An Arabian Adventure

My love of Arabic perfumery began some years ago when I was fortunate enough to be employed by an International company based in Saudi Arabia. I wear a few different hats in my job, but the best thing about it is that I get to travel ... a lot! I have also had the pleasure of being exposed to many different kinds of people ... Italians, Cubans, Lebanese ... and some wonderful Arabs who have nurtured my love of their fragrances and helped me along the path of appreciating not only their culture, but the wonderful smells they create.

I'd never used fragrant oils before and was a little confused by my first gift of a tiny bottle with a gold cap and a stopper within. "Apply this when you are damp from the shower" I was told. It took a while for this information to sink in! It really is the best way to use oils ... a very small amount of oil combined with the water left on one's skin will make them radiate and last for hours and hours. I have no idea what my first one was ... but it was wonderful. I started doing a little research on the Internet and discovered something called Oudh. "Sounds like 'wood'" I thought to myself, and was quite gratified upon further investigation when I discovered that the smell was indeed wood based ... although not in the way that I thought it was. New and exotic names started thrilling me ... Al Haramain, Ajmal, Al Rehab ... sounding terribly exotic and oh so Arabian Nights. It didn't take me long to realise that there were vast differences in quality as well as price for the bottles that I now lusted so intently after.

I have a few oils in my collection. My favorites are Al Haramain's Marwah and Attar al Kaaba. The reason here is that I have realised that it's not neccessarily unadulterated Oudh that I am after. Indeed, I have tried some really expensive pure Oudh oils from places like Cambodia and Indonesia ... and while they certainly are an experience I battle to wear Oudh on it's own. I find that in most cases it smells like a barnyard ... or unmucked out stables to be more precise. My nose will have to be trained a whole lot more until I can appreciate the purity of really good high grade Oudh.

What I have fallen in love with, however, is the insatiable Arabic desire for Roses. Beautiful Taifi roses grown in Taif in the mountains between Jeddah and Mecca, where the air is cooler and the water pure and plentiful. I have read that the Taif rose and Bulgarian Rose are more than likely related ... whether so or not ... it's Rose/Oud combinations that make my nostrils quiver and I have fallen in love with many. I have discovered houses like Amouage and Arabian Oud, replete with their Ali Baba chests of fragrant wonders. Montale (a house not truly Arabic) also delights as do the creations of Designer Shaik.

Lyric Man by Amouage is a favorite, wonderful deep rich roses, redder than fine wine spilt on white silk. Kalemat Black by Arabian Oud is the smell of bakhoor burning on a brazier, coming off ones body in scintillating waves of power. Montale's Queen Roses is resplendent with a Rose that is so regal it needs to be gaurded by the Oudh contained in the mix. The combinations of smells are mindblowing. I have an attar by Al Haramain called Salma, resplendent with a mixture of Amber, Musk, Orange Blossom, Tuberose, and Rose while another one called Madinah is a beautiful blend of sweet fresh florals with Rose, Jasmine, Orchid, Saffron and Sandalwood notes. Simply incredible ... I love wearing them.

One can pay anywhere from just a few dollars for 3 mls of oil to a few hundred dollars and beyond for some of the top end spray fragrances. At the end of the day it's all relative I suppose ... it's very much a situation of want versus need. I don't really think I need anymore Arabic fragrances, but that doesn't stop me wanting them ... so much so that I have an order of three bottles (Ehsas, Arabian Prestige Original and Arabian Prestige Rose) on the way from the Arabian Oud store in London. 

The west has become exposed to Arabics of late with a goodly number of houses jumping on the bandwagon. The only frags from this area of supply that I would be interested in buying are Montale's. I've tried the Micalefs and found them wanting, while on the other end of the scale, the Xerjoff's and by Killians are generally out of my price league. There are smaller players too ... Lauder's release of Wood Mystique and Perfume Calligraphy are both good efforts. In a bad marketing strategy they are aimed at the Middle Eastern market, as are the Arabian Nights editions by J. Del Pozo ... not sure why!! It's a market that is filled with Arabic fragrances much better constructed and presented. It's de riguer to have an "oudh' coming out these days, and a lot of them like the Bond no.9 versions should simply be avoided, in my humble opinion.

If you want to get into Arabics jump on the first magic carpet you can find and get the original stuff. Don't bother with the quasi stuff until you have at least put your nose to a few good Attars and Mukhallats ... you'll be so glad you did.