Description
British cosmetics company Illamasqua launches a new fragrance called Freak Scarab. The fragrance, which calls for “the age of indulgence (to be) be reborn”, belongs to the unusual, “dark” and “toxic” line of perfumes that debuted with the original Freak from 2011, followed by Freak Extrait de Parfum from 2012. Freak Scarab is a perfume extract designed for both men and women that “Enchants. Captivates. Corrupts.”.
The composition begins with citrus – white floral blend of blood orange, neroli absolut and ylang-ylang, exciting the senses. Its heart notes include davana intertwined with Egyptian jasmine, honeysuckle and Queen of the Night, forming a sensuous blend. Stewed plum gives depth to the composition and leads to the rich and ancient components of Mousse De Sax (geranium, anise, moss and leather).
The fragrance is available as 75 ml Extrait De Parfum.
Freak Scarab was launched in 2013.
xvp919Bessinepome – :
Nothing “freaky” about this scent…It is quite pleasant—like fabric softener! I was worried about the leather note, but it hardly strikes me at all. This is mostly a plum-jasmine scent that smells somewhat “grapey.” It’s very sweet and feminine; I can’t see any man I know wearing It, although a man smelling like this would be somewhat freaky, and I guess that’s what this brand is all about—pushing the boundaries of what’s considered “normal”. The scent by itself hardly applies because it’s friendly and approachable.
sheriff095 – :
I didn’t expect to like it since floral perfumes tend to give me headaches but not this one. It is very feminine and I would wear it for a night out or a date rather than at the office. It smells even sexier when worn on hot weather!
The plum note is quite prominent like in Juicy Couture-Couture, I have compared both perfumes and they have similarities at the beginning but the dry down is different. Illamasqua become softer and smells more expensive. The bottle is actually dark bue and you can see through. Only drawdown it is quite pricey for a makeup brand fragrance.
M1812 – :
I am a huge fan of the original Freak perfume, so even though this is nothing like what I would normally go for, I wanted to buy it anyway – if nothing but for the bottle. 😉 As it turns out, this is a pretty solid perfume. The ingredients smell expensive and opulent, and the bottle is absolutely a work of art as well!
This perfume is definitely dominated by plum and jasmine almost the whole way through. The jasmine is very reminiscent of the jasmine in Alien – very rich and sweet. The plum is dry and boozy, almost jammy but set off by the jasmine so it doesn’t become cloying. There are other white floral notes dancing around as well, which give it a very gentle feminine vibe amongst the heavy plum and jasmine. I can smell the ylang-ylang and orange as well, but only faintly. They balance the perfume wonderfully. As it dries the scent becomes slightly drier and less boozy as the leather and moss come out. However, the other notes are still clearly there.
So, all in all, for being a perfume I would normally never try (I’m not a big fan of plum usually), I’m impressed. I find that it doesn’t last very long on my skin, but I’m okay with that. I feel like it might be a bit too much if it was any stronger. I’ll definitely revisit this in the colder weather too, as I feel it would be a great autumn and winter scent.
Overall rating: 7.5/10
pwk974elipseskism – :
The review below me is accurate: it smells a LOT like Couture Couture. The characteristic big juicy plum/black grape opening with a boozy hint, lots of sweet jasmine, and pleasant other floral touches (honeysuckle, cereus).
This is only the 1st 15mins though. As it stands I like it but already have Couture and this is very hard to find/discontinued. At this point I’m thinking “Why bother?” but will update if that changes.
On its own it’d be a lovely, dark but sweet juicy fruity floral. But I’m not wooed for the price, rarity, and similarity!
[12.11.14, tpc sample]
vasida – :
OK SO THE MORE && MORE I WEAR THIS THE MORE IT REMINDED ME OF SOMETHING, THEN IT FINALLY HIT ME, THIS IS VERY SIMILAR TO JUICY COUTURE’S COUTURE COUTURE && THEY SHARE QUITE A FEW SIMILAR NOTES ALSO BURBERRY’S LONDON FOR WOMEN HINTS @ THIS A BIT…THIS HOWEVER IMO IS WAY BETTER/ LESS CLOYING IN SMELL THOUGH! 😀
asdf – :
OK so I felt compelled to need to write slightly shorter review, ok so given the fact that I’ve been hooked on this ever since I received it I can easily say its one of my new fav. perfumes. It’s easily addictive I find myself even when I’m not going to wear it just picking the bottle up to take a whiff, so what I pick of the most is the plum && honey suckle, really gives this scent that sweetness that I enjoy in perfume, which I feel is why I enjoy this moreover the original. This puts off a more sexy vibe then it’s sister, it’s intriguing it’s seductive && it envelops you in an intoxicating aura.
For it being an extrait I must say the longevity can surely be improved it has almost moderate longevity with an equal sillage, also I find this to be a skin scent the more it dries, now my sister said she could smell it on me, but I find it harder to detect they say if you can’t smell your perfume it means it works well with your body chem so maybe that’s the case not sure. I will also add that this did remind me of something (not like curious that someone keeps saying it does, IT DOES NOT SMELL LIKE B.SPEARS CURIOUS, STOP!!) but it did remind me of something, so it hit me, but I asked my mom to “what does this smell like” she immediately said it smells like my Valentino, && BINGO! that’s what I was thinking it faintly reminds me of “V” Valentino as it dries down. Now this is labeled unisex && I can pass, but I find that this still has one foot more into being a lil’ more on the feminine side, given the fact it reminds me of “V” && it’s sweetness, but hey I’m gay, so I’m ok with it.
OK so to wrap it up Freak “Scarab” is a very lovely && intriguing scent, nice if you like a little sweetness to your perfume, very nice for now, && perfect for an a little night on the town if your looking to entice. Its longevity is lil below moderate :/, its sillage is ok…is it worth the $136, not so much (longevity could be better for a extrait) Will you enjoy it, probably so, is it better than the original, I think so, Is it shockingly unique…you be the judge (me it’s so-so it reminds me of something yet still has something that makes it stand out. && Do I love that bottle, ABSOLUTELY-FUQN-LUTELY! If you can do give it a try first, this was pretty much a blind buy && thank god I love it! 🙂
Right now you can purchase this in the U.S. on Bloomingdales.com
Overall: 7.5/10