AZMAN Majnoon photo by Nicoleta plus Unsplash collage
AZMAN, translated as “hours” or “moments” from Arabic, is an Emirati luxury brand founded by Husen Khan. Their first fragrance, released in 2021, called “Two minutes after the kiss”, perfectly summed up the mission of the house: reimagining traditional, oud-based perfumes through a modern approach. Founder and artistic director of the house, Husen Khan was raised in Mumbai, having Indian, Afghan and Portuguese roots in his family. His successful advertising career took him all over the world, feeding his ever-growing hunger for culture and traveling. He found the perfect mixture of art, fashion, and luxury in the perfumery world, and after meeting its most visionary artists, Husen was clearly set on creating his own path.
Husen Khan, photo via official website
Husen’s heritage and life experience were poured into AZMAN, mixing in all the color and exuberant passion of his heritage, his cosmopolite travels, his well-versed advertiser’s creative eye for detail, and the middle eastern mystical and ritualistic approach to ingredients. And of course, gathering around him rockstar noses, to interpreted everything into an immersive olfactive experience.
AZMAN’s recent launches are three oud-mazing fragrances that are perfect examples of how seamlessly things can fall into place when just the right puzzle pieces are set on the table
AZMAN Killer Vavoom, created by Miguel Matos: a decadent harmony of extreme delights, with osmanthus and chocolate, fusing East & West
AZMAN I am darkness, created by Nutt Wesshasartat: an innovative take on incense, that summons an upliftingly dark aura
AZMAN Majnoon, created by Prin Lomros: a double oud scent that we shall feast on today
AZMAN Majnoon is a celebration of creativity. Is there any sight more exquisite than a field of intoxicating aromas? It is said that you need little sanity in your mind to get through your day but a lot of magical insanity in your soul to become a well of color and a vivid soul. After all, to be crazy is to be creative, and to be creative is to be in love with life, for creativity is the ultimate spiritual drug. Get a little Majnoon!” -Husen Khan (*Majnoon translates as “crazy” in Arabic)
Prin Lomros
Perfumer Prin Lomros gave AZMAN Majnoon the perfect dosage of “crazy”- the color, kick, conflict, and exuberance, are all there in perfect proportions. On my skin, it does not read as a classical olfactive pyramid, but more of a seamless, flowing story arc. Walking on this thread of associations, I immediately thought of the Syd Field famous quote, and translated it to our scented story: “All drama is conflict. Without conflict, there is no action. Without action, there is no character. Without character, there is no story. And without story, there is no…” perfume!
AZMAN Majnoon by Nicoleta (starring Ysera)
And, oh boy, do we have drama! Delicious, bombastic olfactive drama! The blast-off is mouthwateringly delicious, catching you in a whirlwind of fruits spiked with fiery spices. The main hero is coffee: nutty, slightly caramelized, hot and hedonistic, this coffee absolute is both photorealistic coffee-licious and abstract – as the whole experience smells like coffee feels like: adrenalized, alert, euphoric. The coffee blows the trumpet of the call to action to all the ingredients that join in the dance, lending facets of their personality: the sweet and woody sprinkle of cinnamon, the bittersweet earthiness of nutmeg, the deeply familiar warmness of cloves.
Slowly transitioning to the heart of the fragrance, the abstract coffee note moves from nutty and full-bodied to a more bitter, dark roasted Arabica, thanks to the tonka beans, then to the spicy and smooth Champaca flower, summoning the aura of a concentrated Turkish black tea, with a drop of boozy zing added to it. More conflict ensues, with the “bad guys” flinging the doors open and entering the scene: a tactile leather, a dark middle-eastern interpretation of a scarlet rose, aromatic tobacco, all move menacingly, in slow motion, to an almost audible movie score (think Hans Zimmer’s Dune level of epicness here).
AZMAN Majnoon photo by Nicoleta plus Unsplash collage
We have arrived at the climactic moment of the story- the deliciously “dark night of the soul” of the fragrance: the double oud dose that is “just the tip of the pleasure mountain” – as AZMAN teases us. Like a kaleidoscope of deep, saturated facets, the oud carousel slowly rotates between frames – sweet, syrupy, ripe jammy fruits, sweet hay, deep woods – for a truly intoxicating overdose.
The dry-down moves on a fairly more familiar road, with amber, incense, patchouli, and vanilla tying up all the loose ends and bringing us back to (the new & enhanced) reality, putting everything back in place.
Like every good story, where everything falls into place, and things flow organically, Husen Khan makes it look easy. So you take awesome exotic ingredients, try to balance them to that impossibly narrow line that makes them interesting to a niche snob while having universal appeal and wearability. Then you take the modern minimalist approach while keeping it jaw-droppingly luxurious, and translate it to the whole presentation: fonts, bottle, packaging, and visuals… and it’s done. Lol. No. Not easy!
Chapeau, Mr. Khan!
Top notes: Pomegranate, Saffron, Clove, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Coffee Absolute
Heart notes: Champaca, Rose, Leather, Tobacco, Tonka Bean, Nagarmotha
Base notes: Oud from Thailand (Trat), Oud from India (Assam), Patchouli, Amber, Incense, Vanilla
Nicoleta Tomsa, Senior Editor
Disclosure: Bottle kindly provided by AZMAN, opinions are my own
Read about Azman’s first fragrance “Two minutes after the kiss” reviewed by Senior Editor Lauryn Beer here
AZMAN Majnoon official photo
Thanks to the generosity of AZMAN we have a 50 ml of Majnoon bottle for one registered reader in the EU, UK, U.S. or UAE. You must register or your entry will not count. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what sparks your interest based on Nicoleta’s review of AZMAN Majnoon and where you live. Draw closes 2/16/2022
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