Attar/Mukhallat of the Day

[Mr.P]

I have been trying to make an oud edt that does some kind of a decent job presenting the idea of oud, but uses budget oil. Something like a daily spray for my own wear or for a newcomer to oud who may not want to spend a whole lot but still enjoys the oil.


It really comes down to trying to add character to and hide the flaws of plantation oils. Trying fixatives like benzoin to soften the pungent edge of the prachin oil i am using(olefaktory), carrot seed and nag to boost/shape the chinese ck oil (and smooth out any pungency), a tad of labdanum and a few other things including some economy lao oud, also from oelfaktory).

Honestly it pains me making mixtures out of any oud oil... especially the thought of wasted oil in the rejected test blends.

What I've got so far is smelling pretty good... I'm on the third iteration.

 

[Shunga]

I have been trying to make an oud edt that does some kind of a decent job presenting the idea of oud, but uses budget oil. Something like a daily spray for my own wear or for a newcomer to oud who may not want to spend a whole lot but still enjoys the oil.


It really comes down to trying to add character to and hide the flaws of plantation oils. Teying fixatives like benzoin to soften the pungent edge of the prachin oil i am using(olefaktory), carrot seed and nag to boost/shape the chinese ck oil (and smooth pungency), a tad of labdanum and a few other things including some economy lao oud, also from oelfaktory).

Honestly it pains me making mixtures out of any oud oil... especially the thought of wasted oil in the rejected test blends.

What I've got so far is smelling pretty good... I'm on the third iteration.

Would love to get my nose on some of that

 

[Mr.P]

Would love to get my nose on some of that

Not the way it stands now I don't think haha it is rough. Thanks for the vote of confidence though

 

[players02]

Joyeux (SPA) - have been wearing this lavender composition quite a lot in recent weeks. ❤️

Curious to hear your overall impressions on Turath, Juriah, Tabac Grande, and Irisoir!

 

[Scentlover98]

I would guess the body is strong musk tincture, and sandalwood is kept out of the equation to achieve the fresh grain aspect. that's a guess

Your scent notes are interesting, I really mainly picked up on the accord as opposed to the individual notes but I will give it another sniff with those in mind. I'n curious about where some the notes are coming from

The only reason why I can detect them is because I am working on a fragrance that mimics the smell of German forests, that’s why I am so familiar with these kind of notes (pine, fir, galbanum, cypress and orange flower). (For more than 7 months)

You should definitely try the Fir Balsam Absolute from Eden. I myself have a sample diluted of course. It is one of the moste beautiful oils I have ever encountered. My words could never make this oils justice.

It is probably the only oil that I want to taste haha

 

[Mr.P]

The only reason why I can detect them is because I am working on a fragrance that mimics the smell of German forests, that’s why I am so familiar with these kind of notes (pine, fir, galbanum, cypress and orange flower). (For more than 7 months)

You should definitely try the Fir Balsam Absolute from Eden. I myself have a sample diluted of course. It is one of the moste beautiful oils I have ever encountered. My words could never make this oils justice.

It is probably the only oil that I want to taste haha

I have a fair amount of that fir oil. Quite a sticky treat!

 

[Ersel]

Today I learned that 10% rose absolute in an oud-rose attar is too much rose.

 

[mesOUD]

Today I learned that 10% rose absolute in an oud-rose attar is too much rose.

3-5% is more than enough brother

 

[Mr.P]

One of my own today - been trying to find the perfect blend of natural jasmine oils. Each is imperfect in some way and each one shines in some way so I'm hoping to use each to fill-in and compensate for the gaps and weaknesses in the others.

ingredients:

Jasmine egypt extra (Peyan Bertrand) beautiful mid note and dry down

Jasmine India premium (MANE) airy and candy like top, multilayered delicious mid notes

Jasmine sambac distillate (my own) - top oriented, tangy and tart

Jasmine grandiflorum distillate (my own) - top oriented, super diffusive, fruity, floral, fresh aquatic

Jasmine sambac absolute (Floral Concept): full saturated sambac, indolic, beautiful fresh dry down

I think I've got a good balance of the jasmines, the blend I am wearing is grandiflorum dominant and pretty much unfolds like a grandiflorum oil overall. The sambac seems to add appeal to some of the challenging aspects of grandiflorum absolute.

 

[FreeSoul]

Izz Al-Din from elkhaldi. On first sniff it smells like a proper English forest, standing at the edge of a small clearing in the trees with a spring morning mist, a slight frost, a similar sensation you get breathing through your nose on a morning like this, as the attar develops on my skin it’s like the day turns into a beautiful blue sky, slight breeze but warm day. Forests are one of my favourite places to be so instantly I fell in love with this scent! The notes I get On the opening jasmine, not sure whether it is the Cambodian or Thai oud that is prominent, the Cambodian actually makes me think of kamobdi katheef, but only at the first stage until I feel the two ouds blend together, after a few minutes the white lotus starts to draw attention, there is a small hint of the sandalwood that is giving a smooth note not in the sense of making the whole attar soft but standing its own. The musk in this is a really nice balance, it tends to weave in and out but never hiding. Hours later it seems like the oud becomes more noticeable but still in balance with everything else. The musk for me I find really beautiful in this I think it is the interplay with the floral notes that help. I think the quality of the ingredients must be high in this because each of them stand their own. I gotta say sniffing this gives me a kinda euphoric feeling! I have got a few different people to smell this and everyone has really liked it, even the ones who don’t seem to like much of my ouds at all! This attar I really find a real impressive artistic creation, the fact that elkhaldi Puts these together without taking notes in a way that makes it almost impossible to be able to repeat the exact one makes them extra special. Especially with this batch being small I am really grateful for the opportunity to try it! It has definitely made me look forward to seeing reactions of his future projects!

 

[melkhaldi]

Izz Al-Din from elkhaldi. On first sniff it smells like a proper English forest, standing at the edge of a small clearing in the trees with a spring morning mist, a slight frost, a similar sensation you get breathing through your nose on a morning like this, as the attar develops on my skin it’s like the day turns into a beautiful blue sky, slight breeze but warm day. Forests are one of my favourite places to be so instantly I fell in love with this scent! The notes I get On the opening jasmine, not sure whether it is the Cambodian or Thai oud that is prominent, the Cambodian actually makes me think of kamobdi katheef, but only at the first stage until I feel the two ouds blend together, after a few minutes the white lotus starts to draw attention, there is a small hint of the sandalwood that is giving a smooth note not in the sense of making the whole attar soft but standing its own. The musk in this is a really nice balance, it tends to weave in and out but never hiding. Hours later it seems like the oud becomes more noticeable but still in balance with everything else. The musk for me I find really beautiful in this I think it is the interplay with the floral notes that help. I think the quality of the ingredients must be high in this because each of them stand their own. I gotta say sniffing this gives me a kinda euphoric feeling! I have got a few different people to smell this and everyone has really liked it, even the ones who don’t seem to like much of my ouds at all! This attar I really find a real impressive artistic creation, the fact that elkhaldi Puts these together without taking notes in a way that makes it almost impossible to be able to repeat the exact one makes them extra special. Especially with this batch being small I am really grateful for the opportunity to try it! It has definitely made me look forward to seeing reactions of his future projects!

thanks for the detailed review brother and glad you liked it!!

 

[YusaAromatics]

Today I learned that 10% rose absolute in an oud-rose attar is too much rose.

U too cool for the rose bro !! My man

 

[Ahmaoud]

Today I learned that 10% rose absolute in an oud-rose attar is too much rose.

I'm sitting here with a 20% taifi in nagaland oud, while it seems most of the dark incense-y aspects of the oud have been erased, a lot of sweetness from the taifi has been brought out, while significantly reducing its sparkling quality. Yet it still pops off the skin a fair bit! Can't wait to see how it turns out in a couple of months.

I did feel it was missing some fullness in the mid and added just a hint of Shamama and some amber-y attars to fill it out.

What I'm wearing today:
Al Hashimi - Special Reserve Attar No. 2
Ajmal Dahn al Oud Shams, 3 sprays

 

[Ahmaoud]

Al Hind Oud - Jum'ah 2 - There was a tree near the house I grew up, which I believe was what we called a "Raat ki Rani" or the Night Blooming Jasmine and while I don't remember much from that time, in the evenings after dinner a group of us would go outside, and just walk around. The scent of the moist dirt road in the cool of the night, the scent of the Night Blooming Jasmine overtaking our senses, mixed with a tinge of something green, like a freshly snapped branch, is what I get from Jum'ah 2. There's a beautifully refreshing citrus quality to this mixture, which could be from the floral nature of the in-house sandalwood used, or from the in-house artisan ouds AHO distills, those beautifully unique low temp Hindis, or even kinam extracts. Rounding off the scent is the ambergris and musk which just smooth out the edges, to an already smooth concoction.

My attar of choice for the summer, this is bold, yet never overwhelming and keeps it strength through even the busiest of days. Two Fridays ago when I first wore this, I was helping my brother move out and from before Jummah time to when we came back at 9:30ish I was able to enjoy this. Many nights it's been the scent I wear to bed, so that should tell you all you need to know, as far as what I think of it!

 

[Mr.P]

I have applied a swipe of Al Shareef "ambergris 2018". This has some interesting notes and I was surprised to learn that it was simply ambergris in sandalwood oil and naught else because it has some very interesting and appealing facets to it. Color is yellowish orange, a bit darker than sandalwood oil.

The first accord that catches my attention is like a sandalwood and rosewood / linalool / ho-wood type scent with a little peppery backdrop, very pleasant. The rosewood is gentle (I imagine adding two drops to an ounce of Sandalwood oil would have a similar effect).

In the top and mid notes the ambergris scent is melded in such a way that it is like a backdrop to or nuance of the sandalwood aroma, and does not stand out on its own with typical in-your-face ambergris notes: i do not smell any "halitosis" or fecal notes, or strong marine notes either. I
can smell the ambroxide from the ambergris as the top fades, and the impression shifts to a warm gentle sandalwood-ambergris scent in which i detect nuances reminiscent of white anbergris / ambroxide, clary sage, rosewood, pepper, and sandalwood. I'm going to apply a bit to a blotter to check longevity, since that is one thing ambergris is most known for.

I'm curious about the ambergris used for this, I can't help but speculate when I smell things that are interesting or different in some way. If I had to guess it would be that some very very pale fine white ambergris was used for this and none of the darker stuff or even the gray which can still smell like bad breath in a simple maceration or tincture.

To my nose this is a balanced sandalwood based attar/mukh that includes ambergris as opposed to an oil that literally smells like ambergris itself.

 

[Mr.P]

Al Hind Oud - Jum'ah 2 - There was a tree near the house I grew up, which I believe was what we called a "Raat ki Rani" or the Night Blooming Jasmine and while I don't remember much from that time, in the evenings after dinner a group of us would go outside, and just walk around. The scent of the moist dirt road in the cool of the night, the scent of the Night Blooming Jasmine overtaking our senses, mixed with a tinge of something green, like a freshly snapped branch, is what I get from Jum'ah 2. There's a beautifully refreshing citrus quality to this mixture, which could be from the floral nature of the in-house sandalwood used, or from the in-house artisan ouds AHO distills, those beautifully unique low temp Hindis, or even kinam extracts. Rounding off the scent is the ambergris and musk which just smooth out the edges, to an already smooth concoction.

My attar of choice for the summer, this is bold, yet never overwhelming and keeps it strength through even the busiest of days. Two Fridays ago when I first wore this, I was helping my brother move out and from before Jummah time to when we came back at 9:30ish I was able to enjoy this. Many nights it's been the scent I wear to bed, so that should tell you all you need to know, as far as what I think of it!

I have to look this one up

 

[Shiningrobes]

I have applied a swipe of Al Shareef "ambergris 2018". This has some interesting notes and I was surprised to learn that it was simply ambergris in sandalwood oil and naught else because it has some very interesting and appealing facets to it. Color is yellowish orange, a bit darker than sandalwood oil.

The first accord that catches my attention is like a sandalwood and rosewood / linalool / ho-wood type scent with a little peppery backdrop, very pleasant. The rosewood is gentle (I imagine adding two drops to an ounce of Sandalwood oil would have a similar effect).

In the top and mid notes the ambergris scent is melded in such a way that it is like a backdrop to or nuance of the sandalwood aroma, and does not stand out on its own with typical in-your-face ambergris notes: i do not smell any "halitosis" or fecal notes, or strong marine notes either. I
can smell the ambroxide from the ambergris as the top fades, and the impression shifts to a warm gentle sandalwood-ambergris scent in which i detect nuances reminiscent of white anbergris / ambroxide, clary sage, rosewood, pepper, and sandalwood. I'm going to apply a bit to a blotter to check longevity, since that is one thing ambergris is most known for.

I'm curious about the ambergris used for this, I can't help but speculate when I smell things that are interesting or different in some way. If I had to guess it would be that some very very pale fine white ambergris was used for this and none of the darker stuff or even the gray which can still smell like bad breath in a simple maceration or tincture.

To my nose this is a balanced sandalwood attar that includes ambergris as opposed to an oil that literally smells like ambergris itself.

View attachment 39594

you should check out the ASO sandalwood on its own. I have that as well as the Hekayat musk maceration and the sandal on its own is amazingly rosy, citrus and perfumey. It’s so complex on its own that it’s almost hard to believe that’s it’s jst one thing. Very special and unique. It might be what’s providing a lot of those notes.

 

[Tauhid Shaikh]

I'm sitting here with a 20% taifi in nagaland oud, while it seems most of the dark incense-y aspects of the oud have been erased, a lot of sweetness from the taifi has been brought out, while significantly reducing its sparkling quality. Yet it still pops off the skin a fair bit! Can't wait to see how it turns out in a couple of months.

I did feel it was missing some fullness in the mid and added just a hint of Shamama and some amber-y attars to fill it out.

What I'm wearing today:
Al Hashimi - Special Reserve Attar No. 2
Ajmal Dahn al Oud Shams, 3 sprays

@Ahmaoud Hows the Al Hashimi - Special Reserve Attar No. 1 and 2?

 

[Mr.P]

An Najwa

you should check out the ASO sandalwood on its own. I have that as well as the Hekayat musk maceration and the sandal on its own is amazingly rosy, citrus and perfumey. It’s so complex on its own that it’s almost hard to believe that’s it’s jst one thing. Very special and unique. It might be what’s providing a lot of those notes.

Makes sense. When I asked ASO about the rosewood-like facet he mentioned that the sandalwood oil used had some unique aspects to its aroma.

 

[Ahmaoud]

@Ahmaoud Hows the Al Hashimi - Special Reserve Attar No. 1 and 2?

Haven't had a chance to wear No. 1 yet, but No. 2 is pretty spectacular. Take the something like Kambodi Katheef on a painter's palette, and add in brushstrokes of vintage civet, musk and ambergris. Nothing to overwhelm the characteristic of the oud, in its sticky, resinous sweet thaqeel goodness, but just enough to make it glow with the animalics. The result, a blend which feels very much like neat oud but with something captivating you, pulling you again and again for additional swipes. Projects quite strongly, it'll easily break down a door, very little is enough to get the job done!

Special Reserve No. 2 has been an obsession, for several days all I could think about was taking all the thaqeels I've collected and adding musk, civet and ambergris to them! Where I settled was take a swipe of a thaqeel (Kambodi Katheef, but Khao Koh by Al Hashimi also worked, and so did Thai Zen by Al Hind Oud, and Tai - O and Thaqeel S by The Oud Lab), and adding in dots of Ghaliya Banu Hashim. This way I was able to enjoy something which approximated what I was craving, but not replicating what you get here.

It got really bad, I was swiping myself after each wudu, and now I'm genuinely worried for the rest of my collection and what'll happen to it if I ever come in contact with enough musk, ambergris and civet 😂