Excellent Men

Oh my oh my. The trouble I have with doing a review is my ability to actually convey what I am smelling. A lot of the names that appear in notes I'm not familiar with so I'm on a great learning journey. Often I can't pinpoint what something is and have to rely on the powers of reduction to pinpoint a glorious (or unpleasant) aroma. This is exactly what's happened with Al Haramain Excellent. I only have a small sample to work with, so carefully popped the top. First smell and it's hard to say what came through. Aromatic warmth, slightly leathery and astringent? Applied a little behind the ears and on the neck. After about 5 minutes it hit me. The most wonderful scent ever - as far as colognes go. I'm getting floral, woodsy, something I can't put my finger on, but that reminds me of warm mediterranean evenings. Reading the reviews I saw the words nagarmotha / cypriol - this could be it. A hybrid between cedar, vetiver, and patchouli. This combined with the warm hibiscus and rose gives that glorious dreamlike scent. I'd better not get too excited and class this as a 10/10 just in case (when) I discover the next fragrance to blow my socks off - but I really do rate it that highly. Longevity and sillage are only moderate (to be expected from an EDT I suppose)so after 6 hours I'm needing another little top up. I've just dicovered how cheap this is as well (about £10 for 100ml) so the plus points keep mounting. Please, if you haven't tried this, do so.

Blindly bought this based on very good reviews. Rose, rose, rose... and some discreet oud. I can't share the enthusiasm of some who reviewed so favorable this perfume. Maybe it's just me. I hate rose dominant perfumes and not because i don't like roses, on the contrary, I love them. But the rose note in these arabians is so pungent and, unfortunately, so dominant. Al Haramain Excellent is a strong perfume, at least in opening. The opening really burns nostrils. For me it's a linear perfume, with an omnipresent rose note. Only in late drydown rose note diminished and a musk-amber faint combination can be revealed. For lovers of rose note I reccomend Mukhallat Oud Al Mubakhar: it's even stronger than this. Absolutely nothing in common with Lapidus PH. Lapidus is heavenly. EDIT: for compliance I'll not modify my original review, but I'll supplement it. I wore the perfume some days and I accommodate myself with it. Its stridency diminished and I could smell also under the harsh note of rose. Now I conclude that the perfume is not so bad, but still isn't between my favourites. It has good performances/price ratio and it could be a good choice for rose based perfumes lovers. EDIT no. 2: this perfume is definitely a gem.

Outstanding - if you over spray this, it will last 12 hours plus, it will fill a room too. Should be called icy rose water or something, the oud gives it a bit of body. Can be unisex, suitable for mostly 25 plus but some may say 20 plus. A very evocative scent, really sentimental and some may even say emotional. A beautiful, light rose that might at times get dusty as it evolved with the oud taking things forward. The fruitiness is both light and aged, a bit dry. Marine notes help carry this into an all seasons performer but mostly enjoyed on warmer days rather than cold harsh winters. I would love this in a warm summer's night. Amazing price, this is a hidden gem and one of Al Haramain's finest cheappies - would be in the hundreds of it has that tosser, Tom Fords name on it. It's an old style fragrance with a modern take. Feels like a thinking man's fragrance that would attract attention from others that have depth. Edit: on my skin, this is a warm weather gourmand - rose ice cream baklava, a Persian dessert sensation. My most recent love in perfumery.

¿aquatic rose? I think, Pleasures for men by Estee Lauder would be similar ...some one compared Excellent by Al Haramain with this one? 2nd part: Finally I bought it, and... I love this scent, for me it is a good mixture. First spray it was quite hard for me, very spicy, but only 2 min after it set down to a aquatic warmy rose. (Estee Lauder its not so warm). For me, the main character its a melony rose with an oudy base. I say melony because the mixture of acquatic notes with frutal reminds me to a melon fruit. And i love it, I think it ́s very original, and well blended. Projection is above average, Lasts about 5-6h "in air", then stays only on skin. Recomiendo a quienes les guste el aroma a rosa que la prueben, por su precio me ha parecido muy buena.

I don’t know how Al Haramain can create this quiet masterpiece for the price. It reeks of big money but it is the cheapest fragrance in my collection: £10.80 on my Amazon Prime ‘repeat’ (every 3 months) prescription. At first sniff I admit to being slightly startled by the pungent rose/geranium outburst. Surely not unisex? But oh yes, it is! On dry-down all kinds of musky oriental wafts come out of the woodwork. A well-behaved ritzy miasma lingers around me for around 5/6 hours, not bad for an edt. Moderate sillage. Understated classy bottle. I slap it on fairly freely. At this price, why not?