Amira Gold
Eau de Parfum, Al Haramain

Here’s an object lesson in perfume pricing. I bought my 12ml bottle of this attar for 12.50 euro. The bottle is encased in blinged out heavy metal. Then consider the manufacturer’s cut, the retailer’s cut, transport and manufacturing costs. With all that factored in, what kind of budget is left for the perfume materials themselves? 50 cents? A euro at a push?
And yet it is possible to send out a decent – not stellar – product into the market which will keep many a wearer happy. Amira Gold’s mode is syrupy abstraction – there are musk and powders here, comforting vanilla in the base and peppy orange to begin, a light woody smokiness, all slathered in sweet. None of it need smell remotely natural and yet it satisfies, as there are depths to it not just a run of the stuff dripped on baklava. What others will smell on you will be quite a persuasive rich, possibly sensual thing. Fine as a winter comfort scent, even better if you can unapologetically enjoy ultra-sweet scents.