Sharina

This is a totally exotic and magical sandalwood/spice/flowers potion, the loveliest, warmest, most feminine use of spice and resins yet! Delicate - yes, delicate spiciness, who knew this was possible? - yet with great sillage and lasting power. I do not "get" leather or civet at all from Sharina, despite the listed notes, to my nose this is sandalwood, resin and flower gorgeousness, without a hint of animalic anything at all. If you like the original sandalwood laden-Samsara, Kenzo Flower Oriental, Organza Indecence or Kenzo Amour Le Parfum, you will adore this. Its prettier and better made than any of the Western versions of sandalwood, spice and flowers, goodness, even the bottle (pressed glass, metal and pale blue rhinestones), like the fragrance, is prettier and more substantial! A 9/10 for the fragrance and the lasting power, a 10/10 for the lovely packaging. Note: Sharina can be purchased from several online sources. Many of my Arabian perfumes, Sharina included, come from miskshoppe.com - a company out of New Jersey - whom I have had good experiences with. And no, I am not affiliated.

Very soft, elegant, feminine, and exotic. The oil itself has a prominent oud fragrance with undertones of a very fresh floral. Once on the skin, a warm sweet amber dominates. The initial blend of warm amber and oud is very rich. On me, the blend remains on the skin for 10-20 minutes as the oud steadily weakens and geranium, rose, and, slowly, a very creamy sandalwood appears. The oud sticks around for the length of wear (which easily last an 8-hour day on the skin, and is utterly tireless if it gets on any clothing/hair), but as an undertone.The dry down is definitely more of a soft, warm, sandalwood with gentle floral notes. Unlike other sandalwood perfumes I've tried, there isn't a significant powderiness in Sharina. The saffron definitely ups the creaminess of the sandalwood. It's an extremely feminine fragrance without being "girly".

Smoky and sweet at the same time, mostly sandalwood, olibanum and something really fruity on the top of smokiness, I can not see vanilla or strawberries in note-pyramid, but I do smell rich moist vanilla-fruity-chocolate wrap all around that campfire heart. Lasting power is enormous - 48 hours even after the shower! It is only slightly animalic, not as scary at all, as notes suggest. After Rania it is second Rasasi, that I decided to keep and really enjoy wearing. Love to be around these smoke-dried fruit whiffs.

This is the best vanilla fragrance ever! If there's oud, is waaay in the background. I can smell little teeny hints of frankincense but this scent is so weak compared to the bottle presentation. Update: while this scent is very weak on my skin, it is beautiful and heavenly on my wife! And, really, I still think it’s just a vanillic scent with some dimension to it. Definitely no animalics haha!

My olfactory alter ego. I was given a sample by a colleague with the words:"I didn't like it but you might". I opened the bottle and that's how it started. Incredible, delicate, feminine, sweet but not common, floral, vanilla and animalistic scent with enormous projection. A royal robe of a perfume. A perfume for a queen and I feel this way when I wear it.