Manakara

I'm usually not a big fan of rose, but this perfume is so good. The sweetness of lychee with rose is such a good combo. Got a sample and I want the whole bottle.

Irrevocably smitten!! One spritz reveals a complex amalgamation of jammy lychee and rose, an intoxicating marriage that is neither overwhelmingly sweet nor gratuitously floral. The fragrance is a tropical reverie - lush, delicate lychee meeting red, ripe fruits, all enmeshed in soft, creamy florals. It defies the norms of both gourmand and floral categories, thereby creating a genre all it's own.

I must be the only person who does not like this scent (or isn't being paid to like it lol). I was very much looking forward to trying this after all of the TikTok hype, but it didn't smell anything like how they described it online on my skin. (Is it possible I got a bad or mixed-up sample?) Initially I got almost exclusive cedar notes, On the dry down some light fruit notes did develop, but nothing I would describe as "pink" or fruit forward, and definitely not sweet or syrupy. No rose, no tropicals, and no lychee. I think this scent leans much more masculine and I am wanting to have my partner try it. So glad I bought a sample of this first before buying the whole bottle.

Ok, I'm a little sad about this one - I ordered a few samples to be sure and I was OBSESSED with it - literally lychee with a bit of rose, as described. Finally pulled the trigger and the bottle I got doesn't smell like the sample - the color is different as well, which I know can happen, but I don't get the lychee in the bottle at all which is why I wanted it and what inspired me to buy it from the sample. :(

I love this scent so much, I can’t stop spraying myself with it. Girly and beautiful pink scent.

A happy, fruity, pink mood moost. Sweet, playful, innocent scent without any masculine notes at all. I love that type of scent, so it's right up my alley. I think it's especially nice when I layer it with a chocolate scent, and I do that a lot with La Via Del Profumo Amber Chocolate plus this. But it's nice on its own too. It's one of the few perfumes that I'll need a 2nd bottle of.

Love it so much that I am definitely getting fb.MFK impressed me again!!

Wow. Big. Sweet. I get no lychee--and that's why I ordered it. I get no rose, either. I get a big chemical blast of something very sweet and powerful, if you like that kind of thing. I'll pass.

Manakara is a bit polarizing...like all the fragrances I end up falling in love with. My first whiff out of the sample vial was a shriek of alcoholic cherry (expensive alcoholic cherry) and I hated it. Eventually I decided to try it on my skin on a day when I could easily scrub it off. And it bloomed in the summer heat into an edible rose. It has this super-sweet and warm intensity of blackberry, lychee, and rose (plus some expensive smoke that my skin chemistry brings out) that I find so addicting. I can see how it can be criticized as adolescent, but I see it as the scent of Romeo and Juliet if it were a comedy instead of a tragedy. Adolescent can still be timeless.

A friend who recommended "Manakara" to me described it as "smokey prune", which utterly puzzled me when I looked up the notes. However, after I got my sample, I saw what she meant and I think that it is a very apt description. I'd be hard pressed to pick out a rose note and I don't eat or smell enough lychee to know if this is faithful, I'm afraid, but I do know that I love the end result. It is quite unusual and quite striking. I'm surprised so many people find it too sweet - it's sweet for sure, but "sweet" is not in the top 5 descriptors I would choose for this fragrance, and even then, I'd call it sweet-and-sour. If you like it, the great news is that projection and longevity are fantastic, like so many Francis Kurkdjian scents.

I am building my niche perfume wardrobe. In the past, I was totally dedicated to a few perfumes each from the Creed and Lutens houses. Most of my fumes were either skanky or breezy, as in citrusy. Since branching out, I am drawn to the sugarbombs. I don't know why my preference changed so drastically, but it has. I went thru a long period of grief, so perhaps coming out of it I sought out the sweets as comfort. And now I found Manakara. It is so gorgeously up my alley. The sample vial has got my heart set on FB. It makes me feel lovely and innocent...it could hold that pesky black hound at bay, capice? I love how the perfumer managed to combine sweet with the cutest little rose ever. And if this Lychee, a note I knew nothing of, it has won my heart. My step mom, who hates every perfume I have ever worn, said, "whatever you are wearing is soooo sweet...and I love it on you.". We have one of those brutally honest relationships, so if she says it, that's as food as money in the bank. Thus, I am going to have to add this to my growing stash of sweet and lovelies. I am lucky that these types of scents work so well with my chemistry. Luz this stuff!

There is more to this than the two ingredients, but how they dance! The lychee opens the composition with a fruity splash, and the rose melds seamlessly with it, along with something reminiscent of a buttery sugar-cookie.

sweet young girl

This is one of my favorite full bottle purchases from the past year. It's fruity, creamy, a bit floral and positively delicious all at the same time. I've read Manakara described as Pink Sugar's older and more well-off big sister. But even that implies a cloying nature that simply isn't here. It is dreamy, warm, sweet and juicy, yet goes on and lingers like a delicate pink veil. The lasting power on my skin is fantastic. I can spritz some on in the morning and still catch tantilizing little hints on my skin and clothes late into the evening. It isn't exactly inexpensive, but I feel it is completely worth it for being the perfect blend of tropical fruit and flowers that doesn't involve coconuts, tiare or some such. I don't know how the repurchasing option works, but undoubtedly will find out when I run out since I can't imagine not keeping this perfume as a constant in my collection. If you want something fruity in the discount range, there are plenty out there whose difference in quality is often given away in the sharp and less seamless construction and harsh manner in which the fragrance unfurls. Yes, there are gems to be found for a song, but I am also willing to pay more for a perfectly composed and conducted symphony. This simple yet flawless construction is evident in Manakara and my other favorite in the Indult line, Tihota. They are smooth and lush, sliding effortlessly from top note to drydown in a deliciously decadent presentation that's worth every penny.

overpriced for what it is. it's okay, not great imo and zero sillage.

This is one of the only perfumes, EVER, that made me want to gag! I am shocked so many on here love it, It is so overly sweet, like lychee absolutely saturated in sugar syrup. That might sound nice to some, but its horrible. i love florals and gourmands but this was just way to overly sickly sweet, I just wanted to wash it off. I didnt find it creamy at all.

A unique, gorgeous fragrance! On my skin, Manakara smells invitingly sweet and slightly creamy with so-subtle-I-may-be-hallucinating-it hints of leather, pepper, woodsmoke, and spice. After the dry-down it reminds me of deliciously warm and spicy cotton candy, which is weird, bc I don't even like cotton candy. No matter, for whenever I wear it I can't stop sniffing my wrists! Manakara lasts about four hours on me and lingers warmly for a couple hours beyond. A ridiculously classy and unforgettable fragrance.

after nearly 30 years of walking around beverly hills smelling cheap designer expensive perfumes it blows my mind that any one of you can not see the exquisiivity of these fragrances extroidinary smooth creamy delicate with strenth i am very grateful to lucky scent for finding these beauties for me all i have to do is make one simple phone call this is NOT PINK SUGAR PLEASE be sure to buy yourself a bottle of aspirin with your 50 dollar perfumes ok no one is saying they are not expensive but i will say sometimes you get what you pay for stop whining and enjoy life

Lovely. I tried this because I loved another Indult creation, Tihota, so much. This is a sweet, candy covered litchee/blackberry hybrid that slowly morphs into an almost edible red rose with a musky base. Not as close to the skin as Tihota, but almost. I simply couldn't stop smelling my wrist after I put it on. The progression is half the fun. It dries down into a lusciously sweet and creamy dream of a scent, that reminds me somehow of childhood. I love it. It's going on my wishlist stat!

This is very nice. Reminds me a little of Chinatown by Bond. No. 9.