(Shamanilla) by Zara

First review: I bought it because Carlos Rubio says it smells of vanilla. It’s not sold in Chile, so my partner brought it from Spain. Carlos undersold it; it’s a sweet monster but not cloying. You can detect coconut, vanilla and wood; I didn’t sense cardamom or bergamot. Once dry, it’s magic: vanilla and wood in perfect harmony. People have been asking me about it at work. Projection is bombastic, the trail is decent and it lasts all day, from morning till night. I already have a second bottle and if I’m lucky, a third.

With all due respect, is this perfume? It’s a hyper-soft coconut and vanilla water that lasts exactly five minutes. YouTubers like ‘Qué tal chicos’ are selling smoke more and more; please stop.

It smells half-decent but unpleasantly synthetic. I know many fragrances, even niche ones like Angels Share, are synthetic, but the difference is that this one is exquisite. Many cheap Arab perfumes smell synthetic yet rich, and once dry the scent is delicious or the synthetic note disappears. This one smells bad. At this price, buy any Arab fragrance; it smells better.

Fine caramel (sponge cake, biscuit), vanilla and mint. It’s not cloying. Very good aroma that also lasts and projects a lot. It’s top tier. It’s hard to believe something so good costs this much. Better than many niches over €150.

Great perfume, impressed by its scent and composition (Fino). Very well executed, the best coconut and vanilla I’ve tried. Smells niche or luxury. It lasts me 6 to 7 hours, projects about 2 metres for 3 hours and then stays as a personal bubble for another 3 or 4 hours.

I think it has too much hype; I bought it after reading incredible reviews. The scent is good, but I notice a new batch with a floral/fruity aroma that overpowers everything else for hours afterwards. The longevity and trail are just okay, but for the price, the composition is very good. Recommended.

To me, it smells of vanilla and above all cotton candy. It’s not cloying, it’s subtle, yet still sweeter than By The Fireplace, which initially seemed similar to me (though that’s comparing apples and oranges). And that’s all there is to it.

Ever since I smelled it, I fell in love. It’s sad that Zara discontinued it, but I’m not surprised; many stores rotate their catalogues to sell more. It’s tropical but not the typical coconut; it becomes a bit woody and plays with the sweetness, landing on the perfect point without being cloying. I want to smell it forever. The trail isn’t beastly but it’s long-lasting and leaves a subtle scent when you pass by. It has a spicy facet, like in Tommy Impact Spark, which seems to be pink pepper or cardamom. Incredible: unisex, fresh, different, woody and sweet all at once. I won’t finish the bottle unless they relaunch it. UPDATE: They’ve just relaunched it but it’s been reformulated; I tried the new version and it smells more woody, slightly more masculine. But it’s still an incredible scent.

It reminds me a lot of Lattafa’s Najdia Intense, especially in the dry down.

What a shame Zara has thrown this away. I picked it up by chance in the men’s section, and months later it was gone from the women’s aisle. It’s pure unisex: cardamom in abundance and a super creamy coconut. Sometimes it smells of pepper, even though it’s not on the label. It’s the only Zara scent (along with Fields at Nightfall) I would buy again without hesitation.

I don’t understand why they’ve taken it off; it’s a unique fragrance. It smells strong, heavy, and sweet, yet not overwhelming. I have the 20ml version and don’t use it because I know they won’t make it again, and when it runs out, it’s gone. What a genuine pity; had I known, I would have taken five or six 100ml bottles… I regret it immensely.

This is one of those fragrances that falls in love with you, and if you see it, you don’t put anything else on. A mad tropical sweetness; it’s the tropics in a bottle. It’s easy because everyone likes it, but it stands out as smelling totally original; there’s nothing else to buy it with, and the quality… needless to say, it smells like you’ve put another bottle in it and costs $300. A work of art.

Mind you, I have very grateful skin for perfumes. I like this one because the dry-down on my skin is sweet, not cloying, and airy, mixed with spices. I notice the coconut little, but the overall sensation fascinates me. It’s not for daily use because it saturates me olfactorily. On my skin, it doesn’t smell of roasted pepper or mint gum or vanilla. It’s a completely original fragrance, with a personal trail that projects like a projectile and lasts and lasts and lasts. For the price, it has convinced me.

I had this perfume and was about halfway through the bottle; I liked it quite a bit and used it for day-to-day until someone asked me: ‘Doesn’t it smell of roasted pepper?’ Indeed, we discovered it was this one. I don’t know how to explain it, but the dry-down smells exactly like that, roasted red pepper and sweet. It’s not a bad smell, but I don’t want to go around smelling like that for the rest of my life, so since then I only keep it in the bathroom, unscrew it, smell it, and laugh.