.. this is Al Fareed by Arabian Oud. It’s no coincidence that it, along with its sweeter counterpart Resala, is the best seller of the house.
You decide to emigrate to Dubai. After a few days of settling into the new, sunny, and incredibly large city of superlatives, you head into one of the many huge, clean, and shop-filled malls to choose a new, suitable scent for your new home. You walk past shops selling Oud, luxury houses, and classics known from Europe, but one store fascinates you in particular - Arabian Oud. As soon as you step inside, a nice, friendly employee greets you and recommends some of his fragrances. Somehow, they all smell good, but one stands out: Al Fareed. You could smell it already at the entrance, and after the employee gives you a spray on your wrist, you can’t smell anything else. Without hesitation, you decide to buy it - how convenient, even during the Ramadan Sale! Unpacked at home, you feel like you’re in heaven, like a young sheikh who is practically bathing in money. Modern, luxurious, with a scent that makes a statement but doesn’t overdo it, and at the same time so mass-appealing that even your wife and children love it on you. From now on, you walk confidently through the streets of Dubai, knowing that your fragrance is the pinnacle of Arabic perfume art, and whenever you occasionally visit your old homeland, every one of your friends asks you what you’re wearing and where they can buy something so wonderful.
Al Fareed is a really well-made fragrance - upon spraying, the top notes are slightly fresh, floral, and spicy. Almost all the listed notes are actually perceived this way, with the exception of vanilla in the drydown, which I cannot smell at all. In the opening, it slowly begins to stand out and has an enormous sillage. In the drydown, patchouli comes into play, and over time it becomes woodier, a bit calmer, and more musky. The wood or Oud is present, but extremely clean and by no means strong or animalic. The musk creates a feeling of fresh laundry and cleanliness that runs through the entire fragrance journey once the top notes have faded. The scent also remains floral throughout, but not in the way one is used to from French classics, rather extremely modern and definitely wearable for a man. The fragrance then slowly quiets down after an incredibly long time, until it is only faintly perceptible. Basically, we are more on the synthetic side here - it is dry, sometimes a bit difficult to smell, but still very strong for everyone around, which is why one should be careful about how much one sprays. Three sprays are more than enough to fill a room, and with five, you’ll have people in the room coughing. On clothing, it lasts several weeks.
Overall, a solid package that unfortunately isn’t quite perfect. While I don’t mind synthetics, too much of it always makes it hard for me to perceive the fragrance properly, and it doesn’t stand out from the skin, which leads me to quickly spray too much or think that it has disappeared after 2 hours. However, this is by no means the case with Al Fareed - on the contrary, the performance is incredibly strong. I actually find the musk with Oud and floral notes very beautiful, but at times it lacks a clear line - not unusual for fragrances from the Arab world, but still a bit of a shame. The fragrance smells truly dreamy when you catch a whiff of it on your sweater or coat a week later. Not too strong or overpowering, just right and really beautiful. It seems a bit like you need to smell it from a distance, and therefore it will probably smell a bit better and stronger to those around you than it does to yourself.
The packaging is likely one of the highlights. Incredibly beautiful wooden box that opens to the left and right and then presents the fragrance on a pedestal. Absolutely stunning. In the store, the fragrance comes in its specially made paper bag with the Al Fareed logo, which is not just printed but practically glued on. Very impressive. H+S, as already described, absurd, priced a bit high, but often found on sale, at least in the Orient, and for the price, it’s incredibly good. Overall, a great fragrance that can surely amaze friends and family. Those who like the current powerhouse trend and generally love oriental fragrances will find pleasure in this one. It’s a bit too strong for me, but the scent itself is still wonderful. Purchase/Test recommendation.
Top Notes 
Pink pepper
Bergamot
Geranium
Heart Notes 
Ambergris
Violet
Patchouli
Base Notes 
Musk
Oud
Vanilla
Finerthings8
Equilton
BertolucciK
Danny264
FragFreak666
Scentistic
HicKha
Mahdy
SammySam
Christoph69
