Qafiya Year of Zayed
Ajmal (2018)

It is far beyond my nose or comprehension how this was geared towards Men which is the only reason that I had purchased this blind outside of that fact that I fell in love with that scent pyramid but... this is for WOMEN!

This very special and very elusive Qafiya is a ylang-ylang bomb with all of its yummy and tasty banana like floral goodness which literally smells yellow followed by a strong amber and white musk with a superbly clean agarwood backdrop that is only apparent through the heart notes about 5 hours in until it's simply ylang and white musk there after with a subdued amber accord. The agarwood in this falls by the wayside in the dry down. Yes it's apparent but Qafiya is all about a dominating ylang, white musk and amber through and through until the end, days later.

Very complex. The opening to this Qafiya is to die for with the saffron. Apparently this was modeled after the way that the Dubai mall smells according to a reviewer on Parfumo but in my opinion, it's for sure super opulent and incredibly strong for hours and hours in the usual Ajmal manner that ‘maybe' smells like a mall but to my nose this smells like a super heavy dense amber perfume for women that I swear smells like the Cher perfume because there's so much ylang in this.

I seriously love this perfume that was purchased blind for my birthday by my amazing Mom simply for the reason that I'm smitten over Ajmal's Exotic Amber that uses the same exact base notes. To my dismay, blending is a bitch apparently because I was expecting heavy base notes of oud and amber. This for sure smells like an exquisite mall in a sense spritzed with perfume and just that... ‘perfume'. I still cannot believe that this was made in commemoration of the late Sheikh Zayed and is supposed to be for dudes. This to my nose leans so far feminine that it's ridiculous, not even exaggerating.

This reminds me of Cher's perfume, the one from the 80's, for real. It's the first thing that had popped into my brain. I'll tell you that the oud in this is exquisite that unfortunately fades away into ylang and a piercing white musk note in the very long end so the oud here is minimal.

Nuclear. This requires a few ‘drops'. Not atomized. This scent is very, very strong with heavy sillage. Super unique odor that clearly to my nose belongs on a Woman and my God will she smell intoxicating.

I'm sad over this. The flacon and presentation is top along with this smell but alas, Qafiya year of Zayed is for girls who love leaving a heavy and intoxicating wake of yellow flowers, amber and white musk. Thumbs up for this 100%, just wish I could wear it, ugh.