ShaunBaker

Amber of Yemen is a scent to kneel for; one could also spread it on the floor, roll in it, and purr like a cat.

The opening is simply phenomenal.
Amber in its most beautiful form, underlined by geranium and ylang-ylang, which already reveals a certain spicy honey scent.

Sandalwood and cedar express its woodiness, before patchouli rounds off and grounds the fragrance. The longevity is in the mid-range; a 10/10 would be grossly exaggerated, and the sillage is also not overwhelmingly expansive. For me, AoY is generally a skin scent that envelops the wearer in a pleasantly woody amber fragrance, just like many other amber scents do (see title).

Although I have tested many amber fragrances, I cannot and do not want to assign it to another scent. Certainly, a model has been recreated here, but I take it as it is and enjoy this pleasantly sweet amber note, especially now in the dreary autumn.

My first review of El Nabil. First of all, a few key facts.
El Nabil was not produced in the UAE like many other perfume oils, but in France, where it was also bottled and marketed in European countries; however, it is also available in some Arab countries. The fragrance concentration is an Extrait de Parfum and not a Concentrate as is common in Arab countries.

This is already noticeable upon application, where, for example, most Al Rehab fragrances have an incredible power right away, the scents appear very oily for a long time, and some remain pleasantly detectable for several hours, as well as having a good sillage, the El Nabil fragrances take a more subdued approach. Particularly, Musc Imran makes a fantastic impression right after application. After about 20-30 minutes, the fragrance notes settle, and for a while, you keep getting Body Kouros vibes in your nose. However, the biggest issue here is that the scent does not last very long and develops into a skin scent after about 2 hours; even an oily film on the skin is soon sought in vain, which significantly improves the skin feel, as not everyone copes well with this oily texture. It strongly depends on the amount you use and where you apply it. I actually bathed in Musc Imran one day, really against all reason, and after a generous application (without roll-on, on the chest, neck, and arms), I was able to achieve a longevity of 8 hours.

However, no one at work complained that it was too much, let alone noticed the scent, so a sillage of 4/10 is probably already rated high.

The scent itself is essentially easy to explain: Body Kouros without the grand eucalyptus-incense opening, but from the heart note, it shares most similarities; however, the somewhat "dirty" aspect of the original and the depth are definitely missing here, so I can only give it a maximum score of 90% regarding similarity.
Since I have not encountered any dupes of Body Kouros other than Musc Imran, and El Nabil has done an extraordinarily good job here, I will be getting the EdP in addition to the Extrait.

As it always is with fragrances that are nearing the 40-year mark or have already surpassed it. The scent still has the same name, and the bottle may still look the same, but often the font or placement of the perfume name changes, and from that point on, you automatically know: Something has happened to the fragrance.

This is also the case with Arrogance Uomo. The bottle has changed, the "Uomo" has shifted to the right under Arrogance, and the fragrance has been "adjusted."

Arrogance Uomo didn't last forever in the past either, but from now on, you have to prepare for about 15 minutes of top notes still reminiscent of an old Italian classic on the skin, and the remaining 2-3 hours will be a skin-close scent. The fragrance from the bottle shown here definitely offered a bit more.

What has changed less, and I must commendably say, is the scent itself.
Spicy herbal notes and a hint of soapiness at the beginning still fit.
Once the notes have settled, Arrogance Uomo lives on clove, geranium, oakmoss, and vetiver. It's kept very green and spicy, and still olfactorily transports you to Mediterranean realms, albeit unfortunately only on a low flame. As is often the case, I missed the chance to secure a large vintage bottle back then. Now I have to make do with the new version. At least I still have vintage deodorant, which lasts longer than the current EdT.

Concentrated perfume oils are still an exciting thing for me. On one hand, there is no alcohol contained, and on the other hand, you can already tell by the concentration of the oil whether it has potential in EdP form. There are oils that are so strongly concentrated that they need time to develop, and those that settle on the skin after application, being present and lingering gently.

Sultan al oud definitely belongs to the latter category.

In the end, I knew what I was getting into with this scent, as I am familiar with Ameer al oud, Black Afgano, and Black oud from Al Haramain from the past. Oud Wood, I cannot find here even with a lot of imagination...

All in all, I would say it's 70% Ameer, 20% BA, and 10% Black oud, which I found very earthy. A slightly earthy note is present at the beginning of Sultan al oud, but it soon disappears. The woody notes come forward, and whatever Oud has been mixed in here, I certainly don't catch any of it in my nose. What the scent cannot deny after some time is patchouli and/or vetiver in the base.

The sweetness of Ameer al oud is indeed absent here.

Overall, it's a very straightforward and rather dry scent with little change and unfortunately very muted longevity and sillage, as I am simply used to more from the three aforementioned fragrances. However, this should not be a criterion to rate the scent poorly; it has just never quite been my fragrance direction.

Well, the headline is meant differently here than is commonly known.

In my eagerness to order fragrance oils, I was not aware that I had already owned Musk Play before; moreover, I also realize that it is supposed to be a dupe of Givenchy Play. Since I had completely forgotten that Play and Play Intense differ by light-years, I have fallen for this fragrance oil, for the second time as it turns out.

Musk Play is not bad in itself; it is fresh, the pepper works quite well in the middle notes, and patchouli, as well as vetiver, add some depth towards the end. Unfortunately, the longevity is disappointingly short, and whether there is even a sillage, I will leave open for this CPO.

However, there have been many fragrances that have gone and still go in this direction.
Play simply does not have the unique selling point that Play Intense has, which I would have wished for with this fragrance oil.

So all that’s left to say is: Too bad, marmalade, and often fate strikes twice.