Question:
For a radical departure from French perfumery, featuring unusual dry, woody scents, unique spicy, fruity, florals, and some goregous amber, the Madini oils offer strongly-fragrant, reasonably-priced line of fragrances. These are all-natural, yet they are complex, skillful compositions, not simple essential oils.

Time to challenge your nose? This review takes you from the easiest to the most unusual scents...
The beautiful, sweet, vanillic amber scents of Sahara, Olive Flowers, and Alma di Alma are closest to the European ideal of Orientals. Olive Flowers is "Mr. Madini's answer to Shalimar" with its amber-citrus-frankincense-opoponax composition, being resinous and vanillic--and utterly gorgeous. Alma di Alma forgoes the woodiness of the resin to create an amber-citrus-musk that is absolutely delicious. My favorite, Sahara, is similar with its amber-citrus-myrrh, comparatively dry/sweet and very aromatic. There is a fascinating note, perhaps the type of citrus, or an unlisted floral.
A step away from the Western tradition are the spicy-fruity-florals. Azahar is an orange blossom fragrance, but it incorporates an unusual herbal aroma to create an almost dry, soapy, clean presentation. The best part is a musty, resinous base note that elevates this fragrance beyond the typical sweetness that dominates most orange-blossom scents. This note is commonplace in Eastern fragrance/cuisine, yet it will impress us as bold and unique. Don't be mislead by the name of Henna. It is the henna flower that is featured, not the powdered leaves used for dye. This is a highly likeable, fruity (apple/mango), sweet, honeyed flower similar in some ways to Nag Champa. Salma is described as an ancient Saudi blend of spices and amber. The best part is an amazing spicy peach or melon in the base. Autumn is the sweetest of the category, described as Arabian spices but coming off as tangy, fruity, almost candylike and youthful. All were enjoyable.
Emerging into the un-sweet Madinis, we are introduced to more surpirsing fragrances that are every bit as enjoyable. Soulimane is a complex mix of sunny, dry, lemony, fresh ingredients that impress me as clean, soapy, and spicy, similar to the esteemed Etro Shaal Nur, which recalls the freshness of a man's shaving kit. The list of ingredients is long, including artemesia, coriander, citron, cinnamon, jasmine, clove, carnation, amber, and vanilla. Mokhalate Malaki is listed as an oud-chypre-rose-saffron fragrance, but it defies this description. There is a bitter, herbal, woody opening from the oud, followed by a green, fresh rush of rain, tangy rose, and watery lotus, and perhaps a pungent flower like lilac. Both of these must be tried on the skin to appreciate their truly unique beauty.
Form here we move into the most unusual, exotic scents--those which offer little or no sweetness. I cannot overemphasixe how interesting and different these fragrances are. They are in the Arabian tradition. Please do not expect sweet perfume. Open your mind and be rewarded.
Maderas de Orient is a great cedar fragrance, bittersweet, deep, well-blended, soft and woody. The notes feature Atlas cecdar, Oriental woods, and Moroccan blossoms with hardly a touch of sweetness and very rewarding on the skin. Hanane smells like nothing you have ever smelled before. The dark, reddish liquid is strong, pungent, deep, salty, mossy, complex, bittersweet, redolent of dried leaves, and very woody. It is described as a Balsamic composition with a long list of ingredients including, galbanum, tuberose, red rose, jasmine, clove, sandalwood, patchouli, amber, and musk. It smells like none of these ingredients. The development is clever, and it becomes more attractive as you wear it, ending up smelling very outdoorsy, natural, and compelling. Chypre comes out of the bottle dark green-black in color. It is sharp, tangy, clean, dry, warm, very earthy, and somewhat green. To me, it smells nothing like its description as a woody, musky, floral; rather more like green twigs and spruce needles. Again, it needs time on the skin to develop. Santal Blanc was the most unexpected fragrance in the group. Billed as sandalwood "nothing more, nothing less" it is light, dry, pungent, non-sweet, and earthy. If this is what real sandalwood smells like, I have received an education.

Answer:
What an informative and lovely post. These oils sound so beautiful, esp. the spicy ones. I will definitely have a look at the site, and thanks for the great info!

Answer:
Fantastic post... Fingers crossed that they will post to Australia! I"m off to do a goggle search on Madini Oils. Cheers!

Answer:
Great post, Beautiful Bird!!
My samples arrived today and - having the day off tomorrow - I am going to start the day with a shower and a layer of jojoba oil and dive in....if I can wait that long.
The names of the fragrances in their match-book style cards are hand-lettered!! Don't you love it!
For those wanting to know more you can go right to http://www.madini.com.
See you tomorrow! Think we're in for a treat!

Answer:
Thank you purplebird7 for that enlightening write-up. I had not even heard of Madini Oils, but they do sound wonderful.

Answer:
Madini perfumes are amazingly powerful. Probably four to six times more powerful than an alcohol based perfume.
I have Azahar (beautiful, clean and simple), Ambergris (definitely not real ambergris, but an interesting amber-ish scent nonetheless - extremely potent), Almhakoutab (strongly herbal and masculine, reminds me of an old cologne I can't put my finger on), and Sahara (a beautiful, dry blend of Amber, Myrrh and Citron - my favourite by far). The last two are probably better for men, but I could see a women pulling off Sahara if it's lightly applied or layered with something else.

Answer:
Purplebird, what a great post you wrote. Thanks!
You've made me quite interested, so I'm off to the website.

Answer:
You're a national treasure, purple, poetic bird.

Answer:
Well, of course I couldn't wait and went to bed in Mango and great hopes. (Love mango!)
First whiff is fresh and green, quickly a flowery fruit appears - but it isn't mango, it's more like a citrusy apricot! And very subtle. With that lovely "Arabian Nights" undertone that I identify as - maybe - frankincense?
This is a really pretty fragrance, not especially long lasting and not ever mango.
This morning Shadow on one arm - and Sun on the other! Love Shadow - almost a true fougere with a slight hint of smoke. The site says leather as well - on me it takes a few hours to put in an appearance. Sun has lots of herbs and lavender over woods and reminds me of de Nicolai's Provence only more anchored. I will definitely invest in this one.
These Madinis are a real find for me - they have the "solidity" and luxe of the old timey frags. Many many thanks to The Purple Bird!!!

Answer:
Quote: Originally Posted by Arvydas ...I could see a women pulling off Sahara if it's lightly applied or layered with something else. Sahara is my favorite. I own it and wear it by itself.
My first tester came in a swap, and I didn't even know it was from Madini's men's section. It's an amber fragrance, and the Madini ambers are vanilla-like, so I think it is more feminine than masculine!
And yes, all of these need to be applied lightly because they are strong. They are fairly priced, considering their strength.
--------------------------------------
All of you, thank you for your kind words.
I am happy that my reviews are of value to you.
What is discovery without disclosure?
What is enjoyment without sharing?
Here's my idea:
I am sending these on to Tao Lady. Please PM her if you want the Madini Oils, and she will mail them to the next person who asks.
In the package, she will put the list of people who want the samples.
Everyone who gets them, cross her name off and PM the next person for her address. Send it on.
We will keep going until the samples run out.
If you want to replenish the samples or try different ones, order some more samples and put them in the mailing envelope before you pass it on.
Just use a little of each.
Let's see how long it can go.
Let's see how many Madini reviews we can put into the directory.