L'eau de Mumtaz-i Mahal

This was a blind buy, so I was initially worried it might smell dated or perhaps too woody, but it's so wonderful. Smells truly natural. Since I have a problem with most regular and semi-natural perfumes (and some natural perfumes too) where their scent irritates my palate, my throat, and sometimes my skin, this perfume is great for me. No artificial notes, no swelling, no weird taste in the mouth, no asthma, no headache, no allergic reactions. Wonderful!! Mumtaz Mahal seems fairly potent as far as natural perfumes go, but not on par with the artificially enhanced perfumes. I like skin scents, so I use it sparingly. It's slightly sharper at the application, but soon it becomes powdery, sweet, like lokum. On my skin it really smells like lokum or like rose absolute. At times it gives the impression of a fresh rose and not just the absolute. It has also a hint of that slightly acidic, wine-like note that I usually get from roses. That and the sandalwood offset the sweetness nicely. The woody notes are there throughout, but they're not obtrusive. It's not too dusty either. Based on the one review (Thank you, it was very helpful when deciding whether to purchase the perfume or not!) I was expecting a much sharper scent, but I got that sharp, dry, and metallic tinge only a few times so far, luckily. Not sure what triggered it. Overall, I find it comforting and easy to wear. I like it on myself and wouldn't mind getting a whiff of it on men too. As a curiosity, my partner can't smell roses properly (gets only the green notes) and finds them "meh" at best, but he likes the scent of this one. This was actually my last try before giving up on finding a perfume that smells enough like rose and doesn't cause an adverse reaction (and that complies with modern safety regulations), and I finally, finally found the one! Very happy, wish I tried it much sooner.

Sharp Arabian roses style fragrance. This fragrance is extremely Arabian if you like Arabian sharp roses type of fragrances, it's not as strong as the one dad creates for himself, but quite on the European standards strength where it begins SHARP and softens to settle on the red rose feelings with slight sandalwood besides the blood hazy note that conquers at the background. "Mumtaz" reminds me allot of "Bull's Blood" by Imaginary Authors but more transitional than bull's Blood in away that shows how intelligent is the technique of Barry by doing a vintage fragrance blend in a contemporary way that could be worn by today's sophisticated personas. Quite interesting

Opens with a truly bloody rose. This smells like warm, metallic blood, a little salty, a little tart. I'd say the opening is quite artistic (re: not pleasing, tells a story but quite difficult to wear). After an hour, the vampiric scent settles into a velvety, natural rose - quite beautiful! Maison Nicolas de Barry always has the most natural, fantastic scents and blends. If you can make it through the opening, the dry-down is well worth initial discordance.