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Apicius
Very helpful Review
7
Musky or musty?
Parfumo is a network: whatever you put into it will come back to you – not necessarily by the same people. One of the most precious perfume gifts I received came from AbuSafiyya – a full 30 ml bottle of Dahn Oudh Al Shams. Apparently, it was a blind buy, and he didn't like it. Anyway, I do! When it comes to Arabian perfumery, Abu and I have different tastes: he likes it musky, and I like it musty!
Dahn Oudh Al Shams is one of the more expensive Arabian spray perfumes – something around 150 € I guess. These are hard to get outside Arabia, and if you find a resource on the net they do not sell samples. Only very few enthusiasts would buy blind in this price range so these fragrances stay widely unknown. I am really lucky to have it, and Dahn Oudh Al Shams has already become one of my favorite fragrances.
To say that Dahn Oudh Al Shams is typically Arabian would be tautological. From the experience I have with Arabian perfumery so far, there seem to be two main directions: the “misks” (musk perfumes) and the ouds. Both groups can be divided into subdivisions. Ingredients, styles and fragrance types seem to be somewhat limited, so perfumes from different suppliers may very easily resemble each other. The overall approach I see is rather good craftsmanship than artistry. In most cases, the perfumers are unknown, and no ad campaign will promote the brilliance and the uniqueness of their personalities.
The style of oud perfume Dahn Oudh Al Shams represents is a semi-sweet fruity-floral that provides a distinct fecal impression: pigsty, cow shit, silage, bark mulch and compost heap. In a perfume blog site, I read a comment stating that Dahn Oudh Al Shams is not for beginners. I wouldn't disagree. The opening comes as a shock, and it can be overwhelming and off-putting. However, there is a strange fascination. It must be one of the miracles of the human olfaction and the Arabian perfume artistry that some smells reminiscent of decay can be so attractive and thrilling. Of course, I started cautiously with just one spritz, but it did not take long, and I wanted more!
The fecal impression is mostly top note. It gradually fades away into a beautiful woody-musty note that I find quite calming after repeated wears. It may be simple, but not bland. It is beautiful.
I want to believe that it is real oud what I smell, and no chemical replacements. What gives me this impression is that Dahn Oud Al Shams is not mainly musty with some woodiness in the background. Vice versa: it is a straightforward wood note with just a certain pinch of well integrated mustiness! It smells much more natural that the Montale ouds and their plagiarisms. Also, the disturbing Montale hairspray note is completely missing.
The Dahn Oudh Al Shams that I have is labeled as an Eau de Parfum, and its longevity is about 8 hours. There is also a “Special edition” around that should be even stronger. Well – the regular version does just fine for me!
I should mention one thing: you will never find any oud fragrance like this at Montale or Micallef. The “fecal” sub-type that Dahn Oudh Al Shams stands for is just too strange, it would easily be regarded as an impertinence within a western oud product lineup.
However, I like it a lot, and I very much enjoy wearing it.
Odysseus
