Scent of Paradise

**العربية 🇸🇾** امتلكت عطر **Scent of Paradise** من الغبرا منذ حوالي خمس سنوات، وما زلت أعتبره أجمل عطر قدمته الدار حتى اليوم. بالنسبة لي، كان هذا العطر يجسد راحة دمشق وهدوءها وجمالها، خاصة وأن مؤسسي الغبرا سوريون، رغم أن الشركة تركية. كان يحمل روح المدينة بطريقة مميزة. النسخة القديمة، ذات الغطاء البلاستيكي الأبيض الثقيل، كانت تحفة حقيقية. الرائحة كانت عميقة وغنية ومتقنة، بفوحان ممتاز وثبات رائع، وكانت تنهال عليّ الإطراءات كلما ارتديته. بالنسبة لي، كنت أفضله حتى على **Creed Silver Mountain Water**، وكان يذكرني بمزيج جميل بين Silver Mountain Water و**Mefisto** ولكن بشخصيته الخاصة. لكن عندما اشتريت النسخة الجديدة، والتي انخفض سعرها بحوالي 40 دولارًا وأصبح غطاؤها فضيًا وخفيفًا مع بقاء شكل الزجاجة كما هو، كانت الصدمة كبيرة. في البداية ظننت أن هناك خطأ وأنه عطر آخر. الرائحة أصبحت أخف بكثير، والمكونات تبدو أرخص بشكل واضح، وفقد العطر عمقه وبريقه وجودته التي أحببناها. الأداء أيضًا أصبح ضعيفًا، والفوحان لم يعد كما كان. للأسف، أصبح يبدو كعطر عادي ورخيص مقارنة بما كان عليه. رسالتي إلى أصحاب دار الغبرا: **لماذا فعلتم ذلك بهذه التحفة العطرية؟** لقد دمرتم أحد أجمل إبداعاتكم. هذا العطر لا يمثل مجرد رائحة جميلة، بل يمثل دمشق نفسها، ولذلك من المؤلم أن نراه يفقد هويته بهذا الشكل. أتمنى منكم إعادة النظر في التركيبة وإصلاح هذه المشكلة. وإذا وجدت يومًا نسخة قديمة من هذا العطر، فسأشتريها فورًا دون تردد. --- **English 🇬🇧** I have owned **Scent of Paradise** by Alghabra for almost five years, and I still believe it is the finest fragrance the house has ever created. To me, it perfectly captures the peaceful soul of Damascus. Since Alghabra was founded by Syrians (while being a Turkish company), this fragrance always felt like a tribute to their beautiful city. The older version, with the heavy white plastic cap, was simply outstanding. It had a deep, rich, luxurious composition with excellent projection and longevity, and it attracted compliments everywhere I wore it. I even preferred it over **Creed Silver Mountain Water**. It reminded me of both Silver Mountain Water and **Mefisto**, while still having its own unique identity. Recently, I purchased a new bottle. The price had dropped by around $40, the cap had changed to a lighter silver one, while the bottle itself remained the same. Unfortunately, the fragrance inside shocked me. At first, I genuinely thought I had received the wrong perfume. The scent is now much lighter, the ingredients feel significantly cheaper, and the fragrance has lost the richness, depth, sparkle, and refinement that made it so special. The performance is much weaker as well. Sadly, it now smells like an inexpensive fragrance compared to the masterpiece it once was. My message to the owners of Alghabra: **Why did you do this to such a masterpiece?** You have changed one of your greatest creations beyond recognition. This fragrance is more than just a perfume—it represents Damascus, and I truly believe it deserves better. I sincerely hope you reconsider the current formulation and bring back the original quality. If I ever find an old bottle again, I will buy it immediately without hesitation.

I bought a sample of this from lucky scent. It is great! Bright, airy, light. Cologne-like in the best way possible! It is fruity and all three florals come through, dries down to a light musk. So easy to wear! I like that it is not wood-heavy. It smells very familiar yet unique, comforting and uplifting. It is very well blended, high quality, and lasts a good 6 hours with moderate projection, then goes to a skin scent. It is truly unisex. The only con is the price. I would love to have a FB of this for summer.

The opening is an olfactive alarm. Citrus lasts about 20 minutes with some fruit-ish notes before it calms down. There is a fresh stem type green-ness that comes in which I really enjoy. Makes it feel very springtime to me. I think it’s a good deal at discounters for $130. While the opening reminds some of Silver Mtn Water, to me the green note and white floral in this reminded me of Nishane’s Wulong Cha so I did a side by side. On skin, they are cousins. Wulong Cha isn’t as bright on first spray. Instead, it opens where Scent of Paradise starts to dry down. After an hour, they pretty much end up around the corner from each other. Could easily be a case of mistaken identity.

The opening is like Bamboo Harmony while the dry-down is closer to Silver Mountain Water—a big success in my eyes!

It's a deadringer for Angel Dust by Fugazzi if anyone has smelt that one. I've got a FB after sampling and I like it, but it does lean quite masculine, so I've started layering it with Diptyque's L'Ombre dans, I like it much better this way.