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tawaf

post #1 of 33
11/12/12 at 10:38am
Thread Starter 
This one was mentioned among best jasmine fragrances, and i had huge expectations about it cause i love jasmine, but the way it is done in Joy is still maybe the best around! Jasmine-civet combination somehow just happens to be it! Has longevity , projection and smells very natural yet elegant and classy and not too indolic as some other like my favourite:

Sarrasins, where i just cant get enough of those first 10 minutes, when its so strong that it sings high C, later becomes even nicer, because not so demanding, just beautiful. When it comes to longevity and projection Joy leads!

and then comes 100% natural Tawaf, i am still exploring it, when i tried it must say i was expecting something in that Sarrasins way of the opening, something high C, and more natural! Indeed this one was 2 times more indolic but like an oil, darker stronger scent, not light , high, uplifting but bit like heavy....not fresh just intense (like when i smell real olive oil) , thats opoponax probably that i smell, but cant say when i am not sure how opoponax smells itself,

Its like earthy jasmine, mixed with mud :-) that doesn't let jasmine to fly high in the sky:-)
Also that initial blast reminded me a lot of real
Lily flower , with their intensive smell that i am not sure whether i like or not:-) , the scent settles down and becomes nicer, more wearable, but with this scent of smelling real Lily flower, i read many describe it as gardenia,
i cant get any other nice associations others get:-) ..still i admire it a lot, because have never experienced so far some scent smells like real flower from the vase, so intensive, but on the other hand it is a bit too raw:-) to be a perfume i would wear maybe?

And then after that initial blast, in 1 hour it becomes skin scent, no projection at all

What is your experience with this scent? Why do you like it, or not? Did you get complimented wearing it?
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post #2 of 33
11/12/12 at 11:39am
I disliked it, I'm afraid. I definitely get what you described as "jasmine mixed with mud", in my case I visualized clay... I think your question about whether it is too raw to wear is very apropos. I personally don't want to smell like Tawaf under any circumstances. All that said, I don't mean to imply it was terrible smelling or anything so harsh, but it is quite the challenging one, IMO (and not in a good way). The longevity issue you mention is also on point, but I guess I can give Tawaf a pass there due to it being all-natural.
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post #3 of 33
11/12/12 at 11:46am
Have not tried it, not even interested after reading your both descriptions. Thanks!
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post #4 of 33
11/12/12 at 1:30pm
Thread Starter 
@ Twolf, pls i did not mean to put anyone off from trying it, i was just bit surprised that my experience is in so much dissonance with all the others who reviewed, and some mention it as best jasmine around, i would love to love it, also it fades away instantly......


Other Profumo scents are just so beautiful and may have longevity issues, but the one i tried i can smell them hours later, even the one i cant smell too long Tasneem, beautiful yilang yilang with vanilla, its among most beautiful to me. I don't know what happened with Tawaf, maybe it was only me that's why i asked.
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post #5 of 33
11/13/12 at 3:04pm
l just tried this one today, & l so wanted to love it, but l too am underwhelmed.
lt starts off as a very loud & high-pitched jasmine, with the "magic marker" variety of indole; nothing dirty or animalic here. l get a whiff of narcissus, & then the heart reminds me very much of Jardenia, with its green & peppery edge. From there it simply fades. l don't get the mud note, but neither do l get any of the warm richness of opoponax that l was expecting. lt lasts around six hours on me before fading out.
l suspect it may bloom better in warm weather, so l will revisit it at some point, but l don't expect it to become one of my favourite jasmines.
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post #6 of 33
1/22/13 at 10:00am
Actually I really like "Tawaf", it has become one of my favourite perfumes. Normally I dislike jasmine-notes in perfumes, especially the thin and high-pitched ones, for example the one in "Sepia" by Aftelier. But this fat and roaring (Arabian) jasmine in "Tawaf" is incredible, it's almost narcotic and full of life! It is an "extreme" perfume, so I can see why people question its wearability, but I like perfumes which take no prisoners.
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post #7 of 33
1/22/13 at 3:03pm
Thread Starter 
Hello Hoschhti,

I got used to the rawness of that jasmine:-) , and have noticed men react much more positive to it, in general i have tried 7 scents from that house and they all lean to unisex or masculine, the only one that i tried that is feminine is Tasneem:-) , so i understand you guys like it, this is masculine Jasmin, brown jasmine in my head, not white milky airy like i get from Ubar:-)

But aside from tastes, i can not imagine this scent can be used , because this is the fastest fleeting scent i have ever tried in my life:-) , starts strong ends before it started:-) , very very short lived! But Tasneem is short lived as well....don't know why
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post #8 of 33
1/22/13 at 7:17pm
Holy moly, by now two BNers from the UK sent me two vials of Tawaf. I tried them both, and they are different -- both in color and in smell. I wonder if the batches vary or whether it is a storage issue? None of them is -- of course -- to my absolute liking, I can enjoy them from afar and like a nice made-to-order suit, none fits me. Perhaps, it is someone else's fragrance?

In total agreement with you that it is a dark masculine jasmine, a combo of grandiflorum and articulum, with the whole bunch of other stuff. Too busy, too butch for fragile me.
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post #9 of 33
1/23/13 at 1:27am
@ iivanita: Your description of "Tawaf" being a masculine jasmine is correct because normally I (as a guy) don't like jasmine-scents, but I like "Tawaf". In music you have the "Wall of Sound" and this is the "Wall of Smell", but only in the beginning, then it fades away and leaves a subtle skin scent. Natural perfumes have almost always less longetivity than chemical ones and if they have good longetivity like "Mecca Balsam", it's because of the "heavy" ingredients that don't fade away quickly. On my skin it lasts about 2-3 hours and after that it leaves this nice and subdued skin-scent. Try to put it on your clothes, so you can smell the opoponax better and the longetivity is also much better!

@ Twolf: It's strange that the samples vary. It's a new perfume, I don't know if there are already different batches.
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post #10 of 33
1/23/13 at 1:58am
Not to my taste, either.
The busy, bold opening acts as something of a smoke screen: By the time it has cleared, the fragrance has all but exited.

More generally, I'm still to be convinced by 'all-natural' perfumery.
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post #11 of 33
1/23/13 at 1:58am
I thought it was DISGUSTING. Big style DISGUSTING! Like chlorine poured down a stinky sink.

- - - Updated - - -

Quote:
Originally Posted by gandhajala View Post

More generally, I'm still to be convinced by 'all-natural' perfumery.

Totally agree. Perfumery is not about 'all-natural'. Having said that the best I have tried and own a few mls is Anya McCoy's Amberess.
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post #12 of 33
1/23/13 at 3:02pm
Thread Starter 
I just tried Jean Patou Chaldee vintage EDT from ma collection from 80s:-)

And lovers of Tawaf should try it, its also opoponax mixed with white flowers,but i like it even less thenTawaf, who at least took the idea to extreme but smells opulent, rich, very raw but natural:-)


Chaldee smells also very masculine to me, was so surprised when I saw the notes, its jasmine mixed with flowers that emphasise its indolic nature, layered on powdery opoponax base, that makes those lovely alcoholic at the opening flowers stinky:-) and the whole story is very simple, nothing complex there

These are again some flowers for men, i so don't like those opoponax white flowers combos...they fit together like white dress and a mud:-)
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post #13 of 33
1/24/13 at 1:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by iivanita View Post


These are again some flowers for men, i so don't like those opoponax white flowers combos...they fit together like white dress and a mud:-)

True, also in "Tawaf" the jasmine-accord and the opoponax-accord are a bit dissonant, they don't melt together. Profumo wanted it maybe that way. I have the blending kit and no matter in which ratio you blend the two accords it smells always a bit dissonant, I think it's intended to smell that way.
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post #14 of 33
1/24/13 at 2:15am
Thread Starter 
oh yes indeed, i also think its done on purpose, trying to create something new
but its so funny how interpretations are made , Chaldee was presented as a scent that mimicks sun tanning skin/or lotions?, something like that ,
Tawaf is connected to some religious ceremonies... and basicly they share the same initial idea of mixing those unusal accords together....
in Chaldee opoponax is so powdery, and makes it old fashioned-some interpret this as classics but to my nose it has nothing of classsics complexity
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post #15 of 33
1/24/13 at 2:27am
A good story behind a perfume is important! Imagine perfume-companies would release perfumes with no brand on it, no story, everything in neutral packaging - unthinkable! It's marketing, but in Profumo's case it's at least believable marketing. I recently sampled "Sepia" by Aftelier which should smell like abandoned ghost towns (so the story), but for me it smells more like a light summer-cologne for girls!
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post #16 of 33
1/25/13 at 2:29pm
This is a very interesting thread which really shows how personal preferences are really diverse. I am finding your comments and observations about Tawaf really interesting hoschhti; "narcotic", "extreme", "takes no prisoners". Very well put and I agree with all of that. Unfortunately I'm among those who really don't like it. I was one of the reviewers in the competition a few months ago. I didn't know that Tawaf was a jasmine centric fragrance before I received it, and if I had known that I wouldn't have volunteered because I don't like jasmine so I felt like a real rotter. I was never going to like it.

I find jasmine a really difficult mistress at the best of times. I appreciate it's importance, and it's place in the great triumvirate, but more often than not, with some exceptions, I instictively dislike jasmine notes. Tawaf amplified whatever I don't like about jasmine. Which may well mean that it amplifies aspects of jasmine that other folk DO like, in which case you are on to a winner here. It is certainly brave, and bold. For me, I found it overwhelming. Jasmine so heady, so redolent, and with a dominant chlorine note.

I found Leva by O'Driu to have a similarly "agressive" jasmine,. They do another called JMT (Jasmine Mean Time). Hoschhti, if you like what you find in Tawaf then I would strongly recommend both of these to you.
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post #17 of 33
1/26/13 at 8:04am
Foustie, thanks for your recommendations. I really like "extreme" scents, most of the scents that people describe as extreme or unwearable are just a starting point for me! What surprises me is that for example "Hindu Kush" (also by Profumo) is, judged by the reviews, liked by most people, although even I find it a bit raw and sometimes hard to wear.

Apropos the review competition, Grant still hasn't revealed the name of the 17th voter, I wonder if this will ever happen?
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post #18 of 33
1/27/13 at 5:14am
Thread Starter 
Hoschhti.....they forgot about it?

then you must try Onda! by veroprofumo....you will like it its also a bit extreme i suppose....strangely this one and Montale Cuir are so perfectly waearable to me although Montale i would buy and use it! Onda is maybe too masculine of a frag?

Hindu Kusch was love at first sniff for me, but i find it later a bit too green, and simple, i liked Basaar much more...it stands between Hindu Kush and Meca Balsam...but from all i have tried i find Grezzo , most original,interesting, and rounded and wearable...and Tabac, green tobacco, too...others are sometimes too simple...and too fleeting...Tasneem is so good, just i think i would need 100ml to be happy with it!
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post #19 of 33
1/27/13 at 8:06am
Thanks to a generous BNer, I tried Tawaf. Indeed, a very strange jasmine, with the strange and dirty aspects in full evidence. Not what goes for intense, narcotic jasmine (eg a la Nuit, Sarrasins, etc). At first sniff, I thought I detected lots of civet and animalic, but likely, as it appeared evident when I smelled next to the uber-civety Ferme Tes Yeux, it's the indolic aspect of the flower itself.

I like many other La via del profumo. I agree on the similarities between Basaar and Hindu Kush. There's something that reminds me of my grandma in them, and especially in Hindu Kush.

And I agree that Onda by Vero Kern is great. It has a lot of animalics, but it could be ok for people who are really not into heavy leathers because it has plenty of vetiver, which makes it somehow cleaner and less murky. (And I agree with ivanita that Cuir de Lancome plays some of the same tricks).

cacio
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post #20 of 33
1/27/13 at 10:07am
I had a sample of Amouage's "Homage" once. Is my memory correct and does this scent have some similarities with "Tawaf"?
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post #21 of 33
1/27/13 at 11:01am
Thread Starter 
Hoschhti nooo, not even remotely the only similarity they have is...that Homage smells so natural dense , ... and i repeated many times,
i think Homage too is floral perfume perfectly suitable for men too!, it is unisex! and for me as a female it leans on masculine side , but here everything fits, no dissonance, it is luxurious, elegant, noble, what gives it masculin prefix are citruses,some frankincense/oud, taif rose, jasmine are so so airy ,allways backed by some citruses and that frankincense/oud and sweet ambery base...i can not describe better, the only notes that stand out to me are citruses, masculine smell, and beauty , and colour bright yellow, like the sun then in the base red
Tawaf is brown jasmine

Homage is citrus-floral with ambery base...and extremely beuatifuy...its so so longlasting and has aura, like any other perfume and it comes from 3 drops only , i think one cant make better.....

Tawaf cant measure to that really... i think that perfect perfume is beautiful to majority of people....one can not say that Homage doesnt smell beautifully no matter tastes
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post #22 of 33
1/27/13 at 11:03am
Thread Starter 
Hoschhti nooo, not even remotely the only similarity they have is...that Homage smells so natural dense , ... and i repeated many times,
i think Homage too is floral perfume perfectly suitable for men too!, it is unisex! and for me as a female it leans on masculine side , but here everything fits, no dissonance, it is luxurious, elegant, noble, what gives it masculin prefix are citruses,some frankincense/oud, taif rose, jasmine are so so airy ,allways backed by some citruses and that frankincense/oud and sweet ambery base...i can not describe better, the only notes that stand out to me are citruses, masculine smell, and beauty , and colour bright yellow, like the sun then in the base red
Tawaf is brown jasmine

Homage is citrus-floral with ambery base...and extremely beuatifuy...its so so longlasting and has aura, like any other perfume and it comes from 3 drops only , i think one cant make better.....

Tawaf cant measure to that really... i think that perfect perfume is beautiful to majority of people....one can not say that Homage doesnt smell beautifully no matter tastes
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post #23 of 33
1/27/13 at 1:13pm
Twolf, even if your nose objects, I hope you know that so many of us love and respect that nose, so I am not at all surprised you received samples of Tawaf. WHen you weigh in, we are enlightened.

Not to threadjack, but it reminds me that you were so diplomatic in saying my beloved Mollie Parnis was not for you that I don't think you ever said just what it was you disliked, and I have remained curious. Be assured I'm not at all bothered that we often disagree on fragrances, in fact I'm fascinated by differences in perception and aesthetic experience.
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post #24 of 33
1/27/13 at 1:49pm
I concur with ivanita on Homage. No similarity, in either incarnations. the current Homage is primarily a clean neroli-frankincense, none of which is present in Tawaf. The old Homage was richer and more floral, but as ivanita correctly said, Homage is clean yellow bright, while Tawaf is dirtyish and brown.

cacio
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post #25 of 33
1/28/13 at 1:42am
I remember "Homage" as an Oud/Frankincense/Rose/Jasmine-Perfume, like a clean version of "Tawaf". A fresh and aggressive jasmine and rose with a little bit animalic oud-base. Or better said: "Tawaf" is the dirty brother of "Homage" who played in the mud!
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post #26 of 33
1/29/13 at 4:06am
I like Tawaf - but it took a while to get there.
On me, yes, the opening is just a little too intense. A huge, over-the-top jasmine grandiflorum (one of my least favourite floral notes) as it reminds me of jasmine green tea, and that wierd earthy/mushroom smell - as it clears and gets lighter though you're right, it seems to completely disappear, yet I catch glimpses of it all day when giving it a full wearing. It just kind of, hovers around. It is a very dated, old fashioned smell IMO - and totally not my style, but I enjoy my little bottle of it when I'm really in the mood to wear it.
But, I think I prefer it to Sarrasins?
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post #27 of 33
1/29/13 at 4:23am
I love to smell Jasmine sambac from the bottle but it is a hard one to wear and tame successfully. It shares the hugeness of tuberose and that also is a hard to tame animal. I like to see these types of floral frags tease a little before releasing their raw power, or maybe just keeping that power in reserve to hint at what it could become.... but only if it wanted to.

Raw and natural is not always good for a refined nose. It needs caging some of the time.
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post #28 of 33
1/29/13 at 4:40am
forfreddie, I am glad that somebody else also likes the perfume!

The jasmine in "Tawaf" is the sambac, not the grandiflorum, right? I ask because I ordered a custom perfume by Profumo and hope that I did choose the right kind of jasmine!
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post #29 of 33
1/29/13 at 4:53am
Ahhh I'm probably wrong - mumsy mentioned sambac and she's a fountain of knowledge!
To me though, I get a reallly strong grandiflorum vibe with it :/ I dunno - hahaha. Need to crack out the kit mumsy sent me! <3
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post #30 of 33
1/30/13 at 2:17pm
Thread Starter 
It is jasmine sambac:-) so no worries for your custom perfume:-) pls let us know when its finished what notes you ordered too:-)
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post #31 of 33
1/31/13 at 12:34am
Hello iivanita, I started already a thread about the custom perfume, here's the link: http://www.basenotes.net/threads/321...custom-perfume!

The perfume should arrive today!
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post #32 of 33
3/9/13 at 8:47am
On an other thread someone mentioned a jasmine-scent by Bruno Acampora. Has anybody smelled it and if yes how does it compare to Tawaf?
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post #33 of 33
3/9/13 at 1:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hoschhti View Post

On an other thread someone mentioned a jasmine-scent by Bruno Acampora. Has anybody smelled it and if yes how does it compare to Tawaf?

l have tried both, & they are completely different. The Acampora Jasmin is very, very dirty & animalic. Tawaf is much more high-pitched & screechy, to my nose. Personally l much prefer the Acampora.
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