Time for another fragrance review everyone! I mentioned in my last review that I was not the type to think niche fragrances were automatically superior to more mainstream or designer alternatives, and I was serious about that. As much as I adore some of the niche designers, there are many great options to choose from in the non-niche quarters as well. This week I’m looking at Casablanca from Swiss Arabian.
Swiss Arabian Perfumes Group (the owners of Swiss Arabian) was founded in 1974, and was one of the first perfume houses in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Their founder, a man from Yemen named Hussein Adam Ali, had a deep passion for perfumes, which led him to launch the first perfume manufacturer in the UAE. Not just one of the first houses, but the first manufacturer. This group has is nearing half a century of heritage of producing fragrances for both the “eastern” clientele, as well as catering to the “western” a palate. The Swiss Arabian branch itself was launched in 2010, and many of their fragrances are very reasonably priced, making this is a great house to explore if you’re wanting to tread further into the fragrance world, especially if you want to try more “eastern” scents, as they also have many oud-based fragrances and oils.
The perfume I’m reviewing today is called Casablanca, and is marketed towards men and women (though I think more women will be attracted to this scent), and debuted in 2016. The notes listed are as follows:
Top: Green apple, grape
Heart: Patchouli, iris, white woods
Base: Musk, amber, caramel, suede, Peru balsam
On application, the wearer will immediately pick up on the apple and grape notes in this fragrance. Right after that, you’ll notice the caramel blending in. It doesn’t wait for dry down, that caramel is there and immediate. In fact, these are going to be the main three notes you’ll likely pick up on the fragrance. There’s a little patchouli more on the dry down, but the mainstays of Casablanca is its nicely blended combination of fruit and gourmand. If you’re a fan of sweeter fragrances, this is absolutely something I’d recommend that you look into adding to your collection. Just remember, this is still a higher concentrated fragrance so you don’t need to go over the top applying it.
However.
I hate fruit and gourmand scents. They’re just not my thing, and after half an hour of this, I was done and wanted to wash this off. Which leads us to Casablanca’s longevity. This fragrance lasts FOREVER. Now obviously with the current COVID-19 pandemic, rubbing alcohol is not exactly available right now, so I had to resort to oil and vinegar to remove most of it. But guess what, folks? It still clung to life. That said, it wasn’t as intrusive for me, a fruit and gourmand hater, so I was able to tolerate it for the rest of the day. The longevity of this fragrance is astounding, but it won’t be utterly overwhelming. More like if you were jettisoned down to hell, this scent would be that loyal friend that followed after you just to give you that one happy thing to enjoy.
Wow, I somehow made myself emotional over a fragrance.
Anyways, fruit and gourmand lovers should definitely consider adding this to their collections, especially when you factor in the price. While you can get a 100 mL bottle of Casablanca for around $70-ish on Swiss Arabian’s website, you can find it on Amazon for $50. The bang for the buck with this scent is unreal, and easily a piece you can use as a staple in your collection as you further explore your fragrance preferences.
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