INITIAL REVIEW:
IF you've ever seen Dirham Wardi's packaging you know how it smells (edit: or not. See additional review below). D W comes in a white/ pink box with silver lettering and a pretty pink bow on top. The bottle itself is a simple rectangle with rounded sides in dusky pink with silver lettering, a silver cap and a silver flower embossing on the back. Ard Al Zaafaran's Dirham Wardi 'smells' light silvery pink. I'm one of those people who often sees colours with smells, people, cities and memories and if you're like that you'll know what I mean.
I honestly had expected a lot more based on notes like black current, pear, praline and tonkabean combined w/ orange blossom and jasmine (my 2 favourite white flowers), but the gourmand element stays away on and from my skin entirely! While I'm not particularly a sweet gourmand enthousiast ( I'm more a white floral/spicy floral or Floriental / fruity floral lover), I also know that my skin eats perfume: many sweet notes usually becomes a few sweet notes. So talking that risk was calculated ~ with the expectation to get either some top or base.
In the case of this Ard Al Zaafaran fragrance many became pretty much zilch. Because my favourite white flowers took off for a holiday as well. All I get is a very soft - soft but really nice - rose that's quickly supported by a sweeter scent - a sweeter scent that can't be identified. After half an hour Dirham Wardi gets a tad of creamy vanilla with a hint of powder (Iris?) and the rose is even more softened then. It's lovely and very feminine, but also...boring. Zero complexity, one-tonal... [ crickets] .
After 1-1.5hr I assumed my nose blindness fooled me into thinking DW was nothing more than a faint skin scent, ready to disappear on me alltogether. But a quick step outside let me know the sad, sad news: the monster had been hangry again! My skin is no match for this tender girl, this lady that reminds me of classical ballet, the first hints of spring...
Dirham Wardi is soft, pretty, fresh and pleasant in its scent, a great choice for an office, when working as a teacher, a hairdresser or behind a counter. It's that typical nice, but inoffensive perfume that no-one will truly hate. Unfortunately for my dry, perfume- binging human suit it is too soft of a DNA. Or, at least, it's how it shows itself on said 'suit'.
Because I do like it, and I had high hopes for it based on reviews & notes, I'm going to let it sit for a while. I've had perfumes before that barely had a smell in the first week of trying and after a month of "recuperating" with the first few sprays out, were suddenly utterly delicious and much stronger. I hope for the best in October.
Who knows, maybe Ard Al Zaafaran fooled all of us with the bottle & box design and its initial girly prettiness is all a front for a "still waters have deep ..." well, scents in this case! If I can catch a bit of black current and white flower with a more supportive base in the future I'll gladly spray the heck out of it to get longevity. Because then I'll have a pretty perfume with an actual personality that'll be worth every penny of the €20 I paid for it now.
ADDITIONAL REVIEW OCTOBER
EDIT: It’s October and I retried Dirham Wardi again two days ago. Just 1 spritz on my hand, but...hallelujah! I still wouldn't classify this as a gourmand, but the scent has become much, much stronger, lusciously sweet (away with the silver, the pink is now a dusky one or a magenta if you will. It is *there*) and with a strange, unexpected acquatic note to it. That could be because I think this fragrance isn't really an October perfume and my typical warm weather scents often get an airy or watery accent in colder weather. So does DW. But, besides that, it is now a very nice sweet fruity- floral with a juicy pear, a gorgeous rose and a yummy vanillic praline with some tiny touch of wood at the very end. Longevity tripled and projection was suddenly there. I do think it'll lose power once the central heating becomes truly necessary, but before that I'm finally going to really enjoy my new pink friend.
Is it still inoffensive? Well, it isn't polarising, that's for sure. But I don't think it's still suitable for jobs where perfume can cause nasty reactions. And if your skin isn't extremely dry, like mine, nor perfume eating, like mine, you might have way more projection as well. Sorry hairdressers and teachers . This fragrance is now intoxicatingly sweet, with ripe fruits and sexy jasmine on a bed of thickening calories. I'll spray the heck out of it because I don't see other people during the day and like to sniff myself and gasp "Aaahhh" when something is nice, but if you do so be aware you could get angry faces. Or a few phone numbers...
AND MORE INFO, JUNE 2023
Dirham Wardi has given my olfactory senses something to do, that's for sure. The initial maturation already changed my mind tremendously from my initial week of testing - turning it from watery rose into juicy vanillic floral bouquet. One important (to me) note I didn't get was the Orangeblossom. Lo and behold: a winter and early spring of extra 'cooking' and Dirham Wardi shows yet another side! Read my October review. Now, delete the aquatic element ( indeed only there when it is 'too cold' for DW), diminish the praline and jasmine-sweetness by adding a good dose of tart-sweet orangeblossom and I think the real Dirham Wardi just stood up. Still luscious, but suddenly a tad more complex and a whole lot more acceptable for many a job. Signature worthy as an everyday leisure fragrance in Spring/Summer(+Sept), and even one for the office if you don't necessarily need to smell like you're leading a Fortune 500 company.
Top Notes 
Heart Notes 
Base Notes 
