Description
M.Micallef is launching the new fragrance for men, AKOWA, named after the African tribe which keeps secrets and mysteries to themselves and their successors. Martine Micallef wanted to ‘celebrate a secret ingredient, which is original and enigmatic’ with the new fragrance.
AKOWA is a fragrance based on roots of y mysterious African plant and was created for demanding men who decide on their faith. Micallef perfumer team: Geoffrey Nejman and Jean Claude Astier enriched the chords of African root with notes of orange blossom, bergamot, cocoa, amber, vetiver and white musk.
The flacon is modern while its graphics symbolize dry areas of Africa. The fragrance is available as 100ml.
Akowa was launched in 2015. Akowa was created by Geoffrey Nejman and Jean-Claude Astier.
ValdyS – :
This one is odd, not bad, just odd. I simply dont know what to think of this fragrance. Its a mixture of some contradicting notes and i cant point my finger at any of them. The outcome is a scent that i simply cant describe, a fragrance that i dont have to own but one that i cant dislike either. I have never smelled something like this before.
SOMIN – :
Eau No. (On me, anyway.) I can forgive it being too punchy-male-aftershavelike for my tastes, because it’s a punchy male scent and I’m a female user. But there’s no forgiving the catastrophic and deeply uneasy mix of cacao with bergamot/lime. More a collision than a mix really. These are two things that just shouldn’t go together ever IMHO. For once, the vetiver – an ambivalent note at best for me – is not the major problem here. My major problem is really harsh scrubby overtones of bathroom scourer cream mixed with something dirtier and even sourer. A shame because the cacao seems much deeper and well done – could be lovely if set off by spice and wood instead of being soured by that Terminator-strength citrus and dirtied up with the vetiver. Might work well on the right man. But for me? Just repellent I’m afraid.
bercut – :
My first impression from a sample, smells like some purple scented erasers that I used to have in school. I’m not impressed but it is pleasant. I’ll try it again.
Edit
I tried it from a sample with deep stick. It feels safe though nothing weird about it. I get a soft-sweet woody note, very delicate. I can’t comment on the performance with this method but it doesn’t feel strong at least sillage and projection were subtle.
Edit
I tried it properly. It feels like a sub-sweet, dusty, woody-earthy vetiver with an aroma very close to some purple erasers that I used to have in school. The dustiness is a little piercing but pleasant. Dominant notes are strong vetiver, mild cacao, strong purple erasers (lol!), mild musk, dry & mild amber, mild orange blossom, faint bergamot. Akowa is a strong like for me.
Above the average longevity, moderate sillage, moderate to soft projection.
teplovik – :
It is very unique yet mysterious. At first it didn’t caught my attention. Almost no smell, nothing to attract. but, after I sprayed on my skin,,, Oh My,,, it was just heavenly,,, it is been 8 hrs passed, still I can smell earthly, dry, spicy, and something that I can’t describe but kind of fire or burning some kind of distinct scent.
Trying to understand something not spelled out yet mystery.
BeetleSadseva – :
Gorgeous vetiver musk based fragrance from the woefully underrated house of Micallef. This evocative beauty (reminiscent of my African travels) mixes in gorgeous Tchouraï and vetiver root extracts with musk and a bunch of other notes including orange blossom, bergamot, cocoa, and amber. The result is a masculine fresh cologne that radiates off my skin. Moderate in sillage/projection and long lasting, this is eclectic modern perfumery of the highest order. This one is for the adventurous explorer types. Must have an open mind to appreciate. Enjoy!
Assistedliving – :
Wore this for the first time today and I love it. I quite like the opening, it’s very different. I will see how it develops throughout the day but to me it’s a winner. I can’t really describe what I am smelling but it’s sweet yet earthy and musky but light, not overbearing and loud, kind of wish it were stronger but I am not a master perfumer so maybe it’s perfect the way it is. It seems to waft around and I get whiffs of it constantly.
Lasted all day long, I could smell it after 12 hours. Women like it as well.
I would like to thank Micallef for this one, it truly is different and wonderful.
Padoliscii – :
I spent 40 minutes in a perfumery and this is the only scent that caught my nose out of all others. I would say because, for me, it is unique.
The very popular vetiver is transformed by the cacao and amber in this scent, so don’t expect a predominant woody/mossy impression. The vetiver is used as a casing in which all the other scents are combined. What’s at the center of that cocktail is a bold and slightly sweet kind of 80s vibe. It comes off as masculine and for gentlemen in their middle years (or young people who have great taste 😀 ). I imagine John McCook as the character Eric Forrester in the Bold and the Beautiful 80s soap opera wearing this scent, but in the best way possible!
Akowa is not old-timey. It’s classic but adapted to our contemporary noses. It’s bold, distinct and commands to be worn a strong character. Not for teenagers though.
I love every second of it.
drugspino – :
Excellent niche remake of a great classic masterpiece – Rochas Lui. Lime-amber combo is stunning, with orange-vetiver drydown and a base of dirty, sexy musk. The cocoa appears after around 4 hrs on my skin.
Note – this fragrance is strong and cannot be enjoyed by sticking your nose right on it (skin or paper), you will hate it. Just spray and forget, it whafts around and smells divine.
I can see why it might be complex, challenging and weird to some but for anyone who enjoyed Lui this should be sampled.
I’m getting a bottle, soon. 5*.
faspExpamHPB – :
Desertmirage hit the nail on the head – this fragrance is strange as hell. The fragrance is so masterfully blended that it’s hard to pick out what’s all going on here – I would put this in the category of a lime-feeling fragrance, but that’s about all you get of the lime: the feeling. Aside from that, you get a cocoa dusted vetiver, and some warm amber.
It could be the advertisements, but this truly feels like the first African oriented fragrance I have tried – it’s the odd combination of the sourness of the lime, the sharp, dirty smell of the vetiver which is curbed by the dry and bitter semi-sweet smell of the cocoa makes it smell like a high-class exotic fragrance that specifically suggests a continent whose climate ranges from desert and arid to savanna plains or dense jungle.
I might be temped to call this the Terre D’hermes of the high-class African, concocted by a true Griot: thank you for the beautiful experience to both Geoffrey Nejman and Jean Claude Astier.
7/10.
YT: Jess AndWesH
Dante007 – :
I found Akowa quite disappointing. I guess I was expecting something a little more challenging but this is a grassy vetiver with orange blossom and a thin, toasted aroma that i guess is cocoa. It instantly reminded me of Parfumerie Generale’s thematically similar Djhenné, but with vetiver swapped for the lavender. I don’t like the PG and I don’t like this, the orange blossom and vetiver (ironically 2 of my favorite notes) come across grating and somewhat cheap while the cocoa clashes and never really sits right in the mix.
4/10
DoooZaaa – :
I don’t know how to describe Akowa
I hate first two hours of it
Probably because I don’t like orange blossom which is very dominant for the first two hours
But after that I just love it
Love the vetiver and the patchouli amber dry down
It is wired one to my nose
BTW the secret ingredient is TCHOURAI
hmn82 – :
I think I might eat a man like a cocoa nib if he were wearing this.
I went into this expecting odd, and possibly bad, things. I got the odd. Whatever root was used, it absolutely isn’t something I’m familiar with or can describe. If you’re into Niche scents, and what they can be when boundaries are brushed aside, you should give this a test run.
Ambered lime is just the tip of a truly bizarre iceberg of scent contradictions that keep me coming back for more, off balance and somehow mesmerised. This is animalic, certainly, but not in a way that’s easy to place and utterly in a fashion that will be off putting to some. The vetiver leans towards the dry kind I’ve found in New Orleans, almost closet sachet like, very M/. It’s spice-dry while simultaneously seeming marine. NOT aquatic, marine, with all the salt and body connotations that evokes.
Honestly, this wears me more than I wear it, but I am fascinated by it, and the man who could pull this off . . . well, I’d be impressed.
zaurbek2003 – :
This Frag unlike Micallef fragrances doesn’t have clear personality
U can’t even detect combination between notes
Is it vetiver sure
Orange yes but nothing done in a nice way
Cane sugar who knows ?
Tuberose also possible
Soapy ????
Big disappointment this is not what I used
With this house
zeldamidnahentai – :
Scent – amber lime, dark cocoa, rooted vetiver & musk.
Season/Time of Day – I prefer to use this one in the colder months, at night.
Projection – I did get noticed, it garners compliments.
Longevity – I get 12hrs consistently
presto – :
Unfortunately, this smells like dry erase markers on my skin. Seek joy elsewhere.
evgen72men – :
The top note of this one is amazingly mesmerizing as it bust in an essence i haven’t smell before! something quite nutsy and a bit ambery with something i can’t define unless i try it again!
BUT when it calmed down on THE PLOTTER it turned into something quite disturbing! a metallic aquatic lemony with a dirty vetiver! as the white musk turned into dark in away that bursts my stomach & orders me to vomit each time I sniff it! that was on the PLOTTER. BUT today when i had this on a plotter, i remember that i might have had it as well on my hand which i am sniffing right now, it is completely different! it is exactly like the smell of Roja Dove Reckless
which is my GEM but still not sure if it was akowa yet, so i need to test it again.
So far the plotter said it’s opinion and completely no for the plotter no more.
k21 – :
Pleasant enough, but nothing special. And I cannot identify all notes listed on it’s pyramid. This comes across as a citrusy vetiver, and that’s about it. Pass.
fzokshcu – :
Not my cup of tea you get the vetiver for sure and the citus!
5/10