The New Arabians ...

I recently received three new fragrances from Arabian Oud and in the absence of dedicated pages for them I'm going to do a brief rundown here.

Arabian Prestige Rose

Top: Star Jasmine, Indian Rose - Heart: Pink Magnolia, Frangipani - Base: Frankincense, Hibiscus

With those listed notes one would think that this frag would be overly floral, which it isn't. This one, marketed as a feminine certainly contains a very beautiful Rose/Jasmine combination, but it is saved from 'flower power' by a gorgeous, almost woody Frankincense base. A very nice tropical feel is also present here, undoubtedly the effects of the Magnolia and Frangipani. I could be wrong, but I think the Hibiscus is lending a woody tone to the base, being unaware of that particular flower smelling anything but faintly green. This is my favorite of the three ... it has a vibrancy that seems to be in opposition with its resiny base. Definitely recommended for both genders I think that the Arabian Prestige Collection is part of the 'location specific' series by Arabian Oud. These frags only appear on their UK website, and not on the Middle East based one.

Arabian Prestige Original

Top: Laos Oud - Heart: Cinnamon, Saffron - Base: Honey, Cambodian Oud

This one is a little too 'barnyardy' to my nose, although I wore it last night and received quite a few compliments on it. Typically confusing, the blurb on Arabian Oud's UK website touts Prestige Original as being an "exquisite scent of elegance ... a sophisticated blend of rich Cambodian Oud with Rose and Honey". Yep ... there is definitely Honey here ... I detect little animalic wafts of phenylacetic acid. But Rose? ... not here ... not to my nose at least. Rose/Oud combinations form some of my favorite Arabic fragrances and I find Prestige Original to be nowhere close to any of these. Oud also comes in very many qualities, all the way from the most expensive naturally tree infected varieties to some really rough stuff created aroma-chemically. I'm not convinced that the oud here is of the best quality, but perhaps there is something wrong with my sniffer. I am always rather surprised when I get compliments on a fragrance I have reservations wearing.

Ehsas

Top: Wild Rose, Lime - Heart: Plant Amber - Base: Cedarwood

Hmmm ... Plant Amber??? How about plain old Amber created with Vanilla and Benzoin, seeing that 'Amber' as a fragrance note doesn't really exist :). There is a substantial blast of Vanilla in Ehsas, evident right from the very beginning. A mild citrus and very tame Rose feature for a short while up top, but it is the Cedar base here which is quite exciting ... and at the same time rather similar to a legion of designer Men's fragrances out there, the first coming to mind being Paco Rabanne's 1 Million. I suppose the reason it excites me here is that one generally equates Arabic fragrances to vast quantities of Oud which is not present in Ehsas. Rather, the Cedarwood is refreshing, but fails to inspire any kind of Arabic feeling in this fragrance. This will never be groundbreaking, but is really nice as a 'grab and go'.

Arabian Oud sometimes gets it really right and when they do the entire package is amazing, but when they get it wrong it becomes obvious that this is a relatively unorganised company with hit and miss quality control. If I had spent pre-sale prices on these three frags I would have been quite ticked off ... they are not up to the usual quality and packaging standard that I have come to expect from this house. I will more than likely pass the bottle of Prestige Original on ... it would probably become a little bit of an effort to wear, but I really like the Rose and I'll use Ehsas as a day fragrance when I am working in the tropics.