Black III
Widian

Black III starts off sharp and citrusy with a mint undertone. Then subtle smoke rises intertwined with creamy woods , moss, and vanilla. And that's basically where it ends. Its an obvious reinterpretation Memoir Man, only this one feels two dimensional whereas Memoir has more complexity. However, if you think Memoir is a bit too much, this one might be for you.

Of AJ Arabia / Widian's Black III fragrance:

Starts out fresh and minty, touched with aromatic bergamot. I've smelled this combination before elsewhere...surprisingly, in non-niche colognes that weren't altogether great.

Here, Black III smells strangely unspecial, non-exotic compared to other scents in Widian's collection. Leather is noticeable, adding a warmth to the opening combo. Patchouli steps forward casually, as does some moss and vanilla powdery sweetness.

The resulting scent doesn't feel niche to me. It's an okay woody-spicy-leather fragrance that isn't offensive per se: Black III just is average, uninspiring, even a bit pedestrian and forgettable.

Lurid lime and leather opening, madly unbalanced as it is drenched in a downpour of syrup. Under this unrelenting rain of the sweets it settles to a vanilla-infused leather with the barest hint of something herbal that smells as if it cost cents to produce. Garish beyond words, quite unlike the sophisticated presentation of the bottle and packaging. Yet another triumph of style over substance.

A respectable green chypre that has a distinctive 'barbershop aspect'. It comes on strong and minty but mossy, then the vanilla comes in. I'm enjoying this for its green/woodiness and I think I'd enjoy it on a man. It's just a little too masculine for me, however. It's the sandalwood here that I'm picking up on, I realized. This is a very good sandalwood but that's what gives it that barbershop effect.

Surprisingly harsh, this reminds me more of a Nu_Be scent than anything from the Lattafa line. There's a chemical called Isobutyl Quinoline that's often used to get a leather effect, and it's way abused in this perfume. A totally unbalanced leather/cardamom/rubber effect – I can't imagine anybody would want to smell like this. By far the roughest that I've tried from this line, and certainly not one for the timid. It belies both the blingy bottle as well as the faux-Arabic chic aesthetic.