Abdul Samad al Qurashi - Musk a Ajeeb Oil & Musk Aoud Oil

I acquired samples of these two musk oils from The Perfumed Court in summer last year. I wrote about Musk a Ajeeb Oil in a post here. At the time I tested this I wrote that I was perplexed by this musk, as it bore no resemblance to the Western musks we are more used to. More than six months on and I don't know if my feelings have changed. I think one thing is for sure - these musk oils definitely are easier to wear in cooler weather. In summer Ajeeb was a bit of a monster on me, pungent, forceful and dark. In winter it is marginally lighter, but by no means a wilting flower.

I still feel a bit confused when comparing Western musks to Middle-Eastern musks. I think in the West we are so used to lighter and cleaner laundry musks that when we encounter something more animalic and disturbing, it's a bit of a shock. At least, it was to me. I am a fan of more animalic musks like Serge Lutens' Muscs Koublai Khan, but even that one is tame compared to these by Abdul Samad al Qurashi. I felt it last year, and I still do now, which is that these musk oils smell earthy, fungal, pungent, cola-ish, resinous, or to be more blunt, complex. They just do. It's hard to explain, but they verge on repulsive, yet are still compelling enough to keep on smelling.

Musk Aoud Oil is a thick, almost waxy oil that is an opaque white colour. It looks a bit like vaseline. It is easier to wear than the Ajeeb, as the musk smells a bit lighter and more like the laundry musks we are familiar with, without actually being that tame. The oud is not forceful or medical, but rather lends a lightly spicy, resinous and woody feel to the composition. It is almost a skin scent really, but still very long-lasting. I really like it.

Musk a Ajeeb Oil looks frightening even in a vial. The oil is dark and treacly, and looks like what you would get if you reduced Coca Cola to a thick syrup. When applied on skin it is an orange colour, like the fat you get from minced meat cooked with tomatoes. The longevity of Ajeeb is staggering. On skin it does mellow and meld to an extent, but if you get this on fabric or anything else, you are set to have it stick around for a long time. To give you an example, I kept on smelling a weird musky smell in my car for a couple of months. Perplexed, I eventually opened the glove compartment to find a pair of sunglasses that I had misplaced. The smell was emanating from these and when I smelled them, I remembered that I had kept them in a bag with the musk oil at some point previously. Some of the oil had obviously rubbed onto the glasses and two months later the smell was still tenacious enough to scent my vehicle! So a word of warning there...

Ajeeb is by far the more complex of the two oils. It starts quite sweet and cola-ish, then progresses to a deep, resinous earthy-musky-dank accord that teeters between  repulsive and compulsive. There is something in there that almost catches in the back of my throat, yet for some strange reason it still draws me in. I want to describe this in more detail, but I'm struggling. There is something about Ajeeb that smells like decay and yet sexy-erotic at the same time. 

In summary, if you are looking to explore musks in more detail and would like to find something challenging, I would strongly urge you to try these. I know there are lots of other Middle-Eastern musk oils out there and it's a complex field, so I don't even know how good the quality is, but irrespective, I am still fascinated by both Ajeeb and Musk Aoud.

I'd be interested to hear if any of you have tried these or any other musks like this, and whether they confuse and fascinate you as much as these do me.

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Abdul Samad al Qurashi - Musk a Ajeeb Oil

I mentioned in a review here that I had bought some samples of Abdul Samad al Qurashi attars and oils from TPC. I really enjoyed the oud-rose attar I tried, but the two musks perplexed me. As a westerner, perhaps I have some preconceived ideas of what musk smells like, and admittedly my exposure to musk (as much as I thought I liked the note in perfume) is in reality quite limited. My benchmark of musk is probably Serge Luten's Musc Kublai Khan, which is considered to be fairly hardcore by many perfumistas' standards. So what was it like sampling Musk a Ajeeb oil? Well firstly, the sample vial contains an oil that  is thick, viscous and the colour of dark treacle. I used the wand on the vial to try to scoop out some of the oil and it clung to the wand like a gloopy tar. When applied to my skin, it stained it a deep orange, ambery colour. I was wearing a long sleeve shirt at the time and I was a bit nervous of staining the sleeves. So what did it smell like? Honestly, I'm finding it very difficult to find suitable words. Weird comes to mind. For the first hour, it didn't even smell like musk to me. Being an oil, there isn't really a definable progression of top, heart and base notes. However, the opening was very peppery, and of all things, minty. I really wasn't expecting that. It actually smells like a fougere, with prominent herbs and lavender. The strongest note to me was geranium, loud and clear, and again, I just wasn't expecting Musk a Ajeeb to smell like this. After a while I started to detect some musk, but it smelled more like a sweet, dark, syrupy cola. The tone of this oil is complex, dark, spicy, minty, even vaguely animalic, without me being able to say exactly why. Underpinning all this is a disturbing sweet note, which as I said, is a bit like cola, yet I am sure it is the musk. I also detected some floral notes later on, and there is a point where it became slightly dryer and more earthy, but overall, I found it to be quite sweet and strange. If this review seems confusing, I apologise, but I am confused, because I have never smelled a perfume like this before. Is it a dirty musk? Again, I'm not really sure. The musk is very intense and sweet, yet beneath it all I couldn't help feeling like there was something a bit disturbing and hidden. I couldn't quite pinpoint it, but it's there.

I really need to test Musk a Ajeeb oil a bit more. This is only my initial impression and perhaps with repeat wearings I will get my head around it. In a way it is quite exciting because I have discovered a perfume style and a style of musk that I haven't encountered before, although initially I don't know if I really like Ajeeb, but perhaps time will tell. Another thought crossed my mind - I wondered if this contains real musk tincture? As I'm almost certain I haven't smelled real musk before, I have no benchmark for comparison. I know it isn't ethical to use real musk in perfume, but I have read a number of Middle Eastern perfume websites that seem to suggest they use real musk. Whether this is just marketing speak I don't know, but this musk was strange enough to suggest to me that perhaps this is the case. If any of you have tried any strange musks, I'd be interested in reading your impressions. 


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Abdul Samad al Qurashi

I have recently become quite interested in Middle Eastern perfume, or at least, the concept of it. I say this because up to now, my only exposure to this style/idea has been through sampling the Amouage line and trying some of the Montale ouds. However, I have not tried anything from perfume houses that are, to me at least, slightly more exotic and less accessible. Price is probably one factor, particularly with real oud, which can be prohibitively expensive, and another consideration is that unknown factor; the fear that who you're buying from over the internet is some fraudster. Perhaps I am too conservative. In any event, I ordered some samples of oils/blends through The Perfumed Court that are made by Abdul Samad Al Qurashi. At least I think they are. I get a bit confused by perfumes made, marketed and sold in the Middle East because the names can be quite confusing to a westerner, and very often an outlet may stock a number of perfumes by different manufacturers. I ordered the Al Qurashi Blend, Musk a Ajeeb oil and an Oud Musk attar. 

The blend is a wonderful classic combination of oud, saffron and rose, with some woody notes. If this sounds familiar, you're right. If you've ever tried a Montale oud, such as Black Oud, for example, this will be a very familiar association. In fact, in many ways the blend is almost a dead ringer for Black Oud, but where it excels is in the superior blending, at least in my opinion. It opens with that medicinal, band aid oud and saffron accord, perhaps a bit less pungent than Black Oud, but quite assertive nevertheless. The saffron is beautifully  aromatic, spicy and dry, and there's just enough dewy, slightly sweet rose in the background to balance the oud and saffron. Whereas Black Oud assaults one's senses, Qurashi blend feels like a better-balanced, more refined take on oud, rose and saffron. What I find interesting is that after the initial medicinal opening, the oud shifts to a more woody, slightly musty/mushroomy accord, quite similar to that encountered in By Kilian's Pure Oud. I apologise if I am using western oud perfumes as a reference point, but I have not been fortunate enough to try the real stuff and therefore I have no idea whether the Qurashi blend contains any real oud, or if it is entirely synthetic. But I don't think it matters; it smells wonderful anyway. The rose thickens to a jammy, sweet syrup, which counterbalances the drier and woody oud perfectly. In the dry down the notes all soften considerably, until what is left is a dry wood and oud accord, which is quite lovely.  I find Qurashi blend to have more clarity than Black Oud. I detect each one of its notes more distinctly, whereas Black Oud muddies the waters a bit, in my opinion. I do like Black Oud, but I just find the Qurashi blend to be a more sophisticated and clearer take on this classic combination.

I am not going to review the two musks I sampled; this will be the subject of another post, as I think they warrant separate discussion. However, what I will say at the outset is that I found these musks to be totally confusing, and they have possibly permanently altered my perceptions of musk. If that sounds confusing, it is! All I do know is that as someone who enjoys musk, particularly animalic musk, and admittedly has only really tried a number of more mainstream/Western-style musks, I could not get my head around these. 

To end, I would certainly encourage you to try some of the Abdul Samad al Qurashi blends or oils. I'm sure some would be hit or miss, but they are certainly different and very interesting.