Agar Aura Al-Jazzab

Roses and oud are a combination tried a million-fold before, but Agar Aura sought to surpass all prior standards with Al-Jazzab, an extrait described as having even more indulgent, extravagant, wildly sumptuous roses than even Layali, his parfum that stunned me blind despite my not being keen on roses in perfumery.

Arctic volcanic eruption in Iceland by the phenomenal “Garðar Ólafs Photography,” one of my fav. landscape photographers. (Link to his FB account embedded within photo, but he’s also on Twitter where he offers NFTs of his photos.)

Continue reading

Amouage: Rose Aqor, Oud Ulya & Vanilla Barka Attars

Rose Aqor, Oud Ulya, and Vanilla Barka are three of six new attars that Amouage has launched recently in an attempt to straddle the richness, glory, popularity, and complexity of its old legends and the increasingly draconian restrictions placed on perfumery in the eight or so years since IFRA forced Amouage to retire its original olfactory beauties. Do the new additions live up to the greatness of old? No. Do they come across as real, authentic attars? Also no, in my opinion. Are they terrible? Well, it depends on which ones you try and your personal tastes. Are they worth the money in question? That answer, like most things involving perfumery, cannot be anything but purely subjective and individual, but I will tell you that I personally have a lot of issues with these new “attars.”

Amouage attars via Amouage’s booklet on them. Photo of the photo: my own.

Continue reading

Rania J. Ambre Loup: Reformulated?

Has Ambre Loup been diluted and reformulated? The answer might be Yes. There are a few reasons why that could be the case, and I’ll go over them in this post.

Continue reading

Agar Aura Malayaku

Agar Aura‘s Malayaku is a paradoxically simple yet complex shapeshifter – something which I’m starting to suspect may be a characteristic of many of Taha Syed‘s opulently rich creations. I think it will appeal to fans of high-quality vetiver, leather, frankincense, tobacco, oud, and sexy dark musks. So let’s take a detailed look at the scent.

Source: wallpapers.com

Continue reading