Kemi Kemi / Al Kimiya 2014

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7.8 / 10 144 Ratings

A popular perfume by Kemi / Al Kimiya for women and men, released in 2014. The scent is animal-woody. Projection and longevity are above-average. The production was apparently discontinued.

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Main accords

Animal

Woody

Oriental

Sweet

Spicy

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Laotian oud

Cedar

Heart Notes

Caramel

Civet

Gurjum balsam

Castoreum

Base Notes

Vanilla

Woody notes

Sandalwood

Ratings

Scent

7.8144 Ratings

Longevity

8.7122 Ratings

Sillage

8.2118 Ratings

Bottle

8.8111 Ratings

Value for money

7.137 Ratings

Submitted by Michael, last update on 10/07/2024.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Kemi

King Masarat

Dhanal Oudh Nazaha

Oud Assam

'Ilm

Dhanal Oudh Estethnay

Reviews

4 in-depth fragrance descriptions

06/26/2024

8
Pricing 9
Bottle 8
Sillage 9
Longevity 8.5
Scent

Ninamariah
227 Reviews

Ninamariah

1

Challenging yet addictive Oud and Caramel

KEMI BLENDING MAGIC
Owner Sergio Momo
Nose: Chris Maurice
Discontinued
Relaunched under Xerjoff’s K Collection, they (at least these ones) differ from the original ones. There seems to be even less real Oud if any and for example one of the main notes - Caramel - is not even mentioned in the notes of Kemi in K collection.

Some perfumes which I love in summertime. I know, the most of the people don’t wear these kind of heavy ones in hot but on my skin these are best on warm weather.

KEMI (released originally 2014)

Top: Cedar, Laotian agarwood (Oud)
Middle: Gurjum Balsam, Caramel, Castoreum, Civet
Base: Sandalwood, Vanilla, wood notes

I have some obsession with caramel notes in summertime and in this concoction, I just can’t resist it. It’s so amazing now when it melts on my skin. This smells exactly how you can imagine because of the notes: woody, oudy, sensual, animalic, soft, sweet and addictive. It’s well blended and enjoyable.

‘ilm (2014)
Arabic word for “knowledge”
Very challenging and barnyardy

Indian Assam oud
Oud from Bangladesh
Oud from Laos

“It is an unfathomable combination of different types of oud wood with their heavy, brown, earthy, and slumbering smell, evoking a sense of age and wisdom. ‘ilm opens with the fruity dimension imparted by the loudness of oud wood. The fruity dimension also imparts tobacco-like features to the solid and mystical oud and makes it enchantingly mysterious. Dark, yet bright and promising, heavy, yet full of passion, like knowledge that is unattainable, which once possessed bestows to its bearer all the secrets of the universe.“

️And no, I don’t believe or think that this is real Oud. There is a little hint of those and the rest is something else but I enjoy it regardless. Real Ouds and synthetic blends are totally different categories for sure. My thoughts on “Ouds” is well said in Ensar Oud website:
“The perfume industry has flooded the market with synthetic oud aroma chemicals, watering down and convoluting the legacy of oud with their shallow and linear plantation ouds.
To be blunt, most brands starting to use the term are just milking the cash cow that is the growing trend and vast market of wealthy Arab and Middle-eastern nations given their affinity towards everything oud, and nothing to do with appreciation of the fine aromatic.
The use of oud as a term has never been more widespread, nor has the quality ever been so low. For commercial purposes, oud is any ratio of the lowest grade ‘agarwood oil’ in combination with any other oil, be it of natural or synthetic origin.”

04/28/2022

9
Pricing 10
Bottle 8
Sillage 9
Longevity 10
Scent

EnCuirNoir
6 Reviews

EnCuirNoir

2

Arabian lust

Al-Kimiya (origin of alchemy and originally meaning Kemi-Blending Magic or magical formulation) is a pseudo-elixir, an age long goal of chemistry in its first steps, during the golden age of middle eastern science when chemists tried to achieve two ultimate goals of ambitious men, wealth and immortality. Kimiya heals any wound, cures any sickness, brings back youth and turns any stone into gold. Every king at the time would throw money at chemists, bringing them from borders of their territory, even beyond, to find the formula and make them one. They'd execute the chemists out of frustration facing the reality of old age or even got killed by the chemists feeding them all kinds of insane concoctions. All for the dream of Kimiya. A royal elixir made in the deserts of old Middle East. Kemi does a great job and brilliantly captures that idea, the middle Eastern desert setting (oud), the feeling of a king's lust (caramel, vanilla, tobacco?) and Arabian sacrifice-magic (civet, musk, castoreum). The final product has middle eastern magic all over it. You can almost hear Arabian belly dancer theme music wearing this.

Review:
Now the opening is frightening, I can imagine most who've opened the cap, just to close it right away and ask themselves what just happened and why would someone make that, for hours regretting the unforgettable inhale of sweet human sweat, camel piss and farm animal feces! (I personally do not mind any of that though) Little do they know had they given this ugly one a chance there'd be a black swan making up for that initial impression, flying so beautifully around one's skin, getting better and better for hours after application. The caramel and vanilla get the spotlight and hang on to it with the sandalwood making it even more creamy and interesting and the animal notes carry it over that high line to become jaw-dropping. To make you touch your forehead and faint dramatically: it's all happening on a rich bed of Aoud (similar to the one in the magnificent MFK Oud Extrait). As long as there is good projection (3 hours for one spray, 5 for two) the scent stays the same and after that as a skin scent the woody base (cedar?) will appear to introduce an old library accord, a very old dusty one. The gourmand notes have passed the spotlight to the animals and it's simply carnal and quite sexy.

I think I must add my love for Kemi is so out of my ordinary, as not only I'm not a fan of vanilla but I also hate sweeties and gourmands! It's the very first sweet perfume that I have truly loved, and I actually feel comfortable in Kemi, the feeling it gives me? Royal, importance and heritage, something ancient lies in this formula, like riding a wild stallion that accepts only you or wielding Alexander the Great's warhammer and the superstition of taking after his greatness! Kemi makes me tempted to believe in great things that don't make sense!

Who should try this? If you're a gourmand lover that is into animalics definitely try this it's made for you, if you love animalics whether or not you're into gourmands or sweeties you should not overlook this you may be just as surprised as I am, if you are into Middle Eastern perfumes, rich complex concoctions or just something that'd challenge you try it, you may find your match. If you have not smelled animalics or you tried Kouros and deemed it unwearable, you are not ready for this.

Who I imagine wearing this? Someone that has fire in her heart and handles it like a boss, loud and shameless, chic and vulgar, in short Madonna. I love it on myself and I find it very attractive on both a boy or girl. I've already told you what it reminds me of, a lustful Arabian king's kingdom and holy grail. The bottle looks like a relic, it lasts a long time and projects just enough to not put you in embarrassing situations. And of course, love.

12/06/2023

7
Pricing 7
Bottle 9
Sillage 9
Longevity 8.5
Scent

NiPis98
18 Reviews

Translated Show original

NiPis98

1

The cow makes caramel instead of milk...

What is a caramel sweet doing in a cowshed...?

Kemi was also included in the Xerjoff range through the core takeover of the entire "Kemi" brand and now also comes in the chic, oriental-inspired bottle of the Kemi Blue range. Before the takeover, Kemi was also part of the Xerjoff Group, but was independent and had its own flacons. When I compared the "old" Kemi with the new one, I couldn't really make out any differences. Fortunately, it remains the same fragrance.

Allegedly, all Kemi fragrances have remained the same and only a few points have been positively adjusted. In the case of Kemi - Kemi, I can confirm this for the time being.

Kemi starts with a good load of oud. Really strong cowshed oud, in fact, which starts off with quite a strong animalic note.
After a while, the animalic notes recede and, in my opinion, can only be considered medium-strong. At the same time, an increasingly strong caramel sweetness develops on the skin.

After a few hours, the Kemi really unfolds... the stalky oud remains, but the animalic is turned down a little. A creamy caramel candy now comes to the fore and blends with the stable oud.

The sillage is very powerful, but only really becomes strong on my skin after about 7 hours. It radiates properly and envelops you in a sweet caramel cloud that is underlaid with creamy oud.

The Kemi - Kemi is absolutely unique, beautifully crafted and definitely very high quality.
But is it worth buying? I guess that depends...

It is very special and you have to be able and willing to wear such strong oriental fragrances.

In fact, I'm not sure myself when and where I would wear the fragrance now... Nevertheless, I kept catching myself bringing my hand to my nose to smell the fragrance again. Over and over again. It's incredibly exciting, exudes a warmth and it's fun to watch it change over the hours.
Every time you notice the sillage through movement or a breeze, I'm in love. The longevity is also first-class, of course.

Definitely try it if you like oud fragrances and oriental firecrackers. But I can understand if you don't like Kemi at all.

11/20/2020

Manogi
83 Reviews

Translated Show original

Manogi

11

A fragrance that takes time

I like Kemi all the better the more I wear it. The first time I only smelled the red fruit jelly described by others. Although I usually don't like sweet scents too much, I really liked this incredibly intense aroma.

Then I wore it again and was surprised how different I suddenly felt about it. The red fruit jelly had disappeared. Instead I smelled something smoky, which I attributed to the Laotian oud. Lao oud in its pure form is one of my favourite oud scents, and here the integration and interaction with the other notes is very successful. I can even smell a light leather note. The animal parts, on the other hand, are at best very lightly hinted at.

The caramel, vanilla and woody notes evolve as the wine evolves, but the smoky touch is never completely lost.

All in all, Kemi is a very beautiful and at the same time very unusual fragrance, which has an extraordinary sweetness on the one hand, but is woody-smoky on the other hand.