LATTAFA
TERIAQ
2024
PERFUMER
Quentin Bisch
pink pepper
caramel
bitter almond
apricot
white flowers
rose
rhubarb
honey
vanilla
labdanum
vetiver
leather
musk
‘With Teriaq I wanted to create a powerful contrast between vanilla and leather, softness and sensuality.’ – Quentin Bisch
As someone who has never been particularly interested in clone fragrances, I’ve never paid much attention to Lattafa. The brand teaming up with respected perfumer Quentin Bisch for Teriaq seems to be an attempt to ‘legitimize’ the brand and continue its takeover in the Western market. About a year after its release, that tactic seems to have paid off. So when I got my hands on a Lattafa discovery set, Teriaq had to be the first one to put to the test.
Per Quentin Bisch this should be a balance between vanilla and leather, but I (luckily?) don’t find much of a leather here. This is a very, very sweet, squishy gourmand scent with a lot of musk. The opening, I would perhaps pitch as an upgrade for the Kayali marshmallow accord. Its sweetness grows in a familiar caramel-ish, brown sugar way that never quite feels luxurious to my nose, but has definitely been done a lot worse than in Teriaq. What I get instead of leather after that, is a spicier, nuttier and woodier drydown, which was pleasant and more to my taste than the first hour or two.
Funny enough, a ton of reviews online complain about the leather. I’m not sure if there are strong batch variations with Teriaq, plus it’s good to note that most vanilla-heavy scents grow sweeter quickly with some aging. Either way, this sample is 100% gourmand leaning to my nose. I don’t get leather at all, and I also can’t find myself in agreement with remarks about this being overly sharp, bitter or even sour. If anything, it’s bordering on being cloying and too sweet. This type of musky vanilla-almond-caramel with the slightest hint of fruitiness can be detected in many a women’s marketed designer, although from memory, I don’t think Teriaq smells as close to Jean Paul Gaulier La Belle as claimed by many; I assume people look towards that first as it’s made by the same perfumer.
You do get a bit of heft in here from spices and a hint of fruits, making it somewhat move towards the Kilian Angels’ Share or Sora Dora Jany territory, but Teriaq is devoid of the smokiness and a much easier going wear, leaning a bit more traditionally designer and feminine at first. Mostly, it feels instantly more syrupy, milky and soft. As mentioned, I find it go in a more nutty spicier direction later on, which takes away the slight feminine lean from the opening. The latter hours remind me of fragrances such as Versatile Croissant Cafe & Teo Cabanel Oh La La for example.
Teriaq is not as interesting as the notes let on, nor does it do anything particularly new to deserve the hype it gets, but it’s a good fragrance. It smells familiar and it’s a safe bet in this ‘gourmand-everything-era’, but it’s among the better constructed ones, which holds up (and in my opinion gets even better) in the drydown, whereas many of the recent gourmand releases turn into a sugary, thin or dry mess. As a bonus, it’s one of the most affordable ones, so you can’t knock Teriaq for doing what it does. This is a no-brainer recommendation over the Jean Paul Gaultier La Belle’s, most Kayali’s, the Theodoris Kalotinis’ etc. of the world in my book. Not wowed, but pleasantly surprised.