Quietly from the corner Invictus Aqua calls: I am your father!
Bahar was the last fragrance from the first Spirit of Dubai series that I still needed to test to know the entire range. Unfortunately, nothing has completely convinced me so far except for "Dubai - Turath | Nabeel." "Dubai - Majalis | Nabeel" was very good, but due to a lack of everyday suitability, it had to move on.
Bahar is completely different from the other fragrances in the Spirit of Dubai series. Here, the buyer does not receive a strong oriental scent, but rather something modern, fruity, and unfortunately also far too ordinary. The fragrance pyramid reads once again like the latest Brockhaus encyclopedia. Now comes the somewhat sad part. I can hardly perceive or recognize any of the notes. I'll keep it brief at this point: I just smell Invictus Aqua here, I would say 75-80% similarity. That is also the reason why there is no description of the fragrance following this. The only difference is a pineapple and oud in the heart and base notes, which smells like it’s from "Purple Accento | XerJoff." I really don’t know what to say about Bahar or how to rate this fragrance. It smells good and high-quality, but just like a dupe. For over €250 for 50 ml, I simply find that unacceptable.
The longevity is of course very good, over 10 hours was again no problem, and the sillage is good, but after 5-6 hours it’s almost skin close; other Nabeel fragrances perform significantly better here.
I am truly disappointed with Nabeel Bahar. Here, it has simply been copied, and that is not acceptable in this price range for me. A regular perfume buyer, so not a perfumista, would probably even label this fragrance as Invictus or not recognize the difference at all. I had my girlfriend test Bahar without telling her what she was testing. She said it was a typical scent from the Douglas Top 10 and immediately thought of Invictus Aqua.
I'm sorry, but I have to step in here. 1. If anything, Paco Rabanne copied this one due to the release date. 2. I really don't know what you all are up to; there are now 12 fragrances that are said to smell similar, from Erba Pura to Invictus Aqua or Accento. They have nothing in common. And 3. Fragrance 5... with all due respect, you don't have to like it, but a 5 is quite cheeky. Not even Invictus Aqua deserves worse than a 6, and this one is definitely of higher quality and better... Unfortunately, this isn't the best review; there wasn't enough focus on the fragrance...
Best regards
I have to step in here because what you're saying is simply not correct. The original Invictus was released in 2013, while Bahar came out in 2015. Invictus Aqua was launched in 2016. So the initial DNA is from Paco Rabanne. With Aqua, we may never be able to definitively determine if Paco Rabanne was inspired. If you look at the rating scale on Parfumo, you'll see that a 5 is average, so not bad. I even had a bottle of Bahar for a while, but my impression was the same as before. Erba Pura and Accento, on the other hand, are clearly different fragrances. The fruit accords are generally very similar among Xerjoff, Nabeel, Terenzi, etc.
Best regards