I have had Fakhama as a decant for a while and have now tested it 3 times. Normally, I really like the Dubai series from Nabeel and I believe that it competes with Roja, Xerjoff, Tiziana Terenzi, Kemi, etc. Unfortunately, this also particularly applies to the price here.
I can really agree with PallasCC's opinion. Fakhama is a rose-oud scent that has been done countless times before. Fakhama is somewhat different due to the use of fruits, which makes it softer. However, this also leads to Fakhama slipping very much into the mainstream niche area. It could also be a scent from Initio or Parfums de Marly. I simply do not recognize the huge fragrance pyramid here: rose, oud, fruits, and vanilla are the only notes of this incredible pyramid that I could identify. Unfortunately, this did not change during the further course of my tests.
The longevity, however, leaves nothing to be desired. I could smell Fakhama for a good 11 hours. The sillage is perceptible for 4-5 hours at arm's length, after which Fakhama slowly becomes intimate over the next few hours.
Now a bit about the bottle: I had Majalis from Nabeel in my collection and must say the bottles are very nice, but not high quality. The top is just plastic, which doesn't even fit perfectly. The logo was also attached crookedly on mine. The outer packaging is a case in which the logo is again incorporated with a kind of gold leaf. Unfortunately, this starts to peel off after a short time because the bottle rubs against this logo with its own case. The bottle could also belong to a €100 perfume, I expect more here.
What's going on in the comments section here? 😂 How can someone get so angry at someone who simply doesn't like a fragrance?
I have nothing against fragrance reviews that consider the "quality" of a scent - even though an echo chamber can easily form, and the validity of a judgment about a fragrance's quality is limited under opaque production conditions.
Nonetheless, I believe that personal scent perception - like in this review - should always come first. Otherwise, we end up with an inflationary spiral of fragrance ratings, e.g., "oh, fragrance A from brand 1 has an 8.0 - now I have to rate fragrance B from brand 2, which is rated 7.0, higher - after all, brand 2's quality is better."
The rating scale goes from 0 to 10 for a reason. A score of 5 represents the middle and is absolutely appropriate for fragrances that one finds just average.
I completely agree with Ex-user! Taste is subjective, but an experienced perfumista like you shouldn't give such a complex scent a 6 just because there are better ones in the lineup!
I just don't like the scent and don't find it very complex either. I've rated other fragrances poorly as well. Other scents from the brand are much better and deserve a higher rating. However, if we compare it to true luxury products like Laurent Smal or Henry Jacques, my rating becomes even clearer.
Can I ask why you wrote something two months ago and now suddenly again? Were you bored or something? I've tested all the scents from Gen 1 and even had a few in a bottle. I really don't understand what your problem is. Just go to other reviews and play there instead.
I always find it inappropriate to rate something poorly just because it's considered the "worst" in a lineup, but this scent is still better than all the Roja fragrances! It deserves at least a 9, even if it's supposed to be the "worst" among its siblings.
Unfortunately, I can't agree with your opinion because that would somehow undermine the purpose of reviews. Even if all the fragrances in the line are between 8-10, if this one is worse for me, I logically have to give it less than 8. If you really like the scent, that's perfectly fine. However, your opinion on Roja is somewhat incomprehensible to me. You can't just label all Roja fragrances as bad and then apply that to the entire brand. You're doing the same extreme in the opposite direction with Nabeel.
I have nothing against fragrance reviews that consider the "quality" of a scent - even though an echo chamber can easily form, and the validity of a judgment about a fragrance's quality is limited under opaque production conditions.
Nonetheless, I believe that personal scent perception - like in this review - should always come first. Otherwise, we end up with an inflationary spiral of fragrance ratings, e.g., "oh, fragrance A from brand 1 has an 8.0 - now I have to rate fragrance B from brand 2, which is rated 7.0, higher - after all, brand 2's quality is better."
The rating scale goes from 0 to 10 for a reason. A score of 5 represents the middle and is absolutely appropriate for fragrances that one finds just average.
So, my 🏆 for this review.