Faris Al Arab Maison Asrar 2025

It smells like blonde amber but it's not incense heavy. It's a lighter version of it but it still has the body and the depth that makes it a stunner on its own. The time I smelt blonde amber, I knew it's a good scent but it's not worth the money (for me) because it will be redundant to all fragrances I have (not in the smell but in the function) as they will serve the same occasions, so I won't pay that much for Blonde Amber. I have PDM Carlisle, Initio Side Effect, PDM Herod, PDM Oajan, Xerjoff Tony Iommi Monkey Special, Amouage Royal Tobacco and all of these for me worth paying for more than a small 50ml of CC BA, and this is really personal.

The presentation is niche though, I usually don't like the presentations of clone fragrances or arabic ones but this one really stands out on anybody's shelf.

Is it a 1:1 Blonde Amber? Absolutely not. Is it of a high quality? Very high quality. Is it the best fragrance ever created? Not at all, don't fall for the hype. But If someone who's into fragrances was to smell this, he/she will admit it's an expensive smelling fragrance whether they like it or not. Ah! I forgot, it's a likeable scent and has an appealing factor.
Great Longevity and projection (Not a beast mode by any means and it doesn't need to be). Faris Al Arab really comes close and fills the gap of Blonde Amber in my collection and in the air it's indistinguishable to BA. It scratches the itch!
A very balanced fragrance, I don't need more out of it!
And I don't need Blonde Amber.

Underrated for sure - The smell is unique, well-blended, long-lasting and actually fairly well priced.

That's a winner combination! Just don't tell people you wear "Faris al Arab" like what in the actual monstrosity is that name. Arab houses have two major flaws:
1- Garbage names
2- Stupid bottles

If they fixed that, they'd somehow dominate even more than they are right now.

Imagine going out and telling people you're wearing [insert normal name here], and then they google the bottle and find something that isn't reminiscent of a nerd club with a trophy from Dark Souls. Yeah, that'd be winner.

Very well blended scent of sweetness and incense-like aroma. I am glad I bought this as it is very unique and different than everything else in my collection. This is a date night or event type fragrance. I like this so much I might just use it whenever I feel like it because the scent is that good. It is also loud and projects, so don't overspray this one. Overall, it is very worth it for the price. I'm not sure if this is blind buy safe because it does have an oriental incense smell and is slightly on the sweet side.

First off these 2 dupes are not gonna be the same quality as blonde amber which we will have to accept.

I hate the weird dupe percentages people use but I have no other choice to illustrate my point.
Faris Al Arab is a 91% while amber empire is like an 88%. The difference is pretty minuscule but this is slightly higher quality.

The difference in performance is staggering tho. amber empire is incredibly long lasting and room filling, while this thing is slightly worse than the real blonde amber’s performance. For this massive performance difference I recommend empire.

Actually, I didn't want to write a review for this fragrance, as I bought it primarily for the bottle, which complements Muharib nicely as an additional decorative piece in my collection. Furthermore, I do not own the mentioned original, so I cannot compare the two. However, the stated fragrance pyramid appeals to my taste, and I was sure that it wouldn't just remain a decorative bottle.
And then I sprayed it on and ... WOW. Right from the start, a rich, fruity, liqueur-like embrace that draws the nose closer to the skin for more sniffing. A light, pleasant, and by no means cheap sweetness is also present right from the beginning and remains on my skin throughout the entire dry down. In this dry down, ambered, resinous notes slowly come to the forefront, and yes, I also perceive some tobacco and woods, all beautifully enveloped in creaminess. Even though I've read that it is supposed to be heavy, round, and smoky, it develops on my skin without any noticeable smoky note and remains creamy, resinous, and woody with a light sweetness until the end. It's interesting that the notes seem to slightly alternate in their perceptibility. Overall, it's simply a WOW fragrance for me. It lasted on my skin for over 10 hours and gave me a fantastic day.
So if the great original smells even better and more refined, I can completely understand the enthusiasm for this one.

Just to conclude: Faris Al Arab should be tested directly on the skin; the scent strip develops completely differently.