Makkah

Coming from a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, Barbies were certainly taboo for a boy, but I was allowed to play with them because "I was an artist" - as they would justify my girly passions. I was obsessed with dressing them up, sewing little princess gowns, over creating haute couture garments on those skinny dolls. Showing them off in their new looks. Overwhelming! And my Barbies smelled so freaking good... of sweet plastic, artificial dreams, boudoir, makeup and futuristic fashion on those unrealistic bodies. It all came back to me when I smelled this awesome attar (literally, attar means mix of oils), that very same pride I felt when I was a cute boy playing with high fashion Barbies! Memories! Makkah is for me the plaza I go whenever I feel proud of being me, somewhat artificial, artistic, graphical, avantgardistic. I'm gonna post this on each review I'll make cause folks need some education: I hate to break it to you, but the amount of aromachemicals and natural ingredients that actually go into your favorite designer bottle is way under 5 EUR. Niche might go higher, but don't get fooled, they are still cheap to make. Bottles don't cost much if it's not a renowned crystal. Everything else is formula developing (the nose and his conceptual team), risk taking (2 out of 3 new releases are complete failures), marketing, etc. So keep that in mind before saying "quality ingredients". Cause if your 200 EUR bottle is worth -10 EUR ingredients... You can keep dreaming your purchase is superior, but you have to know that's a lie. CPOs should be kept a secret, people will only assume the best! Moderation is the key.

Here's a great little bottle of fun! As a number of people have pointed out this has a weird 70's / 80's childhood nostalgia vibe about it. On opening the bottle the first strong note that hits you is a sweet very specific aroma. It's the smell of so many plastic toys of that era. I've seen Barbie dolls mentioned but I remember other plastics having this smell. Also others have mentioned those first scented erasers. It's true, all true! The smell is a very sweet, slightly strawberry buzz. After you've rubbed a bit on it becomes a very typical incense smell; the smell of so many hippy shops, the smell of so many joss stick variants. It's a little like Nag Champa, only not as harsh, not as green floral. It then gets better again. I'd rolled some on my chest under my t-shirt. After about 10 minutes the smell got really strong, and this time it was the unmistakable smell of Juicy Fruit gum. The last review I placed on here I gave mention to this aroma as being noticeable in the cologne I was describing. In that instance the fragrance had a light resemblance to Juicy Fruit - this one is identical. Bizarrely it was my search for a fragrance that smelled like Juicy Fruit gum that led me to signing up to Fragrantica. Anyway, I've found one, and I'm loving it. As for longevity, very good, easily up to 12 hours. Sillage is heavy - people will certainly be intrigued by what you're wearing. Well done Al Haramain, you've managed to bottle the childhood of so many people.

I am absolutely getting the same vibe as the reviewer, patxaran ahead of me... Reminds me of Gonesh incense 'Perfumes of Orchards and Vines'. Also: Hem 'Love'. A fruity musk, with just touches of soft florals and a wee bit of spices (cinnamon and cloves) and I'm smelling something like cardamom which gives a "lift" to everything else with its camphorous, cooling quality. There's labdanum and benzoin ("amber"), and a touch of vanilla for a classic oriental base. Lots of musk. This is an unusual, sensual fragrance... quite unexpected from something named after the holy city... And... it TOTALLY smells like a head shop. When I first put this on, I was like "I don't think I'll like this...", but then it started to settle and I found it intriguing... and now past 30 minutes I'm starting to really like it...I'm also reminded of Satya's 'Nag Champa' or 'Superhit' with that vanilla-benzoin-champa-orris-sandalwood-labdanum-musk combo. Wow! Still, if I were to name the 3 strongest notes, they would be strawberry lokum, cinnamon, musk. REALLY nice if you're into "fruity incense-like" smells.

Makkah smells EXACTLY like Montale Mukhallat to my nose. Very sweet, musky strawberry-vanilla deliciousnes. I agree with the other reviewers saying that it has a slight bubblegum or candy vibe. I`m a gourmand lover and I`m delighted with this perfume oil. I will gladly use it on it`s own or layered with Montale`s Mukhallat (not that either of them needs layering, but I like my perfumes strong so I will give it a try). Excellent value for the price. === Update: I feel like I need to come back and leave some more feedback as I may have judged this fragrance a bit too early and almost dismissed it as a cheaper dupe for a Montale. Makkah is so much more complex , I love the initial opening of candied strawberries, musk and it dries down to some sort of caramelized amber and vanilla. This perfume oil is so delicious I could eat myself when wearing it. It has fantastic longevity and good sillage. If you are, like me, new to Arabic perfume oils and don`t mind sweets, Makkah is a great oil to start out with. You will walk around smelling like the most exquisite Middle-Eastern dessert.

I love this perfume oil. It starts off strawberry bubblegum on me and sillage is light. Every minute as it melts into your skin it gets stronger. 10 minutes later sillage is perfect. An hour in to wearing Makkah i smell something green and a little bitter/sweet, like grass and oud. I like it, it's unique. 30 minutes later it changes again to the smell of strawberry incense and a touch of cinnomin in the back ground. Another hour later it smells like cuddly soft strawberry scented cosmetic powder with some incense. It remains in this stage for the remainder of the wear, with whiffs of strawberry powder to strawberry incense back and forth. It's lovely. It has really good longevity, lasting 8 to 10 hours! Sillage stays moderate all the way to the last couple hours. I've heard people say that this scent changes depending on weather. Today it is sunny and warm outside,in excited to try this out in rainy weather! I recommend this to any one wanting to try out arabian oils and like fruity/powdery incense. I love it!