OK, my lovelies, a couple more Zara fragrances, and then I will give the Spanish chain a rest for a while. But at least one of these is worth your time I feel. Today I bring you Sunrise on the Red Sand Dunes and Sand Desert At Sunset, two fragrances launched in 2023 by two different perfumers. Conceptually, they go well together. Let’s dive in.
I bought a little bottle of Sunrise on the Red Sand Dunes because it’s safer to purchase less when blind-buying, and as it turns out, this was not a hit for me. Sunrise on the Red Sand Dunes is an aromatic citrus scent by perfumer Mylène Alran targeting the gents, and yeah, I would say this one does lead masculine in the traditional sense, but of course anyone can wear it. Off the top, this one hits with large volumes of sour citruses, then transforms into a soapy neroli-type smell. Here are the notes:
- bergamot, ginger,
- mandarin orange, orange blossom, cassis,
- musk, amber
Sadly, just like a previous Zara fragrance I reviewed called “Les Heures Passent,” this fragrance contains ginger combined with citrus, which, for me personally, is something I would prefer to drink when feeling under the weather rather than spritz all over my person. For that reason alone, it’s a pass for me.
Some claim this one is a dupe for Louis Vuitton’s Imagination. I don’t know for sure, though I did briefly smell all of Vuitton’s offerings a few years ago – and by the by, bar a couple of fragrances, I wasn’t overly impressed with what that luxury house had to offer, especially considering the price points. I suspect, however, that Vuitton’s Imagination is unlikely to give off the same quality of soapy, detergent-like vibes as this one does.
Anyway, this one does have some highly perceptible, delicious orange in the mid. notes, which I would cherish were it not for the ginger. I also get citrus rinds in here, and perhaps grapefruit? There is some powder, and then some mandarin juiced and whipped into a generic body cream. Since we are on the Red Sand Dunes here, perhaps it’s suntan lotion, though I wouldn’t associate this with the smells typical of sun cream. After the ginger has had time to chill out, I start to like this fragrance, but overall, it’s not for me.
If you like ginger and sour green notes, you’ll like this one as it is bright, airy, punchy, and clean. It does dry down rather well, too. I also think this is a safe pick if you’re going to be around people who don’t usually like perfumes. As expected, projection and sillage are typical of Zara fare, which is, sadly, subpar. Longevity is better, but not amazing.
OK, now we move on to the other side of the day, when the sun is setting, and things get far more interesting – when it comes to scent as well. There was only the large size of Sand Desert at Sunset in stock, but no worries, since this was a hit for me. This is a spicy amber fragrance that targets the dudes, but as you can see from this bottle purchased just a few months ago, as a female I’m just eating this up! The nose behind this fragrance is Benoist Lapouza, and if that doesn’t ring bells, it might if I mention Killian’s Angel’s Share. When I unboxed this and had a sniff on my channel and said that this reminded me of something. It was indeed Killian’s Share. It would appear that Lapouza has made a very budget friendly version of the delectable and now iconic perfume he made for Killian. I don’t know if Zara asked Lapouza to dupe his own fragrance or not, but he sort of did it. Here are the notes.
- orange, incense,
- cinnamon, tonka bean, chocolate,
- iris, cedar
To me this is a delicious Christmas type fragrance. I mean, come on – orance, cinammon, chocolate, cedar? I even get the pine tree and a burning fire in here. And then that insence to add a wee churchy vibe. This scent profile is right up my alley. Instead of having too much sugar, there is a warm spiciness in here that makes me think of snuggling up with a blanket by the fire on a winter night with a cup of cinnamon or ginger orange herbal tea and maybe a homemade brownie – just a little one. Or maybe no brownie, but something cookiesk coming from the oven in the kitchen. I hear and smell the orange crack of wood in the fire place and get mesmerized by the flames and sparks. Vanilla is not listed but I do get something vanillic and balsamic here. There is sweetness stirred together with some gentle aromatic notes – super delicious.
The drydown is creamy, smooth and musky, keeping the spiced sweetness to the end. Some people claim a bakery, apple-pie sweetness with this fragrance. I understand the comparison, but there is not enough fruit in here for me to make the analogy. Well, there is orange, but it’s more of a dehydrated, candied orange or orange peel. That orange is ground and melted into cinnamon liqueur, but I don’t feel this fragrance is particularly boozey. Perhaps adding to that richness is the tonka bean and chocolate, making it caramelesque. It’s just a little resious; not dense enough to be called rich or thick. I see oranges and browns in this scent – because of the edibles I associate with it, as well as an amber accord I detect that is not listed, and of course that crackling fire. It’s kinda perfect, actually. I am a fan. Now if only this performed!
So Benoist Lapouza is indeed the nose behind Killian’s popular Angel’s Share fragrance, a great name and bottle branding behind a collection of fragrances centering around liquer. This is so appropriate, since Killian was born into one of France’s most illustrious dynasties in fine liquors, Hennessy, and the term angel’s share refers to the amount of an alcoholic drink (such as cognac, brandy, or whiskey) that is lost to evaporation when the liquid is being aged in porous oak barrels. Anyway, I digress.
I’ve indeed smelled Lapouza’s Angel’s Share in store, but the price tag did indeed hold me back from whipping out my plastic. But I needed to be reminded after purchasing the Zara fragrance, so I grabbed this sample online. A wee 2ml flask cost half the price of this entire bottle, by the way. Ridiculous, yes. Sand Desert at Sunset smells similar to Angel’s Share, but it of course doesn’t have the same quality of ingredients and has nowhere near the performance of the more expensive Killian star fragrance. In addition, it lacks the thickness, richness, depth, complexity, and booziness of Angel’s Share, and I think Sand Desert at Sunset is sweeter – well, it’s still dry, but Angel’s Share isnt exactly sickly sweet, you know?
But if you like this type of scent profile, it’s hard to go wrong with this for the price point. Except… the lack of performance is performance is real. Poor projection and longevity with Zara. Typical of the brand. But you know what? If I am being perfectly honest with you, I think I rather enjoy Sand Desert at Sunset more than Angel’s Share, especially just after the opening. While I like the booziness provided by the more expensive of Benoit’s creations, I also find it a little too resinous and not as comforting.
However, if you prefer or think you’d prefer Angel’s Share to the Zara version, or simply have a low tolerance for poor performance in perfumery, it’s worth noting that Angel’s Share fans have other options, options that are not as easily and as affordably available to me, being based in Japan. I speak of all the Middle Eastern houses that appear to have duped Angel’s share to one degree or another. Most popular is Lattafa’s Khamrah, which has a strong date note. There is also Maison Alhambra’s Kismet Angel, Fire your Desire by Paris Corner’s sub-brand Emir, Fragrance World’s Cocktail Intense. Alexandria Fragrance’s Brooklyn Fragrance Lover supposedly smells like a great dupe, too. I’d buy that one just to pay respects to the late gentleman who ran the YouTube cannel of the same name. You can still see his reviews. I’ll link to his channel below.
Anyway, I’m sure there are plenty more fragrances that try to emulate Angel’s Share. Sand Desert at Sunset, perhaps more appropriately named Sand Dessert at Sunset, is the not the best choice for performance, but it is by the same perfumer and smells amazing in itself and thus and I do recommend it. You’ll just have to overspray if you want to be noticed and want it to last. If you are looking for performance paired with value for money, however, I would probably suggest one of the fragrances from Middle Eastern houses I suggested earlier.
And yeah, I will talk about Khamrah, which I finally do have a bottle of, probably in the next video in fact. I’ll make it a short one. I ultimately don’t want to mess with today’s video which I intended to be about this sandy pairing from Zara. And one that note, my lovelies, I will say goodbye and see you in the next video. Smell you later. Scentgourmand, signing out.