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vjhflt-h – :
Alright, it’s a fruitBOMB on me. My skin amplifies anything sweet and in this early fall east coast weather, only one drop of this scent smells like…a blanket of fruit roll ups and toilet cleaner on me. I’m definitely not one to use these terms lightly, being a complete fragonerd, I would never qualify anything of cleaning products if it wasn’t for that backdrop of dirty, weird greasy woodiness to it…I don’t know what to do with this one now. Maybe I’ll super dilute it with Everclear and use it for air freshener, as it’s super potent and fruity sweet, but I definitely cannot wear this.
I tried scrubbing this off with soap to no avail, it’s a stinkin’ stainer. Buyer beware!
cokki – :
~LIKE~
Smells exactly like American candies called smarties, the ones in the clear plastic roll. I enjoy sweet scents so I’m liking this. buy again? no, but for the price it was worth trying and I’ll enjoy this scent while it lasts.
Romeo32 – :
******************Update*****************
Layered it beneath Chanel No 5 EDP and it made what is an awesome but at times much too fleeting scent, much more long lasting. It was the perfect accompaniment and I received compliments that I smelled very fresh and nice all day. The iris in both compositions play well together (which makes sense as they are likely the same aroma chemical for both since the advent of IFRA regs have given all of the major houses the impetus to veer more toward lab created scents than natural).
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I believe that our sense of smell is connected to our memories and to that which we experienced growing up. As such, our sense of smell both collective in a national or regional sense and individually is first informed by the cultures in which we live. Culture is not just a shorthand for ethnicity but also the religions in which we were reared, the immediate communities in which we socialized, the languages, the food, and the overall style in which we lived our lives.
Perfect example: Pumpkin pie does not remind me of comfort or fall or the holidays. Sweet potato pie reminds me of those things. Even better than sweet potato pie? Candied yams…cooked until the sugar caramelizes in a gooey sauce layered with rum and loads of butter and then nestled beneath a cloud of marshmallows baked until slightly golden brown.
That being said…Africana is culturally relevant to me. I put some on my skin and it felt so familiar and safe.
Africana reminds me of the oil men that used to roam the neighborhoods in which I once lived in their kufi caps and thobe garments. These oil men would sell you perfumed potions named things like “Butt Naked” and “Lick Me All Over” in addition to an imitation of any designer perfume on the market all for $5-10. They were the hood Bergdorf and Saks. Some even sold jewelry and little accessories that one could not do without but that weren’t sold in the local corner store/bodega. These men carried sticks of incense in their belts and that incense would leave a trail of velvety resins everywhere they went—in the subway station, across the busy intersections.
Africana is that full on incense smell complete with the smoldering ember at the tip, the smoke that floats into the atmosphere and the charred ashy residue that coats your fingers and the counter. Incense? Yes. Incense. Often in mainstream culture, there is a limited association with incense–to that which is merely burned for high mass in whatever church. However, in my culture, incense is so much a part of the background of our everyday lives in some capacity. We burn it in our homes…and many of us want to smell like it outside of our homes as well.
The green mandarin is simply an accord that is great as a substitute for the classic citruses, lime and lemon, in that green mandarin lasts much longer. The tropical fruit notes are there but they’re stripped of their protective skins such that the juice readily flows from their ripe flesh, until skewered and then seared over an open flame.
The sandalwood, cedar, vetiver, and iris all play together to create an accord of the finest and most resinous African olibanum (frankincense and likely why the name “Africana” was chosen as some of the best frankincense is harvested from centuries old trees on the African continent. Frankincense also features heavily in ancient African civilizations) in all of it’s pungent smoky sweet and calming glory.
It’s frankincense incense y’all plain and simple.
xxxFLASHxxx – :
Resisted for a while but oh why did I do that?. I am not a fruit lover in general cos they tend to get over sweetened, but I love this fruity smell.
Forever interesting is how I describe this even in the dry down it rings of the heady sparkling tale the opening announced. And it announces powerfully so it will last for an age. And it feels like its made with ancient notes . Bright composition with ancient hallowed essences. The drydown has an incensey sweetness that lingers. I think I am in love.
Be meaner than a snake with application to get the full bloom of this beauty. Am gonna apply my little roll on a cotton bud and scent my bath. its that kind of smell for me. Intimate but loud as hell if you over-apply.
Dreantark – :
I have the roll-on oil and it’s all of the fruitiest of fruity things. Juicy fruits gum, fruity sherbet, those fruit syrups you can get to make cocktails, fruity shampoo. It’s potent, sweet, lots of fun…and very, very fruity!
Proceed with caution. An absolute beast. One dab on my forearm and the whole downstairs of my house smells like those old school fruit salad sweets. Oooofff!
Nirigamesfdg – :
I’m working my way through the Al Rehab roll-on line. The majority are good and wearable, better than your average drugstore brew. A few not so much for various reasons. Maybe a sixth though, are excellent, which is a very high success rate for a budget line.
Africana is one of the excellent ones, albeit a bit polarising. This will definitely not a fragrance everyone will love and it’s not subtle. It’s a bit like that friend you have that always says EXACTLY the wrong thing at the wrong moment but is kind and tonnes of fun, so you forgive her. Africana is loud, impolite and bit artless but fabulous. It reminds me a LOT of fruit incense from my youth but in the best way. This scent isn’t trying to be Western or too familiar and personally I think that’s when Al Rehab does its best work.
It opens with a big, dirty fruit musk, similar to the musk in Al Rehab Elena. Elena is a thing of the twilight; Africana is bright sunlight. It’s also fresher than Elena though, has fizzy citrus aldehydes and incense. As it develops on the skin, a whiff of dirty jasmine passes through and, over time, a powderiness from the iris develops. The dry down features a surprisingly, different and lovely vanilla note. The longevity is exceptional.
If you like Lush Karma or Al Rehab Elena, this is for you.
Naraatonner – :
Heavens to Murgatroyd! The is probably the most fruity fragrance I ever smelled. It’s sweet, but not in a sugar kind of way, but more of a riped fruit vibe, Almost like fruit cocktail in the can – if that makes sense. I can imagine parts of the African jungle smelling like this with a blend of mango, banana, coconut, and mix of exotic fruits.
As much as I like it (don’t love it) I just can’t pull it off because it’s too feminine for my style. It reminds me of my wife’s shampoo, but can’t think of the name, and a fruity scented tanning lotion she uses sometimes. It’s intriguing to smell because it’s so different, and I do enjoy it on my wife more so than on me. Maybe there are some men that can never pull this off, but on me it would be polar opposite of who I am. On my wife it makes her smell even yummier. As with many Al Rehab fragrances this gem is utter beast mode! It easily lasts all day, and the time I tested it on my arm I could smell it even after a shower.
Africana has “tropical” and “summer” written all over it. It reminds me of an African store I visit sometimes in NYC… the kind of perfume a beautiful ethnic woman would wear, or any woman that is more of an laid back kind of gal. I can see her sitting at the beach wearing only her bathing suit and a grin while sipping on one of those umbrella drinks on a tropical Island chatting with her friends. It’s not a fragrance you wear on special occasions – it’s a fun time kind of scent. And I disagree with those reviews that call this perfume immature or for young teens. If that’s how you feel… then you really need to get outside more and have fun people!
Africana is unquestionably a ‘having fun in the sun’ kind of perfume. I don’t see it as a work scent, evening scent, date scent, or any special occasion. As for romantic encounters, this is the sex on the beach perfume that is guaranteed to make it a memorable moment It’s strictly for letting your hair down and enjoying the exotic scent of tropical climates, particularly Africa.
Projection 9/10
Longevity 9/10
Uniqueness 10/10
Value 10/10 ($2.99 is a no brainer)
Scent:for Men: 5/10.
Scent for Women: 8/10
chunj – :
Well this is different!
The notes and the accords do not seem to apply to Africana.
Africana is a carbonated, sweet alcoholic beverage. It starts off very powdery with a pink bubble gum nuance and then veers off into this sweet carbonated beverage (Campari?). It’s like a sweet, fruity-citric beer. It’s definitely not a liqueur or wine.You can feel the “fizzy” and bubbles on your nose as you smell this. It’s very strong and lasts for days if you get it on your jacket/clothes.
Hipsters and those searching for unique signature fragrances are sure to enjoy this.
Very interesting, but not my personal style.
slekt – :
Totally fun…but could go wrong so fast though! This is the SWEETEST perfume I have ever smelled. It is a mix of banana taffy and juicy fruit gum..not to be taken too seriously. I can’t wait to wear it hanging out this summer by the pool and enjoying time with family..not really a church or work scent.
sidou1 – :
First of all, I am glad I heeded the warnings of others and applied this on my ankles because this is STRONG. Projection is HUGE. It is no joke. I am getting something totally different than everyone else. Something almost nutty or chocolate but very sweet. Also some earthy undertones. I feel very Earth Mamma when I wear this. Not sure if that is my vibe. I am eager to see how long it lasts.
SSS-001 – :
It took me a while to work out what this reminded me of (and it’s something I still have stashed away as I liked it bit it was discontinued) UK superdrug melon crush body spray…but it also has a little of something else in a little bit like champagne (pre yvresse) or fiori di krizia..I don’t know if it’s a floral note or fizzy vanilla or a bit of both. I like it anyway. It is definitely unusual and definitely strong.
MUJKA – :
It is a very very strong scent. As the name implies, this perfume is more suitable for use in the countries of Africa, meaning that you should wear it in the outdoor during very hot season. Otherwise it will kill other people noses.
Вадим Байов – :
this one is strong really strong. Its that strong that ist makes me sick. Always got a roller in my collection to troll my bro and sis. I put it on them when there sleeping and they wake up to wash it off, but guess what its stays looool. I hide it afterwards so they cant use it agianst me. hahahhahha i know its not nice.
zolot9876 – :
This is in regards to the roller oil: It smells very reminiscent of old-school gumballs (before being chewed). My particular oil is a BEAST. I’m currently wearing a 1/2 inch applied to one arm, and rubbed to the other. 2 hours later and it is projecting enormously….and I’m wearing long sleeves!
If you decide to try, go really light, and maybe try to apply a decent distance from your face – maybe your waist? Trust me, your clothing won’t interfere with this one at all…
492_00 – :
Truly a difficult scent to review. In a good way. 🙂 There is so much here, and it all smells searingly sweet, fruity, and very appealing. That is odd thing for me to say, as I do not like fruity scent in general. However, Africana is quite unique!
Here we have a sweet fruit and floral vibe that is not one fruit or flower so much as a wonderful melange. (I persist in feeling there are some fruits here that I’ve yet to see in any supermarket!) It’s heady and overwhelming at this point, and I am now getting hints of YEAST??? But so it is. Therefore, I’m not a bit surprised at people’s mention of the scent smelling of beer! Thankfully, no brewery on me, but fresh baked rolls mixed into the fruit and flowers and greenery.
So far it resembles the smell of a fantastic tropical green house with an outdoor market nearby? The fruity greenness juxtaposed against the yeast is also that of lush growing plants. You can see why descriptions fail me at this point….
Looking at the notes, I should have immediately guessed the orange, but never in a million years would have guessed pink pepper. NO! I seldom ever get on with this note in perfumery, and here not only do I not smell pink pepper, but it behaves perfectly on my skin. Yay. Another lovely surprise is that one of the flowers I’m smelling turns out to be IRIS. Oh, Iris, how I love thee! Once I saw the note listed here I could readily begin to smell and associate some of the floral aspect of Africana with this heady flower. I have a happy history with IRIS. For me, Iris goes a long way to explaining how something this exotic could at once feel so familiar and beloved!
To sum up, this is one of the few Al Rehabs I fell in love with almost instantaneously, and also one of their power houses. I feel like I’m wearing a playful, super-concentrated Niche without the high price tag. Not a safe blind buy, obviously. Only the adventuresome need apply. Be prepared to be blown away by your own sillage trail!
Five Star <3
coliter – :
I am working (on) the familiarity of this scent. As soon as I had the box in my hand, the scent hit my nostrils. Some of the liquid had leaked onto the cardboard. The exact thing it reminds me of, eludes me. But I know this smells like home. Pollen, trees, dust and something brewing and even fermenting. I know this smell so well, but my memory is all askew. It is a searingly sweet, powdery melange. I am figuring a flower in the summer heat, pollen billowing off into the wind and the flower giving off an intoxicating scent to the ether. Dry dust cloud swirling, crying out for the rain. It could even be the smell of a beverage, maybe home brewed beer…I love this!
AggreSSor-Poster – :
An Al Rehab supplier sent me this in error, so was able to keep at no cost.
I have a few Al Rehab fragrances and tend to like the Oudy/Rose/Spicy ones.
Africana is not in any of these categories. It is the 35ml spray that I have and had 4 sprays at 11a.m ,can still smell this 10 hrs later and my skin is prone to make fragrance disappear quickly.
As to the smell ,it reminds me of jelly ( Jello for those the other side of the pond!) plus some sort of pungent tropical fruit. Then after an hour this dies down to a juicy fruit /bubblegum sort of smell with the jelly not being in the foreground.
It certainly is unique but I’m glad I was around the house and not in an enclosed environment because I think people would possibly not react favourably to this.
Personally I don’t mind it but would have to be in the mood on a cool day. Oh and also I can smell a sweety/ coca cola element too , that is now, after the all day wear.
Unsure on this but perhaps worth buying for the novelty value to see if you have encountered anything else as STRANGE!!
razobints – :
I thought I would like this since I love many of the Al Rehabs. However, there is a predominant green apple note that takes over on my skin and won’t quit and drowns out everything else. I wonder if I applied just a dab and layered it with a spicy scent..maybe it would be like apple pie..a yummy autumn fragrance?
vasilek – :
You folks have intrigued me! Something associated with so much hate must be tested. It sounds to me like another opportunity to LAYER! I love to take a horrible scent and a boring scent and come out with something fabulous!
faridovich – :
I have a lot of fragrances and I find something I like in all of them some more than other. This is the worse thing I have ever smelled. Previous reviews have mentioned the brewing fruit smell and I agreed 100% it smells like rotting fruit turning to alcohol. I can’t wear it at all it makes my stomach turn I had to bin it it’s shocking. Suppose the longevity is very good although do you want to smell like rotting fruit for 8 hours. Honestly I know it’s only £4 but buy one of the other rehab fragrances instead or buy bleach and dose yourself in that you will still smell better
ermak62 – :
I get a lot of pink pepper out of this oil. It’s very heavily sweet when first applied, but given a chance to develop, it starts warming up with amber and sandalwood. I don’t really know what green mandarin smells like, but to me, there is a LOT of fruit and floral on top. The iris is definitely there.
I don’t think I’ll be using this a lot. Way too sweet for my tastes and it takes too long to mellow out. It ends up just giving me a headache. For those wanting a different recommendation, Saat Safa is a nice winter and fall fragrance. It’s got a lot of the nice spices and woods that I wanted out of this without the cloying sweetness.
Dimedrol – :
Smells like very strong sweet cherry fizzy drink which later morphs on your skin into bubblegum. It’s nice if you’re in that kind of mood. The sillage is excellent, leaves a nice trail.
Aminoochek – :
I received Africana today, and I’m going to heartily agree with paxtaran… overripe fruit/brewing liqueur. It smells like alcoholic, fermented fruit with incense swirling in the background. If I had to pin down which fruit, I’d say it would be pears. While Africana isn’t exactly offensive, it doesn’t do much for me. I could live without it.
While my experience has been that Al-Rehab attars not only radically unfold on the skin during the day, many of them also smell different to me after a few weeks. I find myself thinking, “Even if I thought this oil smelled gorgeous after a month, would other people smell what I did when I first bought it and think to themselves, ‘she smells like liqueur’?”
I’m going to try blending Africana with a few other oils.
niknegru – :
This is what I’m getting- I could be way off:
Head: orange peel, papaya, mango, melon
Heart: cassis, vanilla, fig, tuberose, licorice, cumin, cinnamon, clove
Base: benzoin, vetiver, tonka, patchouli, leather, sandalwood, nitro-musk
Very unusual… prominent spiced-fruit, woody floriental. Back in the 70’s, a friend of my mother wore either a perfume or scented lotion not unlike ‘Africana’. I have no clue what it was, but upon smelling this fragrance, my mind was immediately brought back to those years. I actually begin to like ‘Africana’ after about 30 minutes as the overpowering candied-orange peel note mellows a bit; at this point, it calls to mind mulled wine/glühwein… or a mixture of fruits stewing in a kettle. So, if you’re just trying this one, give it some time to settle.
Longevity on me at ~70F: prominent/noticeable until about 12h with a heavy sillage at first, slowly fading down to moderate; trails off to the lower heart and base after that, but can still be detected as a skin-scent (ie: “close”) at the 17h mark.
And the 24h mark.
If you dig it, check out ‘Balkis’ in the same line- which is far less fruity, but obviously by the same nose and much-more accessible, in my opinion.
EDIT 29Feb16: I had an urge to experience this fragrance again for some reason; I seem to be intrigued by its oddness! This time, I wore it on my ankles… yes, not on my wrists or anywhere close to my face… and found it rather delightful as I caught occasional, diluted wafts. Africana is powerful, powerful stuff… and it lasts beyond 24 hours on my skin. The far drydown is my favorite part, after the fruit recedes and the musky-ambery base is unshrouded.
EDIT 2Oct17: I forgot how nuclear this stuff was… and rolled my forearms with 2-3 paths each. It’s been an hour now, and the scent is a bit overwhelming. It is much better to apply this to the lower-body (ankles or knees, etc.). Hopefully I’ll remember this next time!
77660540267 – :
Very strong fruity scent but not the usual fruity at all. It reminds me of overripe fruit or brewing liqueur or perhaps of pink bubble gum incense. Certainly not meh at all but rather I am asking myself would I want to smell like this? Hmm. If the idea of a fruity floral attar appeals to you, I recommend checking out Al Haramain Makkah.
Skuf – :
very different as a perfume but very much the same smell as shrimp sweets from the 70’s and 80’s. You know those foamy pink shrimp shaped sweets they sometimes sell nowadays with yellow foam banana sweets.
Bought Aroosah at the same time, which was very strong on the saffron.
Mixed the two together and makes a very nice perfume. The sweet, candy Africana turned Aroosah into a loveable different perfume. Hey presto!! So now don’t have to through away Aroosah or give the Africana to a young teenager 🙂
spartak301 – :
Here are some things I associate with Africa (sorry if they are on the stereotypical side)
* red-hot chili spiciness (like some of the food in Ghana)
* black musk, like the pelts of animals (another Arabian oil, musk al-Kaaba, smells of this)
* dusty dryness, maybe a bit of vetiver
* mimosa or night-blooming jasmine kind of sweetness
Al-Rehab Africana is none of this. Instead, it is all about a rich, sweet fruit paste, infused with oil, maybe. A review I once read (negative review) likened it to synthetic apples and nothing much else. I disagree. I do get the apple note, but it is tempered with a sweet floral and it is not of the green, acidic variety. Africana has no citrus nor sour tones whatsoever. However, I am hard put to identify what the constituent fruits might be. It may, however, have a tiny bit of synthetic oud.
rudik1991 – :
A very nice, sticky-sweet, juicy-fruity fragrance. Smells like pears on me?
Completely linear. Good longevity. It’s noticeable close-up, but no huge projection – just as well, as this might easily become choking.
Despite its sticky sweetness this is very much a summer scent to me, to be worn during the day. Casual and fun and rather yummy.
Excellent price and a little bit unusual, a great replacement for the more common fruity celebbyscents.