Perfume of the Day

[Mr.P]

@An Najwa "Al Ghuroob Extrait"

This is a rich and interesting fragrance! A big initial burst of cardamom backed by what smells like a pretty noble agarwood oil - smells like a sri lankan or a borneo perhaps but it's very much surrounded by the cardamom so it's hard to tell, I never get it right when I'm trying to break down perfumes it seems, so I don't have much confidence in that. i'm writing this without having looked at the fragrance notes… So I'm probably missing a lot in this first impression.

There are also some very appealing edible confectionery notes that might be something else or might be coming from the oud. Right now cardamom and oud are the star players, and the impression is very much of an expensive or high-end agarwood based blend, but there are these other delicious subtle notes in the background as well.

Perfumes and attars are much harder for me to evaluate than single oils - things take multiple wears to really understand, should be studied on skin and not paper, but I can't really wear perfumes and attars as much as I would need to to understand them. Because they often are formulated to be very strong and long-lasting, they are kind of incompatible with the lifestyle of somebody who is trying to make perfume on a daily basis! It's actually a bit of a problem because deeply studying other people's creations is a great opportunity to learn.

So this is a disclaimer, acknowledging my shortcomings when it comes to analyzing things like this - I would really be most interested in seeing the reviews of somebody who wore it daily for a week or two for example.

(I just went and looked at the product description, I swear I'm no good at analyzing these things because cardamom isn't even listed as an ingredient!)

 

[JamieT]

Today, I decided to make my own combo. So it was a triple-layer combo today. My attar was Mukhallat Nagdi Malaky by Arabian Oud, a deep, amber, musky, oudy, woody oil that I used first. I topped off the oil, firstly with the extrait of Crystal Saffron, by Matiere Premiere, which is saffron and Greek myrhh, but with serious 'knobs on' - I took a deep liking to this fragrance as soon as I smelt it the first time and I've tried to layer with it often, but it takes a "strength" at the base, and at the top of a layer to shine through it. Finally, I crowned the combo off with Pearl Oud, Doha by Kilian, which I discovered at Harrods' "Salon de Parfums" and just had to have! Saffron, rose, Indian Oud, and jasmine are the elements of this fragrance that I enjoy. Of course, I also slightly scented my (top) clothes, so my jumper and T-shirt each had a couple of short spritzes and a few spots of oil. I've really enjoyed the combo today. I've not had to top it up at all. All three elements continue to shine through on my skin, and also at the time of writing (9:10 pm on Thursday, 19th Feb), which is about 12 hours. I'm very glad that the Crystal Saffron didn't swamp the rose of the Pearl Oud, or the oil's amber and woodyness. This is another combination that I'll remember. Tomorrow, I'll keep it simpler, I think and not layer. I've bought some other new oud-based extraits recently and would like to try them out Solo.

 

[Mr.P]

First impression of "Alpha Rose" from @An Najwa

I will have to wear this more times to give a true review but on first inspection I tuned into three things. In the opening the rose feels kind of thick and "jammy" in a very pleasant way. Like a rich full luxurious heavy rose. I picked up a kind of woody incense layer behind that which is grounding but subtle. In the later stages on a blotter it is a very light and tantalizing classic bright rose aroma. Overall a balanced natural smelling rose perfume with a luxurious feel to it and complexity beyond that of rose oil itself. Well done!

 

[holy-wood]

ALD War & Peace 3 on the left and ALD Oud Luwak 2 on the right. Love both of these and together is very enjoyable. I dont like to layer on top of one another, I like to layer in different areas. The WP is definitely stronger in projection but I think I may like the OL better, adds some sweetness to the smoke of WP. Together they are really bringing up memories of smoking cloves and drinking coffee while doing my laundry years ago, after just moving into the city on my own.

 

[Joe]

Dior’s Bois d’Argent. Spiritual, calming, powdery (kind of) and woody. Iso e super done right. I don’t detect any real orris butter but whatever they used, they made a glorious treat. I have the original release by Heidi Slimane from 2004/08 and this Esprit de Parfum version, expensive for synthetics for sure, is pretty damn close from almost two decades ago. Less powdery but closer than the other releases.

 

[SophMarie]

@An Najwa "Al Ghuroob Extrait"

This is a rich and interesting fragrance! A big initial burst of cardamom backed by what smells like a pretty noble agarwood oil - smells like a sri lankan or a borneo perhaps but it's very much surrounded by the cardamom so it's hard to tell, I never get it right when I'm trying to break down perfumes it seems, so I don't have much confidence in that. i'm writing this without having looked at the fragrance notes… So I'm probably missing a lot in this first impression.

There are also some very appealing edible confectionery notes that might be something else or might be coming from the oud. Right now cardamom and oud are the star players, and the impression is very much of an expensive or high-end agarwood based blend, but there are these other delicious subtle notes in the background as well.

Perfumes and attars are much harder for me to evaluate than single oils - things take multiple wears to really understand, should be studied on skin and not paper, but I can't really wear perfumes and attars as much as I would need to to understand them. Because they often are formulated to be very strong and long-lasting, they are kind of incompatible with the lifestyle of somebody who is trying to make perfume on a daily basis! It's actually a bit of a problem because deeply studying other people's creations is a great opportunity to learn.

So this is a disclaimer, acknowledging my shortcomings when it comes to analyzing things like this - I would really be most interested in seeing the reviews of somebody who wore it daily for a week or two for example.

(I just went and looked at the product description, I swear I'm no good at analyzing these things because cardamom isn't even listed as an ingredient!)

I love perfume but have only been regularly wearing it for two years now. I always look up scent notes, even of my favorite perfumes! It helps my brain and my nose make the connections.

 

[Mr.P]

I love perfume but have only been regularly wearing it for two years now. I always look up scent notes, even of my favorite perfumes! It helps my brain and my nose make the connections.

Agreed, although I get a kick out of going into it with as little information as possible for the first couple of experiences just because it's an interesting challenge. It's kind of amusing (and almost always humbling) to see what I was able to pick up on, what I missed entirely, etc. when I finally review the notes/ingredients!

 

[SophMarie]

Agreed, although I get a kick out of going into it with as little information as possible for the first couple of experiences just because it's an interesting challenge. It's kind of amusing (and almost always humbling) to see what I was able to pick up on, what I missed entirely, etc. when I finally review the notes/ingredients!

Too humbling! Ahmed of @SULAYM used to make me guess at the notes of Jade Blaze and a few other samples that were completely out of ken before he'd tell me. Rose and jasmine and sandalwood I knew. Beyond that 😱

 

[Bonjt]

I revisited unlabeled sample from Note di Profumum. The opening kinda confused me, cause i was smelling something bitter, herbal, woody and i cant remember what it was. After it develops to the creamy powdery sandalwood with hint of ambery sweetnes and some soft fruity oud in the background. Then i know its Amante.
Its funny how it smells different in the opening. Overall feeling is like some plastic toy was kept long time on sun, there is some sunscreen smell around and bit of fruitness.
Despite the plastic association it smells quite natural and good to me.

 

[players02]

Earlier it was

EO - Tibetan Musk (gold)

Then to a sweet treat

EO - Purple Kinam

Both have amazing longevity.

@SteveE what's Purple Kinam like? How does it compare to Purple Haze, and which is more purple?

 

[Joe]

Has anyone tried/have

D.S. & Durga Notorious Oud​

??

How much oud is in there? I assume it’s a natural-identical oud or even an oud accord. That’s why I’m asking😊

 

[piopne]

EO Purple Haza (2026)
Wow… a bit of animalistic start into gorgeous purple and flowers

Heard a few disappointed reviews saying its flat, what do you think? I mean I loved Purple Kinam PP...

 

[Ahmaoud]

Has anyone tried/have

D.S. & Durga Notorious Oud​

??

How much oud is in there? I assume it’s a natural-identical oud or even an oud accord. That’s why I’m asking😊

Copy written on the website, the last 3 or so sections seems to indicate that it's an oud accord that mimicing the real thing, and as such might not have any of the real thing inside it. I would say very little, if any, perfumes like Strangelove NYC's Dead of the Night have real oud in them, but that's a plantation oud and IIRC it's about double or triple the price this goes for.

Also I find it interesting that a supposedly niche brand purports to needing mass production 😂

"Oud perfume, like most modern perfumes, seek to take inspiration from studies of oils that could never be mass produced (for regulatory, environmental, artistic and economic considerations). The magic of the perfumer’s touch is his or her ability to reconstruct specific aromas with other materials.

Notorious Oud is me sitting in Brooklyn, thinking about a rare Indonesian Oud that I procured.

Thinking what would make its essence sing and grow from a single oil into a transcendent perfume. I took fine materials from all over the world–Bulgarian Rose, French Lavender, Egyptian Papyrus, and Afghani saffron—and built a support structure around this wonderfully complex oud accord. Oud that wears easy and beautiful."

 

[slater]

prin - mongolian mriga. wore this last night, on application i immediately felt it was too green and stemmy which detracts from the musk experience. but this thing is a beast, after about 2-3 hours the greenness takes a back seat which the feels more like a citric “bite” where the center stage becomes a very luscious chocolate musk quality with tons of depth. very rich seamless accord that smells like the heart of musk with some sandalwood and cumin along for the ride. the stemmy quality provides just the right amount of lift to contrast the darker notes, i still smelled it strongly well into the next afternoon until i got in the ocean, incredible stuff.

 

[Joe]

Copy written on the website, the last 3 or so sections seems to indicate that it's an oud accord that mimicing the real thing, and as such might not have any of the real thing inside it. I would say very little, if any, perfumes like Strangelove NYC's Dead of the Night have real oud in them, but that's a plantation oud and IIRC it's about double or triple the price this goes for.

Also I find it interesting that a supposedly niche brand purports to needing mass production 😂

So they could be contemplating real oud, say 1/4 tola, and trying to figure out how to reproduce it….

 

[holy-wood]

TRNP Night Song Devotion today and wow, the first words out of my mouth after applying were “holy shit yes”. I enjoyed the “NS Vintage” but found it just a tad over the line for my personal taste in the areas of noxious, powdery headiness. This though, has been spiced up by a heavy dose of oud, balancing out the sweet powdery florals. Just wow, I am so happy with the 5ml decant I snagged. I wore some prachin as well and went for a walk through the park, just serene, meditative experience.

 

[players02]

Heard a few disappointed reviews saying its flat, what do you think? I mean I loved Purple Kinam PP...

Flat? I had the chance to spray it once on my arm and it's a thick and lush purple smoky and slightly sweet (due to the vanilla) fragrance.

 

[JamieT]

Wearing Amber Kinam, Rose Kinam and the Amber Damask exrait by @Oudique tonight. Two beautiful blends and an extrait from Faheem. One on each arm - and the extrait spritzed onto my skin. It's a great combination, and I feel like a $$million LOL 😊 I'm looking forward to going to bed in this, and I'll probably repeat it in the morning to last throughout Sunday.

 

[Mousse de Chene]

Cuir d’Ange - Hermes

A leather masterpiece by Jean Claude Ellena. He constructed the most realistic suede accord without the use of leather aroma chemicals eg IBQ, suederal, saffranal. While Ellena has not composed many fragrances I’ve truly loved, I respect his mind & how he thinks about perfumery. ‘The Diary Of A Nose’ is an autobiographical book consisting of a years journal entries, 2009-2010. Extremely interesting, I gained much respect for the man after reading this book!

Inspired by the Hermes leather atelier, Cuir d’Ange has powdery violets, cold earthy iris, soft pillowy white musks sitting on top of a beautifully realistic suede-leather accord complete with the animalic aroma caused by the curing / tanning process. There’s a hint of that bandage / bandaid / iodine aroma that you can detect in some Hindi oils, therefore layers seamlessly with barny Indian Oud. Cuir d’Ange sits close to the skin while having a good longevity. A refined wearing experience, catching hints of this powdery leather off your skin is glorious.

 

[PerfumeAl]

Hunayn - Purple Majestic - Unlike some of the reviews/ descriptions I have read, this interesting perfume goes through some very interesting phases on my skin. For me it starts with a heavy dose of Iris, then into deep, old oud, then florals come in and out in waves - even creating a strange almost vegetable smoothie note - before settling back down to powdery Iris. Will have to wear more to understand fully - but once again - my overall impression as with everything I have tried from Hunayn is one of quality.