Al Wisam Evening Rasasi

There are things I just don’t understand. For example, how someone over 40 can still indulge in a hype like Pokémon Go. People, grow up already! Or how one can drown finely tuned and spiced dishes in copious amounts of Tabasco or Sambal Olek. Everything ends up tasting equally spicy anyway, whether you’re downing Beef Stroganoff or a soggy kitchen sponge.

Or the mixture of Al Wisam Evening. Which means something like the award of the evening. However, the pyramid rather signals a fragrance experience for the day. With lemon and lavender, it’s actually quite sunny. But that’s not even the real problem. How can one ... really: how can one underscore such a lemony affair, which also comes off as synthetic and cheap, with an extremely stable Oud note and not even announce it officially?

I can well imagine that some blind buyers were taken aback by the sight of this relatively attractive bottle and then by the first spray of this catastrophe. The stable smell comes without any warning, thankfully doesn’t last long, but is enough to ruin the promising evening. After all, there’s no sweet-floral-fruity sensual compensation that follows, just the nasty aftertaste of a refreshing little water. With a bit of generosity, a few usable fragrance molecules are perceptible here and there, but by then the child has already fallen into the well - and with a big splash.

Musk and sandalwood in the base note? No way!!!

Well, in Arabic regions, Al Wisam Evening might find one or two fans, but in our latitudes, it’s a prime candidate for the golden scent lemon or the red perfume lantern among men.

One thing I can understand, though: that Al Wisam Evening has been bottled in this chic flacon so that it can at least draw some attention. That this is a form of consumer deception, as well as the concealment of the Oud note, is another story.

And to avoid being misunderstood: I like Oud - but please not in this insidious and unclean way!