Ajmal - Ghair 2

Date palms and dry, desert heat. Sitting around on soft, embroidered cushions inside a cotton tent, watching the sunset in the East amidst the yellow sand dunes, smoking a fragrant sheesha. Those are the images  that conjure up Ghair 2 by Ajmal, one of the prominent Arabian Perfume Houses for me.

Ghair 2 is woody and oriental. The top notes are of Cedarwood with a hint of mandarin. The middle notes are of Cedarwood and Sandalwood. But the musk avoids me. The dry down is wonderful with Amber being the most prominent.

The perfumes from Arabian Perfumes Houses are not for the faint-hearted. It is bold, rich and loud.  You need to go easy on the spray or you will be drenched in the fragrance. I found Ghair 2 although not as bold as some of the other Arabian perfumes that I have tried, still quite loud.  It is not something I would wear often. In fact I need to be in the right frame of mind to wear it.

Ghair 2 is marketed as a unisex perfume. The first notes and  I would have sworn it is more for the women than men. The mandarin - cedar wood combination had a definite feminine touch for me. But the base notes  are more masculine than feminine and as time passed the feminineness of the perfume wore away, leaving me a tad disappointed. 

On a totally different and unrelated note, Ghair 2 still conjures images of fresh dates in the dry desert heat. And I realise I have a love-hate relationship with this perfume.