Attar/عطار

After thick black musks, heavy woods and deep resins, not to mention the heavy hitting fougeres and chypres from Swiss Arabian, it was nice to find a lighter scent arrive today.

Surrati al Khaleej

It's a citrus aromatic/musk to put it in western terms. As an oil, once on the skin there's a burst of citrus, lemon and bergamot, and not that they go away but the musk and the florals come through: white musk and white flowers, then on the back of the citrus, it's all deep floral, particularly violet, green coriander also.

Think the light side of Geoffrey Beene Grey Flannel - you know how that's more a fragrance that you taste, spritzy with citrus carrying the violet, but not heavy with oakmoss and vetiver, light and airy with the white musk giving the deep notes.

Fun! One I'll weave in somewhere ...

I also mocked up a little blend this morning: rooh al misk (a deer musk which settled down to almost chocolate and vanilla), dehnal oud (one with a civet-like beginning that sweetens to beeswax and rises in bitter smoke) and Bulgarian rose (not as floral as Turkish or Taifi, more strength). Lovely!

Spread on a piece of cardboard and left for the day under an upturned glass, I removed the glass this evening to be met with a wonderful Dark Rose. Dark Rose, like C&S! It's a blend that worked well, as each scent was both subdued and yet boosted by the others; they were not competing, but working well together. I tried the same musk with a different oud and an Indian rose the other day and it was just not right - like that chocolate coated Turkish Delight! A nice idea, but two distinct tastes which just don't go together, same with that blend. It just didn't work. Awkward, whereas this blend is a saucy little menage a trois and one I might well put together a ml to let settle for a few weeks together.

Now, when my ambergris arrives ...
 
Oh, Khaleej turned into cig ash over night ... waking gave me a weird scent memory from when I smoked. Best going with it, Surrati Black Afghano has been my oil today: smoke, balsamic, oudh, tobacco & cannabis :D

mbnu54 said:
Sooooo so glad this is all going completely over my head, understanding none of it. Can't afford any more aquisition disorders:rolleyes:
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Oh, this one is proper expensive ... good blends (mukhallats) can go for silly money, like £30 a ml, some a LOT more. For a bit of fun, pick up a sub-£5 Black Musk Kasturi and dab a little of that on your pulse points after spraying on your favourite woody aromatic or chypre. You'll get the idea.
 
Not that I'm into this as a means of finding cheapo copies of western perfumes, but this one caught my eye:

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No scent description, but I think I have a fair idea what it'll smell like.
 
I've been enjoying a smashing blend (mukhallat) today ...

I snagged a few bottles from Surrati, not least a Black Musk (Rooh al Misk) which is a AA grade, Denhal Oudh (XX) and a Hajar e Aswad which is a classic blend of its own. Well, the three together were stunning! The Rooh al Misk brought heavy musk, sweet aged woods and dried heavy fruit like figs, the Dehnal Oudh very much along the same lines with strong, sweet woods, ripe figs and an almost honey sweetness, but more raw, like fresh honey, comb and dead bug bits. The Hajar e Aswad is a blend of Musk (tick), Oudh (tick) and a resinous amber, which adds depth to the others, but there's also a sharp medicinal shard which I'm misread as green stem rose, but it's much more like vetiver, and now I can also smell a mossiness.

Absolutely lovely!

Next time, I think I'd like something floral just to pick up that last note. I think it'd work. Perhaps Jasmine, perhaps Ylang Ylang. Perhaps rose, although I really want to save rose for the more coffee/cacao/vanilla spiked musks that I have. Great fun and really fly to get "just right". I think that blend has the beginnings of something really good, largely because the attars themselves are of a good standard to begin with.

I'm on the hunt for a mukhallat that already has caraway, fennel, anise, liquorice sort of scents and one with more red fruit, blackcurrant, plum sort of hints. In other news I got another Black Afgano, this time from Surrati and it's a LOT classier than the Swiss Arabian I tried above. Really smooth the day after, like a fine dust of high quality cigar ash ... and the afterglow of hash. Much "greener", if you see what I mean.

Yeah! I'm having a LOT of fun!
 
Pjgh you little enabler!

This is a fantastic thread and I can't believe I've only just stumbled on it.

My favourite Attar is probably my favourite scent ever. It's Amouage Homage Attar which I found online in the old white box style (before they changed the formula).

If you can find this little gem you are in for a treat. Orange/jasmine in the opening followed by a gorgeous taif rose on a sandalwood and oud base. Just pure heaven.
 
Amouage is something I will no doubt get into ... financial ruin, too, mostly likely :D

To me, this is like cooking. Take a small handful of ingredients, but so long as they're of a good quality to start with, as 5 cooks to do something with them ... they'll come up with 5 dishes. Different dishes. Attars are just like that. Also, there is a wide variety of scents of any given class: musk, oudh, amber ... and they change, too, with age. So, when it comes to blends, with only a handful of bottles a near infinite number of combinations can be made.

Of the higher class blends, there are all sorts of extras going in for those subtle notes.

But yes, Amouage. Amouage :D

One thing I have spotted, though ...

Often, these are simply discredited as cheapo western copies. They are not. It's that simple. But, where direct inspiration is taken, such as "Tom Vanilla" or "Tom Tobacco", it's very often Tom Ford or Creed. By quite a margin. I wonder why this is? Is it perhaps that these western houses are the more popular of the attar type fragrances, having taken their inspiration from Arabian oils and so they're easily mocked up to attract a new market?
 
Counting up, I have about 30 bottles ... of what I have, there is one attar which is unlike any other and unlike anything I've ever smelled with my western nose: Majmua. Folks wanting to expand their olfactory catalogue should look to Nemat and pick up a bottle of their (Indian) Majmua ... and a bottle of their Jannatul Firdous from the 96 range. The Firdous is a lighter, sweeter version of the heavier Swiss Arabian and Haramain examples that I've tried.

But Majmua ... quite, quite different.
 
Where are you getting your stars from? Are these all off eBay?

One person I recall complained to me that a musk-based attar from eBay gave him a nasty skin reaction. I presume they use natural deer musk...!
 
pjgh said:
Counting up, I have about 30 bottles ... of what I have, there is one attar which is unlike any other and unlike anything I've ever smelled with my western nose: Majmua. Folks wanting to expand their olfactory catalogue should look to Nemat and pick up a bottle of their (Indian) Majmua ... and a bottle of their Jannatul Firdous from the 96 range. The Firdous is a lighter, sweeter version of the heavier Swiss Arabian and Haramain examples that I've tried.

But Majmua ... quite, quite different.
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What does majmua smell similar too. Sounds interesting Paul, also 30 bottles! That was quick :)
 
rum said:
Where are you getting your stars from? Are these all off eBay?

One person I recall complained to me that a musk-based attar from eBay gave him a nasty skin reaction. I presume they use natural deer musk...!
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Some do, some use "like deer musk". It's the real musk I like.

Yeah, eBay, oudh.co.uk, Islamic Jewellery World and so on. At the moment, I'm keeping close to the main houses, largely Surrati, Swiss Arabian and Haramain. Al Rehab, Al Ahsan and so on for a cheap fun frag ... one yesterday, Scent Black (Ahsan), lovely LOVELY aromatic fougere. I have a special vial of something coming, which I hope is going to be phenomenal.

Nishy said:
What does majmua smell similar too. Sounds interesting Paul, also 30 bottles! That was quick :)
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Like nothing else ...
 
Well that's my mornings gone... Spent it on Oudh.co.uk and now everyone is looking at me strangely in the office.

Pure sandalwood oil, patchouli, oud samples. I've died and gone to Heaven!!
 
How you doimg Rum long time no type :) Have a gander at Ajmal on facebook for attar oils and oud oils. The Tuscan leather and vetiver are very good.
That's your afternoon gone ;)
 
Lol, I'm good thanks. Been quite busy.

Unfortunately I'm not on Facebook and don't intend to be. Plus we can't access it (or TSR for that matter!) from work.
 
rum said:
Lol, I'm good thanks. Been quite busy.

Unfortunately I'm not on Facebook and don't intend to be. Plus we can't access it (or TSR for that matter!) from work.
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Good to have you back, oudh.co.uk also list his products just not the entire selection he is due to open a UK based site soon.
 
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