Bakhour

I agree that it has a misleading name.in my mother tongue(persian) bakhour is:vaporized water with a humidifier which is used for refreshing skin and cleansing pores.also sometimes they pour drops of herbals like lavender drops or ocaliptous in it to help curing cold.on the other hand it makes me think of oud,incense,myrrh but Al Rehab bakhour is nothing about herbals or oud When first sprayed(I have a 35mil bottle which has spray not a roller)there was something retro and vintage-smelling in it.like a heavy floral scent with carnation made in 80s.there was also something off in it.something chemical and sharp like glue.but it goes away in a minute or two and I can smell that classic floral scent and something like benzoin.in this stage I thought some men who love classic feminine fragrances can pull this off.but this stage doesn't last more than a few minutes either and I'm left with a super gorgeous,feminine,softly powdered floral scent,blended with sweet fruits in a warm,balmy and sweet base of amber,vanilla,woods and musk.this is a very sweet scent on my skin and I love sweet perfumes.it smells so good that I'm shocked.all in all I'm a huge Al Rehab fan,I collect al rehabs(in spray form.I don't like rollerballs) and there's many of them I like a lot,"soft,chocomusk,lovely,nebras,rawan,dalal,fantastic,silver,golden sand,susan" are some of my al rehab loves;so I expected to like bakhour too.but I LOVE it so much that I think I need ten backup bottles,at least! and I really don't recommend it to men.it's super feminine in most of it's life I don't care for it's opening and first ten minutes but then.mmmm.Flowers are Devine here.I don't know which flowers are in it.perhaps rose?honeysuckle?heliotrope?orchid?gardenia?jasmine?I can't even distinguish it's fruity notes as separate ones.perhaps some sweet berries?litchi? I can't explain how amazing and gorgeous it smells.it sometimes reminds me a lot of popular sweet perfumes on the market.but it's better than all of them and longevity is also great.it projects well without getting too heavy. This very delicious and intense stage is with me for an hour or two.then sweetness calms down a lot.fruits fade away,flowers dry down to a soft floral powder and I can mostly smell benzoin,sandalwood and amber.warm and clean and sensual and more refined comparing to the recent syrupy sweet floral-fruity-vanilla level.I enjoy it's dry down too It's interesting how a perfume acts differently on different people.for me,it's wearable year round except hot weather.and I prefer it for evening and even night wear. "Bakhour" worthes a lot more than it's price tag.it can beat a lot of popular high-end fragrances.I love how it develops on my skin and once again I'm so happy to discover this cheap but great brand.it's a pity that they're not widely available where I live Highly recommended

THIS....is the reason I buy hundreds of perfume/samples at all price points...so that I may come across something like this. It is a particular kind of scent I'm after, and have been looking decades for. Creamy, powdery, vanillic, delicately sweet floral with a tinge of "sour", feminine. And from the reviews, I see that there are others out there looking for THIS. A person can decipher all the notes present in a perfume, but even the most detail list of notes used cannot predict the psychological experience one would have, when actually smelling it. This is not the perfect perfume, but it does hit that magical spot for me. I must warn, though that to reach the beautiful dry down of Bakhour, you have to get past the initial brassy cheapness of the first hour, which I loathe. Some of these Al-rehabs can turn out to be gems after it develops, but it seems that all of them have a strong, intense, often unpleasant beginning. Other than ordering hundreds of samples, digging through modern commercial perfume, niche perfume, vintage perfume, artisan perfume, I rely on the reviews of others to help narrow the search. Now that I'm reading the reviews since 2015, I see references to those key words I always look for: creamy, powdery, feminine, vanilla floral, makeup/lipsitck etc. Sometimes, people seem to refer to it as the smell of "expensive lotion." But before the recent year, some of them hinted at these things, but not directly, so it was not on the top of my list to try. And I never was looking for "this" type of perfume in an Al-Rehab, convinced it would be from an obscure European perfumery. I was just playing around, experimenting with non-western scents. Luckily, I ran into it by accident in 2013, as a free gift with multiple purchases of Al-rehab perfume. I'm writing a review on this because I've benefited from the review of others and would love for mine to be of use to someone else. If anyone is also really into this "thing" I'm talking about that Bakhour has and would like to discuss sources for more of this type, feel free to message me. I'm into many many different kinds of perfume, but "this" type has been elusive.

All I got at first was galbanum, like hing powder-- asafoetida. I was tempted to insert my arm into a pot of simmering dal and add some roasted spices. Nothing like the actual bakhoor I sometimes burn for an atmospheric scent. Then a note of barber shop emerges. Maybe Aqua Velva, like a bad date in high school or The Thin Red Line. I dislike fruity floral fragrances but I'd douse myself with La Vie est Belle at this point, to dispel the memories. Still waiting for some floral relief. The memory of my clothes molding in the Himalayan monsoon is now uppermost. It's...nostalgic. Living in Egypt now, I never thought I'd say, "Could use more oud." Unique. At least I hope so. Even so, I'll give the oil a try.

Bakhour is a beautful perfume - floral and vanilla, although to my nose, not like any of the Angel/Alien perfumes. It's different and very bright - I've received comments that I smell like Spring wearing this oil. The drydown has a musty quality which I rather enjoy and which cuts through the innocence of the florals, adding a greenhouse effect. Bakhour is great paired with other Al Rehab oils, especially Al Sharquiah. Rub these oils into your skin (rather than just applyng them by roll-on bottle) for the full development of the perfume. Update: Bakhour is a beauty on its own...absolutely stunning floral that is warm and bright at the same time. I love it more each time I wear it.

I really love this smell. To me it smells like honeyed roses. Like walking into a hookah bar. My wife loves it too, she is from Morocco and it gives her a nostalgic feeling. I only wear it if we go to the hookah bar since to me it’s too feminine to wear anywhere else. I enjoy some “feminine” smells if it is complex and has many layers but do to this fragrance being a bit linear floral smell it’s not something I can wear regularly out and about. As I said I do like some sweet and floral fragrances but for everyday casual use I have to draw a line somewhere haha. My wife loves it and I love it on her and on me occasionally. It’s cheap and worth to have around.