Kahina Giving Beauty, one of my all time favorite skincare lines, has come out with a perfume oil, Fez. Since I love this company and what they stand for, I really, really wanted to like this fragrance. Kahina’s founder Katherine L’Heureux is an incredible woman with a huge philanthropic heart, so of course I have a bias towards loving this and was thrilled she sent me Fez. But honestly, all bias aside, this perfume oil is one of the best warm and spicy fragrances I have ever experienced, *natural or not.
I would like to start off by describing the lovely bottle, which is the signature Kahina dark violet glass that houses all of their liquid products. Its design is simple and elegant and fits nicely in the palm of your hand. The rollerball is made of stainless steel which augments the uniquely tactile experience of applying Fez on your skin.
The scent of course, is what really matters, and it is intoxicating! Vetiver and orange flourish the moment the oil touches your skin. The orange blossom is floral as it should be, but takes on an indolic sensuality instead of being bright and sunny. Vetiver can be so many things in perfumery; nutty, earthy, grassy and even powdery. When merged with a deeper orange blossom as it is in Fez, this vetiver is dark and earthy, of the fecund-wet-soil variety. And how about the spice? Oh there’s plenty of it too. Clove is lavishly on display in the heart, while cumin plays the supporting role which is my preference since too much cumin brings on the funk, and not the good kind.
As I have mentioned several times on Scent Hive, patchouli is hit or miss for me. When it’s a high quality patchouli, of the dark vintage sort, it makes me swoon. When it leans towards the common health food store variety, which is reedy, linear and all too overwhelming, then I’m not so interested. By comparison, a well aged patchouli will be earthy and almost minty, generating herbal tones that give it depth and complexity. Can you guess which type Fez has? My guess is that it’s the high quality variety since it possesses those attributes.
As you can tell, I am smitten by the beguiling perfume that is Fez. It’s warm, spicy, woody and slightly floral, everything I love in a perfume. As the instructions say, “Roll on and reapply often.” Oh, I plan to.
Fez is available at Potion. $78 for 15ml roll-on bottle.
*Ingredients: a proprietary blend of pure steam-distilled essential oils in a base of certified organic simmondsia chensis (jojoba) seed oil. 100% of the total ingredients are from natural origin; 88.73% of the total ingredients are from Organic Farming
Disclosure: This bottle was sent to me by Kahina Giving Beauty. I adore it, and have been honest in my review. As always. This post contains links to Potion which I am affiliated with.
thefloraesthetic.com 
Thanks for another great review! Happy you started blogging again!
Thank you so much Alyssa and Happy Holidays! XOXO ~T
Such a delightful review! On my wish list!
Thank you! And yes, very wish list worthy 😉
Is this the same scent as the Fez body oil. I enjoyed that one (though I can imagine the scent to be polarizing).
I would say the Fez Body Oil is a bit more mellow, the vetiver isn’t quite as pronounced and I remember having a sense of sandalwood in the Body Oil drydown.
Great review! I have been thinking about buying this ever since it came out. A few people have said it smells too much like food and not enough like perfume, but you’ve convinced me! 🙂 Warm scents are my favorite, so I have a feeling I’m going to like this.
Hi Ariel! I don’t get “food” at all from this. Just warmth and coziness. I suppose if the cumin really stands out on your skin, it might take on a “food” feeling, but it’s very mellow on my skin while the orange blossom, vetiver and clove just soar!