MY KAYALI FRAGRANCE COLLECTION

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Today I wanted to give the spotlight to what seems to have become my favourite fragrance brand: Kayali, which was founded by Mona and Huda Kattan as part of Huda's beauty empire. The packaging is beautiful and feels premium, the fragrance options really appeal to me and they're on the right side of triple digits! Let's dive into my collection...

Let's start with my first product from this brand: the Vanilla 28 Eau de Parfum | £73 (50ml). This is a gorgeous classic luxurious vanilla scent. It's sweet, a little spicy and slightly floral with notes of jasmine, Madagascan vanilla orchid, tonka, patchouli, brown sugar and amber. It's right on that border between a sweet vanilla and a spicy vanilla with a floral quality; it's not overly masculine or feminine, which I really like. This scent has really good longevity on my skin throughout the day and I really enjoy this scent during the autumn / winter months in particular, but honestly; it's pretty timeless.

I also have the Vanilla Royale Sugared Patchouli 66 Eau de Parfum Intense* | £79 (50ml) | which is similar but a little warmer, more decadent and less floral. It contains notes of vanilla orchid, tobacco, jasmine, creme brulee, almond, leather and golden rum. I love that added smokiness and amped-up sweetness, along with that rum undertone. Personally, I do think this is more up my street than the original Vanilla 28, even though I did really like that one too; I guess this takes everything I enjoyed about that and adds in more of what I like and dials back on the elements I'm not as fond of. This is an Intense version of their perfume formula, and I do find it a little more potent on initial application and it's still very noticeable by the end of the day.

Next, let's talk about the Lovefest Burning Cherry 48 Eau de Parfum* | £73 (50ml). This is a product I never would've thought to pick up on my own but that I've come to really love. It features the playful sweetness of cherry without being sickly sweet, thanks to the smoky undertone and how it's balanced with the tang of raspberry, creamy praline, rose damascena and bergamot essential oils, woody palo santo and guaiac wood and the floral of patchouli. It has a kind of juicy quality to it that makes it so moreish to smell! Again, the staying power of the fragrant is really great and this is one of the most unique fragrances in my collection.

Another highlight for me from this brand is the Yum Pistachio Gelato 33 Eau de Parfum Intense* | £79 (50ml). This is powdery sugared deliciousness with that distinctive decadent pistachio undertone. The notes include pistachio ice cream (of course!), marshmallow, hazelnut, rum and candyfloss. Ok, if you don't like sweet or gourmand scents, then this is never going to be for you! However, I do find the overall effect of this scent to be a lot less 'sickly sweet' than you might have been led to believe. I honestly melt every time I smell this perfume; it's really delicious and if you like this sort of dessert-like scent. Again, I do really find that this scent stays on my skin extremely well throughout the day; I don't find it particularly more intense than Lovefest for the extra £6, but the scent itself is great.

I have a number of fragrances from the limited edition holiday collection that I'll cover off, though I did review them in a little more depth in a dedicated post last summer. We'll begin with the Capri in a Bottle Lemon Sugar 14 Eau de Parfum | £28 (10ml). This is a fresh, zesty and sugary fragrance with notes of lemon, sugar, musk, freesia, raspberry and vanilla. I love the sharpness of the lemon and raspberry, the sugary notes and the softer, creamier quality that the vanilla brings to this scent. It's perfectly balanced and I really like the scent; the longevity is ok but I think it's not as good as the other products I've tried from this brand. 

I also have the Maldives in a Bottle Ylang Coco 20 Eau de Parfum | £28 (10ml). This is a watery floral scent with notes of rosemary, banana blossom, starfruit, coconut milk and ylang ylang. You really get the aquatic notes up front, but within a minute or two, you get a lot more of the fresh, distinct banana blossom and the creamier notes of coconut milk and ylang ylang, as well as the floral undertones that help balance this fragrance out. The longevity of this scent is in line with what I've found from the eau de parfums in this collection, so it's pretty good!

Next, let's talk about the Maui in a Bottle Sweet Banana 37 Eau de Parfum | £28 (10ml). This is probably my least-favourite scent in my Kayali collection, even though it sounds like it should be for me, on paper. It has notes of pear, banana, jasmine, vanilla and coconut cream. I find it a little too subtle and a little bit generic; it's in the vein of a Bronze Goddess or any other classic fruity and creamy coconut and vanilla summer scent. However, I just don't smell this that strongly on initial application and it doesn't seem to last very well on my skin. I like the scent but I don't think it's unique and I don't think it lasts long enough.

Finally, we have the Marrakech in a Bottle Orange Blossom 24 Eau de Parfum | £28 (10ml). This is really beautiful and different to the other scents in this collection with notes of orange blossom, pink pepper, bergamot, Turkish rose, neroli and cedarwood. It has this wonderful aromatic quality that balances the strong floral / essential oil element with the woody tones and the hint of fruitiness. It comes together like opening a cupboard of spices, oils and dried petals, which I guess fits the theme of a Marrakech souk pretty perfectly! I'm a big fan of this one and the longevity is decent. 

Have you tried Kayali scents?

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Read more posts from this series here!