Sultan

‘Sultan’ is another of my preferred scents from the UK masters of oud – Scent Salim.

Too often, Arabian scents can be vanilla-heavy. Vanilla is a warming note which can be a great comfort blanket for anyone with insecurities/confidence issues. For me, vanilla is my kryptonite and makes me nauseous, so with such an adverse physical reaction, I absolutely avoid it. I’ve insisted that friends with vanilla air fresheners in their car, remove them before I get in. (On a side note, Scent Salim do amazing luxury car air fresheners - get some oud in your ride). But if you love vanilla, I recommend Scent Salim’s ‘Kalimaat Oud’ (the sweetest gourmand attar of vanilla, oud, mixed spice and cinnamon), ‘Amber Oud’ (a rich vanilla-amber with patchouli, oud, saffron and with amazing longevity) and ‘Moroccan Musk’ (a sweet aromatic vanilla, also with superb longevity). These are all around £9.99-£25 for 12ml. I digress, so away from the sweetness...

‘Sultan’ gives me a fresh sigh-of-relief as there is no vanilla. It whispers the promise of being a musky, rose-floral, but I get a combination of; citrus, a green fougere, florals, sandalwood, cedar, amber, patchouli, musk and maybe a bit of tonka. It’s certainly soft, delicate, fresh and unisex, but doesn’t project further than being a close skin-scent. Longevity is short/moderate (even after placing on pulse points – which is the ONLY way to wear an attar). It reminds me of Al Haramain’s ‘Maze’, but with much less razzmatazz, sillage and lasting power.

For £20 for 3ml, it’s tiny enough for your bag/pocket, and worth having for those moments when you need to add some discreet fresh aromatics to a sweaty day.

TOP – Flowery

MIDDLE – Rose

BASE – Musk