BeginswithaJ

Soft and sweet scent without much attitude. Refreshing flowers and some more resinous undertones that will agree with many. It's bright and happy without being loud. Best on warmer and brighter days, but a year round scent for just about every age group.

Opening with a bouquet of white flowers, green leaves and some pepper, it grabs your attention subtly but surely. You can hear the calling of a musky undertone almost instantly and make those lovely flowers a bit dirty, but in a good way though. It creates some depth. Once it dies down a honey note presents itself, and further along the dry down it gets resinous and there's even some vetiver, but the main notes stay white flowery. They complement eachother nicely.

Unfortunately the sillage and performance is of course miserable, so don't expect it to last half a day. In the first hour it projects, but after that it's anyones guess where those flowers come from. This seems to differ with the earlier formulations. All in all though a really agreeable scent, but carry it with you.

A bight, very flower-forward, classic-inspired perfume. Unobtrusive, agreeable and elegant scent for the 20 and up crowd in just about any season.

As a whole, it smells more like a honeysucle / magnolia than anything else. The freesia does come close, though I'm still on the fence over the peony. It's a quite linear scent, so this accord will last for the duration of it's short life. Under those flowers there's a tiny bit of dirt, a hint of animal, musky. Just a smidge, to complement the natural sweetness and make it all a tad more interesting. once it gets a little warmer and sweaty, some greener leaves will appear. The dry down is very much the same in character.

Due to the classic nature I do get a bit of an old-lady-vibe, but at least she smells nice! I'm a sucker for classic flowery fragrances though so I'll rate it higher than most of the other Zara synthetic sugar bombs. The flowers are by no means very natural, but good enough to enjoy.

Projection is moderate in the first hour or two, then a skin scent for a few more.

When you're a man who wouldn't skip a day working in his wood shop dressed up in flanel and jeans, eating copious amounts of cloves-and-pepper-heavy foods and enjoys being outdoors making fire pits but also likes to meditate: This is the fragrance for you, my friend. Also for all other men. I'm not kidding. This is a must have in your fragrance wardrobe. What a rich little gem!

A simple and straight forward scent: It's all woody, from top to bottom. It has short and punchy opening with loads of the best cardamom I've smelled in a while with a peppery kick to it. Then flowing nicely into a dry, yet slightly creamy cedar wood. I wouldn't say sandalwood, but it does have a degree of softness and creamyness that resembles a less complex sandal accord. Riddled with cloves, and some smoky incense notes in the dry down. After a while it dies down into a little darker and resinous wood accord. It even has a little touch of vetiver in there.

Man, this is lovely. Yes it might be a tad bit synthetic, and no it's not Gucci Rush. But it doesn't have to be. It's a ver, very nice refreshing woody scent and especially when you look at te price.

A fresh, airy synthetic peony for a younger crowd from spring to autumn. Just spray it on and smell the same for an hour or two.

The opening is fresh and a bit metallic. Freesia's all around and indeed a melon. Though I would say it's more of a honeydew than watermelon. This one's significantly sweeter. Freesia's make way for the peony note and skin contact makes it a tiny bit smoother over time, a little powdery or dusty. A hint of animalic sweetness, but it does stay cold in character. Until there's nothing left but that synthetic peony note.

This is just like most of the Zara's. Not lasting, skin scent within an hour, maybe two. It's not unpleasant but no show stopper either. The main note is closest to a peony rose, like the lovely big pink ones we had in the garden when I was a kid. Sweet smelling, and always covered in ants. Hope they steer clear when you spray this on.

It's warm, it's soft, leathery, with a fresh tropical fruit note. A little daring at first, and a friendly fragrance with a twist. Average sillage and projection, I'm guessing up to 6 hours. Good for office and evenings, and better in the colder months. Wear this from at least 30 and up. Gentlemanly, but not particularly masculine. I could probably even see this worn by a woman.

For me this was a real mind bender in the opening: What is this scent supposed to be? I smelled just about _everything_ at the same time. This Maninka is quite the accord, and keeps me on my toes. The opening is so different from all the other designers out there. It's quite dry, presenting us with something sharp like anise or liquorice, with a warm and stuffy cacao, or a hint of coffee maybe? It's almost as if the base notes come out first. What an odd scent.

Then the fruit kicks in. That brightens everything up, and is quite the contrast to the earlier notes. Not at all the citrus, berries or apples we're used to. No, much more exotic, and mysterious, with an indolic nature (fermenting fruits). Some lavender in the background, and even a slight whiff of incense.

When it starts to dry down something resinous appears, but it's a very friendly resin. Together with a tempered boozy note (like the port in Burberry's London), some cinnamon and I even get some mossy woods. Further along the dry down the fruity core disappears and makes way for the leather accord which is soft and supple, and has a vannilic sweetness to it once it becomes a skin scent.

All in all a fragrance that develops, but does so gently. I like it, don't love it, but think it's at least something different from a designer fragrance perspective.