Today, I bring you Fadeitak, a fragrance I was obsessed with trying to get a hold of since I saw a lady a go ga-ga for it a few years back on YouTube. But this was a time when Arabian fragrances were new and rare in Western perfumery, and that is no longer the case. I couldn’t find this fragrance in Japan, unsurprisingly, so I decided to order it directly from its maker, Swiss Arabian, an Emeriti, Dubai-based brand. I purchased (or tried to purchase) this from their representative in the US. They screwed up my order, though, and gave me something completely different, some new-at-the-time perfume oil releases which, as it turns out, I was not displeased with. I remember it being hard to rectify the situation, however. I did get my money back, eventually.
I gave up on Fadeitak for a while until a discounted bottle of the stuff showed up on Mercari, and I clicked the buy-now button. Fadeitak is a spicy amber-y fragrance for women, but I’d say it’s unisex. Straight out of this bottle, I admit the fragrance smells vile. It’s an assault of putrid and toxic proportions to the nose, singeing nasal hairs right out of one’s nostrils. Thankfully, the olfactory experience changes when sprayed on paper or skin.
On paper, it still smells like chemicals, of an apothecary nature. There is a certain herbaceous bitterness, but also a deep and resinous, smokiness. No, this is not a dainty, demure, gentle, or sophisticated scent. It’s raw, rustic, unpolished, and also not uninteresting. I can’t think of anything it might remind me of. The notes in the composition are few, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there are more involved.
- amber,
- musk, pepper,
- woodsy notes, animal notes
The fragrance reminds me or some sort of fruity marmalade with melted hot plastic being stirred in, despite there being nothing remotely fruity listed. There is still some toxicity; some pesticide-coated unripe coffee beans that not ripe enough to detect actual coffee. On the skin, over time, this turns into some sort of sweet cookie or biscuit-like thing – maybe animal crackers.
I do not smell any obvious oud, but I’m convinced that there might be an addition of some cheap synthetic variety of the stuff that is giving me the chemical vibe. All this is in the opening, though. Once it settles down, it’s better, and I think it becomes more feminine over time. Still, you have to be brazenly confident and in firm control to wear this. I imagine you are someone who might have a loud presence and don’t give a fruit loop what others think. For giggly, girly-girl fume heads. this one is not.
For someone who habitually oversprays, it’s probably rich for me to advocate for a light hand with Fadeitak, but please use a light hand with Fadeitak. It’s long-lasting and overpowering with more than a couple of sprays. It can easily fill a room, and it’s better in cool weather, outside. And it’s best to avoid wearing this in the heat.
But overall, I am afraid I cannot recommend this one. I think this fragrance can be offensive, and OMG – the bottle! It’s some sort of dystopian post-modern design of ostentatious decaying metal and plastic gems nailed together by an architect who favors stainless steel and Brutalism. It’s a heavy, mighty weapon of glass, corroding steel, and chemical studs.
One thing I will say about this, though. As stated above, I’ve not smelled anything like it. It’s unique, at least to the nose on my face, which admittedly has not smelled all there is to sniff. And I cannot for the life of me identify the individual parts of this fragrance that make up its sum. Which I guess means it is well-blended. There is certainly no dominant note. Do not blind buy, even if you find a cheapie online!