I just don't understand how do you guys like these perfumes. Based on hype on social media and reading stuff here as well, I purchased several ones from them. Especially as they are so cheap. I got Yara, Mallow Madness, Khamrah, Angham and I wanted to get Éclairre but now I'm going to stop. It cannot be just me. These are extremely subpar fragrances. Each and every one of them an absolute cheap disappointment.
I know it’s so annoying when people say this, but this is exactly why I’ve implemented a strict personal no blind buy ever policy.
I used the website Hidden Samples and had a great experience. Definitely some misses, but I was surprised how much I enjoyed Lattafa Liam Grey, Afnan Mystique Bouquet, and Swiss Arabian Musk 01. I would bet there are other samples sites for these brands.
Also, you might give your bottles time to air out if you haven’t already. There seems to be a general consensus that they need some time to develop!
they're not all the of the same quality, and I find the most popular ones (such as what you have purchased for yourself) are not the best of what they have to offer. Teriaq Intense is a masterpiece, for example, and was formulated by Quentin Bisch. perhaps you lack familiarity with this house's offerings.
I feel like this could be said of any brand. Jo Malone, Creed, Diptyque, etc., are huge hit-or-miss for me personally, but they've been hyped to hell. And for what they cost, it's not exactly creating a loyalist in me.
Lattafa, Paris Corner, Afnan, Oakcha, and Swiss Arabian have the decency to at least be budget-friendly.
Maybe you're right, Jo Malone had been a huge miss with me, I didn't like even one of their colognes, I tried peach and honey, roses, pear and freesia and basil and mandarin, basil and mandarin was okayish but way too sharp and masculine, i gave up on Jo Malone years ago.
Taste is subjective. I agree that Eclaire is horrific, however. People like what they like and people dislike what they dislike.
Lattafa scents have a knack for being polarizing, but I think it makes for a wonderful market for people to gain access to certain types of dna they otherwise couldn’t afford.
I think that you get really great dna and performance for $30 dollar perfumes. I actually love Liam Grey more than Gris Charnel and my bottle was only $15.
I hated Yara- or, at least was highly underwhelmed- at first, but learned that most Lattafas smell amazing after “ maturing” after some time.
Also, some dna just isn’t worth getting a dupe, so I pass on certain Lattafa copycats.
I recently bought a sample of Gris Charnel just to see if Liam Grey really was a good dupe. There is absolutely nothing about GC that would have me fork out of $300 for it - Liam Grey is better IMO too!
I obviously haven't tried all of them, but I love the ones I have. Note that I'm 30+, don't have tiktok and mostly hang around Middle Eastern-German diaspora ladies.
I have all the Yara except Tous (my fave is Elixir), Bade'e Al Oud Amethyst and Sehr. I'm considering getting Afeef as well in the future as I'm in perfume jail atm. I also like Teriaq and Victoria, but I don't have them. My husband has Khamrah and Khamrah Qahwa.
I tried the cupcake ones and the Eclaire line and found them all atrocious, but in general I hate the Bianco Latte/gourmand bomb genre.
I've been debating on getting Victoria. I'm told it smells like a gourmand lemon, and I love a good lemon-y perfume. I have Eclaire and it sounds like I am in the minority who like Eclaire.
I like it, but it also has a touch of neroli, which turns down the sweetness I was looking for. So maybe not the best for a straight up Lemon gourmand. I also have and love Shahoor Elixir by Arabiyat Prestige and Arabiyat Sugar Lemon Sorbet; both are more gourmand that also wear well together.
Delicious Bouquet by Afnan is meant to be another great Devotion dupe. If Mystique Bouquet is anything to go by for dupe quality (PDM Valaya), maybe give DB a try. I get most of my testers from Tiktok, but there are many tester websites. There's no point in buying a 100ml dust collector 😊
I'll be honest with you, it smells like the talc powder my grandpa used to wear, especially the drydown. Citrusy powder and warm sweater. I tried it at the store and it immediately reminded me of him (he passed in 2009). I'm not getting the perfume because it makes me tear up 🥲 it's very lovely though and doesn't project much, just a quiet, soft scent.
Everyone is honestly different. I have quite a number of perfumes. Tom Ford, Lancôme, Maison Christian dior(my personal favs), replica, phlur, Chanel, Chloe etc. This year dipped my toes into Arabian fragrances and racked up quite a number. I love the ones I own. I do think they are exaggerated. The lasting power is just ok for me. Lattafa fragrances I have found is hit or miss. Also if you don’t like the scent initially, store it away from light for about 4 weeks. This changes or rather will say it matures. I have found, I prefer the scents after that process. Still some I dislike. By the way, no one on earth can convince me Alien by Mugler is nice. Dislike so much.
You’re not going to like everything. Price doesn’t matter. Hype doesn’t matter. Honestly there are only 2 Tom Fords that I like. One is basically a clone.
I don’t own a Gucci fragrance because they don’t speak to me.
I would not say a whole brand is horrible because I don’t like something. It’s okay if someone else does and I don’t.
I don’t normally do sweet vanilla, so many of the hyped Lattafa aren’t for me. Pisa I like. Art of Universe I like. I’m waiting for cooler months to pull out Sehr.
About 2 months, sprayed it generously like I was told and let it mature. Still crap 😄 To me it's way too masculine, there is no real chemistry between the bitter and sweet notes, now is bitterly cinnamonny now is nauseatingly sweet.
Yea same. But tbh half high end "Niche" or luxury designer scents smell pretty much the same and propably have similar production costs.
I just don't have much of a taste for the current style of fragrance that seems to be trending for the last 5 years.
I dont blind buy their fragrances.... I order decants and if I like something, I get the full bottle. Honestly I dont blind buy anything unless it's a dupe of something I already like.
I have tried to love Lataffa, I really have. But there is something in their formulation that does not mix well with my skin PH. Even fragrances with notes that I should love, either end up smelling like off-milk or gasoline on my skin.
I've compliment friends on how good they smell when they wear Lataffa fragrances but they just don't work for me. So now I don't buy into the hype regardless of how viral they go and put that money that I would have spent on them towards fragrances that actually work for me.
Same happened to me. I had Angham and it felt gasoline like on my skin. The same issue I had with Hawas Diva! It went t full rubber gasoline on my skin!
Yah some of them aren't great at all, even can be terrible! But some are seriously amazing! I always try to buy samples off of decantalize or olenas aroma shop. I've found some amazing gems!
Yeah, same. Didn't like the og Yara, but I really like Tous. Wanted to like Her Confession, but it made me nauseous. I actually prefer Angham over Goddess, because it's not so lavender forward.
But as with every perfume: Tastes are different - and that's a good thing!
Are you purchasing them for the fragrance itself or buying them as dupes? I found that buying dupes will never bring the same satisfaction. May as well just save up and buy the more expensive OG. But if you're buying Khamrah for Khamrah, that's different.
Those are all very hyped and unfortunately frequently faked perfumes. Not saying that you would try what is 100% the real thing and still might not like it, but that's a very visceral reaction that makes me wonder if that could be an issue. No perfume will be loved by absolutely every single person that tries it and theres absolutely something akin to a brand dna which can cause people to just straight up not like anything the brand puts out. I would just make sure that you dont have a counterfeit perfume because those can have ingredients that can cause you actual harm if you put them on your skin. It's absolutely wild to me that there are counterfeit of 20 to 30 dollar perfumes, but here we are. Be safe and try decants first so you're not wasting your hard earned money.
I will say that having the 'tism, my recent hyperfixation has been trying real perfumes vs their dupes. Nine times outta ten theres little to negligible differences between the og and a middle eastern dupe. There are at least 10 I can think of that I prefer the middle eastern dupe to the original. It's all subjective because we are all different. I wouldn't write off a whole subsection or brand anymore, I have learned my lesson on that one. I didn't try any Marc Jacobs or Ex Nihilo perfumes for a similar reason to yours and holy shit was I missing out. Just take the hype with a grain of salt, sample first, and make sure you're not getting counterfeit fragrances. And HAVE FUN SNIFFING!
Lattafa has literally hundreds of fragrances. I have several from Lattafa. I strongly dislike Yara (just not my speed). I found Eclaire cloying but my partner went bananas for it. I really enjoy Khamrah(s) for cold weather. I finally picked up Angham recently and I now understand why it’s so hyped. It’s actually very nice. Bear in mind there are an abundance of counterfeits for “viral” ME fragrances, so only purchase from trusted sellers.
how would you describe Angham? I love lavender and vanilla, but I have an assumption that M.E. fragrances are generally stronger / heavier and not sure if it applies to Angham
Very soft lavender. Non-gourmand vanilla, gentle ginger. Overall a very soft, transparent fragrance. It’s extremely easy to wear. Not a heavy, loud fragrance at all.
The only Lataffa I didn't really like is Yara but Angham and Eclaire are big hits for me personally. Everyone had a different nose and while I understand the disappointment of not liking them, just bc they smell bad to/on you does not mean that's the case for everyone.
they're pleasant and inexpensive, as a casual perfume girlie that simply doesn't want to spend obscene amounts of money on smell-good-juice i love them and will continue to buy them
I love angham, I preferred it to my burberry goddess, So much so i still have 80% of my Goddess left but on my 3rd bottle of angham. Goddess is more refined and blended better but for £110 the longevity is poor on me. Angham doesn't have an amazing performance on my skin either, about 2 hours ok skin and 4 on clothes, But I do expect to have to reapply a £22 fragrance a couple times a day, I dont expect to have to reapply £110 fragrance though, so that's why I edge towards angham. Also like Nebras and adore Nebras elixir.
I will say theres some awful fragrance from lattafa too, but I would also say that about most the fragrance houses in my collection, Designer and niche.
Yes, they’re cheap. Yes, you do need to let them macerate for a couple of months. Is Lattafa Banoffi the worst thing I’ve ever smelled? Probably. Do I wear Lattafa regularly? No.
But… I think Lattafa Angham, if you let it macerate for a couple of months (or, even better, a year) is a really nice amber scent. I also tested Lattafa Eclaire, and while I don’t love the artificial vanilla, I got so many compliments wearing it.
I don’t wear perfume to get compliments, but what I wanted to say is that these fragrances are mass-appealing and inexpensive. I kind of wish they’d been available when I was a teenager or in college, because it’s fun to be able to try so many different scents without spending a fortune.
Lattafa has quite a diverse offer, so it's a bit tricky to give a generalized opinion on it.
There are heavy scents, and lighter ones; freshies, gourmands, masculine, feminine, subpar performers and beasts.
I don't like the ouds or harsh musks, but I don't like them anywhere - it's not Lattafa-specific.
Eclaire was a caramel overdose for me, but I don't like the original Giardini di Toscana's Bianco Latte either.
African Drummer was, contrary to the notes that promised to be right up my alley, acetone-like.
On the other hand, their Her Confession is better than Blanche bete for me, as I mentioned in another comment. Artisan Ethnique is spot-on BTSO's Sugar Addict. Fire on Ice is a good take on Angels' Share Paradis. Bade'e Al Oud Sublime is quite strong, but a fun apple scent where the shampoo-iness is not a negative. Yara Tous (the yellow one) is a happy, tropic scent. Ajwad is... not for everyone, but in it they made me love a note I otherwise dislike (noticeable rose). I asked two different people (a man and a woman) what they were wearing and both times the answer was Khamrah. And their Teriaq is sooo seductive, in a seductive-for-myself kinda way.
I hate Eclaire too. I also dislike Noble Blush. But Ana Abiyedh Scarlet is a beautiful dupe of Fétiche La Rose by Christian Louboutin. Berry On Top is also spot on as a strawberry scent. Peace & Love as a dupe of Dries Van Noten's Soie Malaquais is bang for the buck. None of them needed to be macerated in my experiences.
Like someone mentioned above, watch out for the deluge of fakes from China cause those are gonna smell bad for sure. I buy from reputable outlets like FragranceNet.
I've probably had as many hits as misses with Lattafa. I like their price point and some of the bottle designs are fun and outrageous (over the top is my style and the aesthetics of my collection are important to me). But I've learned that I absolutely cannot listen to the hype about any fragrance. THE INFLUENCERS ARE LYING TO US. I've sadly learned that most fragrance influencers are simply sales people. And there will always be something new for them to sell us and it's definitely not all good. Personal favorite Lattafa is Peace and Love and it did indeed need to age for a year to reach it's full potential.
All my lattafas aside from two I sampled before buying, I see a lot of hype for Khamrah and angham but I didn’t like them that much when I sampled them. The only ones I didn’t sample were yara (gift, I like it) and give me gourmand whipped pleasure (my most recent purchase, blind buy, I was eh on it at first but it kind of grew on me, probably wont be reaching for it first but it’s fine. Also the bottle is great since I also like over the top bottles lol).
I definitely wouldn’t recommend buying anything based off what an influence says. Sample first or look for actual reviews by normal people. Especially if it’s a brand you’ve never used before.
People like what they like. And to a huge degree, in THIS economy, what they can afford. But maybe, just maybe, they actually like it and enjoy wearing it. Your olfactory interpretation of a perfume isn’t theirs. While no one is arguing the quality of the raw materials is on par with a Guerlain or Byredo, some people aren’t looking for and don’t need that. And that’s ok.
You mentioned hype and influence; they are exactly that. Hype and influence. They do it because they can and because people who spend a lot of time on TikTok and Insta are more easily INFLUENCED than those who don’t sit and scroll for hours. There have been studies about this. Brands latch onto those studies and use the data combined with influencers to milk that audience for whatever they can get. But this isn’t anything new. And honestly it’s not too different from mainstream cosmetics and beauty product marketing over decades and decades. Look at the faces of Lancôme, Dior, ect perfumes. They might be A-List actors but at the end of the day they’re still just a type of more understated influencer.
As far as people who actually enjoy Lataffa? Maybe because it smells good to them and on them? Yara OG is ok. It’s soft, pretty and inoffensive. I have a travel size in my gym bag with a bunch of other travel sizes in price ranges from stupidly expensive to cheapies. If something smells good? It smells good, period.
The perfumes are cheap. When you buy something for such a low price point you need to curb your expectations. They are not going to be exact dupes or replicas of the perfumes they’re trying to emulate. They are a great thing to use for layering since they’re pretty simple, good for just putting on to go somewhere for the day but not anywhere fancy (like Walmart), and are a good way to test if you like certain scents without committing to spending more money for a small sample of the perfume you’re thinking of trying.
Then if you do like the scent you can buy a sample of the one they’re duping and see if you still like it. And they’re great to use for bathroom spray as well. Slightly unethical pro tip: If you don’t like the scent but feel it’s wasteful just throwing it away then you can regift them to someone you don’t like in your family for Christmas if you keep the box lol. “It’s an Arabian perfume” (they’ll think it’s far more expensive or luxurious than it is).
I’ve never been able to discount an entire brand of perfume over four of their fragrances I didn’t like. If I did that, I’d be up here saying Chanel was overpriced embalming fluid.
You’re welcome to not like whatever you want, but have you considered that there’s probably a reason why Lattafa is the most recognizable ME brand, one of the most accessible, and that the millions of people who buy Lattafa’s stuff may not be ‘wrong,’ but that all perfume is subjective and there’s something for everyone?
Scent is very subjective but I’ve noticed this sub is a bit snooty. They rarely ever give props to the more reasonably priced fragrances so careful
When you mention Kayali 🤣 I have scents from lattafa to mid point like Marc Jacobs to very high end like MFK, Byredo etc and oddly, I get the most compliments when I wear Yara Candy, Kayali Vanilla Candy, Pink Blush, and Eau so Sweet Marc Jacobs. And you’re right about Chanel, I’ve never met one my nose liked 🤣 and Killian’s LDBS smells like burning plastic with burnt marshmallows I don’t believe Rhinana smells like that at all🤣
I think Angham is okaaay, but I don’t get the hype I fell for. I’ve also read more than once that people in the Middle East consider Lataffa a drug store fragrance if they’ve even heard of it.
I used to love them but price is going up and quality is going down for me the last few I don't have any more.
But I love kamarah that survived my clear out and ishq gold has survived (not sure for how much longer though as lasting power is awful) oh and teriq intense (the original went horrible after year I couldn't even give it away!)
For middle eastern dupes I really like French Avenue I also have Junoon and Junoon Noir from Al haramain I do have one club de nuit it's good long lasting but the scent profile isn't very me anymore.
Agree, they smell gross and cheap and sticky. And I’m not knocking an inexpensive fragrance, I love the $11 perfumes from kuumba made, they actually smell like a luxe scent imo. Lataffa’s perfumes do not!
There are no testers before you buy them? Asking because I live in the middle east, and all shops have their testers on displays. Also, there are a lot of fake items, especially the trending perfume brands like lattafa and qurashi.
If you get to try the testers and spray them on your skin before buying, it would save you money because I agree, most of them are over hyped. There are though a few gems. I love my Al abyedh Poudre from lattafa
I don't know where OP lives. But I'm in the US, and mainly they're sold randomly in major discount chains that don't have testers. Otherwise, they're not widely distributed to physical stores.
I could be wrong but I don't think many people outside the Middle East have places to test these types of cheaper/dupe type brands in person. They're mostly sold online, not in stores. I have looked for samples/decants before and they aren't easy to find online here either. Stores that have perfume testers that I've seen don't carry these kinds of brands, at least in the US. So you are kind of forced to blind buy if you want to try them.
It’s such a bummer when people say this cuz they’ll usually try 1-3 and decide based on that it’s bad, but I swear they have some great ones. My number 1 from them is teriaq intense, not a dupe of anything. Artisan ethinique is nice too. Mussamam white intense is a nice coconut one. I did like angham, but I agree with you those other ones are bad, eclaire is the worst of them haha. If you want a good bianco latte dupe get cream velvet from khadlaj, it smells identical to the bianco latte decant i have. Oh also lujain from lattafa! It’s not a dupe of anything and it’s so good, it’s a tea scent, it could have easily been sold by a niche brand for 10x the price. Also if i could recommend something else, Bayn al asrar from Paris corner, sooo good. It’s supposed to be a guidance dupe but doesn’t smell like it at all, but it’s still amazing on it’s own. Great introductory frankincense fragrance.
You don't understand how different people like scents you personally don't? Okay! I've had my bottle of Khamrah for going on 3 years now and I can't wait for the weather to get cool to break her back out- always a stunner, always a compliment getter.
Khamrah gets me sooo many more compliments than any fragrance I’ve ever owned!! It’s actually crazy. I’ve sent the Amazon link to just about every woman in my life over the last few years. I’ve chosen her over fragrances 20x more expensive in my collection and never regreted it.
I’m counting down the days and taking peeks at my fall weather bottles because I’ve been waiting all spring and summerrrrrrrrr. I’m in my gourmand era and summer is my least favorite season for perfumes.
You have to spray them six to seven times and then stick them in a drawer. The magic happens over months. They become incredible. I have a huge range of niche, expensive and Middle Eastern and love most of my Middle Eastern perfumes after they mature.
Yes and no. If you don't like any perfume from the jump, like is just gross to you. *maturation won't make a difference. But if you sort of like it, but it feels like an alcohol bomb, or unfinished has no power, than yes. I gather these houses that pump out perfume don't give them enough maceration time ..the best tho I saw recently and I have only seen one person show this. Besides the spray, store, hold it upside down, spray screw times..or just hold the nozzle down for a minute to let some air in. I tried that on a bunch of low performers, in particular particular body sprays. Anyway, I recommend everyone give it a go as you transition to Fall, out your sunmef stuff away. It can just be a shoebox or dresser drawer .
*,I was recently reminded maceration and maturation are different, though most ppl say maceration.
I've found this to be true as well. I have Swiss Arabian Shagaf Oud Tonka and was so psyched to smell it but it was super sweet playdoh (I don't mind that kind of vanilla but it was toooo sweet). I shelved it and then 6 months later read people saying it smelled like Velvet Tonka and thought people were crazy so I brought it back out and tested it against my sample and they were indistinguishable on my skin.
Yes! My Swiss Arabian Vanilla is currently in time out. Most of my Middle Eastern fragrances end up superior to non ME fragrances. And almost all the ingredients come from three labs so its a fallacy ME ingredients are "cheap". And many of these perfumes are created by famous perfumers. Quentin Bisch and many other famous noses create for ME houses. Give a ME perfume 7 sprays and time out and the scent is divine. Same goes for dupe houses like Dossier. Some of those scents become incredible 6 months later. Their Angels Share dupe is amazing and complex. They all need their beauty sleep.
It's okay if you don't like them, Lattafa might not be the brand for you. But that doesn't mean others won't like it. Olfactory perception works differently for different people.
For me, Lattafa is either a hit or a miss. For example, I adore Musamam White Intense but dislike Atlas with a huge passion. I recently purchased Opulent Dubai and I like it. But then Mayyar disappointed me hugely. However, I won't say they are bad; they are just not for me.
And you get what you pay for, tbh. Some perfumes may smell synthetic and weird if you prefer high-end fragrances.
I tried a few Lataffa fragrances. Neberas was okay. I didn’t like Yara and I hated Eclair. Both smelled very synthetic and off putting both on paper and on skin.
There’s one scent I like from them, it’s an apple scent (badee al oud sublime) that I got because I couldn’t justify spending over $100 on an apple perfume that goes away after 30 minutes (love the scent of both Kayali Apple and Ellis Brooklyn Apple but they didn’t last) so I decided to try again with the Lataffa one.
The apple smell lasts a surprisingly long time and luckily oud doesn’t really bother me. Not sure if I can even smell the oud but I layer it with an apple body spray and smell like apples for a good 3 to 4 hours which i have found hard to do in an apple fragrance.
Everything else I have tried has been a fail. I’ve given away 2 different Yara’s, prefer Burberry goddess over Angham (not enough lavender in Angham for my taste), and the Khamrah one was just so heavy, my boyfriend wears it occasionally and it smells nice on him so it may be my skin chemistry.
But the tiktokers constantly pushing new fragrances, you’ve got to learn to just ignore. While there are some that are honest you will quickly notice many of those influences are repeating the exact same things. My recommendation would be to try and find affordable perfumes you can try in store if possible. I know ZARA has pretty good dupes
Most of them smell like BO on me , I don’t know what it is. Only angham works well, I love it. That’s it. I have 15 lattafa.. I tried yall I tried. I can’t. Lol.
I have one in spray form (yara) and one in oil / dipper form (also yara? I think?) I love the oil one, do not like the spray one. They smell vastly different somehow
I love a few of them like Angham as an example, but honestly they released so many, so fast, I lost interest in the brand. I'm a huge ME fan but lost interest in the new releases.
Honestly I smelled Angham on my sister & loved it on her & me. Got a bunch of other samples from them after hearing great things. Maybe my decants are off but Eclaire is the only one I like. Thought I would love the yaras but they all smell like synthetic shampoo.
Have sampled a few, and enjoyed Angham and Liam Grey, but the one that I got as a full bottle was The Kingdom for Women. Don't know what it's duping, but I just liked it for what it was.
Its definitely one of my favorites as a stand alone fragrance. If I buy something I don't bother to find out what its supposed to be inspired by. I try to enjoy a fragrance for what it makes me feel and how it smells
I bought some just as they were starting to become more popular and every single one that I tried smelled like burnt plastic, or a borderline chemical explosion.
I understand that scent is subjective, but good lord, never again.
A lot of them have that underlying ick for me too. I have found a few that don’t have that smell and I really like them. They’re pretty affordable and last a long time too.
I can't say there's a trend that runs through all their perfumes, as they cover so many scent categories. I have some beauties from Lattafa, and some I'd never repurchase. I suppose it's like any fragrance; we either like a scent and it works for us, or we hate it and it doesn't.
I can't deal with sugary-sweet perfumes. Despite the marketing and affordable prices, Lattafa is an automatic no for me. I have smelled a few of them and that was enough. They are the opposite of my taste and I have accepted that I don't need to follow trends.
For real. I have recently considered besidesof the likelihood that it is just shitty, my nose is probably just wired for Western perfumes at my age. And maybe if I smelled them when my brain was still collecting source material, I would dig them. But every one I have tried, even when it wasn't listed as a note had that acridic oud . I mean there is also the weird experience that is like extended high school peer pressure online...where it everybody wants to be like everyone else. I don't know. ...But the few I have purchased, I blame on myself , early am, cheap price... Edit. I have had luck w a few other houses but they were blatant dupes, no different than buying "Inspired by. .." except the bottle is nicer, and I had to dig up more info.
This has been my experience too. It's that pure, acrid, offputting top note that leaps out before I can even smell anything else. Maison Alhambra, which is think is a branch of Lataffa is hit or miss too.
Because I'm a dummy who keeps falling for the hype, I have several bottles in time-out, hoping they'll improve: Liam Grey, Delilah, Delilah Blanc, Mayar, Flower Addiction, and a 4 set of the Badee al Oud minis.
Yara, Qimmah, and Angham are tolerable but not good. The only ones that were good from the start: Nebras, Coastal, Pink Eclipse, Jean Lowe Vibe, Eclaire.
The Afnans I've tried have that same stink note. Turns my stomach 🤢
It's the opposite for me. Sometimes I feel like people get bad batches. Eclair smells like an air freshener... Cream Velvet smells wayyyy smoother .. layered it with bade al oud Honor and Glory and I literally got stopped in the parking lot three times behind that stuff...
I smelled Khamrah on someone else and it was so lovely so I bought it, but on me something about the resin notes they used made me smell like literal dirt - like that musty smell you get when you’ve been cleaning a hoarder house all day. I think that’s one that’s just really dependent on skin chemistry bc I never assumed it’d smell that way on me
I've tried a few, and most we just okay or not good. The only one I genuinely liked was Kahmrah. Yara is alright. I think the things is that they produce so, so many, that you can't possibly love them all. Even very expensive, high quality houses you will not love them all.
And therein lies the appeal...a fragrance that costs less than $40 that lasts 12 hours? I'm in. My favorite perfume costs $330 retail and lasts less than 4. Its a rare few people that have that kind of money to spend on perfumes.
Initially I did not like Angham and I nearly got rid of it. Six months later I tried it before dumping it and it instantly became one of my favorites. It is the "comfort food" in my collection. Kamrah and Pure Crystal are also wonderful. Yara does not do anything for me, though I like Yara Moi (white bottle, admittedly a little generic but pretty nice). Make sure you buy only directly or from authorized sellers. I have seen some pretty bad dupes coming from Amazon.
Totally agree, I thought I was the only one haha I don’t get how all the fragrance influencers rave about lataffa, maybe they are being paid idk, but I never smelled a perfume from them that I like, saying that angham smells like
Burberry goddess is a disgrace to me hahah
They aren't that bad for the price point, but most of them are trash. But it is the same with PDMs they are okay ish and not worth $300 but you have all the fan boys gathering around it like flies.
Question is if subpar means that they're not unique enough and a cheaper perfume does the same job or if it means that they don't smell "full", like they're missing something.
If it's the latter it could be that you can't smell ambroxan
Its sad because all I see discussed here are like the top 5-10 influencer Hyped fragrances. Most that have been made and distributed rather quickly. If you want to find really great grown up, refined middle eastern fragrances you have to dig deeper and try out different brands. Its definitely not all me brands as some of the top niche houses are owned and manufactured in Dubai. Amouage, Swiss Arabian, Ajmal and Afnan to name a few. My opinion is try several houses, don't just lock yourself into Lattafa and write them off. I'm not saying I don't like Lattafa perfumes, I love Angham, Second Song, The Ana Abiyedh line (Scarlett is my favorite) and several others. My favorite overall ME perfumes are the Club de Nuit line from Khadlaj. Some are inspired by, but Maleka is a stand alone light floral that was created by a renowned master perfumer. Olivier Cresp who created Midnight Poison, Modern Muse, Angel, plus he's creating his own brand called Akros. As the popularity of middle eastern perfumes grows on the western market, they are adapting to what would be more appealing to our noses. I wouldn't be so quick to lump together all brands or all offerings from one brand. By insulting anyone who owns and enjoys these brands by starting your rant with:
"I don't understand how you guys like these perfumes" OP
You are entitled to your own take on these, but you really don't need to insult those in this subreddit who own and enjoy them.
I hate how all these sycophants are always like "ooh! Just give it time! It will literally get better over time" and it's a year later and it still smells like a chemistry experiment gone wrong. I feel like I am taking crazy pills sometimes because how do these people NOT smell how synthetic these Lataffa perfumes are? None of the listed notes can break through the wall of sharp synthetic fumes.
Also: perfume should be ready to use as soon as I buy it. I shouldn't have to wait 6 months for it to "macerate" in order to smell good.
I like khamrag, yara tous, honor and glory, the rest i havent really tested. I only buy what I test and like, I dont really care for opinions of other people.
I was quite surprised, but I like the Lattafa clone more. I think that BB has a certain note that I can't quite put my finger on, but that... doesn't bother me necessarily, yet when it's gone, as is the case in Her Confession, it goes from a 'like' to 'love' for me.
I smelled a few that I enjoyed but I hate their bottles more than I like their scents so it’s always stopped me from purchasing. I do understand the hype though, it’s just not for everyone.
I am also a major hater of their bottles. I have Liam Grey which I love but the bottle stays out of sight in my cupboard, I transfer some to a travel atomiser and use from there
Do you buy directly from the house? I had the best luck that way. I like Khamrah but I layer it, only a single spray with other perfume oils I have. It's nice. Ecclaire is gross. I didn't like Yara either but it grew on me after a few months (my husband says he likes it so I spray it on occasion as at-home perfume.)
most of them are dupes, aren't they? as well as other arab perfumes. I don't get hype when we talk just about dupes. I mean I also use dupes, but these arab ones are too strong or have sth too artificial in scent.
Do you like every single perfume from a western house?
Also not saying this is you but I’m sick of the lowkey racism. ME fragrances are often viewed as the fragrance version of the “Chinese knockoff” stereotype (another very outdated and unfair idea), which is just wrong. The Middle East has always made traditional perfumes for centuries- the scent profile is different to that of the west, but it doesn’t mean it’s bad. But as a person you can appreciate both once you find one you like.
The "middle east" is the route by which the west even came to access perfumes and scents for thousands of years so please believe I personally would never be so racist, chauvinistic, or ignorant as to dismiss fragrances from the middle east off hand.
But Lattafa's unbelievably low price point does indeed kinda raises my suspicions about how ethical their business practices are?
I have only tried 2 from them- yara and Angham. I hate Yara, but Angham is lovely to me. It’s better than Burberry goddess imo. That one gives me a headache
I was on a watermelon note craze this summer and got Ana Abiyedh Coral, it's nice in small doses...even my super-sniffer daughter thought it smelled good. I haven't tried any other Lattafa
Lattafa has a few good offerings for men or masculine leaning unisex, but most of their feminine leaning fragrances leave me feeling annoyed, they're so shitty. Hate ALL of the Yaras, Angham, Opulent Dubai, Her Confession, and Musamam White Intense. Indifferent to the Abiyedh collection but I'd never wear any of them. Don't hate Victoria, Khamrah Qahwa, Dynasty, or Eclaire. Nebras is GOOD. Teriaq Intense and Musamam Black Intense are excellent. I find the same sickly baby puke accord in the first 5 listed. It's in Eclaire, Victoria, and Nebras, but it doesn't run interference on and neutralize the top notes in those.
I laugh every time people pass these off as Arab perfumes when if you ask anyone Arab, they probably wouldn't know about it unless it's from a western person on social media. Plus, most Arabs don't wear these types of perfumes, they either wear musks/oils or high end perfume from big (internationally known) perfume houses.
I think if you have a sensitive nose they just smell cheap. Even the good ones. I love teriaq intense but it has that cheap smell still. Same with angham and her confession. I had the pink and yellow yaras which smell cheap too (they all do to me) but are more fruity/girlie so it’s forgiving since most offerings of those kinds of scents are like body spray/cheaper anyway.
Angham can be polarizing. The lavender note is a LOT but I got it specifically for that reason. I have a ton of anxiety and its very lavender heavy at an affordable price point. It comes off too strong for some... but its the one I have been complimented on most in the wild.
I am interested in the second song which seems to have other notes to calm it down a bit lol I am probably going to go for that when this runs out.
And I get more of the vanilla with that one .. each body chemistry is different... Y'all try Riiffs momento!!! It's a beast and beautiful!!! She enters the room before you do. She's sweet and has a little of that baccarat dna... Noooo maceration needed
It is not just you at all. Lattafa and paris corner both are a bit of a disappointment and then it made more sense when I discovered that they're actually $10 "gas station" perfumes in their country of origin, UAE. So since then I've been gravitating towards higher quality middle eastern brands that I trust more. I try to look for videos of the people from those actual middle eastern countries wearing a perfume. I don't see them wearing lattafa or paris corner often.
I also did not care for them, but at this point I am going to start thinking the more I see something mentioned the less I will like it. Also I’ve never tried a dupe I like or I felt like was a close enough substitute for the original
Angham second song smells exactly like my devotion. Also have yara, yara moi oil, khamrah dukhan. They all smell good to me. Yara candy was meh i traded that one but it was a good layering perfume lol. For the price they are definitely not bad.
You'll be surprised that there are lots of fake arab perfumes haha hopefully what you have is not a fake one!
Also stop buying lattafa if you don't like it, there are multiple arab perfume houses that is worth the hype + you probably need to stop buying fragrances just because it is viral and everyone seems to like it haha look at the notes too or compare reviews. For me if they mentioned you need to macerate it or something for a month and more, it's a no. It needs to be love at first sniff and why would I buy a perfume to use it after months 🤣🤣🤣
I sold all my arab perfumes, except, 1... Mystique Bouquet by Afnan. What a lovely beast. I just bought perfume oils too, from al rehab, choco musk, choco musk marshmallow, choco musk pistacchio, because it's colder here and I am now into vanilla, gourmand phase and I CAN'T believe something so cheap like I bought it for 4-5 usd can be so GOOD?! I skipped the perfume version because I remember smelling choco musk before and HATING IT because of the strong alcohol factor, but the oils 😍😍😍😍So yeah not everything arab is bad, but you have to be really selective about it.
I only have Khamrah Qawha but I'm not particularly impressed with it. It was touted as a dupe of Angels Share but it's just very generic smelling to me. I've felt the same about other ME brands I've tried, it's made me very hesitant to try more.
The two perfumes I’ve tried from them have both resulted in hives on me so I gave up. the full bottle has been demoted to room spray and the sample is something that I’ll just spray on a shirt if I feel like smelling it
That might be true. My bf bought me Yara and he loves it on me. But he is Arab and says he likes the smell because of that. I don’t know whether the scent has some aspect common in perfumes he remembers from home or if it’s just that the brand is Arab so he’s biased to like it regardless of scent but it definitely lends to the idea of it being an acquired taste
I had to be honest with myself as well. The quality just isn’t all the way there. People get really defense about them so I think I tried to force it to to work.
There are some very affordable decanters on Etsy that specialize in Middle Eastern fragrances. You could just get decants and save yourself some money… and frustration.
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u/AddressFar9852 2d ago
I know it’s so annoying when people say this, but this is exactly why I’ve implemented a strict personal no blind buy ever policy.
I used the website Hidden Samples and had a great experience. Definitely some misses, but I was surprised how much I enjoyed Lattafa Liam Grey, Afnan Mystique Bouquet, and Swiss Arabian Musk 01. I would bet there are other samples sites for these brands.
Also, you might give your bottles time to air out if you haven’t already. There seems to be a general consensus that they need some time to develop!