Baghdad

A unisex, very sensual dark rose, full of thorns but impossible to resist, it starts with a bold velvet dark red rose followed by saffron and other oriental spices involved in a very subtle very soft and beautiful indian agarwood which give it that sensual je ne sais quoi. It’s like a love affair, and the drydown, that’s the best part, a smoky velvet rose, very subtle to the skin, this is a very intimate fragrance and like every affair it makes you wanting more, to me the only downside of this fragrance, at least on my skin, it doesn’t last very long (6h more or less), yet I find it beautiful in that way, it leaves me wanting more.

What a beautiful bouquet of red and pink luscious roses. So well blended with the calming spiritual sandalwood in the drydown. There's just a hint of spice and a touch of mellow oud. Reminds me of Homage attar by Amouage in ways but more complex and so well priced. Unbeatable rose scent for the price. True quality. I am raving about this brand. More guys need to try this stuff. Unisex. Long lasting. Soft and gentle. Brilliant.

i don't know how he does it, but abdul karim composes here an oud-rose combo that smells as good as many others that cost 10x as much (and i have those, too.) very good indeed.

A gorgeously grounded, woody, balsamic rose! Suitable for men or women, but dark enough that I can understand the label 'for men'. There is a black tar aura here I sometimes associate with leather that is probably oud. Nice! Saffron and spices come off almost as herbals, and the sweetness is invisible. If you enjoy scents like Aromatics Elixir or dark leather classics, then I think Baghdad is a fine choice. Low sillage and good longevity. Not offensive in small spaces unless over applied, which is very handy for those of us who love fragrance with major personality... but need subtlety! UPDATE - Another day, another experience. Today I am surprised at how much more leather and tobacco *but esp. leather* are taking the upper hand. Rose has nearly disappeared and the overall impression is.... challenging. Fecal, potent, dirty leather sofa, long home to an aging mastiff?! But that is what I smell... To do Baghdad justice, on another person's skin I smelled more of what I previously reviewed combined with this lovely deep, dry leather. Strong, but with low sillage and elegance. NO dirty dog or overpowering animalics, just expensive, deep tarry goodness. And remember, you never have to blind buy with AK Al Faransi. They offer samples to many countries. :)

Although i'm not an "attar guy" but every now and then you need something traditional for special days like Eid or Jummah. I bought Baghdad based on positive review by praises by Nikhkil on his YouTube channel Perfume Guru. Baghdad is a beautiful concoction that starts off with very spicy saffron with Pungent background. This pungency is due to the note of Indian agarwood, which can come up as bit fecal in the start. This beginning may seem very overwhelming and may come as more like a traditional attars but, the transition from saffron to rose is where magic happens. Rose used in baghdad is gorgeous, although i can't identify its kind (dark rose as per official website) but whatever rose it is, its absolutely breathtaking. So much so that i couldn't stop sniffing my wrist after hours of application. I have used attars bought from local market and i can attest that quality of AKAF blend is far more superior than those. Longevity is quite subjective thing but it lasted on my skin for about 8-10 hours. Unlike mainstream perfumes, attar oils are very personal affair hence projection is not that loud. But my friend confirmed that he was getting whiffs of baghdad in masjid, he was two rows back and it was windy. So that's that.

a rose oud combination.seems good quality ingredients and feels very natural use of rose and other oils i like it but only downfall of this fragrance i feel is : it does not behave like a attar and have kinda of non linear behaviour of projection and sillage . on just opening of the tiny bottle it fills the whole room , initial 1 hour it projects very heavily then it suddenly becomes very close to skin and fades away in 4 hours . i dont like this behavious of this attar . how good it would have been if it maintained a balanced behaviour on projection and a good scent bubble that does not project beastly for initial 1 hour nor fade away suddenly in few hours . then it would have been really a beautiful attar.however it is not much burden on the pocket and is gr8 at this price. overall rating : 8 Update: the saffron note in it is more prominent in winters than in summers or warm weather

The first hour is nauseatingly fecal, with strong projection. I felt my stomach turn after I had first applied it to my skin. Then after at least an hour, it changes to a very nice rosy oud, but with much weaker performance. As someone else said, it would have been nice if the performance had been more consistent, but that seems to be a hallmark of oud based scents. Rasasi's Faqat Lil Rijal and even Jesus del Pozo's Arabian Nights both have the same performance timeline profile. However, because they are completely synthetic (or so I believe), they lack the poopy start that Baghdad has. I ordered a sample from Abdul Karim Al Faransi's website and should mention that he was very generous in sending more than the amount ordered, at no extra charge.

SO overwhelming literally on opening that I couldn't imagine what was going on and how bad this might be. However, after a while, from a distance I realized it was... an Eastern rose oud attar! I went from Disliking to just Liking it here but am still glad I only blind-bought a half Tola, against my instincts, with some other (my second round of) purchases and that was only because a couple of folks highly recommended this. It isn't bad, it's just belligerent. Know what else I'm having trouble imagining? A time and/or place I'd ever actually wear this.

absolutely love this one, i get rose and oud out of this, but to me there is something so natural smelling about this, it is similar to jakarta but with more rose, the performance is not the best though.

I really like this one. Very natural spicy oud that is getting more oudy with some saffron after some hours. Very good.

Well, this smells like something, but it doesn't smell like the description on the website!! All I smelled was a stomach-turning oud. Fromage bleu all the way. But worse. It was hard not to vomit. Very far cry from this description: "With a captivating and conqueror style, Baghdad brings you for a journey in the History of the Middle East through a bouquet of dark red roses combined with a subjugating persian saffron. After a while, a calming drydown operates with beautiful notes of indian agarwood and sweet sandalwood. Top Notes: Rose, Oriental Spices Heart Notes: Persian Saffron, Sweet Woody Notes Base Notes: Indian Agarwood, Indian Sandalwood" I didn't pick up any rose, spices, saffron, woody notes, or sandalwood. Just this heinous blue cheese oud. Ouch. I'm so happy I only spent £18, since I don't think I will ever wear this again. Longevity: not that great. I swiped it on at about 2:30, and after a full hour of power-funk, it's finally giving up the ghost at 3:50. Final thought: I can't wait to never wear this again.

It baffles me that such a brilliant perfumer as AKAF says this is his favorite of his house. I keep trying to like it but will give up. I wore it for a hike and almost had to return home prematurely just to scrub it off. I usually love oud-rose combos, and always love saffron, so I can't figure out what's going on. Of AKAF, Istanbul, Hind, and Al Quds are unstoppable masterpieces!

This one was a blind buy after seeing some reviews, its just not for me. There is something in it that I can’t quite pick out that i really dont like. Going to sit this is a drawer for a year and come back to it.

Starts out a harsh, rubbery rose. As it develops the rose softens and you can smell a dry, leathery oud with some spices. But that's it, really. It's obviously a quality scent and I'm sure people go bonkers over this, but it's just not for me. If it had some sweetness or creaminess from a musk to round it out, I'd like it a bit more.

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