Schoeibksr

Natural aroma explosion.
This is what I expect from artisans in the higher price range. I want to experience a noticeable variety of notes when, as in this case, 40 notes are listed. Each of these expensive, natural raw materials of the highest quality (partly from Ensar Oud) could stand alone as a perfume due to their complexity, especially if you have smelled the pure oils before. However, since this is a blend, a fusion of all these notes together, it depends on the perfumer's skill to beautifully showcase their diversity.
Did he succeed?

Frederic Gieselbach, founder & perfumer behind Nebiru Parfvms, set himself the task in 2024 to gather the best natural raw materials in the world to tell great stories with them. The fragrances have soul & passion, and a quick look at his behind-the-scenes work on Instagram is worth it. I can only take my hat off to people who dare to take the step into the labor-intensive world of perfumery. Especially natural perfumery, which is much more complex to operate in terms of sourcing raw materials (especially price-wise). The end result can never achieve the quality of a synthetic, mass-produced mainstream product.

From the very beginning, you can smell that Emerald is a base-centered oud perfume.
Smoky notes of pepper dominate the opening with jungle-like, partly leathery oud - it starts off strong within a pleasant framework.
Then the oud becomes very balsamic & creamy through Mysore sandalwood, iris butter & natural musk, very smooth, almost buttery. A warm, oriental spice from saffron & cinnamon lays pleasantly & naturally over it. They & the chocolatey cocoa never seem too sweet, as the oud & the floral heart notes are too present for that. In particular, magnolia, frangipani & rose, with their bright, slightly fruity character, convey a tropical vibe, which is made more ethereal by the lavender - thus, the fragrance does not become a dense, pure oriental club and remains quite wearable, and is completely free of smokiness & animalics.
The tropical flowers combined with the balsamic cocoa-oud & the oriental spice remind me very much of the similarly structured fragrances Oud Monarch Extrait de Parfum & L'Heure Exquise by Bortnikoff, both of which are also very smoothly composed & wearable, only here it is a bit denser in the opening due to the smoke.

Thus, in my opinion, he has more than succeeded in composing a complex & yet wearable oud perfume of high quality.
There is also a high oil content, which can be recognized by the dark coloring of the juice, the good longevity & the film on the skin, at least 30%.

For €10/ml, you can definitely offer a distinct oud scent of this quality with all the natural raw materials around it. In my opinion, the price is fairer than the competition, which works with similar oils and sometimes even doses ouds (that don't even have the caliber of his Ensars) significantly less perceptibly.

So far, the first 2/4 of the brand have scored very well with me. I am very optimistic about the next ones & can definitely recommend the house to you if you value natural fragrances of high quality.

I hope I could bring the fragrance & the house a bit closer to you & I am already curious to hear what you have to say about it. :)

Summer. Sun. Laughter.
All the juicy citrus fruits around me, sour makes happy.
Brewing tea with loved ones, pouring & enjoying. Inhaling its hot, aromatic steam. Perfect calm, inner peace.
Grounded like the woody sweet grass of Mother Earth.
The sun breathes life into everything, they radiate vitality.
There is nothing more beautiful than this for me.

-

Finally, a natural artisan brand again that offers great summer fragrances! This is remarkable for me, as most houses mostly focus on oud, florals & animalics, and I can only deal with the first. All the more happy I am to cater to one of my favorite genres, summer fragrances.

Quality is emphasized by the German label Nebiru Parfvms from self-made perfumer Frederic Gieselbach, who launched his first works in 2024, as he uses the rarest natural raw materials our planet has to offer. Their beauty & diversity is also noticeably reflected here. Oils from Ensar Oud are even used here, just to emphasize it again! This also makes the quantities lower than larger chains & one should be quick, as quality over quantity applies here.

Agrias Vetiveris is primarily, as the name suggests, an excellent vetiver scent.
Here it has been interpreted very summery:
The opening is dominated by the Hesperides, very citrusy, slightly sour & herbaceous, which is further enhanced by sharp ginger & neroli. This is already maximum refreshment in its most natural form, the juices are pressed directly. The contrasting, spicy warmth of cardamom was so brief that it is not significantly in my favor in this bright construct, as I need FRESHNESS!
Arriving at the heart, there is a fine, natural tea aroma, pyramid-compliant. Slightly spicy, very deep & somewhat bitter (cleverly enhanced by petitgrain), freshly brewed, this smoky aura flows. The bitter neroli was appropriately continued by the clean orange blossom in the heart, so that the freshness remains intact. A very clean, yet deep & meditative tea experience!
The base, which gives the fragrance the necessary depth & longevity, is also visible: a blend of several vetivers of the highest quality, showcasing the most beautiful facets of the raw material wonderfully for me. Earthy, woody & balsamic, bright grassy & never too dark or heavy. The slightly earthy spice of patchouli & the very soft, fixing oak moss settle quietly, but noticeably underneath.
Overall, a great, natural & pleasant fragrance experience full of noticeable transitions & depth, which is very rare in summer fragrances. Much more successful, as it is fresher & free from powder or cream like other artisan citrus vetivers (e.g. Blue In Green) for me, that's how it should be!

Nebiru Parfvms has truly impressed me sustainably with his first tested work. From the selection of quality raw materials to the skillful, smooth blending with them & the fair price on top, everything is already almost perfect. I am very optimistic about the future of the brand & I am already very curious about what awaits us in the future!

A summer vetiver in TOP QUALITY.

https://youtu.be/xre-oQn1DhY?si=PspB2aKRFhg314M1

The eagle is flying back,
and has a full hand of samples,
which it has cunningly acquired during its last hunt,
the others never get a share.
For the woods, they are “Kinam“,
even if Taha says something completely different.
But the eyes, they don’t think along,
they are solely on a copy-paste trip.
Where is your wood supplier?
For I need to have a word with the man in the house,
this can’t go on for long,
we are slowly having a problem now.
Where is your eagle family?
Are they still allowed to be part of everything,
or do you have to tell them “No!” again,
and have them claim your time for themselves?
Because these woods are so rare for you,
you break them apart & don’t take care of your child.
Greed, oh yes, it sometimes makes you blind.
Greed, oh yes, it sometimes makes you blind.

-

Several years of Oud later and I am still fascinated as on day one, because there are always such beautiful scents like this that cross my path. The constant disappearance of this very much appreciated raw material makes me all the sadder, as its highest quality is unfortunately becoming rarer due to financial interests, i.e., greed & other reasons.

Hikayat, based in Malaysia, started in 2016 initially under the name “OudHub”, focusing, as the name suggests, on natural raw materials like agarwood/Oud. In 2020, they rebranded to “Hikayat” and have since released several oils, attars & perfumes with a focus on Oud.
They stand for “purity, quality & hospitality”, and you can tell that both from their works and their customer support.

Pewaris Extrait de Parfum (Malay for “successor”) is the descendant of their first fragrance Perintis Extrait de Parfum & a collaboration with Taha Syed, the founder of Agar Aura (my favorite Oud brand), who has already lent a loyal, helping hand in the early days of Hikayat. And you can immediately tell that from this work, as the quality & style of the Oud clearly speaks for him.

According to Taha & Hikayat, the Oud used here is very similar to Vietnamese Oud, and it almost seems as if Agar Aura's Vietnam Special K has been incorporated.
What does the K stand for? K is short for Kinam, the king class among the Ouds, and while some Areej Le Doré fans would probably directly associate Taha's “Kinam” with real Kinam, which in price does not correlate at all with his used Ouds, Taha means exclusively the existing similarities that they exhibit compared to Kinam. In other words: With him, top quality is offered at a top price! But those fans apparently only focus on names & fragrance pyramids, it seems to me. A little look at the actual, brief product description that the brands provide or researching real Kinam prices is always worthwhile.

But I spare them this really HUGE effort:
This Oud-focused perfume starts like a real Agar Aura Oud starts: Green, with cool mint tones & medicinally bitter. A herbal earthiness adds in, which could stem from lavender, and fits excellently with the green atmosphere, just like the earthy oakmoss & patchouli tones (the latter not yet listed here, but according to Hikayat included. I will have it corrected soon), which follow and make the whole thing almost feel like a kind of green nature fougère with a distinct Oud touch.
The slight sweetness from the Oud & hardly noticeable, natural vanillin (which also needs to be added here) is very finely balanced by the fresh tones of the green notes & grapefruit, preserving the medicinal-bitter & spicy side of the Oud, which usually overwhelms untrained Western noses by being too dominant.
Another parallel I can draw here to Agar Aura would be the green Oud perfume Malayaku, where I also perceived minty Oud, bitter tea, balsamic-bright incense & a slight sweetness. Also there, the butterfly lily/ginger lily is included, which is listed here as ornamental ginger, contributing to the sweetness, which, as mentioned, is just a small accent in this rather bright construct. By omitting the dark smoke from Malayaku, it is also much more accessible as a whole for my benefit.
As if the Oud wasn’t woody enough already, it has been complemented by a very woody cedar in the base, which I really like.
Fortunately, I can’t perceive the coffee at the end, as I neither like it nor would it have fit here. The same goes for the geranium & butterfly lily, which are not prominent, which might bring some designer florists to tears, but for me, it’s rather joy than sadness or anger.

So all the directions I love (Oud, fougère & freshness) have been blended so smoothly & valuably that I couldn’t keep my hand off my nose from start to finish.
Unlike Areej Le Doré or other brands, where sometimes a lot of deer musk, Oud or other things are promised & highly praised, but in reality, something else rolls over it unharmoniously or insignificantly, Hikayat keeps the promise: Beautiful, complex Oud from beginning to end. And that makes their price-performance ratio tremendously good compared to their competition, as here Agar Aura Oud quality & complexity is offered for half the price: That is incredible, considering how much more Agar Aura & other Oud-concentrated houses of this caliber cost! The other Hikayat works, which also contain significant Oud, are also significantly cheaper than this one cost back then.
If you want really beautiful Ouds without having to spend a fortune on them, Hikayat is the place to be!

I am (due to all my tests) rarely so impressed & taken, hence the exceptional rating of 8.5, which I have only given 10 times in all my tests so far.
Better to be too strict & honest than too dishonestly nice or mean.
For me, only the scent counts, and no external factor - I stay true to myself.

Thanks to Floyd!

My nerves are slowly reaching their end, your pure, white aura breaks through 4 walls after 4 tests.
Your cheeks are full of powder,
you're into men's fragrances, but you'll never be my brother.
Your body lotion cream will never suit me.
With you in every base, I always have a problem, because you are extremely unpleasant to me.
You are not hot, no, you couldn't even be lukewarm, with this artificial cleanliness. A bit of femininity should be present with you, but I run away from your soft cruelty.
No, I never loved you, you've ruined my citrus scents way too often.
Many also call you sensual depth,
but my hatred for you is greater than theirs & their love.
They say you relax scents like a spa day,
but why do you sometimes smell like a penetrating hairspray?
You boast incredible longevity, but because of you, scents must be unbearable.
You're as fluffy as a teddy bear, I don't think it can get any less masculine, you're worth every penny to me.
THOUGHT YOU WOULD !
Your synthetic scent is so bright & washed out,
you'll never pull money from my pockets.
So that everyone knows what’s what:
You are musk & I hate you. :)

-

I had the misfortune of testing 4 fragrances in a row that sounded promisingly fresh & started well, but were quickly devoured by the musk monster.
Bien-Être is quite sympathetic to me with their affordable colognes from France (see Eau de Cologne Lavande Sauvage), but this musk box of Pandora was once again nothing.
A hint of fresh fruit, which is then quickly overwhelmed by clean musk. Behind it, a very quiet synthetic wood note. This can work for everyday use, but definitely not for me. Powder & cream, so artificial cleanliness is nothing I feel comfortable with. Fairly, there is no sharpness here, but 90% of the scent progression is just so flat & monotonous that it becomes annoying again. This has little to do with a summery-fresh cologne, but unfortunately, it is often implemented that way.

Don't get me wrong: Some of my fragrances also contain musk with high certainty. But the dose makes the poison, and they don't smell powdery, creamy, sweet, overly clean, or sharp on me. Because musk can be present, but it doesn't have to play the leading role. Other base notes like vetiver, ambergris, cedar & sandalwood, oakmoss & oud, even ambroxan & iso-e-super, the woody & spicy ones, are also there & much more preferable to me than synthetic musk. Of course, there are variations among all the synthetic musk types, sometimes more, sometimes less aggressive, but overall, I simply don't like them when they dominate the scent. It just comes off as clumsy, cheap, monotonous, feminine & particularly annoying to me.
There are certainly much worse synthetics like some sandalwood & amber substitutes, but I just can't find anything appealing about musk, aside from its good fixative properties. It just doesn't suit my nose.

A big thank you from my nose goes to all the perfumers who don't use it too prominently.
Another thank you to Axiomatic for the sample!
Lastly, thank you for reading. I hope I was able to convey my opinion on musk in an entertaining & understandable way.

I am confused. Here, 3 notes are mentioned, namely Turkish rose, Indian oud & Haitian vetiver, all of which I either own or have owned as pure oils, or at least have smelled dozens of times focused (& in their natural form) in perfumes. And I am confused because I cannot perceive any of the 3 notes here even remotely. It feels as if the sample was mislabeled, the deviation is so strong. But before I get to that, let me first take a small detour to the individual notes:

Haitian vetiver smells to me:
Gasoline-oily, earthy-bitter-moist, smoky, a bit nutty-woody like real cedars (like those from the Himalayas) & balsamic. It is relatively one of the lighter vetiver varieties & actually a very good base note. I can't perceive any of that here.

I have smelled Indian oud several times pure as oil or focused in perfumes. Often it smelled strong to me, with leathery, animalic & smoky wood tones. She (the perfumer) also mentions a fermented cheese smell with the oud used, and I simply cannot perceive that no matter how hard I try.

With the Turkish rose, there is the greatest room for interpretation. However, I often perceived it as quite bright, so fresh & fruity, sometimes jammy. It is the only note that I could more or less imagine here, because there is a fruity sweetness present that I could also attribute to other notes that are not listed here.

So, how does the fragrance smell to me instead?
To me, it smells like a sweet patchouli cola.
If I had to piece it together sensibly: Jammy rose meets liqueur-sweet patchouli, creamy sandalwood & together smells like a sticky cola.
I really can't detect anything else here. What a shame. Such strong deviations from the notes & the actual perception I would have expected more from synthetic brands. I have smelled this genre (rose-oud) often enough to say that this fragrance has absolutely nothing to do with it. According to the perfumer, however, it does, hmm. But apparently, I am not the only one with a similar experience.

Well, never mind, I am curious about what else the brand has to offer.
I won't comment on the price, as I am still too confused by the experience for that.
I believe the confusion is also confused.