TerenceChill

I'm just not a summer person. It's hot, usually humid in Germany, I sweat, I can't sleep well and most of the time I can't "use" the weather anyway because I'm working. Sometimes it helps me to smell a winter fragrance to look forward to fall/winter.
Khamrah is a good candidate for this. Every time I smell the bottle, it sends me into the pre-Christmas season. Even now at almost 30°.
I just love it when fragrances can create images and associated emotions in my head. Khamrah does that every time. I think of cookies, freezing cold days, chimney air, illuminated city centers and fairy lights on the windows.

Khamrah starts sweet and spicy. Cinnamon, dates and vanilla set the tone here. I hardly smell anything else at all. For me, this combination makes it almost exclusively wearable in the run-up to Christmas. A phenomenon that I also have with Tobacco Vanille Eau de Parfum, by the way.
H/S have only developed over time. I was a little disappointed at first. I had read otherwise, but as with so many fragrances of Arabic origin, Khamrah needs to mature. But then it has real power. I once sprayed a few sprays on my shirt in the morning and went to work. I put on my work clothes and hung the shirt in the changing room. After a few hours, I came back into the changing room and everything smelled of Khamrah.
I really like the bottle. Very solid, with a plastic cap. I have to twist it slightly before opening it, otherwise it's too tight. The sprayer is quite ok. But the whole thing should be seen in relation to the price.

I can understand the comparison to "Angels' Share | Kilian", but Khamrah is not really a clone.

It's summer, it's hot, it's humid, I'm in a bad mood.... We're at a friend's birthday party. A handcart tour followed by a barbecue is on the agenda.

2 p.m., we set off. I go ahead with a friend. We are the only ones not drinking. The asphalt radiates an unpleasant, humid heat.
A few meters behind me, I can hear my friend's conversation with a friend in one ear: "Mmmm, one of the two in front of us smells good. I'll have to do a sniff test right away." I am irritated. I inconspicuously try to smell the friend next to me. Nothing. He's not the perfume type either. I smell myself, nothing to smell either. I don't give it a second thought.

Later that day. It's even hotter, even more humid. The clouds are piling up into menacing-looking mountains. The horizon has turned dark. My motivation barometer is approaching zero. We take a break. A clearly buzzed friend walks through the crowd. "Someone here smells intensely of perfume. I've been smelling it everywhere the whole time," she says and stops abruptly in front of me. "It's you, isn't it?" I deny it, because I don't smell anything. A friend from further back intervenes: "Of course it's you. I can smell it too". We move on.

We arrive back at the starting point of our tour, it's evening. In the meantime, it had started to pour, we were all soaking wet. At least it's cooler now. A friend fires up the barbecue.
I enter the garden shed, which has been converted into a bar, and sit down on a bar stool at the counter. The friend sitting next to me immediately turns to me: "It's you. You come in and you smell that scent again." I shrug my shoulders, because I don't smell anything.

By now it's night and we're back home. My friend looks at me and asks: "What's that scent you're wearing today that so many people are reacting to?" I reply: "It's "Bois Impérial | Essential Parfums".

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Bois Impérial | Essential Parfums" is a curious fragrance. The performance seems to be remarkable, although I can hardly smell it. I can just smell it where I sprayed it and every now and then when I move around. Here and there it gets up my nose and then it's gone again.
I particularly smell grapefruit and pepper, later something woody. The whole fragrance is carried by a balsamic, mineral note. The mineral note reminds me a little of Oud Minérale but not as pronounced. The whole composition has a fresh effect and is particularly suitable for warm temperatures.
I don't smell metal, disinfectant or even the smell of a corpse (which I have unfortunately already smelled live).

I think Fakhar Lattafa Men is really good. However, it took a while for me. Immediately after buying it (Dec. 23) I found it a bit synthetic and the H/S were not good. Now, after a few months, it has changed nicely.

After a fresh opening (without shower gel, without synthetics), it takes on a warm note for me and a certain depth that somehow attracts me.

H/S have developed very positively in recent months. It lasts all day on the skin, and of course even longer on clothes.

I picked up a small bottle of Orange Flamingo here in the souk and after extensive testing during sports, leisure time and at work, I can say that it could become my signature fragrance for the summer
It starts off a little "heavy" for a summer fragrance, but then quickly becomes floral and has a nurturing effect. Really nice for the summer. You have the feeling of being clean throughout the whole process.

I noticed a few points during testing...

1. Firstly, the H/S, which I don't find as strong as described here. I perceive it on the skin for a good 6 hours, on clothing significantly longer. Maybe it just makes me scent-blind quickly. In any case, I wasn't approached by anyone close to me

2. I was expecting something completely different. I would have expected a sparkling, citrusy (orange, bergamot) summer fragrance
That's exactly what it is not for me (especially at the beginning). I can understand if some people here classify it as an "old lady fragrance". At the beginning, I find it a bit "musty" and heavy

3. I don't smell the eponymous orange at all. Orange blossom and jasmine are what I detect most, which brings me to point 4...

4. I'm totally surprised that no one here, apart from me, seems to smell a similarity to Solare. Especially when the (for me) musty opening fades away, the similarity continues to the end

5. I don't understand the fabric softener association either. i don't smell "fresh laundry" here. I know that must be me, because so many people who describe it exactly like that can't be wrong

I spontaneously ordered the fragrance from J. Bezos because of the good reviews here. i thought €20 for 150ml perfume, shower gel and aftershave was ok.

Flacon:

I actually really like the bottle. Matt gray, large and heavy. Not super high-quality, but not bad either. The lid is only made of thin, cheap plastic, but the atomizer is really good and sprays a fine mist.

Fragrance:

First of all, I don't know the Prada L'Homme Intense and can't compare the two.

In the past (maybe still today) there used to be licorice candies that were coated with a silver layer. That's how it smells to me at first. As it progresses, it becomes more floral, fresher and sweeter, but never loses that licorice candy note for me
In general, the fragrance gives you the feeling of being fresh and well-groomed the whole time. It is perhaps a touch too feminine for me.

Performance:

The sillage is good, but not loud or extreme. After 3-4 hours, it decreases significantly and is limited to close to the body.
The fragrance remains close to the body throughout the day. Applied in the morning, you can still smell it in the evening. It lasts on clothing until the next day.

Occasion/season:

I find it suitable for the office, school/university and all year round. But most likely from fall to spring.