Karagoz

It smells like a dryer shirt or clean clothes but it’s way stronger than a dryer sheet to the point it’s quite synthetic and unwearable. Sometimes I get a nice grape note but only sometimes because it’s not the main star of the show. I smell a oud style note when I get close to my shirt but it’s basically a laundry detergent like the guy below me said which is crazy I was about to say the same thing and I didn’t read his comment til now so I mentioned the other laundry ingredients it also smells like so my comment isn’t identical. If you want to smell like a laundry basket with a hint of grape and a hint of oud spend the high price. It smells like a dupe of Nasomatto Black afgano too sometimes. The Nasomatto is way better.

Smells like old school laundry detergent.

It’s too strong for me. I know that’s crazy for me to say, seeing that I love beast mode and heavy fragrances that most people who don’t collect fragrances wouldn’t like, but there’s something about this that is just TOO strong for me. Almost like it could give me a headache if I put this on. In my opinion, there are better Nishane fragrances to spend your money on.

There are perfumes that find you. For real. Maybe you don’t like how they smell from the bottle, or you’re not impressed when you first spray them. Then, out of curiosity, you try them on your skin and realize they create the perfect chemical reaction with you. That’s Karagoz for me. Since then, it has become one of my signature fragrances. I’ve read so many mixed and negative reviews of this fragrance, but on my skin, it feels magical. People constantly compliment me when I wear it, and I can actually feel how the scent creates this amazing energy around me. This happens. Your skin and your signature perfume just find each other. It’s hard to explain, but those who have experienced it will understand exactly what I’m trying to say. I wish every Karagoz user could experience what I experience with this perfume. Or, at the very least, I hope everyone gets to experience what I have with Karagoz with their own signature fragrance.

Synthetic grape that reminds me of an art room filled with paint, which then dries down to a pure pissy green note. The only redeeming part about the fragrance is the color of the juice. 1.5/6

this smells like eating goats cheese and drinking mandarine juice. not a good combo.

Smells exactly like Carolina Herrera Bad Boy Le Parfum bottled in fancy Nishane package.

Nishane #3 – Opposites I was aware of the fact that Karagoz and Hacivat are two perfumes that are connected in concept and brief. Karagoz and Hacivat are the names of two folk characters present on the scene of Turkish shadow puppet theaters and they represent two contrasting personalities, but it all goes deeper then that. Hacivat is the aristocratic, well spoken, well behaved, smart and cultured character. Karagoz (the name meaning “Blackeye”) on the other hand represents a simple, illiterate, brutish but straight-forward, witty and street-smart character. If you ask me, they seem like satires on the different social classes or comedic, generalised and stereotypical representations of the personalities that make them up these classes. Its a whimsical way of portraying the age-old struggles and interactions between the “upperclass” and the “peasantry” When it comes to the fragrances, i am thoroughly impressed by Hacivat but it doesn’t strike me as a scent that fits an aristocratic personality. I found it too playful for that and if anything, Aventus, the one people constantly compare it to, better matches such a character. If i think about it tho, the smooth character of the perfume could represent traits of the upper class puppet character. If i view Karagoz with that in mind, it does a decent job at creating an opposing impression because its rougher character can be seen as a mirror reflection of the smooth Hacivat. Karagoz is green, wild and sharp. It is a coarse scent and this coarseness is amongst one of the traits attributed to the puppet-character aswell. Im inclined to say that Karagoz’s scent has done a better job in portraying the character its named after then Hacivat’s. There is a synthetic and straight-forward nature to the scent and that too feels like an artistic and deliberate choice ment to fit the story rather then a mistake because the other two Nishanes i’ve tested so far were high quality and smooth scents. I was certain there’s Neroli here because its telltale qualities are present, blasting on full volume. I also get the illusion of Sage but that might also be the Neroli. Unfortunately i do not get the sweet sides of the perfume at all and im not surprised because im very sensitive to Neroli and it tends to hijack a perfume’s scentprofile whenever its present. The notes of pineapple and grape are there supporting the overall sharp quality of the scent with their acidity and sourness but the actual fruity side of the notes struggles to come to the surface. Only in the long drydown they get more noticeable for me. At the end of the day, Karagoz is a sharp, sour-fruity neroli perfume. Circling back to the puppet characters, Karagoz is the more popular, appreciated and empathised with of the two because its the underdog that people connect with. I myself might also side with Karagoz’s character but when it comes to the perfumes i clearly side with Hacivat. Even tho im not a stranger from rougher scents by any means, Karagoz’s neroli dominant scentprofile doesn’t particularly appeal to me whilst the smooth, sweet fruity and pleasant profile of Hacivat is very much to my liking.

Havalimanında deneme şansım oldu. Benim için iyi anlamda meyveli bir dokunuş ile beyaz toz deterjan gibi kokuyor. Buram buram temizlik kokuyor. Sabunsu kokuları seviyorsanız şans verebilirsiniz

Sweet fizzy grape with a base of woods. Linear and to the point, sweet but mysterious. Worth it to get from discounters. Highly recommend just spraying on the back of your neck, I live in a tropical country, but Karagoz lasted for 12+ hours from 9am till 10pm+++ with just one spray on the back of my neck and one spray on my clothes.

Really sweet and long-lasting.

Drinking Grape Koolaid on a laundry day! I get the sweetness of grapes and mixed fruit with laundry detergent and dryer sheets. The only one I own from house that was a blind buy and I’m happy I did! 👌🏾

Grapes / cherries. Syrupy sweet, with a little woodiness. Smells nice but it's one-dimensional and a bit soapy.

I fully agree with the reviewer that comennted that this smells like TIDE (the laundry detergent). Thank you for the comment bc I would have never picked it up based on the notes but your comment made me order a sample right away, I've been looking for this type of scent for ages. 😂 Boyfriend said it smells like 1 Million but let's ignore that. Also, how the f*ck did the perfumer cook a laundry detergent from these notes??? Wdym grapes and herbs 😭 I smell tuberose but whatever

What do Karagoz and Hacivat have in common? Both are central characters in traditional Turkish shadow theater. As perfumes, I think they’re both versatile, leaning toward the spring/summer seasons, and they offer great performance. Although Karagoz as a character is more famous, imo, Hacivat as a perfume is more popular. Back to the scent, I truly believe Karagoz is a great fragrance that deserves a proper, in-depth try—but it shouldn’t be directly compared to Hacivat.

Really don't get the hate with this, fantastic scent with good and unique notes. The opening is beautifully fruity mixed and with the dry down it goes down to good mysterious oud type fragrance. I haven't had this long enough to give a full one review that includes performance, compliment getter and etc. Will get back as soon as I have figured that one out. However, I do believe that this is blind buy safe due to the incredible scent and uniqueness.

I could not have guessed a single one of these notes from smelling this scent alone. Karagoz is nothing more than a lazy cash-grab, aimed at the mass market to try and persuade them to spend 3x the amount of money they usually do, for the same scent. There is nothing unique, creative or distinctive about this mess. It’s overloaded with scratchy ambers and cloying woods, to the point it smells like you tried to layer every designer perfume on the shelf of boots all at once. Nishane confuse me. Across their catalogue of perfumes, some are utterly brilliant and undeniably impressive, whilst others are just complete slop. What’s going on?

Not a blind buy thing , all i smell is just disturbing herbal notes , there is no fruity things at all and just disappointment. With the time perfume gets darker and better but absolutely not interesting.

Don't really understand the negative reviews this is just a niche Rasasi Hawas / Invictus... sure it's a bit simple and basic but the smell is great and fruity

One of the favs. Reminds me of both Philosykos and Amouage Reflection. The fruity notes are great and very realistic. It is super pleasant. I think it's a blind buy.

I try to be careful with words and descriptions I use in reviews and I myself have been turned off by reading just one review that used an unappealing descriptors like “grandma”, “vomit”, “BO”, “fishy”, “pickle”, and I don’t want to say anything too strongly that could sway someone out of something without themselves first giving it a chance, as fragrance is ofc highly subjective, but sorry to say, this is a stinker! Smells like a cheap men’s deodorant with a pitiful, sickening fruity note added. What comes to mind when I smell this is a sweaty man who has doused himself in a cheap deodorant or body spray instead of wearing perfume. The type that people smell and make funny looks to each other behind his back because his smell is so obnoxious and bad. There’s something so unctuous about this. I also get a nauseating cheap laundry detergent scent - I couldn’t believe I was the only one mentioning that, but far down a gent also mentioned a similar feeling of laundered clothing - but not in a nice way. A cloying mess. Absolutely hideous scent.

Sad disappointment as when I first tried this, I thought I finally found my warm weather signature. It is not your typical summer freshie with a fuckton of citruses, instead you get an unusual syrupy-medicinal-thick combination of grapes and pineapple. The thing is however, what makes it unique also turns me off on the long run. This is fairly linear, not developing that much at all, while retaining that syrupy profile throughout, which makes it cloying at the end. Despite being unique and hard to compare to anything I have come across, it is hard to wear throughout the day without getting overwhelmed with it. It has to do something with that syrupy edge, as I have not felt the same even with my strongest fragrances. The quality is typical Nishane, it is oily as fuck, and the packaging is magnificent, therefore the price is OK, but I think there are better offerings on the lighter side of the spectrum by them (unfortunately I cannot stand the Hacivat DNA).

This one is really interesting and surprising. The herbal notes are very fresh, I think I detect a bit of sweet mint overall, keeps it moving and lively. The grape note is the fruity one I smell most, and the Jasmin. Overall the scent is balanced too sweet for my taste generally and while very pleasant is not something I'd want to be wearing regularly or for more than a short period. Smells very good, but not in the spectrum I like. Fruity, sweet, I'd like the darker/earthier notes to hit a bit stronger. Ironically my partner would like less of the earthy notes like patchouli and it to be a bit more unbridled sweetness. So there is that. It's a very pleasing scent, just not one I want to live in.

I have just sprayed this Its fine but no wonder Hacivat is the popular one. Its ok though, have to test this couple more times. Edit: Its drydown becomes interesting but Its not for me, its unplesant to my nose but I its very subjective. Can be good for some people but at least it has some character so a little bit better than your sephora average designer fragrance. Has good performance.

Picked a 2ml sample of this up recently and really didn't care for it. (A couple of sprays on the back of my hand followed by occasional sniffs to see how it developed). Gave it a full wearing a few days later and damn!!!! This is rather magical in the air for me. I don't pick up the pineapple at all. Just lots of grape...... A grapey, medicinal, oudy, soapy, clean laundry scent bubble. Definitely not for everyone as others have stated. There's quite a lot going on. This however, speaks to me 🫵 Oh, and the performance is savage too 💥

The grapes are the best part of this fragrance for me. I don't smell the pineapple. Unfortunately I'm not a fan of oud, and it's prominent in this. The quality is definitely there.

BLIND BUY: Nishane is one of my favorite fragrance houses of all time. This is a dark, upfront, charred grape smell, it hits hard and might be unpleasant to the nose at first, but I've never smelled anything like it. I think this is a bold masculine centered fragrance but isn't OD. The other comments saying it's a little synthetic and soapy (Axe) aren't wrong, but it doesn't define it. Great longevity, great sillage, you can wear this anywhere. Also the bottle gives Batman vibes.

Absolutely gorgeous. Bright pineapple and grape harmonized with earthiness, a wee touch of floralness and STRONG classy oud. You WILL be noticed while wearing this. Unfortounately its not for everyone, either a hit or miss. I personally want to inject this into my nostrils.

This is definite axe/lynx. Surprised to see only one other person mention this. This hurdled at my nostrils and up into my reptilian brain and said “please please no don’t do this to me.” Points if you call out which exact lynx is it…? is it Africa?! The GOAT?

Unfortunately this is bad. I dont like using the word "designer" as a negative description, because there are great designers out, but this just smells like THE most designer fragrance. Its that 3 in 1 shower gel / grape vape / axe deodorant type of smell