Mukhalat Malaki

There is nothing particularly special or noteworthy here, just that it’s beautiful. There are four primary accords that, because this is a straight Arabian perfume oil, do not act in the typical French manner of top, heart, base with dry downs as such. There is a bit of that, but it’s minimal. Most notably in reference to that typical structure Western noses are accustomed to is the saffron that opens the perfume. The saffron is beautifully hay-like, a sweet and dried grass, with a touch of florals. It dispenses rather quickly (about an hour; remember this is a perfume oil) to reveal the stars of Mukhalat Malaki: rose, oud, and amber. The rose is pink, sweet, and powdery, and is kept sort of in the background, like a harmony singer of a three-part choral group. Its harmony line comes in and out of focus throughout the nearly twelve hour life of the perfume depending upon how thickly you put it on. The star carrying the primary vocal line is oud. The oud in MM lacks a lot of the funky, fungal, turned-fruit type aspects and relishes in the barnyard animalics. It carries the hay like qualities of the saffron into the rest of the perfume’s life, while also providing the stable animal fecal, woody, and dirty notes we’ve come to expect and love of oud. The amber accord is a seamless deadlock of balsams, to my nose sandalwood and labdanum, playing the role of rhythmic bass, adding a smooth depth, sweetness, and roundness to the whole of the perfume. It works to keep the oud in check, giving the whole a regal and elegant feel. There are hundreds if not thousands of these perfumes out there; this template has been a staple in Arabia for centuries. It’s far from new, and far from being the best, but I love it all the same. I’ve worn it for special occasions throughout the year - including the summer, because you can. It is remarkably well behaved, even in summer heat (just go light on the application). It spends most of its time as a strong skin scent, so it won’t blow away you or others around you. If you’re looking for an inexpensive and well-done example of this very old genre, I’d point to this more often than not.

You wake to find yourself face first in her pillow. It smells like her perfume, musky roses, Ombre Rose maybe?? She sits opposite you, her long, tan legs protruding from a satin kimono the colour of tropical water. Drifts of the powder she is applying to her face and neck make your nose. She's smoking. Somehow you missed that last night. Your head is pounding. You go to sit up but fail to notice an ashtray. It falls onto the bed, sending up an ash cloud that leaves you choking. Do not take the above as a criticism. I love this scent. It is an incredibly high quality, sweet rose with a good whack of powder and backed up with cigarette ash. That sounds awful but it's a fascinating dirty note, bitter, dark, a little smoky and very complex. It takes this to the next level. It shares this note with Gres Cabochard. If you do not like that scent, back away now. In fact this scent could be described as the ladylike version of Cabochard. The longevity it spectacular. Strong recommend.

Firstly: I love how people are saying they got a sample and “sprayed it on,” my peoples: Swiss Arabian does not do samples of Concentrated Perfume Oil (CPO), and it’s too thick to be sprayed on... (take from that what you will). Now onto the review: I love this scent, it’s sweet saffron, meets bitter rose and slightly skanky Oud, brilliant combination, especially if you want to layer this. Lasts forever (14 hours +) on my skin, arms length projection and average sillage. Layer with something barbershop/fresh (Drakkar Noir/BdC) and you have an interesting combo! The best. Combo I’ve found is this CPO with CDNIM Limited edition, addictive! Not a safe blind buy, test it out first. Recommend: Sample first Rating: 4.75/5

I have sampled quite a few different CPOs from Swiss Arabian and this is by far the best one. Honestly I am surprised they are the makers of this quite lovely oil because it's a whole lot better than anything else in this price range from them. It's a gorgeous balance of rose, saffron, amber and oud. The saffron is the standout imho and is really lovely. The rose gives it a luxurious lift and the amber and oud base anchors the whole composition beautifully. The performance is great and this is really luxurious and smells expensive. A great value for a really good oil.

It's a rich & opulent saffron fragrance first and foremost, which was exactly what I was looking for. The rose supplements wonderfully with a warm amber backdrop and just a hint of oud. I was fortunate to visit an official Swiss Arabian store (twice) and sampled EVERY SINGLE fragrance both spray & oil, and while I was disappointed on how much European influence is in the brand and how cheap some of the fragrances smelled, this one stood out for being authentic and of higher quality!

This is a beautiful rose, spice and oud combo. Oud used here is combodian oud so its totally beautiful when it dries down on your skin after 8 hours. I applied it at night and when I woke up and smelled my skin, a sweet beautiful oud was there. I prefer to wear it in winters as it has warmth to it along with spices. Rose here is a bit heavy rose, not very light floral but feels nice and warm to me

Beautiful oil that reminds you of Indian pan masala/tobacco.Its mainly because of the saffron.Its kind of staple middle eastern blend with saffron,rose and amber.Good longevity and great value for the money as it will last long time.It doesn’t feel too synthetic.Oud is not shanky but supports everything together.

Un olor a safron y a rosas intenso, pero no dulce o repugnante, el tono maderable esta presente, esta fragancia, no muta, es lineal, exsquisita. La botella es hermosa y con una presentacion que solamente la puedes encontrar en los perfumes arabes Smell expensive.

I love this, strong complex yet smooth. it has one of the least linear dry downs of anything in my cabinet. it's almost like someone decided that White Aoud by Montale needed to be woody and on steroids.

Just received this. I've worn it twice with minimal application (work days) So Of course I've yet to fully form an opinion. However I can at least say that people here have mentioned about how intense and not "blind buy" safe this is, in my opinion is accurate.. It's never fair to rate a fragrance from an opening. For example with this fragrances opening the oud is strong, medicinal and animalic, the rose has that strong deep red rose smell which many perceive as stank and fecal. The saffron is also powerful. The initial punch, emphasis on PUNCH, showcases the depth and high concentration of those ingredients- it does not posses sweetness from any of those elements. My wifes reaction therefore was not favorable. Mine was of some doubt and hesitation, but with an expectation of an amazing change and development. So far I can say the intensity fades, and it becomes a lot smoother and friendlier, but apparently I need to apply more to my highly fragrance eating/changing skin to obtain a dry down strong enough to properly analyze. I'll go out on a limb and say this is designed to work with B.O. not necessarily freshly washed skin. Will update the dry down on a more brave application>>

Gosh I can't believe this is so amazingly good...I'm left speechless after one dab of the oil. I'm a woman and I consider Mukhalat Malaki to be unisex though it's indeed on the more masculine and powerful side. It's not a pleasant nose candy for everyone, you either love or hate it. At first this smells so oily, thick and animalic that it actually stinks, yes. Let's just say I'm thunderstruck by the dramatic saffrony opening. But when I 'blend' it out on my skin...wow. Such a dark and luscious beauty! The longer it lasts, the less incense smell it has and the more prominent the rose is. It feels like watching a rose approaching through fog and smoke. This is exactly what Agent Provocateur have tried to achieve but Malaki does it way better. The exotic saffron and musky rose make it almost aphrodisiac yet the whole scent is dignified by oud and woodsy notes. Honestly it's a slap in the face for many niche perfumes. Well done Swiss Arabian, now I'm a fan.

To me this is rich and strong, but somehow not too heavy. As another commenter mentioned, it has a certain "transparency". When I first put it on it smells very green, as if there is maybe some bergamot in the opening? It's not listed but I smell something on the crisp side. The oud in this is rather sweet and leathery, with some slight astringent/medicinal tones along the edges. Mostly though I smell a rose-leather-oud accord with a sheer, leafy layer billowing over it. If applied with a light hand I do think you can wear this in warm weather. When outside in the 80-something degree heat, the rose really took flight. Now indoors, it smells quietly like a leathery oud. If you're like me, and I know I am, and you're not daunted by oud I'd say it's a safe blind buy. It's not expensive, the bottle is very attractive and it's a solid, if a little predictable, rose oud perfume. I like it.

This is very heavy on the saffron! I can also smell rose and oud, but saffron is definitely the main player here for the first hour or so. After that, the saffron fades and rose becomes the dominant note. Later on, oud comes forward somewhat as well, along with a trace of musk. It's quite strong, but seems to stay relatively close to the skin, as I think is usual for oils. One thing to note is that the oil is very yellow; I can see it on my skin, and I expect it would stain clothing if it touched any. I like this, but I wish the oud was more prominent from the beginning. The initial burst of saffron is too much for my taste, although I like saffron, and even later it's mostly about rose.

Ok so I applied this in place of deodorant. As I suspected it developed a lot over several hours from a heavy skanky rose/medicinal oud, strong saffron, into a much smoother lush fragrance. It smells more and more like fresh rose bouquet and rose water. Still with saffron and oud but much friendlier and approachable. still, don't blind buy this. I really like this smell now but you may not.

Interesting scent for this American, and the first time smelling a traditional blend such as this. For me, it is evocative of old tales in old books with colourful, but faded, engraved illustrations: a subtley-aldehydic rose, suspended above a deep, dark forest of enchanted woods. Has a "cooling" character at first, becoming warmer on the drydown, Very nice for spring.

I have the CPO. Just a little dab on the jawline and the wrists will last all day, so one bottle goes a long way. Rose, dark musk, and just a bit of oud in this very resiny fragrance. Not much light about it, I wouldn't wear in hot weather myself. Makes for a good winter frag. Stays close to the skin, but that's what I'd expect from an oil-based fragrance.

I have this as a favourite. To be honest I like Mukhallat Maliki by Haramain more, but it ́s not in the database. But this is very good IMO, the musk in this, the saffron and the amber are fantastic. To find western common brands having this kind of quality, just forget it.

@EmmaZumba, it ́s interesting that we humans smell things so differently. I smell rose oil, saffron oil and an oud note mostly, with a musky note in the background that with time will become a little more dominant. :)

Familiar oud/rose combination. The opening is medicinal and refreshing. Eventually dries down to sandalwood and amber after the rose fades. Very strong stuff. The best mukhallat I’ve tried to date.

I tested it and found it to be very weak. Most Swiss Arabian oils I have found to be weak and does not have the resilience of Al-Rehab. I do like the scent however, very middle eastern.