Cool Heights Zara for men

This was a panic buy for me back in the day. I had my first job interview after graduation at some tower, in formal attire, and I forgot to bathe in my favourite at that time, Dior Homme Intense while in a dizzy state of mind.

I strongly believe that you make an impression on people with your style and scent. And I am obsessed with fragrances as much as my budget allows me. Being a fresh graduate and without financial support, I entered a Zara store to get me a "9.0" (which was the closest thing to Dior Homme Intense at Zara). But they were out of stock and Cool Heights was the best available option to my nose among all the others.

Decent sillage, freakish longevity. Current Zara Gold is nowhere near this juice.

Remember Animale Animale? Cool Heights is like a shitty Glade knock off with the pineapple turned up to 11 and a bizarre, scorched circuitry ozone note added. The dry down has the leather, too, but none of the gorgeous animalic musks. And yet... It's wearable. I don't know why I go back to it. In the same oddly compelling way that DS Durgas Vio Volta is -almost- too weird to wear, this hisses laundry musk and pineapple at you like white noise at heart stopping volume. This is Animale stuck in the uncanny valley.

I strongly suggest whoever is back from a rampage perfume test at Zara do not venture theirselves in reviews cause it’s easy to get confused and give opinions on the wrong fragrance. Whoever says it reminds of Aventus clearly has problems with his nose or never tried Aventus or tried Vibrant Leather instead, that is worrying since some trust reviews. The only comparison could be with Paco Rabanne Black XS and so with Zara Man Gold or previous Zara Gold that you might already own. It does open like the two Zara but soon it turns in something better and more woody than initial strawberry pralines. If you don’t own Gold and you fancy PRBXS give it a go when it is on heavy discount, since the original is now discounted and cost the same amount.

Classical Jerome Epinette style fragrance. I like his nose. He always use bergamot and pineapple at the opening. Base notes usually different but the scents are usually same. This one has a good quality like vibrant leather. It smells like "Bond no.9 Scent of Peace for Men". Just the opening is a little bit different.

I find this kind of repulsive. I sprayed it on my wrist in a Zara store with the expectation of it being the best fragrance in that Zara collection (A Day In Mexico, White Soho...) and I was not disappointed at first. However, the more I smelled it the more nauseous I felt.

This smells to me like one of those apple juices you might get in a flight meal. The ones which you instantly think "Ok, this has anything but apple in it". Now add some lemon to the mix and you get exactly this. As someone said below, this is very reminiscent of Zara Gold, but I like that one a lot better since it's not that "in your face".

This is definitely not for me, but I believe it could be a pleasant smell for someone walking past or something. With that being said, wearing this for a full day? Hell no. Not me.

5/10.

I smell pineapple, that's all, and not a fresh way, too strong too heavy.
It gives me motion sickness

First things first, I'm not wired, people. I'm serious. I'm sitting here polishing some shoes and it occurred to me that I like the smell of shoe polish. I mean, I don't go around 'huffing' it and there is such a thing as too much, but this stuff is so damn good. You may be wondering what shoe polish has to do with all this, and you will find out right soon if you stay with me.

The opening of Cool Heights is all about fruity and citrus accord, it is fresh, I get a sort of sweetish berries, cherries, and plenty of oranges citrus peel and juice aroma. After trying it at the store, it took me 2-3 hours to figure out what this is similar to. Albeit I've seen many people comparing this with Paco Rabanne Black XS, that feeling is only at the opening for a little while. There is even a spicy edge in the opening, the Sichuan peppercorn characteristic smell stands out. Then, Cool Heights takes a different path and vibe and turns into a fragrance full of woody and smoky subtleties.

About 10 minutes later, the heart begins unveiling its notes, a watery violet appears with fresh and wet facets, yet not aquatic in a salty or marine manner. And here I got the biggest surprise, Cool Heights emanates a lovely mild leather odor, which is ain't reminiscent of a leather jacket or suede glows, but a kind of like freshly polished boots. There is a hint of shoe polish or boot polish odor, smelling like turpentine, tasting like gum, something akin to carnauba wax and Stoddard solvent, with the chemicals so strong that inhaling them produces dizziness and giddiness as huffing gasoline. I hope I haven't frightened you because this feeling is anything but unpleasant.

The dry down is supposed to be nothing but sweetish amber since one of the listed notes is the roasted tonka. Though, at least on my skin, Cool Heights releases a trail full of smoky, dry, and sulfurous woody accords. None of the following notes are listed, yet I get a blending among fumy incense, mild spices, and gentle patchouli which over the fruity notes unfold their effects to mold the ultimate aroma. After a slew of hours, a more comfortable incense vibe keeps rising in the air, yet not a church-like olibanum. The very final trail reminds Vibrant Leather, the leather note is alike.

I have to be honest, this is way more quality smelling than what I expected and it is one of the longest-lasting Zara I’ve ever tried, the performance is around all day long if you wear it as an office scent, whereas the sillage is pretty much close to the skin. I sprayed a few whiffs yesterday evening before going out for dinner, and with my big surprise, it was the first thing I smelt when I woke up this morning and took off my t-shirt. In my humble opinion, Cool Heights is for women and men alike. A natural composition that speaks of culture and wisdom. A scent that is deep, elegant, glorious, and sophisticated, a fragrance for lovers of niche houses with complex, dark, smokey nuances. Of course, cool months of Autumn are the best period for wearing this violet juice, both during the day and evening.

I normally never write reviews here but I had to for this one.

after trying it at the store, it took me 2-3 hours to figure out what this is similar to. It is NOT a copy of PR Black Xs, that feeling is only at the openning for 1-2 minutes. What is it like ? it actually really suprized me when I figured it out; it is copy of Byredo Oud Immortel. It is the same lemony limocello and oud.

I have to be honest, this is wayyyyyy more quality smelling than what I expected and it is one of the longest lasting Zaras I’ve ever tried. Performance is around 8-10 hours.

again, it has nothing to do with Black xs after couple minutes of openning. I hope Zara does more stuff like this.

What a beautiful surprise! I’m always on the hunt for a new “Good” bottle from Zara, and when I read the reviews and the comparisons to Black XS, I was all in. The reviewers are correct with their assessments at least only in the beginning. This opens up almost identically to Black XS but Changes by the mid and the dry down. It’s got this smoky/leathery type smells. This is one of those rare occasions where you can pick up every note mentioned in the pyramid. It doesn’t have the sweetness of Black XS, and it’s a little more of a darker/grittier take on that bottle, mostly due to the violet. It’s got a smokiness to it that I just love. This is a solid 8/10 for me, and what bumped my score up is the amazing longevity on my skin. I easily get 6-8 hours and days upon days on my clothes. To me, this is a must buy if you’re a fan of Paco Rabanne Black XS.

Sweet pineapple opening with oud in the background, cosy woody drydown.

Longevity - so so.
Good projection.

2 new ones out there in this line:

Mexico Soul : violetleaves, cardamom and cashmeran

and

A Day In Mexico : rhubarb, fruitcocktail and amber

It smells like black xs the first 30 seconds, after that it goes its own way, fresh, woody, floral, I think is a very nice fragrance, perfect for office o close encounters.

Scent story 24gold copy

To me it smells very close to Black XS. Great if you like this scent.

Thank you! Finally the newest 3 male perfumes from zara are added. Jerome Epinette is the father of some amazing master pieces.
Plus the notes look very promising, i expect a clean classy office scent for winter, can't wait to give it a try!