Last week you were in rough shape. You look healthy, which I'm glad for that. Since you took the time to share, I'll do the same. Xerjoff used to be my favorite fragrance house. I've owned 16 offerings: -Uden -Ibitira -40 Knots -More Than Words -Ceylon -Zafar -Malesia -Alexandria II -Luxor -Golden Dallah -Accento -Mefisto Gentleuomo -Naxos -Zefiro -Renaissance -Decas It's important to show you how much I loved this house. I've reduced it to 5 bottles. The remainder 11, I gave away to friends and family. Ever since I received EO No.3, my 1st Artisanal (all natural) perfume, something clicked! The more my nose adjusted to it, the more it drove me away from the rest of my (mainly synthetic) collection. As I dove deeper into Ensar's oils, Ouds and others - my nose couldn't bare to smell most artificially scented things. Like when Peter Parker was getting used to his new powers, trying to focus through the loud city noises with his -now- sensitive hearing. I don't remember how many fragrances I used to have. I must've given away 40+ bottles. However, I keept what I enjoyed. Now that I've told you my origin story, I hope you don't think I'm bashing. I will never buy another Xerjoff again. Not even to replace any of my remaining 5, if ever I finished them. This goes for the majority of commercial fragrances with a few exceptions. The thing is, I can detect the quality of Oud used in their "Oud Stars" collection. Not all Ouds are created equal. Just like there's boxed wine, there's poor quality (natural) Ouds. It's quite disappointing how they price themselves using poor quality Ouds. But what's infuriating, is they cut the poor quality Ouds with synthetic Oud! That drove me over the edge. Now, Mamluk. I remember smelling it in passing. I liked it to a certain extent. I was off put by the vanilla-caramel-honey-osmanthus cloying orgy. It was too much for me, as I despise gourmands. It was the 1st time I smelled Honey and Oud in a fragrance. Honey can have animalic facets to it depending on the blend. Also, synthetic Ouds lean more animalic. So I didn't look past that experience. When I did try Ceylon on a different occasion. I felt a resemblance between them. Only Ceylon was the superior version of the DNA. With added Black Tea and Siberian Musk it gave a dryness to Mamluk's goey texture, minus osmanthus, caramel and vanilla..the honey shined! The Jasmine bloomed! And a touch of Sandalwood rounded everything out. I noticed how the bergamot and Black Tea calmed down the sweetness of the Honey, while musk gave it verve! If you like Mamluk, try Ceylon. By any chance you made it here, sorry for the essay. I also apologize if I came off too "venty". Happy holidays.
Happy Holidays. Thank you so much for the input, and very much appreciate you taking the time to leave the comment. Not at all, I did not think it's "venty", and yes, I read the whole comment :). I do appreciate your insight, as I can tell, you are further ahead of me on your olfactory journey and definitely poses a much more mature and refined nose; I'm always learning from your comments so please keep them coming to the benefit of everyone that takes the time to review the comments.
Good review. Love Mamluk, and in fact am wearing it at the moment. The opening can be a little off-putting for Western noses. But the dry-down and scent-bubble are intoxicating. For that reason I would recommend applying it a good hour or two before you plan to be in the company of other people. Mamluk lends an air of mystery, elegance and the exotic. I would argue that it can be beast-mode and longevity is excellent. It will be a noticeable skin scent the next day. He's right - be careful not to overspray.
@@kaydencross Thanks Kayden. Anyway, I just received my order of Ajmal Mukhallat Al Shams. One of the most affordable real oud sprayers around. It punches you with the “stinky” Hindi oud at the top and dries down to this beautiful blend of floral and woody nuances. What a beautiful blend. Underrated gem right here especially if you consider the price of this, 50-60 bucks for a 50ml. I thought i will share what i get myself for the holiday season. Hope you can get your nose on it. 🙏🏻
@@kingkong14166 Thank you for sharing your newest acquisition. Is there a particular site you use to buy Ajmal? As I believe they only ship within the middle east?
@@kaydencross I got the Mukhallat Al Shams from a local online marketplace here in Singapore. I did purchased two Ajmals- Amir One and Amir Two from ebay. They are on the pricey side though but I am pretty sure you can get Mukhallat Al Shams on ebay for a decent price. I’m going for Mukhallat Dahn Al Oudh Moattaq and Dahn Oudh Al Shams next. :)
Last week you were in rough shape. You look healthy, which I'm glad for that.
Since you took the time to share, I'll do the same. Xerjoff used to be my favorite fragrance house. I've owned 16 offerings:
-Uden
-Ibitira
-40 Knots
-More Than Words
-Ceylon
-Zafar
-Malesia
-Alexandria II
-Luxor
-Golden Dallah
-Accento
-Mefisto Gentleuomo
-Naxos
-Zefiro
-Renaissance
-Decas
It's important to show you how much I loved this house. I've reduced it to 5 bottles. The remainder 11, I gave away to friends and family.
Ever since I received EO No.3, my 1st Artisanal (all natural) perfume, something clicked! The more my nose adjusted to it, the more it drove me away from the rest of my (mainly synthetic) collection.
As I dove deeper into Ensar's oils, Ouds and others - my nose couldn't bare to smell most artificially scented things. Like when Peter Parker was getting used to his new powers, trying to focus through the loud city noises with his -now- sensitive hearing.
I don't remember how many fragrances I used to have. I must've given away 40+ bottles. However, I keept what I enjoyed.
Now that I've told you my origin story, I hope you don't think I'm bashing. I will never buy another Xerjoff again. Not even to replace any of my remaining 5, if ever I finished them. This goes for the majority of commercial fragrances with a few exceptions. The thing is, I can detect the quality of Oud used in their "Oud Stars" collection. Not all Ouds are created equal. Just like there's boxed wine, there's poor quality (natural) Ouds. It's quite disappointing how they price themselves using poor quality Ouds. But what's infuriating, is they cut the poor quality Ouds with synthetic Oud! That drove me over the edge.
Now, Mamluk. I remember smelling it in passing. I liked it to a certain extent. I was off put by the vanilla-caramel-honey-osmanthus cloying orgy. It was too much for me, as I despise gourmands. It was the 1st time I smelled Honey and Oud in a fragrance. Honey can have animalic facets to it depending on the blend. Also, synthetic Ouds lean more animalic. So I didn't look past that experience. When I did try Ceylon on a different occasion. I felt a resemblance between them. Only Ceylon was the superior version of the DNA. With added Black Tea and Siberian Musk it gave a dryness to Mamluk's goey texture, minus osmanthus, caramel and vanilla..the honey shined! The Jasmine bloomed! And a touch of Sandalwood rounded everything out. I noticed how the bergamot and Black Tea calmed down the sweetness of the Honey, while musk gave it verve! If you like Mamluk, try Ceylon.
By any chance you made it here, sorry for the essay. I also apologize if I came off too "venty".
Happy holidays.
Happy Holidays. Thank you so much for the input, and very much appreciate you taking the time to leave the comment. Not at all, I did not think it's "venty", and yes, I read the whole comment :). I do appreciate your insight, as I can tell, you are further ahead of me on your olfactory journey and definitely poses a much more mature and refined nose; I'm always learning from your comments so please keep them coming to the benefit of everyone that takes the time to review the comments.
@@kaydencross you're a champ for reading the whole thing💪🏽
Good review. Love Mamluk, and in fact am wearing it at the moment. The opening can be a little off-putting for Western noses. But the dry-down and scent-bubble are intoxicating. For that reason I would recommend applying it a good hour or two before you plan to be in the company of other people. Mamluk lends an air of mystery, elegance and the exotic. I would argue that it can be beast-mode and longevity is excellent. It will be a noticeable skin scent the next day. He's right - be careful not to overspray.
Happy Holiday!
Happy Holidays.
Merry Christmas Kayden. Wishing you a great new year!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
@@kaydencross Thanks Kayden.
Anyway, I just received my order of Ajmal Mukhallat Al Shams. One of the most affordable real oud sprayers around.
It punches you with the “stinky” Hindi oud at the top and dries down to this beautiful blend of floral and woody nuances. What a beautiful blend. Underrated gem right here especially if you consider the price of this, 50-60 bucks for a 50ml.
I thought i will share what i get myself for the holiday season. Hope you can get your nose on it. 🙏🏻
@@kingkong14166 Thank you for sharing your newest acquisition. Is there a particular site you use to buy Ajmal? As I believe they only ship within the middle east?
@@kaydencross I got the Mukhallat Al Shams from a local online marketplace here in Singapore. I did purchased two Ajmals- Amir One and Amir Two from ebay. They are on the pricey side though but I am pretty sure you can get Mukhallat Al Shams on ebay for a decent price.
I’m going for Mukhallat Dahn Al Oudh Moattaq and Dahn Oudh Al Shams next. :)
you should look into bortnikoff
I do have it on my radar; will be jumping soon into the house.