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Arabian Oud Kalemat Eau de Parfum Review & Photos

Arabian Oud Kalemat Eau de Parfum
Arabian Oud Kalemat Eau de Parfum

Arabian Oud Kalemat Eau de Parfum ($59.99 for 3.4 fl. oz.) is described as having the following notes: top — bilberry and anise; middle — rosemary and Kashmir wood; base — musk, sweet amber, honey leaves. I bought this scent-un-smelled on a recommendation from Kafkaesque, though the recommendation was stronger for my husband than for me. It is one of the most elegantly packaged perfumes I’ve personally come across, as it is packaged in a large, rectangular box made to resemble a book. Once opened, with a pull of the brow nribbon, it opens again to reveal the perfume itself.

Initially, right as it was first sprayed and started to dry on the skin, it was a burst of sweet berry jam, which immediately transitioned into a blend of lightly sweetened honey and smoke and some rose. Over the next hour and a half, everything seemed very well-blended; there were few notes that really stood out–a blend of barely-sweetened florals with bits of woodiness, spice, and a sly hint of greenness. It made me think of honeycombs set in a lush garden during late fall, as I still detected the underpinning of smoke, more tobacco-like than incense-like. There was a general sweetness and rosiness that was most notable for the first few hours of Kalemat with a little spiciness and woodiness. After four hours or so, it became a softened blend of amber, woods and musk with honey drizzled on top with a flourish. It’s such a cozy, warm, perfect-for-winter scent. Less heady than some of my other go-tos but not a subtle scent either–it’s a very comforting and warming.

On me, it had moderate sillage for two hours, and then stayed close to the skin for the next ten hours. My husband quite enjoyed it, and he said it was “near the top” of his perfume list, and for him, he also found that the projection wasn’t too large and didn’t project for long, as it wore more closely for him as well.

Arabian Oud Kalemat Eau de Parfum
Arabian Oud Kalemat Eau de Parfum

Arabian Oud Kalemat Eau de Parfum
Arabian Oud Kalemat Eau de Parfum

Arabian Oud Kalemat Eau de Parfum
Arabian Oud Kalemat Eau de Parfum

Arabian Oud Kalemat Eau de Parfum
Arabian Oud Kalemat Eau de Parfum

Arabian Oud Kalemat Eau de Parfum
Arabian Oud Kalemat Eau de Parfum

Arabian Oud Kalemat Eau de Parfum
Arabian Oud Kalemat Eau de Parfum

Arabian Oud Kalemat Eau de Parfum
Arabian Oud Kalemat Eau de Parfum

Arabian Oud Kalemat Eau de Parfum
Arabian Oud Kalemat Eau de Parfum

Arabian Oud Kalemat Eau de Parfum
Arabian Oud Kalemat Eau de Parfum

53 Comments

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lesleyk Avatar

Yes! I’ve had this bookmarked for weeks since I read Kafkaesque’s review. I’m so happy to read your thoughts on this, too! I think I must have it now.

Steph Avatar

Ahh I’m trying to source this online. I live in Australia, so Amazon won’t ship it to me and the Arabian Oud website is being difficult. Boo 🙁

Arielle Avatar

Dying to try this. Does anyone know if I order it from Amazon if I will be charged with an international fee on my debit card? Did that happen to those who ordered it? Like…does it ship from the US? Or is their billing office for Amazon in the US? I’ve never ordered anything from oversees and I think my bank charges some crazy fee.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Arielle Avatar

Thanks Christine!. I send an email via amazon to Arabian Oud and they said they receive payment from amazon after the customer pays. Gonna order it! It just looks so lovely. Love your site BTW. SO informative. I don’t buy ANYTHING without checking it out here first lol.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!

Arielle Avatar

I’ll be sure to let u know Christine! I just ordered it and got a shipping notice 10 minutes later. WOW! Now if only Naked 3 were as easy to get lol.

Arielle Avatar

Wow…this one is unforgettable! Ironically, I have smelled this before, somewhere. I never forget a scent…or a smell. Anyways, shipping was ridiculously fast. But sadly, when I opened the box I discovered the bottle had leaked a little. Not a lot of product was lost, but, this stuff is STRONG! There is something in it that burns my nose which I have never had happen with any fragrance. My fav scents are…Angel, Gucci by Gucci, Pink Sugar, Inner Grace and Patchouli. Also Savannah Gardens but sadly that one is no more 🙁 But I find this one is waaaay too sweet for me. I don’t know if it’s a bad bottle due to leakage and air getting to it, it changed the fragrance? but it is overly sweet, at least to me. I know that sounds weird considering how much I adore Angel lol. I still had a lot of fun opening it! And I had never gotten a PKG from outside the US, so that was a cool experience. Still glad I tried it. It’s a super value for the money. Not sure what I will do with it lol. ebay maybe?

Ryou Avatar

Hmm, I usually go for girly sweet gourmands and steer clear of any perfumes that has a hint of “masculine” smell. From your description it sounds like something I’d try, but the fact that your (manly) husband also loves it might mean it’s not for me. What do you think, Christine?

Christine Avatar

Hi Ryou!

It doesn’t really smell… masculine to me? Like it doesn’t remind me of generic men’s cologne in any way, but my guess is if you really love sweeter, more gourmand scents, this might not be quite right for you.

Are there particular notes you find are often masculine to you?

Ryou Avatar

I usually make an effort to avoid patchouli and cumin. On me they just smell… Off and dirty? I’m not too big on smoke, either (growing up with smokers for parents didn’t help), but I surprisingly like it in smoky vanilla scents like Serge Lutens’ Une Bois Vanille.

Christine Avatar

Definitely doesn’t give me any patchouli/cumin vibes. The smokiness I noticed in the early stages was definitely not cigarette-type smoke to me (I’m somewhat sensitive to that type of smoke, but I didn’t grow up with smokers), but it wasn’t quite incense-y either. It doesn’t last for long (the smokiness). On Kafkaesque, she mentioned that the smokiness was “extremely subtle and [seemed] merely to be the effect of other notes, instead of actual frankincense.” If that’s any help!

Ryou Avatar

Thank you, that was really helpful. 🙂 I think I might give it a go sometime, it could be good to step out of my comfort zone a little every now and then.

Sarah Avatar

I was intrigued by this perfume after reading Kafkaesque’s review. I was afraid it would be exorbitant, but it’s actually fairly reasonably priced. I’m still on the fence though because I’m not sure if I’ll like the tobacco-smoky note. My favorite perfumes are Chanel Chance, Coco Noir, and I recently fell in love with Illamasqua Freak…do you think I would like this? Thanks!

Sarah Avatar

Freak is so gorgeous, isn’t it? Have you tried the new Illamasqua Scarab perfume? I’m waiting for the perfume sample site Surrender to Chance to get it so I can try it out first, but I’m sure I’ll like it. I need to check if they have samples of Kalemat!

Dana Avatar

Kalemat is an Arabic word and it means Words. It’s written in Arabic also and I love that there is other Arabic words on the bottle, I see giving, love, happiness, beauty and truthful. I am interested in this one and I love the packaging.

Denise S. Avatar

Sounds like a scent I’d like.I can take or leave oud notes but honey and smoke are right up my alley. Ginestet Botrytis and Serge Lutens Chergui are two of my favorite honey, tobacco scents. But I need to use up my tremulous perfume collection already.

Vi Avatar

Oh gawd, I just ordered this blindly after seeing this review and Kafkaesque’s in-depth review. No freaking idea why but I couldn’t seem to get this one off my mind and like that, order placed. I have no clue to what any of the perfumes she described in likeness but through her descriptions, it seems divine and would be up my alley…which I don’t even know really. xD

Ah well, such is life.

Vi Avatar

**Same response as I left on Kafkaesque’s page but same response (feel) as I would have said to you. :D**

IT ARRIVED and whoa. I got a sample with this order (ordered it the same way Christine from Temptalia did {side note to Christine: thanks}) that I think is Ethar Oud. Nicely packaged but first impression….not sure I will like it but testing shall be pursued. If anything, I got the sense it cleared my nose right up. It’s a lot more….clean/sterilized/surgical…ish kind of feel version of Kalemat. Just, different in a way.

But to the point of the matter, Kalemat. I get an incense vibe (think Buddhist temple/pagoda burning incense kinda scent…or at least for me) from it but a lighter concentration of it? Certainly I can smell that sweet tobacco (or at least I think so: from my experience of getting people black and milds cigars thingy – or in that general area where most grocery store keeps the cigars stuff separate) though still a more incense vibe. Probably a combo of the two for me. Although I hate smoking (I tend to cough a lot from the second-hand smoke) this isn’t like it’s Marlboro but that sweet tobacco feel yet it doesn’t make me cringe. Side note, YSL’s Opium makes me cringe. Accidentally sprayed too much on my hands somehow when trying to get just a light whiff and oh man was it horrible (to me). I am glad Kalemat wasn’t like that for me.

This is less than 20 minutes of spraying it onto my wrists and I really should be going to bed soon so more testing shall ensue. I don’t hate it and it really is something new to me (so, so very curious that I can’t stop sniffing my wrists as I type this). The only perfumes (besides samples) I have are: Fresh’s Brown Sugar, LaVanilla’s Vanilla Grapefruit and the Giorgio Armani’s Acqua di Gioia (I think I read somewhere you dislike this with a passion {ps, if I’m wrong then I apologize because I have no idea where I got that from}…but I like it. x) Completely different field of fragrances so I really took a leap. I don’t really like florals, they don’t bode well for me or at least the strong ones. Can’t think of any and my smelling experiences are limited to what Sephora and Ulta have.

So, sooooo very different from Arabian Oud Kalemat. I mentioned earlier that it reminded me of Buddhists’ incense burning and that sweet tobacco feel (more strong of the two). It is comforting, at least on the incense influence because that’s what I grew up with and I like that scent. I didn’t really notice any other scents (no experience so can’t speak for sure) but those two first and foremost. My nose feels oddly cleansed (but slightly clogged up from something else) if that makes sense and as I wrap this up, it is not as strong as first spritz (or, the first official one after making sure it could spray) and the sweet tobacco (hmm…doesn’t make me cringe but I’m undecided) comes out more so now. Probably something else as well but can’t put words to it. I kinda want to spritz some more on…

Bahaha….I realize how incredibly long this is but there you go. My first impression of Kalemat and I: like it, incredibly curious, undecided, not cringing or repulsive and who knows. It also has that kind of feel (I think you said cloying) that I usually associate with traditional Asian medicines/remedies (…kinda like the white oil used for aches and stuff). I like that smell. I don’t even know if I make any sense, this is long and rambly but again; there you go. xD

nida raees Avatar

wow i cant believe ur reviewing arabic perfumes and i think u liked it 🙂 well then also try visaal , auram and kashka .. some ofe my most fav !! best of luck

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