The Perfect Smoking

The spices are very well blended with the sandalwood. Expect a really elegant skin scent that can be subtly felt, but extremely pleasant once you put your nose on it. As I said, zero projection, but it somehow suits the type of smell. I actually think this is an acquired taste. I did not really smell anything the first time I sprayed it on my wrist inside a Zara store, but I was intrigued by it and decided to get a bottle. Once it arrived I have actually used this a couple of times during the quarantine, and really like it. In a way you may just use this as a "second skin" or something. Once it dries down, the smoky notes start to arise a bit and that's what's left on your skin, with a somewhat ctirusy feel. Interesting fragrance nonetheless, and weirdly non-linear for a Zara fragrance. 7/10.

This is not a Wonderoud clone. This one is very similar to Blackpepper. But a much lighter version. A really great release. Unexpected release. Not really Zara style fragrance. This is a great fall scent. Its smells like black pepper and in the drydown you get the incense and woods. This is a cozy day chilling in a cabin in the woods somewhere kinda scent. Must have from Zara.

This cheap fragance made me love sandalwood! Which I almost hated before. Its fresh and warm, mysterious and soooo pleasant to sniff. Not the best performance but for daily use I find it great. If you find it for half prize ant the end of some season (like zara usually does) its a steal! 8€!

Because of the name I expected a more smoky, cold weather friendly, intense fragrance. On the other hand this fragrance is fresh enough, classy and highly chill which was surprising for me. Pretty good scent to buy. Well done Zara

Well, well, well...The day has finally come and my signature scent, Comme des Garcons Wonderoud, is cloned! Or an attempt was made :) And without a doubt i bought it at first chance. Now let me first mention that I am on my 5th bottle of Wonderoud (and 3 bottles of Wonderwood gone) so I have used it in every possible situation in every stage of my nose. Wonderoud is so magical, it is one of those scents that you really need to wear over and over again, and sometimes give a break to get the best out of it. It’s one that easily causes nose fatigue, one that can make others crazy because while you think it is thin air - people around you are getting slaps of it. I really dont expect any of it from this Zara copy, but we’ll see. So far it successfully gives that CdG DNA, but only the highlights. And I must say I get whiffs resembling CdG Blackpepper too as it settles down. So kind of of a Wonderoud / Blackpepper mash up. I am loving it. It is fresh, simple, airy. So for the price and my love for Wonderoud, this is just amazing to have. I will elaborate my review after more wearings and a side by side with Wonderoud! UPDATE: Yes, just as expected, if you are buying The Perfect Smoking only to replace Wonderoud, you will be disappointed - that is if you are not anosmic to any aroma-chemicals used in Wonderoud. Then you might think this is a good clone. Please keep in mind that Wonderoud has some tricky ACs that one can't smell all the time (or never) and there's more going on than you might think. Luckily I can get (for the most times) the nuances in Wonderoud, the magic of synthetic Oud, magical sandalwoods from Javanol and Pashminol - even after washing my clothes. With this Zara creation those "wow" moments will not happen, but for daily use it will do the trick. The Perfect Smoking is very light, airy and certainly gives the "obvious" parts of Wonderoud, without reaching to same quality, complexity and longevity. But then again, the price justifies just to try it out and see it for yourself.

I tried this a couple of weeks ago at a Zara in Central London while picking up a couple of other fragrances. Nice packaging, not dissimilar to Laboratory Perfumes cylindrical tube. Actually, the minimal note information doesn’t seem to be too far away from what I got myself, although I certainly detected what seemed to be an Amber accord and also something along the lines of Cashmeran/Cashmere Wood. It’s actually very nice indeed...... for about fifteen minutes and then it seemed to disappear completely. I only had a couple of sprays on the back of my hand but even so, I was expecting better than what I got. Obviously, I’d prefer to try it again as it may just have been me, as in fairness, I had tried a few others elsewhere and I’d hate to make a solid judgement based off of one brief test. Pricing was £16 for 80ml, so usual Zara level and if it does end up being better than my first impression, I’ll definitely grab a bottle as it’s smoky & quite oriental, although I couldn’t help thinking it needed something like an anise note or a spicy resin to really lift it. Only a like at the moment but if the longevity turns out to be better than my initial test, it’ll no doubt get an upgrade.

Ok, I can understand you enjoy the Zara style but I am a bit speechless seeing so many votes supporting this being a CDG blackpepper clone... I think we must be honest, first with ourselves and later with brands, before giving such kind of opinions that can mislead to other fellows. Zara TPS is a supercheap fragrance and it might happen it was an excellent fragrance but it is not. It does not smell bad but it is nothing alike a CDG frag... you are free to have that illusion and thinking it is, but it is not. Another idea I would like to point out: although labelled as an EDP, it is not either. It is just a marketing matter, it is quite obvious. You have to apply more than 10 sprays to get a noticeable presence of the fragrance. Now imagine yourself applying such amount of your favourite EDP: probably you would fallen swoon in the bathroom floor and we should call an ambulance. The fragrance itself? It is quite 'transparent' and 'airy' with a faint presence of some of the listed notes (black pepper, nutmeg, saffron, anise). You will not offend anyone and barely you will be noticeable with a normal application. Excellent presentation of the product though. Quae sunt Caesaris Caesari

This feels very similar to Vibrant Leather Oud to me. A little spicy smoked wood. The color of the liquid is also the same. Has a really nice pink pepper drydown. Not the strongest projection nor longevity.

This is an almost exact copy of Comme des Garcons Wonderoud. Having them next to each other there's minimal difference. Peppery, medicinal, dense yet fresh.

wow is all i can say. in a very good way.