Shaghaf Oud Ahmar by Swiss Arabian

It’s 90% similar to Xerjoff’s Erba Pura at first, but while EP is sweeter and fruitier, this one highlights the woody notes more. After three hours, the oud fades and it becomes fruitier, ambered, and cleaner. By the fifth hour on skin, it’s quite masculine and sexy: releasing vanilla and amber, leaving the wood barely perceptible. Note: if you don’t like oud, use it moderately, because if you overdo it, it smells terrible.

Floral and fruity opening that can seem more feminine than it is. After half an hour, the woody notes and amber emerge, making it very unisex for me. It smells clean; at first, it reminds me of a peach shampoo. Ideal for summer.

It smells like Garnier Fructis shampoo mixed with hairspray. I’m not a fan of the Erba Pura-Kirke profile; I’ve tried comparisons, and they all smell like toxic products.

I bought it guided by the notes and trusting in Swiss Arabian and the price. The box is gorgeous and luxurious, just like its siblings. The bottle is heavy, sober, with an elegant metallic red finish, cool and pleasant to the touch, capped with a heavy gold stopper that closes perfectly. Fresh, floral, and sweet opening (not gourmand): clear peach, bergamot, ripe melon, and watermelon, with freesia, iris, and another white flower. It projects from afar, the bubble closes after half an hour. Then green apple, tonka bean, and more flowers appear (maybe roses, but I don’t sense them clearly) with a soft, powdery, creamy veil, a youthful and charming floral halo. Peach, apple, and freesia last a long time, projecting more than 30 cm. The tempting base: musk, vanilla, amber, delicate cedar, and sandalwood. I barely sense the signature oud, detecting it only at the end, melted into the base, warm, refined, not invasive but deep and persistent. It’s clearly feminine, ageless, suitable for any season, very sophisticated and elegant. It projects sweet and harmonious flowers and fruits several hours close to the skin; on clothes, it lasts up to 24 hours. In the drydown, after hours, the indole emerges: that animal, wet, sweet, deep, and organic note typical of Gucci. It compares to Milano regarding the fruits, but Shaghaf lacks that animal or leather point. Also with Erba Pura, it has a touch but is much finer and less potent. With Kirke, yes, for the sparkling fruity point, but Shaghaf has another depth. Total hit, it tempts me to buy others from the collection, I recommend it.