Red Temptation For Her

I will start by saying this...WOW. Here's the story: I heard about Red Temptation when it was initially released last year when it was getting Baccarat comparisons. Of course due to the comparisons, it was sold out last year and never restocked. I checked literally for months as I bookmarked the page in hopes to catch it in stock one day. As someone who owns both Baccarat & the Extrait, who on earth wouldn't want a similar scent for more than 75% off of the original. My experience with Zara scents has been hit or miss but they have definitely had some absolutely amazing ones in their roster such as Exclusive Oud & Tone Indeterminee which blew my mind when I had them years back. I saw a TikTok on Twitter of someone reviewing Red Temptation last week and I said to myself aww I remember I wanted that. I went to Zara's website to look at their Fall/Winter scents as I do every year and what do you know? Red Temptation is Back In Stock. I still have the old link saved and it's expired. I wanted to see if the same notes from last year's release were in it. I instantly put 4 in my cart and then I re-evaluated because what if it didn't smell like Baccarat and I'd be pissed because I went off reviews? So I removed 3 and ordered 1. It actually isn't even delivered yet and is still in transit to get to me next week. But I went to Zara yesterday on a whim to see if they had it and what new scents they had. I almost missed it as it was hidden behind a few other testers. I smelled the top before I sprayed it. Yup, if you were blindfolded and both were held up to your nose you would not be able to tell AT ALL! Do you hear me!? I then sprayed on a tester strip, on my shirt sleeve, and on my wrist. The results? On my skin, it was gone in a matter of an hour. On the strip it had lasted about several hours before I was unable to smell it anymore. On my shirt sleeve, over 24 hours later...Maison Francis himself couldn't convince me this isn't Baccarat. The only downfall is the initial spray. It really does smell like a huge BURST of alcohol and it's really not welcoming. To me at least. But that lasted for all of 10 minutes if that before the scent started to shine so I can't complain too much because once that fades off, the magic happens. My shirt is laying next to me on the other side of the couch and I constantly keep getting whiffs of this. I'm really in awe. It's sold out on Zara again as of today 9/24/21. I can assure you when they restock I'll be purchasing several bottles. So glad I made that initial purchase. But should have went with my gut and got 4 as planned. For $25.00?! I will end by saying this...WOW *Update 9/27/21: The smell is still lingering HEAVY on the shirt I wore 3 days ago. This juice is amazing. Zara has certainly done it again.

Contrary to most, I adore Zara fragrances whether they successfully dupe famous houses or can stand on their own right. I bought this back in the spring after it finally came back in stock, in the red box set that included a smaller size of Red Temptation Summer. I also own the Baccarat Rouge 540. While I love BR540, I am not a fan of how the spray on my skin has a sticky feel, like soda spilled and did not get properly washed off. Red Temptation is BR540 without the stickiness, or the sharp topnote, of which I suspect is the saffron. I would call this a sister, not a twin, of BR540. Red Temptation lasts about 6 hours on my skin, a tad longer on my hair and the longest on my clothing. Good for hot, humid weather or anytime I have to be around people in an intimate setting. I strongly recommend actually spraying this onto your skin when testing, as opposed to in the air or on test strips. Upon first testing it in Zara shops I actually could not smell it. Finally, as a last note this bottle cooperates well with decanting into travel-size atomizers. Zara fragrance bottles are made out of significant glass but I worry about traveling with them anywhere! Get your nose on it if you have not already!

I see a lot of terrible reviews for Red Temptation, but this is one of those Zara perfumes which have a beast performance, amazing 7-8 hours longevity (which is great in comparison to expensive 150$ perfumes with 2-3hour longevity), sillage is to die for, whenever I move I can smell it in the air. Some are saying it smells like leather or burnt plastic, but not on me, I am someone whose skin chemistry doesn't blend with most floral, fruity or other high-end perfumes, perfumes just don't last on me (even with body lotions and oils combination), this smells sensual on me, almost aphrodisiac and lasts forever, amber is strong, but in a sexy sultry way and the combination notes of saffron blends too well. Although it is too strong for summer/warm weather, and over-spraying causes a bit of headache, but then performance also increases a lot. Good for office wear as a statement scent but shouldn't be sprayed a lot. Probably a few spritzes on pulse points and a mist on clothes is the ideal way to wear it for the day/office wear. But I love it and I would absolutely repurchase the full-size bottle.

Blind buy based on the raves of Cocopebz on YT. I really enjoy this fragrance--its longevity is amazing! A good 6-8 hrs for me, where as most of the fragrances in my collection last about 4 hours, regardless of price/ EDT v. EDP v. extrait. There is a marshmallowy bandaid like note in the opening of the fragrance but it dries down to a creamy warm ambery fragrance that is slightly sweet. I don't have Francis Kurkdjian's BR and have never smelled it. But this fragrance does remind me of Burberry Her Intense. Since Burberry Her Intense was recently discontinued this is a great find. Also, since MFK BR and Burberry Her Intense are both made by Francis Kurkdjian, there is obviously a common DNA to his creations. The similarity to BHI is most notable at dry down with RT a bit more airy than BH Intense. Ignore the vitriol in the reviews here--seems to be much drama in the reviews of this fragrance claiming symptoms like migraines, nausea, etc. To put it simply, if you like Burberry Her Intense you will enjoy this gem, that sells for 1/3 the price. If not, it may not be the fragrance for you.

So I've never been able to get my hands on a BR540 sample but I've read so much about it and all the different dupes. Red Temptation by Zara seemed to be the most similar according to perfumers. I was so excited to smell it, at first the metallic smell caught me off guard even though I had read about it. I asked the lady at the store to spray some on my wrist while I looked at the clothes and see if it'd grow on me. After 5 mins or so I couldn't stop smelling my wrist, the sweetness combined with the rough metallic smell is such a delicious combination. I ended up taking a 30mL bottle to see how I felt wearing it an entire day and it's easily become my new favorite perfume. I can't get enough, first time I wore it my uber driver asked me for the name of it and had me look it up on his phone so he could take a picture because he said he had never smelled anything like it. Duration is great too, it stays on your body for HOURS. Absolutely love this scent and will be going back to get the full size. 10/10

I got this perfume for Christmas and HATED it on first smell. I am prone to headaches and very sensitive to musk - I can't stand the AG cloud body spray because of this - and that was all I got from this initially. Left it sitting after those initial sprays, came back to it now half a year later - more just to see if I could use it for layering - moisturised my forearm, gave it one spray and it smells... really good?!? It's warm and spicy in a way that reads slightly more cinnamon to me than cardamom but in a really soft way. Spices are another thing than can trigger headaches for me (despite my love for them) but here the cardamom is complimented by the praline, bitter orange. This is very long lasting but easy to overspray. I've also found that you need a well-moisturised patch of skin for the notes to sit nicely This will be my go-to for in the office in autumn.

I'm glad that when I passed by the Zara in Westfield Chatswood, I tried some of their frags - scattered on a shelf, nobody were paying attention to them, and some boxes were not in great conditions. They were treated as cheapies, as they actually were. I was surprised pleasantly with the quality of the fragrance! Decent longevity: after 4-5 hours I could still smell it on the skin, longer on textile; decent scent: start with a syrupy caramel popcorn smell which you can often smell in a cinema, and proceeds to a lovely sweet musky scent. I also trieed MFK 540 at Mecca, but I couldnt' bring myself to like it. While Red Temptation is supposed to be a dupe of 540, I found myself preferring this one by a lot. I just got a 30ml bottle to try out. When I go through this bottle I'll get a 100ml one. This will be a staple in my frag cabinet.

Tested this on one wrist and the original BR540 on the other, safe to say this outperformed!! The opening is still alcoholic (similar to the "ambroxan bomb" of BR) but this was less prominent in my rollerball compared to the spray I tried in store. Both had a similar dry down, but I quickly went nose-blind to BR540. From what I did smell, it was very similar to attar sadaf. Red Temptation evolved into something warm and rich, with a subtle sweetness, jasmine aura and prominent saffron note. I'm a huge fan of saffron in particular, so this saved me the expense of Maison Al Hambra's Exclusif Saffron. Definitely a winner!

Went to Neimans and sprayed BR540 Extrait on my right arm. It was barely there by the time I got to Zara...(already a disappointment), then sprayed Red Temptation on my left. There are definite similarities, but I much prefer this fragrance, as I smelled it all night long and when I woke up in the morning. It wasn't just my nose tuning out BR either as I asked my bf and those around me and they all picked up on Red Temptation alone. Note* This doesn't resemble Cloud whatsoever. It is NOT sweet, coconutty, or anything of the sort. Definitely unisex and grown.

The quality and longevity of this perfume for the price point is amazing. This definitely smells similar to BR540. I wore this for the first time today and went out to dinner 6 hrs after applying. A waiter from another table was looking at me for an extended period of time without saying anything. I smiled at him hoping he would tell me what he wanted. He eventually walked over and said “I’m sorry what perfume are you wearing? Could you write down the name for me?”. I was surprised others could notice the pleasant trail it left 6hrs later!

I am absolutely in love with this scent!! I have no idea if it smells like BR540 bc I’ve never smelled that but this is amazingggg on its own!! The silage and longevity are incredible, my friends will be walking behind me and say like I get a wiff from here, I wake up after sleeping and still smell it, my mom and sister smell where I’ve been in the house... literally so good and for the price??? A must must have! I get many compliments, my boyfriend loves ittt and it truly is just a staple I won’t live without

Easily one of the most complimented fragrances in my collection. As someone who loves ambery and sweet scents, this was an easy love. It's warm, addictive, and has a way of making people ask what you're wearing. I especially love layering it with VS Midnight Bloom mist and lotion - the combination is sooo good!! I know the Baccarat-inspired DNA isn't exactly unique, but there's a reason it's so popular. It just smells good. Even after trying many other fragrances, I still enjoy reaching for this one. 9/10

this is probably the closest dupe to br540 out there. it's got that sweet, slightly "dentist's office" burnt strawberry jam scent from the ethyl maltol (literal crack to my nose), but it's still grounded by the moss which really comes out more on the dry down. is it overworn now? yeah, but i can see why! it really is the perfect everyday scent: not too sweet or too fresh or too anything. plus, the projection and longevity of this frag is honestly great--it's even lasted me through a shower!

I can’t speak to its similarly or lack thereof to BR540, but I do love this fragrance. It doesn’t have the best longevity or sillage, but at its price, I can afford to reapply and put on a few sprays at a time. This is the one scent I’ve been asked what it is, which says something. It’s one of my go-to fall and winter scent for sure. Fragrance-sensitive and picky husband approved?: Middle of the road. He says it projects a lot and isn't unpleasant to him, so that's something.

I got a roller, to see what the fuss is about. I wasn't expecting a BR dupe, just wanted to see the type of perfume it might be, a shared DNA. But this...is this a joke? That's not a perfume, it's the smell of burnt rubber, as someone already mentioned, and not in a good way like something Comme des garcons or Etats Libres d'Orange would make. An absolute abomination, and if BR is anything like this...sorry, it's some sort of mass hypnosis. Scary.

This fragrance deserves every ounce of hype it has garnered. On me it smells phenomenal. In warm weather it smells like you are sat on a hotel balcony enjoying the breeze and your skin smells of woodsy body products mixed with salty skin. In colder weather it smells like the fresh woodsy air on me without going too masculine. This fragrance is firmly unisex but I love it, coming from a girl who loves her stereotypically feminine fragrances.

Not as rich as BR540 (obviously) and not as sweet as Arianna Grande - Cloud. It is definitely earthier. For a cheap high street designer perfume, this is excellent. Lasts a long time on clothes and longer than Cloud on skin, maybe 6 hours and you still have a faint nutty, Amber, moss scent with a sweet note. I really like it and enjoy it. Great to wear daily to save your other more expensive perfumes for special days. Gets compliments too.

Updated review, it’s like the newer versions don’t last as long . The ones I purchased a couple of years ago when it first became popular were very long lasting so something has changed. I definitely won’t repurchase because the newer batches are weaker. The older ones would last on clothes for days. I hate when they change the fragrance. This was my third purchase and it’s weak.

I get none of the sharpness people mention - it’s quite a weird one for sure: I read comments comparing the smell to burnt sugar and band aids and I certainly get those, especially that slightly first aid boxy thing - it’s very sweet on me. I wear it a few times a week and always get comments, not that I care! I enjoy it and at 20€ a bottle (a big bottle) have no complaints

Maison in french means house. Francis Kurkdijan is the perfumer who created BR540. It's too funny when I see hundreds of people saying Maison Francis. His name is Francis Kurkdijan. The brand he CREATED is Maison Francis Kurkdijan which translates to = The House of Francis Kurdijan. So I hope this changes in time to come. Poor guy keeps getting called House Francis! Hahaha