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Interesting freshie turned sweet Lattafa copy
Here's another example of "what a difference a day - or 365 - makes"!
Shortly after the release of the Pride Collection I purchased a handful of decants from a webshop that sells Middle Eastern fragrances. That eventually led to a bunch of full bottle purchases (Nebras, Ansaam, Winner's Trophy Gold, Afaq and Awaan). Shaheen Gold and Tharwah Gold fell outside of the purchases. The latter because it seemed like a softer, more delicate jasmine centred inspiration of Ysl Libre Intense with bad SPL. And I currently own the entire line except for Le Parfum.
Shaheen Gold didn't make the cut because it was instant skin scent and disappeared within the hour. The scent itself might have had a chance, had it not been for the atrocious quality. It opened on a fresh pineapple-fig that mixed in with a natural smelling lavender. The sweetness of the fruit lessened the often cologne*-like qualities of the purple flower (usually making the majority of lavender concoctions rather masculine leaning), strengthened by the Vanilla in the base.
The dry- down that all the notes together created was a very nice, elegant fresh-sweet fragrance with a slight aromatic-herbal touch (perhaps from the patch-lavender match? ). I definitely liked it, as it would have been different from anything else in my collection, and on me it wasn't too overly masculine. But, as said: I didn't shell out the bucks for a stag headed goldenish bottle on my vanity.
I could've left my Statement from 2 months ago (though my initial testing was around the spring of '22) as all there was to say, had I not seen a YouTube video from one of my favourite FragTubers doing a compilation of First Impressions on Summer Fragrances (new or new to her). Shaheen Gold entered the bunch, and at the end of her clip she requested experiences with said perfumes from her subscribers to see if they agreed or not. I had had a similar experience and said so. But then I figured "Hmm, I would not mind smelling like that at the moment!"
And that is where this review comes in. My whole experience was completely other this time! I actually double checked the name on the plastic mini spray twice to see if I really had Lattafa Pride Shaheen Gold in my hand and thus on my arm. Again: what a difference a year can make! I'm extra happy I didn't buy Shaheen Gold now, but probably not for the reasons you think.
The formerly weak skin scent juice had upped its game by a million percent to begin with and the two sprays I'd put on each arm wafted up strongly. Absolutely an intermediate projection now, which on my very dry perfume eating skin is the best I can expect (save a few exceptions, like Ameer Al Oudh Intense oud f.e.). And it also stayed with me for an hour or four. But what blew me away was the scent. This smell that used to be a freshie, a very lightly sweetened herbal-floral with a touch of fruit, became a sweet dragon.
And one I know! While they're not completely identical - Shaheen Gold isn't às sweet and the other Lattafa's dry down has a touch more spice due to cinnamon - I would've thought I was wearing Khaltaat Al Arabia Royal Blends! And comparing their pyramids that isn't even thàt strange. Of course it depends on what your skin chemistry pulls forward, but seeing as both fragrances give me predominantly the same notes >> strong vanilla+soft pineapple +something aromatic (balsamic with Khaltaat, Lavender with Shaheen?)+ Patchouli as a strength giver and the same Tonka (Tonkabean is predominantly Coumarin), and my experience is pretty validated.
It's why, as they say in my country, "I climbed in my pen" to... warn you? Well, it isn't so much a warning, as it is very useful information. Looking back I can only think my initial testing process was done with a barely macerated juice - as is so often the case with the more affordable brand-perfumes that come from the M-E. I bought the decant as soon as they had them in stock, meaning that the bottle it came from had most likely been opened a few days prior. The YouTuber's sample might have been lying around for ages, but it was an official sample, and as such had not been opened before. Result: we had very similar experiences.
Now that my sample has had a year to really blend and oxygenate, it finally gave me the Shaheen it is meant to be. And that means a slightly less sweet (say 10% less. On some days I find Khaltaat a little nauseating even) Khaltaat Royal Blends that's missing a whiff of cinnamon (hmm, time to finish my Royal Blends review! ).
If you have one of them, don't buy the other would be my advice. Just like: if you don't like Khaltaat Al Arabia Royal Blends, don't spend your money on Shaheen Gold, because you'll end up with a 95% similar fragrance. Quality wise they're even now as well.
If you like both I would definitely recommend getting the Royal Blends, because it's much, much cheaper (at least in the Netherlands where most Prides start at 69 euro and the Khaltaat range hangs between €17-22 depending on shop and sales. Mine was €18,99 ex shipping I believe). Not to mention the fact it arrives needing a bare minimum of At Home Maceration ;).
While I did buy several of the Prides, the line has been somewhat of a disappointment to me. Lattafa has the capability to create original DNA fragrances with a decent to great quality, and with a name like Pride I had expected them to have that. Pride. In their *own* work. As it turns out from watching a variety of FragTubers, as well as testing many of the feminine leaning & unisex juices, the majority - if not all - is an "inspiration" perfume. And as it turns out, though it took me a year to find out, they even went so far as to copy their own popular stuff...
-- The End --
(* Before the language barrier will cause confusion - as I know that cologne is a synonym for eau de parfum in the USA - the word cologne in my language, Dutch, is only used for fragrances that are even lighter than EDT and usually qualify as aftershave. They're a man's department, and as such always have a rather particular, masculine type of scent.)
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