Dubai - Ajyal The Spirit of Dubai 2023

The "Dubai - Ajyal | Nabeel" had long been high on my wish list, but when the fragrance was compared to "Erba Pura | XerJoff," my interest faded slightly... what a mistake, because what on earth does this fragrance have in common with "Erba Pura | XerJoff"? One almost loses faith; when there are fruits in a fragrance, most people automatically associate it with "Erba Pura | XerJoff" or "Accento | XerJoff."

Well, let’s first look at "Dubai - Ajyal | Nabeel" before I delve into the clear differences from other fruity fragrances:

- The opening is overwhelming and probably the biggest challenge of the fragrance; you have to like fruity, sweet openings. There are few fragrances that manage to smell so pleasant overall, even though nearly 13 ingredients are used just in the opening. It is so well blended that individual ingredients are hardly noticeable; rather, you perceive a sweet, ripe fruit basket, and individual notes are more detectable to a trained nose; such as pear, bergamot, a little apple, a hint of mint, etc.

- After that, the fragrance takes on a floral facet that balances out this initial sweetness very well, along with woody accords that tone down this "Dubai sweetness" a bit and round it off nicely; before the fragrance then transitions into a sweet-fresh, slightly woody-amber drydown.

- Overall, a truly oriental Freshie with good longevity and projection; certainly not like a "Dubai - Meydan (Eau de Parfum) | Nabeel," but for summer, the performance is quite good!

Now, as you can see, we do get a fruit basket here, but this is by no means as synthetic as in "Erba Pura | XerJoff" and is much fresher. Additionally, it combines floral aspects; and I think I know why most people associate it either with "Erba Pura | XerJoff" (due to fruitiness) or with "Accento | XerJoff" (florality in the heart note); but the fragrance, even when considered in its individual phases, bears no resemblance to either of those fragrances, absolutely none.

Now for a brief comparison to the mentioned fragrances so far:

- "Erba Pura | XerJoff" is a matured fruit compote that comes across as very synthetic. Individual notes are hardly perceptible, and the fragrance culminates in a rather synthetic, strong musk note. The only commonality; both utilize fruits; but here "Dubai - Ajyal | Nabeel" has a much more voluminous and natural composition, and does not transform in the drydown into a simple musk base. Additionally, in "Dubai - Ajyal | Nabeel," individual notes like pear, fresh mint, bergamot, and apple can be detected; and yes, this fruitiness is fresh, not "ripe" like in "Erba Pura | XerJoff." How similar are the fragrances in percentage? At most 5%.

- The comparison with "Accento | XerJoff" is even more utopian: "Accento | XerJoff" has a bit of pineapple in the opening, that's it. As mentioned above, the only comparable aspect of the fragrance is the floral heart note, but only as a "basic idea." This floral heart note is completely differently composed and is more in the background of the fruity sweetness in "Dubai - Ajyal | Nabeel"; in "Accento | XerJoff," this floral side, along with the slight pineapple, is in the foreground and almost has a "clean vibe," whereas "Dubai - Ajyal | Nabeel" retains an oriental, sweet, floral, fresh-fruity DNA.

- And anyone who compares the fragrance to God of Fire is far from reality :) The God of Fire is very mango-dominated, clearly fresh, but the mango is the main actor, and it then becomes slightly creamy-woody, with 0 floral aspects. I don't know...

In this sense, dear Parfumos; please don't always rely on these comparisons and test the fragrances independently. Everyone perceives fragrances differently, and it may well be that the fragrances smell similar to others, but so many factors come into play; you don't know how experienced the reviewer is, how many fragrances they have under their nose, whether the reviewer can identify individual ingredients at all and how they interact; whether they even tested the fragrances simultaneously. These comparisons are therefore not always meaningful.

In the end, what counts is your own experience, and there are so many passionate decant colleagues here at Parfumo who make this possible :) In that sense, go for it, I hope this contribution helps a bit.