Joshua

I hope you like wickedly strong offensive oud! Nabeel’s Al Bashiq is an utter nuclear bomb of oud, and wow is it unnecessarily potent with absolutely eternal longevity. I’m 100% confident that this perfume will fill very large rooms. And you can forget about that entire elaborate scent pyramid because this perfume showcases a most smelly oud note. I love me some oud however, this variety, I do not, nor will I ever. I’ve sampled a few Ajmal’s that use this caliber of oud and it is my least favorite verging directly on totally unwearable. It’s way too bizarre smelly to even be considered as public friendly, and just way too strong. Wearing this to work will either get you sent home immediately, or canned. It smells like the most pungent halitosis imaginable. I mean, we’re talking about the most atomic, offensive, stinky breath including an hellacious case of gingivitis for the books and a mouth full of rotten teeth that you could wrap that pretty little brain around, or more appropriately put… meth mouth! If you’ve smelled this before, then you know. It’s that kind of dragon breath that you can smell on someone from 3 feet away and oh does it linger like a dense fog. So what we have is an oud oil that is so strong even 1 spray of this will be repelling people for the entire day coupled with a very wet tobacco and leather, that’s it. Oud, tobacco and leather. To give your a general round about of what Al Bashiq smells like for comparison purposes it would be Tom Ford’s Tobacco Oud, but with a genuine oud oil splattered on top. That’s Al Bashiq. In fact, I’m leaning strongly towards that this is Nabeel’s attempt to copy the Tom Ford. The similarities are far too uncanny. For me though? Al Bashiq is on the furthest end of the spectrum of, do not like.

As is the case with Nabeel’s Desert Leather, Marble unfortunately is the victim of an absolutely putrid synthetic white musk chord that completely obliterates what could’ve been an amazing perfume for men, and man does it dominate everything after just a couple of measly hours. When I say dominate, it definitely does. I do believe that this was reformulated because I had a bottle of Marble about 10 years ago and it was amazing. I deeply regret selling that bottle off. This new formulation lacks the moderately heavy oud that was present throughout in the original formula, and it’s also really bright in feel and quite muddy. The original formula had this very neat olfactory color of navy blue which is sadly now long gone. It was a very dynamic and complex perfume. I will say with confidence that this current formula of Marble is a mere shadow of its former self. But none of that really matters anyways because this current formula is nasty to the 10th power. That horrendous ally gag inducing white musk molecule, whatever the hell it is, sure makes you reek like unwashed, metallic and oniony armpits. It’s really gross, and what a turn off! The same exact demise in Desert Leather. What a shame and embarrassment, at least I was embarrassed wearing this trash able couldn’t wait to shower. Seriously, don’t waste your cash on this because it’s officially garbage. And speaking of garbage, take a guess where this newly purchased flacon of Marble ended up? You guessed correctly…

This is one awesome perfume for men… It is so remarkably complex. I mean there are legitimately 55 notes so the complexity is mind boggling. I really cannot even describe Nabeel’s Ocean, even after many wearings. It is very dark and noir. I would say a violent ocean tempest with torrential downpours, loud thunder claps with endless lightning. This is not a wallflower marine. It is a very bold perfume that could be overdone if applied lavishly, but so easily wearable and pleasurable with a sensible approach. But what I can say is that Ocean opens with what smells exactly like Pierre Cardin’s Bleu Marine from 1986 only to drastically transition into a heart and base that’s dominated by a most luxurious, deep, complex and very woody oud chord coupled with drift wood, silky musk, lotus flower and salty resinous ambergris. It is a swell combination indeed. The dry down on this stuff is intoxicating, and that hypnotic/narcotic oudy dry down lasts forever. It is a highly pleasurable oud heaven. The perfume has a denatured alcohol content of 70% so the perfume is quite beastly. I believe that it is a plus that the atomizer was intentionally designed to squirt out small controlled puffs. Also, the wearer will become nose blind to Ocean almost instantly. I only wear 2 sprays of this and can never smell it on myself after 1 hour, however, I receive positive compliments on this otherworldly stuff all day and night. People seem to seriously enjoy this highly pleasurable aroma which is because of a really stellar oud. It is a compliment magnet and I am not one to wear a perfume for compliments ever. As mentioned previously, Ocean is an oud dominant perfume and what an amazing oud it is. The dry down on this is a dopamine rush to say the least. This is so good that I have purchased many backups. I don’t ever want to be without Nabeel’s Ocean. This perfume is signature scent worthy. I feel like this was tailored made for my olfactories.

Whooo doggy am I sure elated that someone gifted me a decant of this. Omanluxury’s Royal Incense is a dead ringer for Johnson & Johnson’s pink baby lotion. I can’t even pick anything out other than a sweet wall of pink, fluffy, greasy baby lotion. It was my immediate reaction where I was instantly transported back to being a kid. I specifically remember that odor of pink baby lotion. It is quite distinct. Oh how I hate this immensely. And the entire affair belongs on a girl. This is so feminine and dainty verging on fragile. However, on the upside, lovers of Johnson & Johnson’s pink baby lotion will be on cloud 9 because the quality is top tier but nevertheless, Royal Incense is a real stomach churner, and atomic to boot. This is when I wish I had 4 hands, to give this 4 thumbs down. Ugh the horror of reeking of greazy pink baby lotion! Double yuck!!

If you fancy Tom Ford’s Black Orchid and are dirt poor, than Nabeel’s Hala Bil Khamis is for you! This is a markedly crude copy of Black Orchid that uses some terrible aromatic ingredients. And somehow, even more feminine and nauseatingly tropical/fruity. It’s missing the heavy truffle and patchouli chord that really makes Black Orchid what it is so Hala Bil Khamis ends up being an overtly sweet tropical fruit soup verging strongly on rotting fruits festering in the scorching sun with swarms of fruit flies and all. You can just smell the blazing sun beating down on a 5 gallon bucket of high fructose corn syrup about to morph into prison made pruno. Hala Bil Khamis is about 15 minutes away from being a full on bath tub full of white lightning sitting at 200°. For real and all joking aside, this concoction is a hair’s width away from turning into drinkable ethanol. Honestly, this is just plain awful. There’s virtually no development and that complex scent pyramid means nothing because it’s just a wall/chemical blob of sweet sweet ‘smell’. It’s just a badly blended mish mash that’s been hastily constructed to make a buck, and the box is obnoxiously hideous to boot. It’s weird the way it’s constructed with the strange little tassels that pull through the lid. And there’s a half assed partial piece of foam glued onto only one side of the box to protect the bottle. So Nabeel thought that only one side of the bottle mattered to be protected? Bizarre. I like also how Nabeel craftily uses specific colors in their marketing strategies to screw with their potential customers where ‘opposites’ seem to be the running theme. If anything, the box and bottle should be neon yellow and pink, not silver and royal blue! Seriously, I gotta stop blind buying, and I’ve really gotta stop buying anything from Nabeel because so far the ratio of wins to losses is looking pretty bleak. So far, this perfume house is utter cheap garbage. I could’ve given that money to the needy to purchase a bottle of Hala Bil Khamis. I’m sitting around a 1:10 wins/losses.

This is terrible… I have no clue why Nabeel made the awful choice of using the cheapest most bottom-of-the-barrel synthetic white musk molecule imaginable, but that putrid white musk chord rears is hideous head about 4 hours in only to dominate the entire scent pyramid. Does this smell like Tom Ford’s Tuscan Leather? Sure, for about 4 hours, then it morphs into sweaty, oniony putrid, metallic unwashed armpits for the rest of the long ride where Tuscan Leather flew the coop hours prior. This is disgusting. The dry down on this garbage is so offensive that I legit threw the perfume in the trash where it belongs after 1 wearing. Not even kidding. 1 wearing and binned it. You definitely get what you pay for. What a complete waste of $30!

A really fiery hot, smoldering deepest and darkest, unabashedly woody oud imaginable bathed in the blackest of black soapy, velvety and brooding red roses with of course the star of the show, earthy and deep head shop patchouli leaves all up in your face. This is an utterly stellar blend that is so scene specific I have no idea when or where I could even wear this. Patchouli is a very formal perfume. This particular scent profile requires a suit and tie to pull off or else one will come across as preposterous if dressed casually, and I feel confidently that this perfume will only be understood by refined and sophisticated olfactory palettes. It took me about 10 solid proper wearings just to muster the words for this review which still do Patchouli zero justice as this creation is really complex and markedly difficult to grasp. It is very dense in its delivery creating a huge wall of thick, penetrating olfactory dopamine. The heavy, warm and resinous myrrh accord coupled with guaïac wood just adds more depth and complexity to the already outstanding heavy agarwood that almost dominates the entire scent pyramid. There’s an overall leathery and slightly medicinal aspect throughout thanks to luxurious saffron with a wonderfully silky and animalic black musk accord that ties the entire outrageous affair together. I’ve only smelled one other perfume with this caliber of oud that is a very great perfume in its own right, and that is Nabeel’s Marble. But, this oud that Maghribi uses is pumped up and roided out to the maximum. Maghribi’s Patchouli is unapologetically bold, brazen and über masculine in its delivery. This is a serious no-holds-barred statement perfume that will leave by standers in awe due to the remarkably unusual character. Frankly, I like this very much but the versatility is nearly nil. Performance is wholly atomic and sillage is hallways long. The stout and intimidating fragrance oil concentration of approximately 45% guarantees an entire days longevity well into the evening and even the following day, no joke. This is one impressive and entirely unique creation that verges strongly on a museum piece. I’ve personally never smelled anything even relatively close to Patchouli so for being a one off creation, and one that has been executed extremely well, 5 solid stars to Ahmed Al Maghribi’s Patchouli.

Yuck, yuck and yuck!! Antar is horrendous. As soon as I sprayed Antar all I could smell was pongy grandma’s 1980’s musk and Jōvan Musk² pheromone cologne from 1993 overlaid onto it which is not in the database here. This is just straight up granny musk on top of musk inside of musk. The Jōvan is a real solid atomic stinker however, Antar takes this level of offensive obnoxiousness to the firmament and boosts the potency factor far into outer space eau de parfum style. My goodness this is so awful that I’m almost at a loss for words. I hate it immensely x10. I’ve experienced just a small handful of real winners in my lifetime with Antar being up there with the top 5 worst ever. A true to form people repellant that will succeed every single time. This is almost as nauseatingly bad as Bijan’s Man Sport. That is the all time grandma’s musk winner but, Antar just might beat the Bijan and take home 1st prize because this contender is wicked, scary potent. What a waste of $30!

Head: Saffron, Violet Heart: Ylang-Ylang Base: Oud, Amber, Musk I owned it once upon a time years back but sold it off as quick as possible. I hunted for this perfume for months that I ended up paying way too much for because I purchased it when it was still a brand new release in UAE in 2018 so naturally, me residing in the United States, I was raked over the coals with a criminally high mark up and totally gouged on shipping charges. I think I paid around $240 US when in actuality, the real world price was in the realm of $300 AED or, $75 US! To my profound dismay, Qafiya Year of Zayed was far too feminine to even consider keeping. What I was anticipating to be a heavy oud and amber dominant perfume turned out to be a ylang and white musk bomb with little, if any oud, saffron nor violet. It smelled like rotting fake bananas and the cheapest aerosolized hair spray imaginable. It was horrendous. To be honest, I utterly hated it. But it didn’t even smell good to begin with so the whole thing was a bust. It stunk. Year Of Zayed was a stinker, and a text book example of one at that. It was so poorly constructed that I was legitimately angry. One of my worst blind buys ever. There was no saving grace anywhere. The execution was horrible at best. The whole thing was so out of balance and remarkably screechy. It felt like a 2 note wonder of base grade synthetics. I searched far and wide for the other notes only to end up every single time on strong synthetic ylang and a piercingly awful white musk accord that permeated through walls. And in the usual manner of anything from Ajmal, it was an absolute nuclear weapon in terms of potency and impervious to soap and water. A markedly handsome presentation box with a very thought out and aesthetically pleasing bottle that was filled with useless trash.

A more turpentine like, oily character (used motor oil) that does resemble Bvlgari’s Gyan until the dry down hits, and that’s where the price point of this dupe shows its intended colors. There’s quite the vile, sour, persistent and offensive musk accord used purely for fixative purposes that rears its ugly head to the fullest because after all, this is a $30 scent. And one does get what they pay for, especially when that awful musk accord kicks in that’s prevalent well into the following day, even after showering, then it’s in full force. In fact, all of these perfumes from fragrance world/french avenue use this same musk fixative in their bases to extend the life of the scent, and this synthesized musk accord is utterly repulsive.

A most excellent perfume! Smoky, smoldering bokhoor oud chips overlaid onto sticky, thick, animalic and resinous labdanum absolute with subtle supporting notes of sweetened caramel, Egyptian rosewood and Egyptian jasmine flowers that has a persistent base of crisp cypress. Seriously, this is some fantastic and very well executed stuff. Lovers of labdanum will be elated to adorn this (like myself!) I am an avid fan and user of bokhoor. Oud Afghano recreates this titillating sensation perfectly, smoke, oud resins and all. The perfume is balanced, very long lasting and the sillage is narcotic and intoxicating. This is in no way an overwhelming creation if applied judiciously. As mentioned previously, the balance and execution of creating an entirely incense based perfume is spot on. I’m certain that perfuming yourself with oud smoke and then applying a couple of spritzes of Oud Afghano is sure to leave yourself and others around you mesmerized for endless hours. This is a stellar perfume. As a side note: Nassomatto’s Black Afgano is ‘similiar’, but Oud Afghano is not an intentional dupe. Both aromas are in the same ball park although the differences are clearly noticeable.

Frankly, I do not like this blend one bit. It comes across as an ambient aroma, not something that someone would apply to their skin to adorn for an entire day… and I am seriously stressing that ‘whole day’ because Oud Classic is a tattoo. Once applied, this stuff is a commitment so you better be privy to this smell or else you’re going to hate it, fast. Personally, I find this odor as wholly nauseating. It’s not necessarily an air freshener odor per say, just more along the lines of what the shopping malls smell of, or more specifically, what a high end department store would continually scent their ambient surroundings with via automated spray air freshener devices that are set to ‘spritz’ every half hour. And the blend is overtly feminine/mature in nature with white flowers, roses and a penetrating white musk absolutely dominating the entire scent pyramid. There’s not nearly enough Cambodian agarwood to set this blend anywhere near masculine territory, only a minuscule bit that doesn’t surface until many hours in. The whole affair becomes quite taxing and annoying to the nose rather quickly. The overall feel is a powdery/dusty and thick/heavy suffocating concoction that really is just obnoxious to be around because the sillage, potency and projection is utterly relentless. At a strength of a somewhat diluted concentrated perfume oil in spray form, the stout 44% denatured alcohol content provides more than ample lasting power well into the following day that I’m certain will achieve weeks on cloth. I can see this perfume causing instant olfactory fatigue to the wearer only further lending to the notion that the perfume is weak, however, Oud Classic will certainly be blowing doors clean off of their hinges while causing any humans in the general vicinity to scurry away rapidly, stink face and all.

Me likey! What a pleasant surprise. I would’ve never thought that I would come across a far superior version to Ajmal’s Wisal Layl. While I did enjoy the scent profile to Wisal Layl, the execution was atrocious at best that resulted in a violently discordant, screechy, synthetic and stinky perfume with one of the worst ouds I’ve ever experienced, and I love me some oud. So much so that I tossed it directly into the bin. In fact I was sorely displeased to the maximum with the Ajmal. However, I found Gardenia from Maghribi and wow what a pleasant surprise. Gardenia pulls off perfectly what Wisal Layl wishes it could’ve done. And both scent profiles are strikingly similar. I do understand why this perfume is appropriately named ‘Gardenia’. The opening hour truly does smell of fresh gardenias. But this is short lived because Gardenia soon makes some drastic changes directly into a wonderful oud accord, oak moss, black currant, leather, iris and patchouli. I’ve never experienced a perfume before that has such a wide berth from overtly feminine head notes only to end on the most masculine base notes imaginable that smells like a perfume designed exclusively for men. It is remarkable how the perfumer achieved this feat. The changes are so drastic that one would have a hard time believing that this is even the same perfume that they’re wearing. Gardenia is an awesome perfume. The quality is top and at a stout 44% volume denatured alcohol content, Gardenia is beastly. One only needs a tiny spritz and that’s it because at this concentration, it can become overwhelming to others in the vicinity. Surprisingly, longevity on skin is around 12 hours only.

This is an awesome perfume. On numerous websites this is continually compared to Sospiro’s Vibrato. I haven’t had the pleasure of sampling that and more than likely never will however, I did sample once upon a time Balenciaga’s Florabotanica ‘and’ Ajmal’s Amber Poivre which is a well made dupe of Florabotanica, and after a few proper wearings of Khadlaj’s Empress, I can say confidently without a shadow of a doubt that Empress is remarkably close to both previously mentioned perfumes. So much so that upon first spay and wearing I found Empress to be almost a dead ringer. Empress is creamy in feel and really just very pleasant from opening to close. Starts out as somewhat feminine which soon segues into an oudy, masculine dry down. There is clearly oud in this because after 12 hours on skin, I can smell oud. And the dry down on this is very pleasant. This perfume as a whole is a sum of its parts. It is very well blended but not macerated into oblivion. It’s worth the $40, and the presentation is top.