Attar/عطار

Paan liqueur! That I have had, I am starting to become more familiar with the bouquet now, once the initial rose syrup punch has diminished you get a wonderful rose sandal wood, spice, fennel and oud. It takes a while to develop on the skin as the incense is overpowering at first but it does become more crisp. I could detect corriander at certain spells amidst a musky rosewood. I get the kind of medicinal after about 4 hours wear, not an astringent or antiseptic scent but more herbal. I quite like it.

I still have your address Paul, so I will send you some paan sweets! That along with the Vicco turmeric I may as well send along some incense too ;)
 
pjgh said:
Aged patchouli has a steamed bitterness akin to freshly drawn coffee, to me. Mrs here hates patchouli with a passion, which is a shame since I'm a bit of a chypre man.

In other news ...

I'm just getting to know Haramain's Badar after a shower, a scent which did almost nothing for me straight out of the envelope this morning. I know the notes, but could not detect any. Well, after a shower, it's masculine rose with honey. Not overly sweet, but honey from the hive, complete with cig ash comb (not the beeswax comb), dead bug bits and a touch of orange blossom. There's lavender, it's light though. If you're into honey, you'll get this. It's NOT the honey that Brits spread on toast, it's something you'd need to go to an apiary to find. Musk, cedar, patchouli (coffee coming in once the honey dies down) and a lightly resinous amber, like violin bow amber. It's certainly a nice scent, a clever negative of feminine sweet rose.

I've enjoyed a few of Haramain's 15ml rollers. They come in fag packet boxes, flip the lid up and bring out the bottle. Today brought me Amber, Oudi & Musk, Badar, Hajar & Madinah, complimenting Firdous & Naeem ... and Mukhallat, which is a weird one for me, like a classic Aromatic Fougere with chewed M&Ms. Peculiar, indeed!

Badar, I'm getting to know. Hajar, one I've been getting to know earlier - it's got that resinous bite of Hajar e Aswad (see Haramain, Surrati, et al) but it's not rose, it's ylang ylang and geranium. Less resinous, more western. Not light, though, even though Hajar e Aswad is generally a heavy punch of Arabian.
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In a cigarette box! Sounds good though minus the M&M's.
 
All Haramain's 15ml rollers come in cig packets. Paan sweets would be fun. Mrs will ban me from incense in the house. She's fine with it at our daughter's, oddly, but not at ours. Vicco was going to be tonight's shave, but for some reason it didn't happen. I do like it. Quite a lot, in fact.

Ping me your address again (I keep a really clean inbox) and I'll post on the Mukhallat to you ... for a preview, see: http://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Al-Haramain-Perfumes/Mukhallath-19948.html (more here for the older name: http://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Al-Haramain-Perfumes/Khaltath-19951.html) ... I like it, but then it does something odd to my nose and I don't, but do, but don't. I've kept hold of it in case my nose become more accepting, as it is a strong pong otherwise (that's a good thing), but it's just not happening for me.
 
Thanks Paul very kind of you, I'll send a PM shortly. I just tried to balance stilton with oud, wanting to bring out that sharp fungus pong with a peppery amber, strange but true.
 
There's a reasonable size stand at the top of the escalators in the shopping hit of the new New Street station in Birmingham that sells Attars and even a Creed Aventus clone.
 
I will say ...

It's NOT about cheap copies of western frags. It's not. But it can be ... and, they can be really good, perhaps better. If you're expecting the same, you'll be disappointed, but if you're if for a good fragrance inspired by ... well, they can be really good. One I'm really enjoying is a Black Oudh which I bought because I liked the sound of the notes. I've worn it, worn it again, worn it some more ... and then I read that it was a copy of a Montale fragrance. Well, I've never smelled the Montale, but it's a great scent in its own right. I doubt I'll buy the Montale. I doubt I'll ever smell the Montale. I am, however, very happy with this Black Oudh and think I'll buy in a full bottle.

Anyway, Majmua ...

I do like the Nemat. I also have a Nemat Special, but I think my favourite is a rather unbranded number from Paradise Perfumes & Gems, labelled "Egyptian Majmua". Very fresh, very cool. It completely lacks any vetiver earthiness that you DO get from Nemat, but it is nice. I find myself overlaying it on top of Nemat. The joy of attars is, I can get a fresh bottle and blend these 50/50. Done.

I would encourage folks reading this to look to more single reading notes: musk, oudh, vetiver, patchouli, amber, rose & jasmine, and make up blends as you get to know each of the notes.
 
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Oh, today, I've been enjoying a lovely blend ...

Surrati Black Musk, Swiss Arabian Dehnal Oudh & Swiss Arabian Hajar Aswad (new). We get that bitter, resinous rose from the Hajar, underpinned with a curious oudh, aged, verging on chocolate but with a spite vetiver khus note. That, on top of an unfruity leathery, quite powdery black musk. Super! The Hajar Aswad is not my favourite, but plays well with the oudh and the musk without losing some of those finer notes to the more resinous key player. Bitter, sprite, resinous, powdery leather. Actually, not a million miles off Clubman Special Reserve.
 
I'm a massive black musk fan. I've got examples that run from powdery to leathery to fecal to earthy to cacao to sweet. I find myself putting on a dot of black musk regardless, with other attars and western sprays. Ralph Lauren Polo with an extra dot of powdery musk is super! As attars, the black musk and the rose together should make a nice combo.

Do you have a link to the article?
 
Fascinating! Cheers!

Yeah, Jasmine was quite prominent in one of the photos. Get yourselves a pure jasmine to mix up with your favourite musk and wood. It can be a bit ... well, fecal? at first, but certainly settles right down with the right musk. Lovely combo and a change from rose, although with the right rose (darker/greener, more stem) it works out well, too.
 
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