A powerhouse of citrus, woods, spices and leather.
Deep but not dark. Rich, warming, luxurious.
Christian Povenzano has made his claim to fame with many fantastic creations in the industry, but Halfeti may be his most famous and instantly recognisable piece of work. This is Penhaligon’s crowning glory, their best selling scent by far and the fragrance which really blew them up - and for good reason. It’s a gorgeously dry yet smooth woody base of cedar, leather and amber, contrasted by a slightly green aromatic note of cypress. Alongside this, a touch of smooth, warming spiciness from saffron and cardamom gives it that allure. It’s absolutely fantastic, genius even - it’s simply a scent you cannot dislike. You’ve likely smelled it everywhere, not only due to its popularity but also because this is the scent Penhaligon’s pump out into the street from their shops to draw you in. The Halfeti scent profile can also be subtle detected in a number of their other creations such as Mr Sam. It’s simply a scent profile which sells brilliantly.
For all of the notes listed, Chopard's Oud Malaki is identical and waaaaay cheaper. This is not to say that Halfeti isn't a good fragrance, but why bother when you can get the same excellent scent, performance and quality for a fraction of the cost? 🤷
Wow Shocking! Not the fragrance the fact that I haven't ever written a review of Halfeti. For those that don't know Halfeti outsells every other Penhaligon's release combined by some margin too, people go F'in mad for the stuff! There's something magnetic and addictive about the stuff. I agree with my pal Cortland in a sense too that this is quite a synthetic (well he said cheap) smelling fragrance and certainly not the authentic Oud experience. However it has the same feeling I get from another futuristic and hyper clean, airy neo-oud oriental in the shape of Geza Schoen's Niwab of Oud. I'm in no way suggesting they smell similar BTW I prefer the OJ to this but I actually love this as well. It has an opulent, musky lightness touches of rose and saffron but not in huge amounts, and although light, does have a heft in terms of lasting power and a powdery, leathery opulence and some sting in the tail too. It's a bomb of woody amber aroma chemicals, I can smell them and I don't care. There's a smooth transition in how they are presented. I revisited Mr Sam on the same day and sprayed on the other hand and they do indeed share this modern, synthetic woody, amber sharpness however I find the plummy top of Mr Sam to be irritating after the first few seconds of 'mmmm...that's nice.' Halfeti is much more beguiling and harder to reach, I'm not sure why I love it so? Many people have clearly been hooked by this scent too, returning to I, I feel a certain way about it. I have Levantium which to me is much more authentic and naturalistic smelling to me, clearly more rosey too but I get why I had this as a love and a 'want it' when returning to this page after not trying this since probably it's release...whenever that was now?
