Bazaar
by AbdesSalaam Attar Profumo

I adore this fragrance. It is a unisex spicy, woody, all-natural perfume. I smell hot and sweet spices, maybe a rose heart and some patchouli, and glorious resins--probably including olibanum and labdanum. The composition is so seamless that the various components mingle to form an Oriental fragrance that is daring yet comforting, something for people who want to go beyond the pale and yet attract positive attention. This is gorgeous.

Bazaar is undoubtedly a spicy fragrance from beginning to end. To my nose, the main spice seems to be cardamom--this spice smells like a combination of clove or cinnamon, pepper, allspice and a little bit of dry woodyness. I *think* I smell something floral in the top notes--it really reminds me of carnation, even though that note may not be used. I get the sense of a cool, crisp, dewy and spicy flower, all of which I associate with carnation. Sometimes an accord also seems carnation-like to me when it combines a mild rose (like tea rose) with clove. Either way, this floral note is fleeting and adds to the blend rather than dominating at any given time.

Soon after spraying, Bazaar becomes a woodier. It is rather complex, and I must commend Profumo for the composition. I can't tell which wood is here, and my comments above are only guesses as to whether the spice is cardamom. Whatever the spice, it has a pleasant biting edge. This is the same edge that was less tolerable in Profumo's Rose de Bois, but here, the dry astringency works much better with the tannic wood accord.

Later, the woody spice blend seems to open up so that the notes become more distinguishable. I smell tobacco, sandalwood, vetiver, patchouli and again, cardamom. I am almost shocked at the sophisticated composition, because when I first sprayed it, Bazaar seemed so overwhemingly about spice. I thought spice would continue to eclipse everything else in the fragrance. I am happy I was wrong! The drydown is inviting, colorful, and very warming. Twelve hours later, I still smell it quite easily. It has a bit of spice in the drydown, but at this stage, Bazaar is mostly creamy, woody sandalwood, smoky vetiver, peppery, earthy patchouli and powdery vanilla.

On a side note, Bazaar reminds me very much of Chanel Egoiste, so I did back to back wearings over a few days. With a closer comparison, I think the drydowns may be quite a bit more similar than I previously thought. The great thing about Bazaar--it does not have the phantom hairspray note that I often get with some orientals that have synthetic sandalwood. I do smell this hairspray note a bit in Egoiste, even though it fades after a while. After repeated wearings of Bazaar, I sometimes prefer its subtlety and warmth over the louder and more synthetic Egoiste, although I love both.