1/15/13

Al-Rehab "Al Fares" Alcohol-Free Concentrated Perfume Oil (Crown Perfumes)



Another big thank you to reader LustandFury for bringing a really good fragrance to my attention. He recently commented about Al Fares, and said it smelled rather close to his card sample of Green Irish Tweed, more than Cool Water or Aspen resemble the Creed. Naturally this piqued my interest, so I bought it. I've worn Al Fares a few times, and partially kinda-sorta agree with him. It definitely has a weighty, eighties-styled structure reminiscent of a brisk violet leaf fougère, yet I find it far more similar to Aspen. 

Since Aspen is a lushly coniferous variant of GIT, it's easy to smell Al Fares' relationship to either scent. (CW doesn't factor in as much, although there are some inevitable parallels to it as well.) My final conclusion regarding this oil is that it's actually a near-perfect clone of Eternity for Men, with a sprightly twist of wintergreen pervading its lovely heart.

One could splice Aspen's crisp, minty pine-sap top note with Eternity's woody base, connect the ends with an identical lavender note, and end up with Al Fares. In this regard you're getting the best of both worlds, while creating a whole new thing. But the latest version of Eternity actually has a brightened-up lavender, so any difference in smell is regrettably minimized. Al Fares is more successful in cloning Eternity than Cuba Paris Grey, which opted to transplant its progenitor's bulk with an airier Calone note. I think a better course of action in cloning is to take the template's strong point and amplify, even to the point of distortion, and that's what Al-Rehab did by greening up the lavender and intensifying it enough to stretch it across eight solid hours. 

If you're in the market for the finest extant clone of Eternity, one which captures with total accuracy the depth of that scent's original formula while nodding to the genius of Aspen's refreshing spirit - kind of a two-in-one classic mish-mash deal - then I heartily recommend this perfume oil. It won't disappoint. However, if you want a lighter, fruitier interpretation of Eternity, Cuba Grey may still be the way to go. Al Fares is stronger, heavier, and reminds me of why I avoid wearing Eternity: I don't like it. Adding a clean-green accord makes it much more attractive, though. I'll certainly wear Al Fares whenever I'm jonesing for Aspen (I'm all out of Aspen).

One more thing: I must say that I find it funny to encounter an Arabian perfume company that so nonchalantly shirks its geographical associations with exotic spices, rich incense, dark floral arrangements, and medicinal woods, to copy two cheap and immeasurably popular American frat house "fresh" fragrances. I know Al-Rehab's other scents are more characteristically Middle Eastern, but Al Fares suggests the guy under the Keffiyeh is Van Wilder. It's nice to know they have a sense of humor.