I know Lattafa is one of the most popular Middle Eastern clone houses, but after owning and wearing a number of their fragrances, I think they are very hit or miss. They have a few good releases, but in my opinion the hype surrounding the brand is far greater than the overall quality. A low price and long longevity do not automatically make a fragrance a great fragrance. One thing I notice with a lot of Lattafa fragrances is the opening. They often come out extremely loud, projecting aggressively with heavy sweetness and synthetic aroma chemicals that immediately grab your attention. Sometimes the opening slightly captures the fragrance they are cloning, but it is usually more about giving you a strong first impression than accurately recreating the quality of the original. As the fragrance moves through the wear, many Lattafa releases begin to fall flat. The heart often lacks depth, smooth transitions, and development. Instead of evolving naturally, they can become linear or simply turn into a weaker version of the opening. Strangely enough, the closing or final drydown can sometimes capture the general scent profile better than the opening. However, this is usually because the fragrance settles into standard base notes that are used in many fragrances, such as vanilla, amber, musk, woods, or sweet resins. A lot of fragrances close in a similar way once the more distinctive opening and heart notes disappear. Lattafa may reach something recognizable in the final hours, but it is normally less refined, less detailed, and rougher than the fragrance it is trying to duplicate. There are also times that it can capture the opening very loud and similar and then pull flat throughout the rest of the wearing. This is something I notice with many Middle Eastern clone houses in general. They often focus on recreating the loud opening or the most recognizable part of a fragrance because that is what sells during the first few sprays, especially on social media. But when you wear them for several hours, they rarely capture the full structure, refinement, or transitions of the original.

I realize there are a lot of variables that can affect how we interpret a given fragrance. But can specific fragrances smell different depending on a person’s mood or possibly illness or maybe emotional disposition? I tried a fragrance awhile back and really didn’t like it when I first smelled it. A few weeks later I tried it again and I actually liked it better. I also tried a fragrance a couple of weeks ago when I was dealing with some sinus headache issues and didn’t like it at all, but now I find it somewhat appealing. I guess I’m wondering if individual fragrances ever come across differently to a person, depending on that person’s circumstance at the moment. Just curious! (stock photo)

My wife added this to our collection without telling me 😬 It’s a 10ml so it’s still relatively reasonable. Since I’m a NY’er and have a party tonight overlooking the city I decided to take it Empire for a spin!! Another “cute” bottle for our collection!! These 10ml have been defined indelibly with the word cute by @Paul Bartnicki 😜

This weekend there are some great events happening and I was supposed to try and meet @Lon Chaneyfield but I’ve been taking care of my parents the last few weekends and haven’t had a lot time for anything else. That’s the sadness part due to elderly care and the eventual coming of saying goodbye. Because of this, self care is of importance for me, so I have my fragrances to smell in between moments of parental care. That’s the happiness… With that, I was on Instagram and saw this video which made me tear up at first, then cry. This is the power of scent, the appreciation of fragrance, and the social aspect of our community and of this group. Enjoy.

Started off meeting this guy!!! @Antonio Centeno !!!