Eclaire Banoffi Eau de Parfum 100ml

Banana is a material almost nobody builds a fragrance on, and Lattafa Eclaire Banoffi Eau de Parfum 100ml commits to it completely: the material runs through both the opening and the heart rather than appearing once and vanishing.

Handled badly, banana smells of boiled sweets. Handled as it is here, it is soft, creamy and slightly green at the edges, closer to the fruit itself than to anything artificial, and it carries the first hour without becoming tiring. Chantilly cream sits with it from the start, airy and cool with a faint creamy sweetness, and the two of them together are the whole upper half of the fragrance.

The base takes the same idea and makes it richer. Praline is nutty and toasted, with a scorched edge that gives the composition its only real bitterness, while vanilla smooths everything over and musk holds it against the skin so that the sweetness stays close rather than filling a room. Five materials, which is a short list, and there is no attempt anywhere to disguise the fact. Dalia Izem, Fanny Bal and Gaël Montero have built one clear idea and executed it cleanly instead of padding it out with citrus and flowers that would have had nothing to do.

At eau de parfum strength it lasts a long time and projects more than you might expect, so a light hand is advisable. Cold weather and evenings suit it, and it reads unisex despite the obvious appeal to anyone who likes dessert in a bottle. Lattafa is a Sharjah company in the United Arab Emirates, trading on a Made in UAE identity, whose founder learned the business in his uncle's perfume shop in Dubai after arriving there from Pakistan.