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Safari Extreme

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It seems that every fragrance blogger loves ‘Safari Extreme’, so let’s finally see what all the hype is about.

I bought mine directly from Abdul Samad Al Qurashi’s website on the Sunday, and it arrived (all the way from the UAE) on the following Thursday. That’s even quicker than the Royal Mail within the mainland. Upon unboxing, I’m impressed by the heavy cut-glass bottle.

It starts as an underwhelming smoky amber saffron, that smoulders in a very cold metallic way. It smells like white oud as it’s clinical, only smoking with white-hot embers. It’s a chalky, powdery, spicy, churchy, amber incense. I wasn’t expecting this to be so cold, stark and smoky, as I’d read about its beast-mode floral warmth. At this stage, I’m not impressed.

I ignore the scent for about 40 minutes, then realise that a mild sweet floral has emerged. These white florals have combined with vanilla, sandalwood, a suede/leathery accord and the faintest oud in the background. There’s still a cold granite-like scent, like the smell of flint and chalk cliffs along the windy coast. It’s the aroma of a semi-precious mineral (like powdered crystal) mixed with white oud, white florals, saffron, sandalwood and vanilla, all handled with a soft suede glove.

It’s nowhere near beast mode in terms of performance - the projection is very soft, more like a skin scent. It is unisex, I can wear it as a woman, it’s only the smoky incense aspect which repels me and maybe pushes it more into masculine territory. It’s $805 SAR for 100ml which is about £150.

To me, ‘Safari Extreme’ is a cross between Amouage’s ‘Interlude Man’ layered with Al Haramain’s ‘Oudh Al Boruzz Asrar Indonesia’ with a little of the white florals from Dior’s ‘Poison’. Apparently there is an oil version of ‘Safari’ which is much more floral, this sounds perfect for me and I’d love to try it.

So the bottom line is ‘Safari Extreme’ is an amber/saffron, white floral smoke with powdered minerals, white charcoaled oud, all wrapped in white suede. Worth the hype? It’s a “no” from me, but I can see how it would be the ideal fragrance for many.

TOP – Bergamot, French Orange Flower, Mandarin, Mango

MIDDLE – Jasmine, Flowery, Cedarwood, Orange Blossom

BASE – Oud, Musk, Vanilla, Amber

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