id pop that in there as im a bit exited. Anyway about Zara Gourmand leather, yes this is a great copy of ultra male, Zara done a fantastic job of capturing that JPG dna and plus some. I certainly get that pear vanilla vibe with an interesting bonus in the drydown with that touch of Armani code making this probably better than the original in some ways. i get crazy longevity out of this, 12 hours plus easy but it only projects for about six hours before it sits closer to the skin. Zara lately have been knocking it out the ball park with their offerings and could definitely save people a lot of money with their interesting takes on popular colognes, give them a go.