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Indian attars from Tigerflag!

post #1 of 14
6/7/07 at 7:57am
Thread Starter 
I just received my attar sample order from Tigerflag Natural Perfumery. For anyone that doesn't know what an attar is, it's a kind of Indian and Middle Eastern perfume oil that, if authentic, is made by hydro-distilling plant material into "white" sandalwood oil (a byproduct of making the top-grade sandalwood, so it has a more subtle scent). The main component of the attar (like rose in Rose Attar) eventually fades and the drydown is top quality sandalwood.

I got samples of:

-Attar of Roses
-Kadam Attar (kind of musky Indian flower)
-Motia Attar (jasmine sambac)
-Gulhina Attar (henna)
-Oud Attar (also known as agarwood or aloeswood)
-White Lotus attar
-Mitti attar (baked earth/clay from the river Ganges... sublime)

and a full 1/4oz bottle of rhus khus (vetiver) oil (the best vetiver I've ever smelled, leagues beyond the average on the market, as it's distilled in a traditional Indian way.

All of the attars Tigerflag sells are authentic, and I love all of them so far. The white lotus attar is unlike anything I've tried before. The Rose Attar is amazing, and the Motia (jasmine) Attar is very long lasting for a natural jasmine scent. The Mitti attar is my favourite; it smells just like dry but fertile earth and clay mixed with sandalwood.

If you love unique scents, you've got to at least try the White Lotus and Mitti attars. Mitti attar is like Demeter Dirt, but much more wearable (due to the sandalwood) and natural.
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post #2 of 14
6/7/07 at 8:18am
sounds very interesting, do they have a website? (scurrying off to Google now to try and answer my own question)
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post #3 of 14
6/7/07 at 8:48am
http://www.tigerflag.com/attar-list.html
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post #4 of 14
6/7/07 at 9:54am
Another great site for these is arabianbazaar.com.

Not sure if they give samplesor not.
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post #5 of 14
6/7/07 at 3:20pm
What a coinky dink! I was all set to order from them last week but when I got to check out I realized they don't take AMEX or Paypal. Oh well.
I was drooling over the description of the MOTIA: Jasmine Sambac distilled into Sandalwood oil.
I assuaged my pent up desire to buy some oils by visiting Eden Botanicals and Agarscents Bazaar (on Ebay). Oh and Madini and Attar Bazaar too.
I have become an attar/perfume oil hound of late.
Anyone ever try any attars from Nemat Fragrances?
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post #6 of 14
6/7/07 at 4:55pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by loungeboy View Post

What a coinky dink! I was all set to order from them last week but when I got to check out I realized they don't take AMEX or Paypal. Oh well.
I was drooling over the description of the MOTIA: Jasmine Sambac distilled into Sandalwood oil.
I assuaged my pent up desire to buy some oils by visiting Eden Botanicals and Agarscents Bazaar (on Ebay). Oh and Madini and Attar Bazaar too.
I have become an attar/perfume oil hound of late.
Anyone ever try any attars from Nemat Fragrances?

I have some Attar Bazaar oils, and I'm pretty sure that they use synthetic ingredients. They claim they're "natural", but in the write-up on the website, they cleverly avoid saying whether they really use synthetics. I'm not a big fan, except for their Persian Amber, which I think is really nice.

I think Nemat is much better than Attar Bazaar, but I think their attars are cut with other (cheaper) ingredients too. They're too inexpensive to be traditionally made with real sandalwood oil. But a lot of the oils smell very nice nonetheless, just not the same quality as real attar.

Madini oils most definitely use synthetics, but they don't claim to be real "attars", so it's ok. I love a lot of Madini perfumes, many of them are great.

Most so-called attars are at least partially synthetic now due to the skyrocketing price of Sandalwood oil, or have a wax base instead of sandalwood, which is what sets Tigerflag apart. The woman who runs the company gets them from one traditional master distiller in India who still uses sandalwood, and I can really smell the difference.

Another company that sells nice traditional attar is White Lotus Aromatics (and they accept Paypal). They have an awesome saffron attar that Tigerflag doesn't carry. The only catch is they have a $100 minimum order.
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post #7 of 14
6/7/07 at 5:32pm
OK, you've caught my interest. Anyway I could bum a small sample of that Vetiver?
- Rich
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post #8 of 14
6/7/07 at 5:39pm
I enjoy many Madini and Attar Bazaar frags for what they are and their price point is certainly easy to take. I was looking at White Lotus and signed up for their newsletter. They certainly put alot of info out there.
While Nemat doesn't have a $100 minimum order (I think it may be $20), their stuff comes in 4 oz containers. I often mused how long it would take to use up 4 oz of a fragrance oil even if I wore it everyday!
I just started purchasing from Agarscents and am loving what I smell and Eden Botanicals had a great sampler (one of everything they sell) for less than $20 including shipping.
Nice to see a fine attar fan post Maxwell! I hope to try Tigerflag someday.
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post #9 of 14
6/8/07 at 8:59am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by loungeboy View Post

I enjoy many Madini and Attar Bazaar frags for what they are and their price point is certainly easy to take. I was looking at White Lotus and signed up for their newsletter. They certainly put alot of info out there.
While Nemat doesn't have a $100 minimum order (I think it may be $20), their stuff comes in 4 oz containers. I often mused how long it would take to use up 4 oz of a fragrance oil even if I wore it everyday!
I just started purchasing from Agarscents and am loving what I smell and Eden Botanicals had a great sampler (one of everything they sell) for less than $20 including shipping.
Nice to see a fine attar fan post Maxwell! I hope to try Tigerflag someday.

Yeah, 4 ounces of oil would take years to use I think. I'm lucky that my local Whole Foods sells Nemat. I don't know if you have one near you, but you could check it out and see. I think many/most of the stores carry it.

I'll have a look at Eden and Agarscents. I'm definitely an attar fan now.
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post #10 of 14
6/8/07 at 10:53am
We won't have a Whole Foods until next year. The local health food store is actually on the Nemat website as an "authorized seller" so one of these days I'll drop in to see what they have exactly and do some sampling.
Until then I have a ton of stuff to try and more on the way.
Enjoy your attars!
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post #11 of 14
6/9/07 at 5:16pm
Thread Starter 
Bump for people who may not have seen this when I posted it.
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post #12 of 14
11/22/09 at 8:59pm
Excellent thread, want to try the Mitti attar!
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post #13 of 14
11/23/09 at 8:35am
I like the natural perfumery attars and shamanas from Tigerflag. It is important to note that Tigerflag does not use any animal products for their musks or attars and they are very cautious to avoid synthetics or chemically sensitive problem area products. Their fragrances probably come from a similar source as those from White Lotus Fragrance (if not from them) although White Lotus will only sell wholesale to resellers and Tigerflag will sell the smallest quantity very easily. A little oil goes a long way, so their oils are quite inexpensive if you buy the smaller quantity, which is normally plenty. They offer quite a variety to try out, but those that I like the most from the dozen or so I've tried from Tigerflag are:

Whitle Lotus Attar - lotus flower and sandalwood oil for a very earthy yet ethereal floral. A soliflore note but is very nice.
Natural Oud Attar - A warm agarwood and sandalwood and amber attar. Warm and low register masculine. I only have a sample quantity of this one but consider it bottleworthy.
Mitti Attar - baked earth with sandalwood - cool damp earth.
Mitti in Vetiver - the mitti attar above blended with their Rhus Khus vetiver. Very earthy and cold. This is a more easily accepted vetiver than the pure Rhus Khus oil which is very intense, but also nice for the vetiver completists.
Saffron Attar - saffron + sandalwood for a sharp intense saffron spice scent. Very intense on the saffron. Some people have a hard time smelling pure saffron attar for longer than an hour or so - so test it for yourself first - as on all of these please.
Amberi-Musk Shamana - A warm floral musk with amber and sandalwood.
100% Pure Sandalwood - very nice sandalwood, light but good. Almost, but not quite as good as the Pure Mysore sandalwood from Montale, but much easier to obtain.

This company is certainly worth checking out. Samples are inexpensive and they are very generous with suggestions and freebies with purchase. They have lots of variety. I prefer the less overtly floral things they have, but I have not tried most of their line. The only ones I've tried that I would suggest you avoid are: Indonesian Vetiver and Natural Patchouli Perfume - both are NOT very wonderful. . .
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post #14 of 14
6/13/11 at 10:27am
That really sucks. Considering the state of the economy, it doesn't surprise me though.
I'm glad I have a bottle of their Mitti Attar. It's excellent stuff. Unique too.
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