Hello,
I live in India, A very very few of you might know me. I would like to say hello and thanks to Sixcats, Narcus, womble, quarry, Mastorer and Masionstinky among others (excuse me if I miss out any names). Hello, since I've been out of touch for so long, and thanks, because one or the other of you have been generous enough with their time and notes, as well as some perfumes that I really cherish.
I have been very inactive on BN for a long time. Work and other things kept me occupied, so much so that I didn't get the time for perfumes, visit BN and even post when I logged in just to see what was going on in the perfume world. In fact, it was fairly recently that I bought another perfume - Bogart PH (not the signature). I absolutely love its tobacco and vanilla notes. I think its pretty underrated.
I have been following some threads with interest, among others, the Oud thread, and have noticed the growing interest in perfume oils (read attars etc) by so many of the perfume loving friends in the west. While I'm not an experienced person and have had no exposure to 'good' perfumes or niche perfumery in general, I have had the good fortune to try out a few that I have liked.
Recently, I had the opportunity to send a few perfume oils to a friend, and I would like to share my experiences at the perfume shop with you.
Mysore Sandalwood : This sandalwood oil I tried was 35% pure. I can't describe the exact smell, but let me try! It was a sharp woody opening (sort of like pencil shavings, but much milder) - that immediately left and left a glorious sandalwood odour. Having smelled sandalwood and variants all my life, it was immediately recognizable as a much more concentrated version of the sandalwood incense sticks or soaps that are all too prevalent here. Yep, its a lovely smell, and even by itself (linear), it was very .... 'smooth'. It lasted for a long while too, a rough guess would be 12+ hours and going steady even then.
Oud SP : This was a strong oud, non smoky. My perfumer friend said it was about 20% pure. I felt it was great, as it didn't have the overwhelming quality that another oud I tried had. Let me explain about that one next.
Oud A : The cryptic label on that bottle didn't prepare me for the intense blast that wafted out. It seemed to reach right into my brain and bash me like a punch from a boxer. That is the only explanation I can give. It was very... woody and smoky at the same time, and had a peculiarly strong medicinal quality which was much more pronounced than the other usual Ouds have. I wouldn't fiddle about with this stuff for sure, I think it is guaranteed headache material (Kouros is a small kid compared to this potency). As my perfumer friend said, this was A grade Oud, for the Saudi market (and ridiculously expensive as well).
Dehan Ul Oud : I'm not sure if this is the same stuff as has been mentioned in the other Oud thread, but as a rough explanation, its about 15-20% of the potency of the Oud A. Much better (read safer).
Here, I would like to mention a lovely staple of Indian perfumes - Ruh Khus.
Khus is vetiver, and its pretty common here in India, not just as a perfume, but also used as a cooling product (we have Khus mats that are hung on the windows in summer, and when you pour water on them, you get a COOL room, with a lovely fragrance to boot!). You can also find Khus sharbats (lovely sweet drink that is), agarbatties (incense sticks) etc etc.
Its easy to describe this fragrance. By itself, it might not be to everyone's liking. All ruhs are linear fragrances, Khus has a mossy green feeling about it. Its musty in its opening, but goes to a smooth strong vetiver (green - lush and mossy at the same time!) in just a bit. Any good ruh worth its name will last... and last. That, I suppose goes for most of the perfume oils. They will last much longer than you could possibly want.. or not..!
Another perfume I like is a blend. My perfumer calls it Mukammal and I have him blend some oud with it. Mukammal is a lovely saffron, sandalwood and oud blend. It is smooth, and not spicy. I have tried Montale's black oud, and for me, Mukammal+Oud emerges a winner (different note types in both of these, but similar perfume orientation).
Finally, let me mention an incredible 'exclusive' perfume that my perfumer friend let me sample. It is called Waqfi, and what a gorgeous blend this is. One of my all time favourites is Xeryus, I absolutely adore the opening and drydown that is Xeryus. Not since I sniffed.. and sniffed Xeryus have I deeply inhaled so much of a delicious perfume. It starts off with a few slighty fruity (likely synthetic) notes, and then has an immense saffron and sandalwood burst. That is something to experience! With a bit of Oud, and some other unnamed ingredients, I really liked this creation! Expensive stuff though
.
I would like to share a couple of notes on the application of perfume oils. Unlike sprays, which disperse the perfume on a larger area, you usually apply the perfume oil with a stick or roll it on. You have tiny bottles ranging from 3, 5 to 10 ml or more. 10 Ml is called a 'tola' here, which is the measure for perfumes. To put things in perspective, 3ML will last a LONG time.
How to apply? : Dab a 'little' perfume on the crook of your elbow or the inner/outer part of your hand, then, rub it vigorously with the other hand/wrist so as to spread it a bit. This is the technique/practice I've always seen. You do not apply perfume oil on clothes as it will leave a stain. However, you can dab a bit on the inside of your wrist, rub it slightly with the other hand, and then rub it over your clothes to get a deep long lasting fragrance.
Many people here like to coat a tiny cotton swab with some perfume oil, and then apply that in the ear (the cotton stays in the groove just above the ear hole). I haven't done so personally, but I see many people doing it all the time, looks like they love carrying their perfume around all day long!
I think I have rambled on enough. Finally, I would like to thank Night for getting me to post again.
Ah, and my friends who have experience with some perfume oils - I would be glad if you could give your inputs as to how you found them.
I live in India, A very very few of you might know me. I would like to say hello and thanks to Sixcats, Narcus, womble, quarry, Mastorer and Masionstinky among others (excuse me if I miss out any names). Hello, since I've been out of touch for so long, and thanks, because one or the other of you have been generous enough with their time and notes, as well as some perfumes that I really cherish.
I have been very inactive on BN for a long time. Work and other things kept me occupied, so much so that I didn't get the time for perfumes, visit BN and even post when I logged in just to see what was going on in the perfume world. In fact, it was fairly recently that I bought another perfume - Bogart PH (not the signature). I absolutely love its tobacco and vanilla notes. I think its pretty underrated.
I have been following some threads with interest, among others, the Oud thread, and have noticed the growing interest in perfume oils (read attars etc) by so many of the perfume loving friends in the west. While I'm not an experienced person and have had no exposure to 'good' perfumes or niche perfumery in general, I have had the good fortune to try out a few that I have liked.
Recently, I had the opportunity to send a few perfume oils to a friend, and I would like to share my experiences at the perfume shop with you.
Mysore Sandalwood : This sandalwood oil I tried was 35% pure. I can't describe the exact smell, but let me try! It was a sharp woody opening (sort of like pencil shavings, but much milder) - that immediately left and left a glorious sandalwood odour. Having smelled sandalwood and variants all my life, it was immediately recognizable as a much more concentrated version of the sandalwood incense sticks or soaps that are all too prevalent here. Yep, its a lovely smell, and even by itself (linear), it was very .... 'smooth'. It lasted for a long while too, a rough guess would be 12+ hours and going steady even then.
Oud SP : This was a strong oud, non smoky. My perfumer friend said it was about 20% pure. I felt it was great, as it didn't have the overwhelming quality that another oud I tried had. Let me explain about that one next.
Oud A : The cryptic label on that bottle didn't prepare me for the intense blast that wafted out. It seemed to reach right into my brain and bash me like a punch from a boxer. That is the only explanation I can give. It was very... woody and smoky at the same time, and had a peculiarly strong medicinal quality which was much more pronounced than the other usual Ouds have. I wouldn't fiddle about with this stuff for sure, I think it is guaranteed headache material (Kouros is a small kid compared to this potency). As my perfumer friend said, this was A grade Oud, for the Saudi market (and ridiculously expensive as well).
Dehan Ul Oud : I'm not sure if this is the same stuff as has been mentioned in the other Oud thread, but as a rough explanation, its about 15-20% of the potency of the Oud A. Much better (read safer).
Here, I would like to mention a lovely staple of Indian perfumes - Ruh Khus.
Khus is vetiver, and its pretty common here in India, not just as a perfume, but also used as a cooling product (we have Khus mats that are hung on the windows in summer, and when you pour water on them, you get a COOL room, with a lovely fragrance to boot!). You can also find Khus sharbats (lovely sweet drink that is), agarbatties (incense sticks) etc etc.
Its easy to describe this fragrance. By itself, it might not be to everyone's liking. All ruhs are linear fragrances, Khus has a mossy green feeling about it. Its musty in its opening, but goes to a smooth strong vetiver (green - lush and mossy at the same time!) in just a bit. Any good ruh worth its name will last... and last. That, I suppose goes for most of the perfume oils. They will last much longer than you could possibly want.. or not..!
Another perfume I like is a blend. My perfumer calls it Mukammal and I have him blend some oud with it. Mukammal is a lovely saffron, sandalwood and oud blend. It is smooth, and not spicy. I have tried Montale's black oud, and for me, Mukammal+Oud emerges a winner (different note types in both of these, but similar perfume orientation).
Finally, let me mention an incredible 'exclusive' perfume that my perfumer friend let me sample. It is called Waqfi, and what a gorgeous blend this is. One of my all time favourites is Xeryus, I absolutely adore the opening and drydown that is Xeryus. Not since I sniffed.. and sniffed Xeryus have I deeply inhaled so much of a delicious perfume. It starts off with a few slighty fruity (likely synthetic) notes, and then has an immense saffron and sandalwood burst. That is something to experience! With a bit of Oud, and some other unnamed ingredients, I really liked this creation! Expensive stuff though
.I would like to share a couple of notes on the application of perfume oils. Unlike sprays, which disperse the perfume on a larger area, you usually apply the perfume oil with a stick or roll it on. You have tiny bottles ranging from 3, 5 to 10 ml or more. 10 Ml is called a 'tola' here, which is the measure for perfumes. To put things in perspective, 3ML will last a LONG time.
How to apply? : Dab a 'little' perfume on the crook of your elbow or the inner/outer part of your hand, then, rub it vigorously with the other hand/wrist so as to spread it a bit. This is the technique/practice I've always seen. You do not apply perfume oil on clothes as it will leave a stain. However, you can dab a bit on the inside of your wrist, rub it slightly with the other hand, and then rub it over your clothes to get a deep long lasting fragrance.
Many people here like to coat a tiny cotton swab with some perfume oil, and then apply that in the ear (the cotton stays in the groove just above the ear hole). I haven't done so personally, but I see many people doing it all the time, looks like they love carrying their perfume around all day long!
I think I have rambled on enough. Finally, I would like to thank Night for getting me to post again.
Ah, and my friends who have experience with some perfume oils - I would be glad if you could give your inputs as to how you found them.
. However, I do get a lot of credit! I simply select the ones I want, and walk off to test them at my leisure if there are a lot of customers around.
.
