Best Dark Romance by Zara Alternatives & Similar Perfumes

A seductive intriguing incense with a floral touch: the sweet haze of amber and caramel are carrying hints of honeyed jasmine and lily-of-the-valley filled with cooling dew.

Perfumer: Margaux le Paih-Guérin

Technically tonka are nuts as they come from a tree (whereas a bean is a seed of a legume). ‘Tonka beans’ is a misnomer but also phrase used to refer to them in perfumery, cooking, etc. In Happy Nuts tonka is key note contributing to the delicious nuts roasted in caramel fragrant idea. The name could be a suggestive euphemism or just a reference to tonka being promoted to their accurate botanical rank – nuts.

Hélène Napoleone was the daughter of Napoleon’s last lover, Albine de Montholon, and although it was never confirmed if the now-exiled Emperor was indeed her father, he did give her his name, so…? Her namesake fragrance is a vivacious bouquet of fruits and florals, headlined by sparkling pear and creamy magnolia. The charm deepens with the amber base, warmed by sandalwood and patchouli.

Purple line

Perfumer: Fabrice Pellegrin

A powdery floral perfume in which jasmine and orange blossom become an icing sugar explosion and then turn into a lush floral shower again with the help of fresh roses.

The soft, gentle, enveloping fragrance of Teint de Neige in its most concentrated version. Recalling images and atmosphere of the belle-époque, with sweet and powdery notes of jasmine, rose, ylang-ylang on a base of musk, tonka beans and heliotrope.

In 203 sweet berries meet rose and radiant amber.

Bon Parfumeur open olfactive dimensions and invite you to add your own story. Try 203 if you like carefree sunny perfumes full of fragrant references to summer: ripe berries, sea breeze, blooming roses and jasmine.

Perfumer for 203: Corinne Cachen

Light, sand, dreams of faraway places. This creamy tropical floral is built around insinuating jasmine sambac and tiare, fleshed out with coconut and vanilla. A sun lotion accord conjures bare skin gleaming on the beach, while sandalwood lends comfortable milkiness.

“Bain de minuit” is French for “skinny dipping”, and what could be more decadent than a midnight splash au natural in a giant vat of strawberries, cherries and vanilla? The initial fruity-tootiness gives way to a tough ‘n’ tropical accord of monoï oil and leather, with jasmine and praline singing the high and low harmonies.

Perfumer: Julien Plos

The charming and playful dancer warms up before her debut. Talented and passionate she radiates confidence and anticipation. Deliciously, exciting and unexpected. Sweet almond and ripe cherries contrast with sandalwood and vanilla for a floral, sweet and woody intensity. 

Gratia Aestiva is Latin for “summer grace”, and this extrait is an absolute abundance of sundrunk fruit. Punchy pineapple, melon and strawberry wave a big HELLO right out of the bottle, while passion fruit, with its tangy, grapefruit bite, tempers the sweetness with rawness. Indian jasmine adds floral fullness on a spiced bed of coriander and ambered woods. On the right side of too much.