Queruccio

I have met this perfume in one of the many perfume shops of my city.
Zadig&Voltaire is not a very famous brand, it usually is a bit hidden compare to the most famous brands.
I had underestimated this fragrance at first, on the paper strip this didn't really hit me.
But just out of curiosity once i have sprayed it on my arm. And after 3/4 hours I realized I love this perfume!
I used to compare this to Bvlgary man black orient, that tends more to the balsamic side.
This tends more to the woody side.
Especially in the dry down (after 2 hours it gets very close to the skin) this smells so luxurious! A sandalwood and incense masterpiece! And that light touch of vanilla combined with a tiny pinch of talco freshness (just my opinion, it s something i get in a nice way) make this fragrance unique.
It has similar competitors, but this is a very refined one and for the price it is definitely a must have!!

Do not hesitate, try it on your skin for a couple of times and then you will see...

I have got interested to the Rasasi brand with Dareej, then I blind bought Shuhrah.
At first it seemed like a bad mistake: first spray and I smelled some kind of old woman cologne, after a couple of hours I had this persistent smell on my arm (which I didn't like) and in the end I could not stand anymore those whiffs in my nose from time to time.
My girlfriend didn't like it. A couple of my friends did not like it.
I then considered to sell it.

After few months (during cold days) I decided to use it again for a sunday visit of a mall.
I suddenly got the sensation I like this fragrance.
I usually don't describe perfumes with notes, I prefer to refer to other fragrances to give an idea. This is
a very well blended fragrance, it seems like a 20% classic woman perfume (let's say a chanel n. 5), 50% a smokey ash smell (it s not the smoke of amouage interlude, that is balsamic smoke), 30% leather perfume (something strong, sort of woody as well, think about Nuit d'Issey Issey Miyake).
The result is a picture: a mature guy wakes up in the middle on the night, next to him in the bed there's a woman in her 40ies, they have been making love after a night in a club and all their clothes are scattered around the small room, the door and windows are cloes and all the smells have blended together. That is Shuhrah, it s like a painting, you don't get immediately the beauty of it, it requires time.

Have no doubt, for its price this is a gem, if you are a fragrance lover, you need to get one.

I have read some reviews about this perfume and I have ordered a sample of it (2ml).
At the beginning it didn't really convince me, as other people said it seems as a designer fragrance in the opening...similar to many other cheaper ones.
But after few mins this perfumes gets more interesting and smells more refined than all the other similar fragrances.
One of the factors which made me purchase a 60ml bottle was that the dry down of this perfume is amazing. I mean i love it, it s sophisticated and warming, pure class. And it seems a bit like the dry down of Bleu de Chanel (I got the perfume version), which I also love.

Performance is not one of those factors, because I realized quite soon this is not a beast (as other Manceras).
The first 2 hours you have a moderate projection, around 40/50 cm. After 4/5 hours it gets close to the skin (where it stays for 3/4 hours more), so you definitely need to apply some of it on your clothes where it can project and be detected for a bit longer (1/2 hrs).

All in all, this definitely is worth the money you pay for a niche perfume. It's nothing like a new ground breaking fragrance, but it s a very well made and very refined perfume.

I have purchased Shaghaf based on the hype of the web regarding this fragrance, never tested before.
However I have in my collection Shuhrah (which I slowly realized is a masterpiece).
Reading the reviews online, I figured Shaghaf as a child of Shuhrah and Invictus: wrong!
It definitely has the Shuhrah dna, but it leans towards some sort of skanky/aquatic version of it.

Unfortunately, in my opinion this is a fail.

If you already got Shuhrah, dont purchase this. It would be a not worthy imitation of it, which doesn't really add anything interesting to the original fragrance. Instead, it takes away all that luxurious base of Shuhrah (leather, wood, smoke) which makes this fragrance a masterpiece.

I have kept this perfume for 1 week, I have tested it in comparison to Shuhrah. A total deafeat.
Shaghaf doesn't smell interesting, it doesn't smell expensive, it doesn't stand in term of performance to Shuhrah (the luxurious base notes of my Shuhrah last 12hrs on skin and 24hrs on clothes).
Every day I kept smelling those 2 perfumes...it was clear after few days which one was the unique must-have in my collection. The other one seemed just a cheap clone.

I have then sold my Shaghaf.

It is difficult to explain the fragrance, it is quite unique and it is much easier to go to a perfume shop and try Amouage Interlude for Men.
Not a easy and wearable fragrance, but very luxurious and complex. You will stand out from the mass fragrances, as this is something unusual.
In short, a great clone of Amouage Interlude, differences:
- a touch less smoke and complexity in the opening;
- a bit weaker after 1 hour - where Interlude still project 1 mt;
- drydown - after 2 hrs - is not very complex and refined as Amouage.

Performance:
- longevity - my skin 6/7 hrs - clothes 16hr.
- projection - my skin 1/2 hrs - clothes 8 hrs.
After 1/2 hrs the projection is almost gone, still u ve a few cms bubble.

ps. I have just tried also Ard Al Zaafaran Midnight Oud, differences:
- sweeter than Shaghaf Oud Abyad, a bit sweeter than Interlude;
- Midnight oud has slightly better performance than this, probably due to its sweetness in the drydown.