AREEJ LE DORE
GULAB ATTAR

2022

PERFUMER
Russian Adam

Pink Rose
Mysore Sandalwood

Gulab opens like a green rose to my nose. Quite bright, but very smooth at the same time.

The rose feels understated, it adds color and vibrancy, but it’s not as distinct of a rose scent as many others; it doesn’t sparkle. Probably because it’s drowning in the most beautiful sandalwood. As for the scent profile of the rose; it reminds me most of Amouage’s Epic Woman/Epic 56 DNA, but it’s even more silky than the latter; perhaps more similar to the Rose Aqor attar.

The sandalwood used in this Areej collection is magnificent in Gulab. It only takes minutes to really push through and about half an hour in, the sandalwood is taking charge of this fragrance. People often use the descriptor ‘milky’ for sandalwood, but A. this is smoother than the sandalwood used in any niche or designer perfume that I’ve tried and B. Milky isn’t quite right. Sandalwood like this always feels thicker and slightly oaty to me. The scent is at the same time silky, with the most subtle sweet touches, but it also has a camphorous tinge.

Gulab airs more on the greener and fresher side than I expected; its sweetness kept at a minimum. I’d say it’s also less rose-centric than I imagined; despite it being the only note aside from the sandalwood base. The sandalwood however proves to be so powerful, that after some minutes Gulab is closer to the pure Mysore that I’ve tried via Scent Salim than to any other rose fragrance that I’m familiar with.

As it dries down completely, it gets warmer. There’s a faint rose smoke or wind close to the skin, still giving off a soft, velvety elegance, but no longer the freshness and greener tinge. For me it’s almost all sandalwood that I smell at this stage. Absolutely loved this on first sniff and have since bought the 3ml.