Arab Tradition

The Tuscan Leather smell is one of my favorite scents of all time. I have a pretty big collection and it stands unique amongst them all. I'll never buy it though in a full bottle. It's just got smell alike's that actually do the note blend much more pleasing to my sense of smell. I found out quickly that the scent was copied well in the middle eastern frag houses and scored a couple huge bottle's of Surrati's Tuskan Leather oil. I love that oil, but you can never have too much of a good thing, so I picked up Rasasi La Yuqawam which was light by comparison to that oil, but still strong and long lasting, comparable with the Rasberry prominence. Then, I got me some Brown Leather made by another frag house out of the East. To my nose, it's closer to the Tuscan Leather it mimics because the Rasberry is mixed in at about the same note strength as Tuscan Leather. Still, I find and found that all of those mentioned are not every day wearable. They are all beast mode with the Surrati Oil being something of a fragrance Nuclear bomb. I wear those for myself, but people aren't always as appreciative of the scent as I am, and I do like to wear fragrances that others enjoy, especially when I'm doing the most common casual outing type thing. That leads me here to this Arab Tradition frag. It's a bit Tuscan Leather lite, with the heavier Rasberry I prefer from the others. To my nose, its way more of a pleasing daily casual representation because its at a more casual scent strength. With the higher notes of the fragrance more prominent, it's more enjoyable as well. This is a day casual wearable version of the scent that can be enjoyed in almost any scenario day or night, casually. It actually fades away at a reasonable level 5-6 hours, so when night hits, or I'm in the mood for the beasts I can switch off. I have no reason to ever purchase one of my absolute favorite scents with all these great comparable one's. I actually think all of the Rasberry heavy one's do it better than the real thing. They just have varying loudness, comparable to blasting a song in a concert vs. listening to it on a small radio. This is I think the only case where I actually prefer a lighter more toned down version of a frag. It's like what happens in Reformulations where I usually get disappointed, but in this case I'm like, thank Nabeel!

Amazing Fragrance. Ever since I got it last month I've been loving every second of it, the animalic and fruity tones are perfect compliments, so you really never get tired of it. I have a sample of TF Tuscan Leather and I think that this is every bit as good as TL. Leather and suede notes are virtually identical. Nabeel may be slightly more woodsy/herbal which imo is a good thing. Projection and longevity are both great, though I like to reup the spray every 5 hours because I love the smell so much. Earlier notes are more fruity and herbal and it matures very nicely later on. I have never tried La Yuquawam, though it has been a target for some time so I can't compare it to that. Definitely the BEST blind buy I have ever made. Scent: 9/10 Absolutely incredible fragrance. I would have liked a bit more of an Oud note. Indeed there is one but not quite enough to satisfy an Oud fanatic like myself. Potentially I can get some oud oil and blend it with this fragrance. Versatility: 9/10 Good in everything but hot weather and long term enclosed spaces. I really have only found Aventus and it's clones to be truly versatile. Longevity/Projection: 9.5/10 Really great. It's not quite beast mode but very long lasting and good projection. One spray smells awesome for a super long time. Value: 10/10 I bought this at a *potentially mistake* price from Walmart at 16$ w/ free shipping though when I received this bottle they raised the price to the more typical 20$. I regret not having bought 3 bottles or even a case. This fragrance compares favorably to DHI, The One, YSL, Mugler, and yes even Creed GIT, and Tom Ford's Tuscan Leather. Great value again from an Arabian fragrance. Overall: 10/10 Like I said, only thing I would even think about changing if I were to redesign this fragrance is adding more of an Oud note. Otherwise it's perfect and is hands down one of the best fragrances I have ever smelt. Definitely a MUST BUY.

Okay, so with the cooler weather, I've been wearing this one A LOT again lately and I think if someone is complaining about this fragrance's performance, it might be because they're used to using 3 or 4 sprays, and always use the same number of sprays for every scent. In my collection I have fragrances that only require 1 spray, and I even have a couple fragrances that require as many as 12 sprays to get the projection I'm looking for. This one, I spray between 6 and 8 times to get heavy projection, but once it's there, it lasts. Yesterday morning I put this on around 11am before a lunch date, and this morning at 8am, I'm still getting whiffs of it every couple seconds or whenever I move. For me, longevity is really important, so if it takes 6-8 sprays but lasts over an entire day, I'm happy with it for the price. Everything I have performs differently, some are louder but not as long lasting. For comparison, I can only stand 4 sprays of Bleu De Chanel EDT because it projects so heavy, but those 4 sprays only last about 9 hours. Rasasi La Yuqawam, I wear about 4 sprays and it lasts me about 12 hours while projecting heavier in the beginning and less at the end. Lancome Oud Bouquet, 1, maybe 2 sprays, and it lasts for an entire day. Insurrection Pure II, 10-12 sprays will only only last about 6 or 8 hours. Dior Fahrenheit Le Parfum, 2 sprays and it lasts until the next morning. Al Haramain L'aventure requires 6-8 sprays like this one does but only lasts about 12 hours. So obviously everything's different, but I'm seriously not complaining about using 6-8 sprays of this when it lasts so long once it's at the projection level I'm looking for. If I can still smell it strongly the next morning, that says a lot for me.

THIS IS BACK! And better than ever, if you ask me, but it IS a little different! So be ready for that. The new black bottle with silver embellishments is quite nice and does away with the wooden cap and felt cloth around the bottle. I personally like both bottles and the old one has quite a bit of charm if you ask me, but it was much shorter. The new bottle is much taller which I like, and it looks VERY high quality. (None of that cheap Armaf stuff) Once you hold it, the ridges in its texture will actually remind you of Tom Ford's Black and Velvet Orchid bottles. THE SCENT: This is the important part... So, apparently Nabeel reads these reviews and saw our only complaint - that this wasn't smoky enough before, because now this has the smokiness it was lacking before! The important part however, is that this still smells cleaner and less ashy than La Yuqawam. This smells closer to the earliest batches of Tuscan Leather, but with moderate to heavy projection in place of the BEASTLY projection of those early batches of Tuscan Leather. The leather is the same, the raspberry, saffron, and jasmine are all the same notes... Its very long lasting as well and generally lasts over 12 hours on my skin. Nabeel has won my heart again. Honestly, this new formula doesn't even give La Yuqawam a fighting chance! I have both, but if I were choosing just one, it would absolutely be this. This is cheaper, comes in a LARGER bottle, lasts just as long and projects very well. It may not project QUITE as heavily as La Yuqawam, but I don't think anyone will complain, because this still projects somewhere in between the "Moderate" and "Heavy" categories. GRAB A BOTTLE! And hopefully they won't ever discontinue this scent ever again.

This is the BEST Tuscan Leather alternative I've tried and one of the closest fragrance clones I've ever experienced! I own Tuscan Leather, and from what I can tell, this uses all the same exact ingredients. The scent is nearly IDENTICAL! It's not quite as smoky as Tuscan Leather, but I haven't heard a single person complain about that. Imagine Tuscan Leather... replace some of the smokiness with more saffron, and take the performance down to office-appropriate levels, and what you'll have left is Arab Tradition. I LOVE THIS! This is officially my Tuscan Leather "Light" for the office. (Montale Aoud Leather is my Tuscan Leather "Aqua", for comparison! Check my review on that one too...) In my opinion, Nabeel Macho Man and Arab Tradition are much closer to Tuscan Leather than Rasasi La Yuqawam. Nabeel uses the same ingredients as Tuscan Leather, unlike the Rasasi, which smells like a different raspberry note and a different olibanum or incense note, and the leather in La Yuqawam comes across rubbery, and not in a good way. Smelling them side-by-side, Arab Tradition BLENDS with Tuscan Leather, while La Yuqawam does not. You can even layer Tuscan Leather over Arab Tradition and there is NO scent clash (I've done it numerous times!). If you were to try that with Rasasi La Yuqawam, you would not be happy with the results. Also, the PRICE! You absolutely can't lose with this one. This is blind buy and backup bottle worthy - especially if you found Tuscan Leather to be a bit too strong or hard to wear at the office!