Nocturnal Life

This is an amazing scent. I bought a large bottle of Nocturnal Life for $16 (plus $5 shipping) at Zara’s holiday sale, after seeing it listed on Fragrantica as a scent with a heavy cinnamon note. I was in the mood for cinnamon and this was the first on the list; completely thrilled with this impulse buy. I believe I have a small sample of Angel’s Share, but don’t recall the fragrance in detail and not enough to do a comparison. All I care about is that NL is an amazing fragrance in its own right. It is a cinnamon-vanilla scent, with an herbal-fruitiness that I suspect is coming from the juniper but to my nose is a pipe tobacco note. There is a booziness, but it is very vanilla to me. I have a bottle of Jack Daniel’s we’ve got some vanilla beans steeping in, making homemade vanilla for baking. The vanilla booziness of NL is very, very similar to that homemade whisky vanilla (I just went into my kitchen to compare my arm to the bottle; can confirm, this is a whisky vanilla note). I know vanilla is not listed, but that is what I smell. I love bergamot but don’t get any here; it may be the herbal note I detect. I also honestly don’t get incense. Maybe the bergamot and incense are contributing to the tobacco I smell? I do find it dries down with a hint of muskiness, as well as a little bit of floral – maybe the drydown of the boozy vanilla becomes a floral note. I am getting a good 6-8+ hours on 1 spray; I sprayed 2 spritzes on Sunday and my (dramatic) husband had a coughing fit, but that was also the day I lounged in the bathtub 10 hours later and could still get a floral-vanilla-cinnamon faintly wafting into the steam of my tub. 1 spritz was enough to enjoy without any spousal drama, and has still lasted down to a lovely skin scent at the end of my workday. I did likely overdue it at a weekend concert, putting on 3 sprays and while I sadly didn’t draw any compliments, I smelled amazing and cinnamon-y to myself all night and felt elegant and cozy. This is rocketing into a favorite spot for me, especially during this cold snap when cuddly, boozy, spicy, vanilla-cinnamon is perfect. I am also inspired to try other Zara scents, although from reviews they seem rather hit or miss...definitely a hit here! Look for it on their Zara site, all the other vendors seemed way overpriced. Edit: I’ve decided this has a golden amber dry down, a la VS Amber Romance, but with a cinnamon drizzle. That realization explains why this felt like a familiar friend from the minute I put it on; AR was my signature for years. It dresses up or down and is very cozy.

Smells like coming home on a crisp Autumn day, crushed juniper berries underfoot, to a spicy drink in a warm kitchen. Maybe someone you love hugged you a few hours ago and their sweet perfume is still sort of lingering on your clothes, because there's a touch of gourmand there but it doesn't overwhelm the scent at all. Maybe there's a simmer pot on the stove, bubbling with orange peel and cinnamon and a pinch of something sweet. I like it more than Angel's Share to be honest. The incense note is great, if you're into that kind of thing. (I am firmly into that kind of thing.) The performance reviews are all over the place but for me and my finicky body chemistry this lasts all day, but settles more sweet than spicy on skin a few hours in. Clothes the next day still have that sugary, cashmere-adjacent drydown DNA that a lot of Zara fragrances have, but with a sprinkling of cinnamon on top. I'm obsessed. Gorgeous.

I love angel share, but the price point is a bit much and I don’t find I can wear it unless it’s really cold because it’s so strong. So when this Zara perfume was advertised as a dupe, I ordered it so I could try it. Even if it didn’t smell like AS, I was still interested in the notes. Verdict- It’s a cinnamon bomb. I really enjoyed it from first sniff. You also pick up the juniper and incense but not the bergamot. I think there are more notes in here than listed but I didn’t smell chocolate as advertised on the box. It’s unisex but not too deep and would be amazing for autumn. It has moderate longevity and I would probably have to respray during the day. Compared to AS, there are similarities with nocturnal life. It could be an EDT flanker of the OG. This perfume isn’t as heady as AS and is less sweet. You don’t get the boozy apple strudel smell that you get from AS, but it still a lovely cinnamon gourmand.

I love this. Instantly loved it, but I waited to smell it one complete day on my skin, before finally going back to purchase it a week later. I do see similarity with the sand desert at sunset - but to my nose this is more feminine. The male version of this scent did not work great in my skin, and also disappeared quickly - this one lasted a whole day and smelled all that time divine. Doesn’t project too loudly, but is actually quite strong closer to me. This version compared to the other Zara scent, pulls sweeter on my skin. I do get chocolate - it is listed in the package, I don’t know why it has dropped off from the notes. Soft incense is present throughout, and while I actually dislike incense (got too much of it while being younger..) in this it works out beautifully, giving a little edge in the middle of the sweetness. Sweet, edible, but not headache inducing in any way, directly to my favorites.

This has become one of my favorite Zara fragrances of all time, I can't believe how amazing it is! I bought this in Florence last October and I basically used it throughout my entire Italy trip, so it holds a very special place in my heart because it takes me right back to sipping wine on a gorgeous Tuscan autumn night. I find this smells very mysterious and sexy on my skin. I can smell this on my clothes days later and I don't find myself going nose blind to this perfume as quickly as other Zara fragrances. Overall, I think this is beautiful and very unique (I haven't smelled angels share so maybe this fragrance isn't as unique as I think), with such a warm, sexy and seductive projection. Easily one of my most worn winter/fall perfumes.