Top Notes 
Heart Notes 
Base Notes 
04/15/2015
Drseid
819 Reviews
Drseid
2
Yet *Another* Black Pepper Focused Composition...
Alfa opens with a touch of floral jasmine before quickly moving to its heart. As the composition enters its early heart the mild jasmine fades to the background as a heavy black pepper note emerges to take control of the composition with significant aromatic saffron spice and synthetic vague woody support. During the late dry-down the relatively weak base is near solely derived of semi-dry sandalwood, with faint traces of the black pepper remaining well in the background. Projection is on the low side of average and longevity below average at about 5 hours on skin.
Alfa's black pepper driven heart accord has been done more times than I can even think about, and quite frankly much better. The combination of the black pepper, saffron and mild jasmine with the synthetic woods (can anyone say "norlimbanol"?) somewhat resembles the primary heart accord of Declaration by Cartier in spirit (and a number of other similar compositions). Probably my favorite part of Alfa's development is its simplistic stark sandalwood late dry-down, but the base is so weak you barely can smell it except up close. I am afraid there is no getting around the reality (at least to this reviewer) that Alfa is just not particularly distinctive and lacks the solid base structure needed to succeed. The bottom line is the 185 Euro per 100ml bottle Alfa just can't separate itself from others in the field with its overplayed peppery heart and poor performance metrics, earning a very "average" 2.5 stars out of 5 and a neutral rating. I would look at far superior compositions like the great Tzora by Anat Fritz before buying this one.
Alfa's black pepper driven heart accord has been done more times than I can even think about, and quite frankly much better. The combination of the black pepper, saffron and mild jasmine with the synthetic woods (can anyone say "norlimbanol"?) somewhat resembles the primary heart accord of Declaration by Cartier in spirit (and a number of other similar compositions). Probably my favorite part of Alfa's development is its simplistic stark sandalwood late dry-down, but the base is so weak you barely can smell it except up close. I am afraid there is no getting around the reality (at least to this reviewer) that Alfa is just not particularly distinctive and lacks the solid base structure needed to succeed. The bottom line is the 185 Euro per 100ml bottle Alfa just can't separate itself from others in the field with its overplayed peppery heart and poor performance metrics, earning a very "average" 2.5 stars out of 5 and a neutral rating. I would look at far superior compositions like the great Tzora by Anat Fritz before buying this one.
