Qaa'ed Al Shabaab

Imagine stepping into a dimly lit, leather-draped room with an ambiance of rugged sophistication. The air is thick, almost tactile, perfumed with the essence of untamed masculinity. Welcome to the world of Qaa'ed al Shabaab, a fragrance that defies convention to deliver a sensory experience akin to a nocturnal adventure. The fragrance greets you with a botanical duet of osmanthus and ylang-ylang, offering a subtly floral aura. There's a fleeting note of banana milkshake, providing a tantalizing sweetness that amplifies the ensuing richness. Swiftly, the scent transforms, blatantly feral and animalic from the first sniff, inviting deeper exploration. Leather and cedar form the core, emanating a leathery aroma that's neither harsh nor overly sweet. It's a manly fragrance that steers clear of shaving soap simplicity. Instead, picture a Harley biker leather jacket fused with the scent of gasoline. As it dries down, it reveals a complex tapestry of aromas: part gasoline, part rubbery, and always intriguing. This complexity, coupled with extreme longevity and sillage, elevates the fragrance to beastly levels. It's a scent that walks with you, leaving an unforgettable impression in its wake. This perfume stands as one of my go-to options for layering. The pinnacle blend I've discovered is a 30-40% base comprising Qaa'ed al Shabaab paired with 60-70% of Lattafa Velvet Oud. This fragrance blend conjures my all-time favorite aroma, Midnight in Paris by Van Cleef & Arpels, a scent I've been seeking throughout my odyssey into Middle Eastern fragrances. Also I found layering with Lattafa Sha'ari is an excellent strategy; the synergistic blend elevates both fragrances. For colder weather, this fragrance is a standout. Its warm, balsamic amber base is accented by a slight medicinal oud edge that only adds to its allure. The depth of its development is a love letter to those who crave unpredictability. Let's talk about value. Priced at €19, the value-for-money ratio is unmatched. In a market frequently inflated with exorbitant prices, this scent serves as a revitalizing alternative. View it as an overlooked masterpiece in a sphere dominated by brand notoriety and ego inflation. In conclusion, Lattafa Qaa'ed al Shabaab is a spellbinding, mysterious, enigmatic journey. With its compelling blend of sweet gasoline and buttery leather, it stands out as an intoxicating force to be reckoned with. Its undertones elevate it into distinctive category of its own, distinguishing it as one of the most potent and captivating scents emanating from the Middle East. This fragrance is not just a subtle backdrop; it's a bold proclamation, beckoning those who dare to diverge from the ordinary to take a fearless plunge into its aromatic labyrinth. Well-suited for the audacious soul, it challenges you to escape the mundane and delve into an abyss of unparalleled olfactory depth. Maison Alhambra The Serpent bears a resemblance yet distinguishes itself with a more pronounced rubbery note, adding a unique twist to the familiar aromatic profile. Opening note: 8 Sillage/Projection: 9 Dry down: 9 Longevity: 8+ Blend/Composition: 9+ Versatility: 6 Uniqueness: 9+ Value for money: 10 Bottle design/Aesthetics: 5+ Overall experience: 8+ Blind-buy rating: 1+

I’ve had my eye on this for a few months now, as well as the original Qaa’ed, but this seemed like it would fill more of a void in my current collection. I got this heavily discounted on the TikTok shop (I know..) due to some first-time-buyer coupons, so it was around $11 shipped. Because of this, I kept my expectations low, but I was hoping for the best. Especially because of the differing opinions in the reviews here, as well as my relative inexperience with leather fragrances. I wanted something that would challenge me, but as someone had described it as a “horse barn with someone chewing dip next to you” I had my concerns. Worst case I was out $11 right? I ended up making the right decision on this. I was shocked when I sprayed it for the first time. It was SO photorealistic, even more so than the Tom Ford leathers I’d sampled at stores before. It was also warmer, denser, dustier, and I preferred it like that. The florals creep in the background if you look for them, but obviously the leather accord is front and center. It isn’t synthetic leather either like a cheap wallet off of Amazon, it’s like a genuine leather jacket you find at the local thrift store that hasn’t been touched in a few years. Ever-so-slightly animalic, but less barnyard and more tannery. Add a touch of oud, and the slight gasoline smell some talk about, and it all comes together to form a beautiful contrast between the three main notes. As with many fragrances, words don’t due it justice, but if you enjoy this style of perfumery, I can’t see someone disliking it. Performance is above average, lasting me a solid 8-9 hours, but as some have said the projection really mellows out after about 2 hours. The dry down is just as good as the opening though, and the softness gives it an intriguing feeling. It isn’t a skin scent until hour 6/7, so those 4ish hours are more intimate, but I can see this getting much stronger as time goes on. Overall, as some have said, I don’t know how Lattafa does it. This seriously rivals niche offerings, in quality and uniqueness (even if it is a clone). And while I don’t think this is for everyone, I think it’s more appealing than some make it out to be (my partner loves it, and he never enjoys any of the fragrances I get as much as this). I’d highly recommend this to anyone looking to expand their tastes, and to those who already enjoy oud/leather/middle eastern style perfumes.

* Logical flanker that replaces gourmand sweet cinnamon notes of the original with fresh florals * Heady blend of leather, oud, woody, fruit, matchstick incense, smoke and floral aromas * Florals give a nice uplifting fresh note to the strong leather and oud aromas * Dry and rich fragrance * Rubber note in the drydown is toned down from the original * Very strong performer * Niche quality for discounter price * Excellent QPR value * Beautiful bottle presentation * Leather and oud are still polarizing to some noses * Not unisex * Not good for younger users * A slight touch of petrol on the drydown Lattafa's Qaa'ed Al Shabab is the first flanker to Qaa'ed. Whereas the original is a potent hybrid leather/oud/gourmand fragrance with a distinctive cinnamon note, Qaa'ed Al Shahab swaps out the sweet cinnamon for fresh florals. This is a heady blend of leather, oud, woody, fruit, matchstick incense, smoke and floral aromas. This is very dry and rich, yet the florals in particular give this a nice uplifting fresh note that lightens the otherwise very strong leather and oud aromas. The leather and oud combination is likely to be polarizing to some noses. It comes off slightly as petrol on the drydown, similar to Dior Farenheit. Still, this is an insanely good QPR value, offering niche quality at a discounter price with an incredibly strong performance to boot. This is not unisex and not good for younger users, it's really geared towards a certain type of older male user confident enough to wear it. Those who can wear it will be rewarded for it. Highly recommended if you can pull it off.

This was a bit of a journey for me. Bought this a few years ago, but the powerful, dry leather was too much for me unless I was riding a motorcycle. I kept 10 ml but re-sold the rest. I used the decant in my modest fragrance-making attempts, and it always did amazing things. So I ran out. I just re-bought a bottle and am so happy to have it. This is THE reference leather. Forget your Tom Fords with their raspberry juice, this one is for "real men." It is blunt, straightforward, no-nonsense. It is 95% leather with very light touches of wood and kerosene. Unlike so many other leather scents, this does not have the extra virgin olive oil accord, which I appreciate. Oh, and the presentation is amazing. Leather cylinder, and a bottle that you could use as a weapon because it is so heavy! Because it is so blunt, it isn't a safe blind buy, but because it only costs $19, you won't be able to get a decant of this. Here is my advice. If you have ever tried another fragrance and said "the leather is too strong in this", don't even consider this. But if you have been looking in vain for the perfect leather, and haven't found it yet, you have to try this. You may not find many opportunities to use it by itself, but it will be the first thing you reach for to provide depth, richness or character to another fragrance that is too sweet, fruity, aquatic or vanillic. Final Thought: This is to leather what Encre Noir is to vetiver.

+1 to logo2019 and others who say this is 90% a pure leather scent. There is a bit of incense, a bit of cedar; even a bit of floral note to lighten the first hour of wear. But this is primal, dry, earthy, slightly smoky leather to the core. I'm very glad I own it but it is limited in its usefulness. Hunting, motorcycle riding, camping would be perfect for this. Office, date night, clubbing - not so much. Lady puller? No. It is the kind of smell that rugged guys would like, but those kind of guys would never compliment another guy on his fragrance. But it is amazing for what it is. Beyond outdoorsy applications, I plan to use this for layering. It is THE reference scent for leather. Is that gourmand a bit too sweet? Is that blue fragrance a bit too boring? Do the freshie lack in duration? One shot of this will add dryness, depth, masculinity and performance to any of those. And don't we all have a bunch of scents that are "pleasant" but just sitting at the back of the shelf because they are missing something? They are probably missing this. I also think this would be a perfect match for an Oud scent. I'm going to try this with Bogart's One Man Show Oud Edition - I think it will work beautifully.

If this is somehow your first lattafa or Arab perfume at all, do not knock it based off one sniff from the bottle the minute you open. You need to waste around seven sprays first, then (not for all of them, but this one especially benefits) macerate/leave alone for a bit. The comments below talk about anywhere from 6-10 months, but I’m writing this after a month of owning my bottle. I needed to write the above because if you open this fragrance immediately and sniff it from the get go, you will be assaulted with what my niece calls “top notes of shit and acrylic paint”. This is not a run of the mill scent. It is definitely unique, but do not trust that first sniff. It needs to be worn to be truly appreciated, because on the skin that bizarre rubberiness explodes into a mystifying melange of flowers, wood, and leather. It is utterly confusing at first. But even with a single month of post-open maceration, the perfume changed DRASTICALLY to me. The florals become more pronounced, the leather mellows out, and the oud serves as a gorgeous background to a beautiful, spicy, highly intriguing fragrance. Give this a chance, and give it time. It is ridiculously worth it!

I love the heavy Osmanthus in this, for me it's the star du spectacle. At the same time I do smell the heavy leather and "rubber" note people talk about, as they are very prominent as well. The Ylang-Ylang is there but barely noticeable. The wood note doesn't really exist and the amber is so light it just goes right under the osmanthus as if its part of the sweetness in it. 9.5/10 scent for me Important to note: I got it about 10 months ago and it has gotten better, before it was definitely less heavy on the Osmanthus and the rubber+leather have toned down, so if you get it and think that there aren't enough florals or too much of those other notes, you can give it some time and it'll get better. The projection and longevity are crazy, I can get whiffs of it 2 days later on my bedsheets that I put 1 spray on, and on clothes it lasts all day. If you use more than 3 sprays on yourself, it gets annoying for yourself and others around you. 10/10 performance It is a very niche kind of fragrance. Definitely not everyone's preference, but for $30 its hard to go wrong, and for me its one of my favorites since with how much I love Osmanthus

Qaa'ed Al Shabaab Lattafa Perfumes Smells rich, luxurious. The floras blends in with the leather and makes this Shabaab kinda different. Shab Baba is thick, strong, smokey incense leather like and you have to like this profile. The notes seems pretty close to Cuir Intense Guerlain. The sweetness is quite subtle for me who doesn't like my frags too sweet. The scent is inoffensive despite it being rather loud. Very wearable but probably won't pull many compliments. Very Musculine, don't see ladies pulling this off either. The bottle is very heavy and solid, dark army green. If I am a military guy I'll definitely like this sitting in the locker. The bottle and presentation is well done, simple yet elegant, solid in the hands and very good printing for a Lattafa bottle, well protected thick synthetic leather box. I've been aiming to get this to test after seeing it's scent profile and hearing how good it is a year back but my local retails don't bring them in until I imported it in, wasn't costly though so it's all good. Longevity is 8-10 hours seeing how well it held up on skin and then heavy projectivity and Silage.

The original was always to soft for me. It's pretty and this definitely has the original lurking as the base note, being sweet and fuzzy. Obviously, there is a huge fat dry leather added to this which really gives it some pop. Making it more masculine and gorgeous as well. Lasts forever, yet after an hour or so the sillage is intimate. After reviewing this here and elsewhere that it was all leather I decided to give it a shot because having straight up notes to layer with others is a great option for any fragrance arsenal. Blue fragrances in particular could absolutely benefit from a leather base to make them more mature and masculine. This may serve this purpose for me, but it's definitely more than just a straight up leather fragrance. I love it, but wish it pushed for longer. This will serve me well layered with a sparkling citrus or sharply blue fragrance that lacks depth or a backbone. These leather types don't come around often and at under $20 with the beautiful presentation.. this one is a steal. Spend a hundo and get five! Use this for layering or great as stand-alone. Enjoy!

I own both this one and Guerlain's Cuir Intense (from the Allegoria line), and they are nearly identical in terms of performance and scent profile: a leather beast with hints of florals and sweetness. The subtle difference lies in the oud note in the Lattafa, which makes the overall scent feel a bit more synthetic and harsh compared to the Guerlain. However, this difference is only noticeable when smelling up close to the skin; in the air, they are virtually indistinguishable. A word of caution: the juice of Qaa'ed Al Shabaab will stain white clothes. I bought this for a somewhat premium price, likely because it's been discontinued (?). Given that I managed to snag a tester of Cuir Intense for under $100, my advice is: if you can't find Qaa'ed Al Shabaab at a reasonable price, just go for Cuir Intense. The quality of Cuir Intense is slightly superior anyway.

Imagine a DENSE, hefty petroleum-like leather smell that's been in the sun while surrounded in airy white florals in the background. That's Qaeed Al Shabbab. It is was truly one of the three Lattafa fragrances that I actually like. Imagine raw cowhide leather that's sat out in the sun to dry surrounded by fresh floral notes. It's dark, rich, and HEAVY, and light (if that makes sense, lol). It is NOT a fragrance for the masses. However, it's a great scent...and IT LASTS unlike today's Lattafa fragrances that smell like one thing when it's first applied, but you come back it next year and it's a totally different scent. I have experienced that with many of Lattafa fragrances--smell one way when first applied, but overtime the scent evolves into something I end up not liking. But again, Qaeed Al Shabbab smells great.

I am so happy that I didn't let the naysayers put me off this fragrance. I liked Qaeed and figured Qaeed Al Shabab was worth a shot. Reading about burning rubber/plastic had me worried especially when I couldn't find it for sampling. Bought it blind and I can happily say that I have no regrets. Leather is the star of the show - if you don't like leather fragrances then walk away from this one. It opens flowery with a light oud and amber combining to give the ever-present leather a touch of sweetness and animalic bite. The overall effect is lovely. Cold weather fragrance that will work for evenings and also for daytime wear if you don't mind leather fragrances during the day. Longevity is very good and all in all, this comes highly recommended.

Re visiting my review of this nearly eight months after buying, and I have to say, I still do not regret it in the slightest. The leather is still there after maceration, but it is nowhere near as ridiculous and garish as it was when I first got it... I haven’t sniffed it in months, mind you! The ylang ylang is a wonderful touch, adding a waxy textural brightness to the otherwise dark and smooth leather and oud underneath. This is one of those fragrances that you can feel on your fingertips when you smell them... there’s an actual leather bag that manifests itself when you put this on, and it stays in your hands for as long as it lasts. It’s still strange, still ridiculous, still good.

Nose Note #81 I never thought I would enjoy a heavy leather scent so much. I can see how not many people would fancy it, but to me it's strangely pleasing, nothing off-putting about it. My TOP-3 of leather perfumes. Very naturalistic leather right from the start, which is smeared a bit by this lacquer note. After about ten minutes it becomes even better and emerges something emerges what I perceive as dried fruits. I've smelled nothing alike. A very strong scent in every sense all the way. A hard hitter and a long stayer. I would definately recommend it (to anyone actually) because it's very special, costs little and it may be a surprise liking for a person.

Got this as a blind buy. Some reviews here indicate that it's an ultra specific and mature scent, almost like a learned taste which the majority of people will dislike. The opening is a deep and thick, sweet leather. It does have hints of rubber for me, like a fresh bicycle tube straight out of the box Some woodiness as well to it, and something bright that I cannot name. I feel it would give a headache when over-sprayed, but very enjoyable. Has a high quality feeling to it. The dry-down softens it all, leaving a nice fuzzy, oudy, ambery leather scent.

It retains the original DNA of Qaa'ed but this is more darker and leather heavy. It's not that raw leather for me, it's more like a velvety feel but very strong. It reminds me a shoe cream... yeah that one for polish. Well blended. Soft projection but it lasts even after a shower on my skin. I freaking love it. Better than the original IMO. When I wore it for the first time I received many compliments, something I totally didn't expected. For the price, the quality and presentation is outstanding. Lattafa is rocking like a mf.

I first spray it on my wrist and when I tried to smell it my nose had the same effect when two magnets reject themselves but this time in a good way, the scent is very worm and pleasant with great longevity and sillage. I've said it many times big designer houses need to rethink their strategy, they need to start offering much more to compete against houses like Lattafa from packaging to bottle and juice, I'll say Lattafa is much superior and way cheaper than mostly ''big designer houses''. For me this is a 5 out 5 fragrance.

Bought Qaa'ed Al Shabaab around 6 month ago. At first I was shocked by a sharp leather and rubber smell with no other notes noticeable...I was really disappointed because the reviews were pretty good. Put on the back of the shelf and forgot about it. And just recently, when I was revising my collection, I sprayed again and - oh boy - the scent is completely different now. Rubber smell disappeared, leather is toned down, and now it's loaded with floral notes. I'm glad I didn't sell/give it away earlier. Maceration is real.

It is definitely better than the original but to me there are none of the nuances people have mentioned. It smells 90% like all Lattafa frags do, nice but generic oriental leaning inoffensive and never worth the hype that it will no doubt receive (All Apart from Wood Intense which flippin awesome imo). Price point of £20 is however very good though. Edit 19/4/22 It's actually better than I gave it credit for, definitely worth a blind buy. Significant upgrade on the original

thick, heavy, wraparound, somewhat sweet-floral leather scent. one of those which stand out from a common crowd big time. to my nose it smells very similar to propolis. the oud note is very well hidden here. performance is decent on my skin but i don't get anything nuclear like other folks report i do enjoy this scent but it is too demanding for casual wear. people around you may raise an eyebrow. strictly winter stuff.