Julieta

This moment in my life is certainly not a highlight. 18 months of pandemic and its consequences in almost all areas of life have thoroughly trampled my mental health, my heart, and my soul, and I currently find it damn hard to see anything other than the bleak and ugly sides of life and the world.
Therefore, I try to indulge in small pleasures for the sake of self-care that bring a little light and relief amidst all the doom and gloom.

Enter "Hajar"!

I didn’t expect much, as floral scents are really not my thing, and the fragrance pyramid clearly lists Ylang-Ylang and geranium as top notes.
But then! As soon as I applied it, I was enveloped in a comforting cloud of scent that suggested to my mind a clean, safe… simply a feeling of well-being. I seem to recall reading somewhere that geranium has mood-lifting effects. Here, it definitely does, at least for me. And I am grateful for this wonderful example of the enormous influence that scents can have on one’s well-being. A little ray of sunshine in the gloom.

Hajar is, on my skin and for my nose, a lush, warm oriental floral fragrance, where a rosy note clearly sets the tone without being overwhelming or old-fashioned. I personally only catch a hint of the woody notes. But that doesn’t matter at all, because I have absolutely no complaints about the scent as I perceive it. There’s nothing sharp, shrill, or heavy here.
The sillage is, as is usual with perfume oils, not very strong, although the scent is still clearly noticeable at arm's length. The longevity is good; a quick roll on the neck lasts for 5-6 hours. And last but not least, the price-performance ratio is absolutely unbeatable at just 8 (!) euros for 15 ml. Hajar smells significantly more luxurious and expensive than it is, and it deserves to be appropriately acknowledged here not only for its highly appreciated contributions to my well-being.
But even though I have received multiple compliments for the scent from others, I probably enjoy it the most myself. Occasionally, I even apply it to my wrists before going to sleep because the feeling of security triggered by the scent helps me fall asleep. I’ve probably just been lucky, and the right fragrance came to the right nose at the right moment. Not everyone will perceive it the same way. Given the very affordable price, however, one can certainly take a chance here and will be pleasantly surprised in case of doubt.

An Afghan acquaintance once gifted me a large canister full of saffron threads. His mom regularly sends him such canisters from Afghanistan, and he always has a supply. I had never smelled saffron in larger quantities before and was fascinated by how the taste and scent of an aromatic substance can be so different. Saffron in rice tastes delicious. However, the saffron straight from the canister smelled piercing, bitter, and musty.
Why am I telling you this? Because it was exactly the first impression I had after spraying Aoud Vanille. Besides saffron, I initially perceived nothing else. But the saffron was so intense that I actually felt a bit nauseous for a moment. Vanilla, oud, or even flowers - none of that was present. Just a dusty, deep dark, piercing medicinal saffron note, absolutely nothing else. Just like the canister of saffron smelled when opened. The scent has absolutely no sweetness or softness, let alone creaminess, to counter this note.

I then wondered if my sample might be off, as the scent impression deviated so extremely from the other comments here. After about 30 minutes, the saffron funk calmed down a bit. It doesn’t completely disappear, but slowly the vanilla begins to fight its way more to the forefront, and I can gradually smell my arm again without flinching. Over the course of about 3 hours, the scent transforms into what most of the other commenters perceive. So it’s probably not the sample, but my skin chemistry that gives the saffron such a dominating presence.
The drydown is really very nice - dry, completely unsweetened, sandalwood-like vanilla; overall a bit reminiscent of incense sticks. If the scent had been at least somewhat similar to what it becomes after hours from the start, it would definitely be a candidate for purchase. Interesting, "different," and absolutely not mainstream. Unfortunately, I fear that I wouldn’t have the patience to endure the first 30 minutes of saffron overkill with every application. Those who push through or have skin chemistry that keeps the saffron in check will be rewarded with a beautiful scent that I could still faintly perceive even after showering.