Khaliji
Al Rehab

Khaliji is the most daring fragrance in the Al Rehab rollerball line-up. In pairing a fresh, aromatic lemongrass with an armpitty cumin, it arrives at a compromise between a good Southeast Asian curry and the undershirt of a Cairo taxi driver in high summer. It is equally repellent and attractive, which is, of course, precisely what makes it interesting. Its vegetally-green cardamom note momentarily recalls the water-logged ‘figgy’ sandalwood of Le Labo’s Santal 33. But in truth, the strongest point of comparison is to the aromatic, cumin-flecked woody notes of Le Labo’s Rose 31. In case that comparison got your hopes up, let me equivocate. First, there is no rose in the Al Rehab (some will not miss it). Second, the scratchy synthetic wood aromachemical that defines the Le Labo is absent, replaced by a smooth, featureless sandalwood accord. Third, the curried-armpit nuance is stronger in the Al Rehab.

I find Khaliji to be a striking fragrance, with a deeply aromatic drydown that lasts forever on the skin. Get past the shock of the cumin-and-lemon tandem in the opening and you are good to go. It would make for an excellent masculine, its swampy, spice-laden woodiness blooming beautifully on sweaty male skin in summer. The juxtaposition between the fresher aromatic notes (lemongrass, cardamom) and the warmer, dustier ones (cumin, sandalwood) is very well handled, especially for a low-budget oil perfume such as this. The final impression it leaves is that of savory bread pudding made entirely of creamed woods.

This is an incredible attar for only $5. It has been compared to Cartier Declaration, but in my opinion smells far superior to Declaration - which on my skin is basically the scent of cumin with little else. They are in the same genre though. It has also been compared to Le Labo's Rose 31, a fairly pricey niche perfume which I haven't smelled. Khaliji has the unique lemongrass accord along with a rose note but done in a very masculine, slightly dirty way that makes it smell upscale (due to the rose) and rustic (due to the spices) at the same time if that makes sense. On the drydown I more spices, especially a strong note of cardamom, with hints of pepper and cumin, but done in a very nice way; it ends up smelling rugged and masculine and not like a spice dish. The lemongrass note in this is quite beautiful, and does not smell like lemon or other citrus fruits, or the leaves of citrus plants (like petitgrain), nor of citrus plant flowers (e.g. neroli or linden blossom) or plants with leaves that smell like citrus fruits (e.g. lemon verbana). As a citrus lover with a few colognes featuring citrus fruits, flowers, plants, and plants whose leaves have a similar aroma to citrus fruits, I can say that the lemongrass note in this fragrance smells uniquely like lemongrass, and is one of the only perfumes on the market to feature this note to my knowledge. Sillage and longevity are both moderate leaning strong.

4/5

The citrus and musk in Khaliji is really great but the cumin is just too much sometimes. I go back and forth on this one, it really straddles the line from being terrible and really good all at the same time.

It's an oil, so performance is excellent. This one is not as potent as some of the oils I have, but it is still loud and strong.

very nice spicy mainly cumin musky perfume that compares easily with many designers and beats many of them , 35 ml bottle will cost you 2 $ if you bought it in saudi arabia , that proves that no need to call a frag a niche and sell it for tens or hundreds of dollars to have a good perfume.

Starts out with orange peel, then a spicy musk,
a very refreshing evergreen scent! all of these
combined works very well!

An extremely nice citrusy, musky and refreshingly spicy scent with an amazing dry-down. Maybe it's the 'golden flower' note that does it for me. The outright favourite of all the Al Rehab oils.