Arabia
AbdesSalaam Attar Profumo

Poetry in a bottle. This perfume smells like kindness, human warmth, and love. It tells you that everything is alright, and if it isn’t, it will be. In my opinion, it is a perfume of Faith, helping those who have it to continue on the path that lies in front of them, and those who do not have it, to find it.

Arabia is a perfume of profound balance, achieved by adding counterweights until absolute equilibrium is reached. It is subtle yet powerful, calming yet invigorating, tender but unyielding. The rose and castoreum here give the impression of two very different essences that are at the same time irrevocably attracted to each other like the opposite poles of a magnet, forming a whole that is infinitely deeper, more nuanced and more meaningful than the sum of its parts. From start to end, this is a tale of roses, smooth spices and musk. It is a linear fragrance by design; however, it is in no way boring or one-sided. It starts off with a spicy rose-centric smell and ends as a character study of musk, with the flowers and spices still present, albeit less dominant. In other words, the scent develops on the skin not by changing, but by deepening.

Right after application there is an explosion of juicy, thirst-quenching rose with tart and fruity aspects, at times reminding me of pears. Along with this there is also a certain waxy quality to this fragrance, which prevents it from being too fruity or sweet. This is soon joined by warm spices that bring forth associations of mulled wine or strong spiced fruit tea in the winter. As it dries down, this warm sweetness is somewhat curtailed by a soft, almost puffy leathery note, which I’m guessing is the combined effect of the musk and the white florals in the back. The tuberose becomes perceptible to me on its own only after several hours, and even then, only if I focus on pinpointing it. This is another common experience that I have with Profumo’s creations, the feeling of being able to analyse the perfume and find all its constituent parts, yet not wanting to do so and preferring to just experience it as a whole. It’s like his perfumes are telling you they want to be experienced in a different, more meaningful way, not just as mathematical equations designed to be broken down into specific parts. Like they have a will and life of their own.

The spices are, like in other fragrances from this house, very smoothly blended, to the point where it is actually difficult to pick them apart, despite there being a very generous portion of them in this perfume. While the official description of the fragrance lists a number of different spices, for me it is just a delightful smooth spice accord that is rising somewhere between the rose and the musk. Speaking of which, the castoreum in here is, at least to my nose, incredibly pleasant. I don’t smell a single “dirty” note, just occasional subtle leathery nuances along with beautiful clean muskiness. I have no frame of reference for what ambrette actually smells like, but based on what I read about it I would say that it is featured quite prominently in this perfume, presenting itself very soon after application with that waxy-fruity note which lasts all the way to the far dry down. There is also something in this perfume that is “expanding” the muskiness of the castoreum, making it richer and perhaps a little powdery. What I also find interesting is that even after many hours, I still sense a vivid, almost citric, sour component in this perfume, which really makes the sweet components pop and keeps things fresh.

This is yet another fragrance from Profumo which reveals a hidden gem after many hours of wear on the skin. In this case, it is a singularly beautiful musky and leathery note, strikingly beautiful in its simplicity. It hits you right in the centre of your brain, without taking any shortcuts. Smelling this stage of the dry down is a transcendent experience. It feels like the perfumed air is flowing into your nostrils on its own, and a continuous connection has been established between your conscience and the molecules of this scent. It is hard to describe, but this scent almost feels tangible, like actually drinking or eating something. All in all, Arabia is a masterful “anytime, anywhere” fragrance, to be cherished and enjoyed just because, along with a million other reasons.

From The Scents of the Soul Collection. It's a combination of two opposite but complementary fragrances - Damascena rose and castoreum.  Between these two extremes are warm spices including cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg and absolutes of narcissus, violet and tuberose. The whole perfume is bound together with ambrette. 
Opens with a dry but rich spicy deepness. With a name like Arabia, I wasn't sure if it was going to go for the easy market-spice bomb. Thankfully it did not. The spices that stood out on opening were instead cardamom and nutmeg - a nice combination, done in a strong but not overstated fashion. An incensy note behind them is apparent even in the opening. After the spice started mellowing, what came out was a chord reminiscent of Parfum Sacre. I looked at the notes for PS - myrrh, civet, mace and cardamon were there so there's a resonance between these two fragrances. I don't remember the details of Parfum Sacre to compare further. But it makes this one a rich, sophisticated, diffuse, spicy incense fragrance, done on a slightly darker note. Subtle florals start emerging in the heartnote, but they're embedded in the deepness of animalics, so this isn't a floral heart or fragrance. Though I rarely detect violet or violet leaf in fragrances unless front and center, I usually sense their presence by a note of quiet mystery, which is present in this one. It quietly fades into the drydown, holding basically the same note as the heart. Ambrette is listed as wrapping it up, but it's very subtle. I don't care for ambrette as a distinct note, and that peanut note is obtrusive wherever I smell it. I don't like it in Mitsouko, for example. So not smelling the ambrette saved this fragrance for me. It very slowly fades away, becoming a skin scent within three hours on my skin, but a nice one, as it retains the quality and line-up of its notes.
The fragrance is evocative and compelling, inviting to wear. Listed as feminine, but definitely unisex. The name isn't bad, but explains little of what the fragrance is about.

Can't imagine any male or female of voting age disliking this fragrance. The top notes produce a swirl of soft, dry spices. They find their direction in the dry down, which reminds me very much of the sweet, hazy base I smell in Tocade. Not my favorite of the many beautiful fragrances from this talented perfumer, but still deserving of a thumbs up.