This fragrance was a bit of a "hypebeast" phenom for the Reddit and YouTube crowd when it was released in 2024, and continues to enjoy massive popularity with the under-thirty set particularly. Lattafa is a reputable Dubai-based concern known for their florid packaging and commercial success in duping designer and niche brands, and yet Angham is a Lattafa oddity, in that it seems to be its own thing entirely. I find it refreshing to encounter a fragrance by this brand that isn't overwhelmingly duping or modding something else. Sometimes a little originality is needed.
The hype was based on a widespread perception that Angham was a dupe of Burberry Goddess (2023), with countless influencers rumoring its likeness as being nearly 1:1 with Amandine Clerc-Marie's creation. However, poke a bit deeper into the chattering morass, and you'll find a fair number of people who either unwittingly debunk the comparison, or outright declare that Angham isn't really close to Goddess at all. Having only smelled Angham, it's tough for me to weigh in definitively, but I can say this: Angham does not really match the pyramid or stated impressions of Goddess, from what I can smell. Goddess is apparently a punchy lavender-forward floral that warms into a smooth vanilla base, with hints of cocoa and ginger, while Angham is gingery-citrus with a velvety floral-vanilla drydown. I get a linalool lavender (reconstruction) with a very brief snap of super-light citrus and transparent ginger in the opening accord, which rapidly segues into a nondescript non-gourmand vanilla base, and it's linear for the remaining twelve hours on skin and fabric. Ethyl-maltol is definitely in the mix, as are a blend of woody musks that manage to oscillate between floral and synth-sandalwood, the kind of lizard-brain-says-expensive sweetness that could not offend if it tried. Projection is so-so.
If you're after an undeniably classy crowd-pleasing vanilla perfume, Angham is a solid option, albeit a boring one. I'm sorry, but vanilla is vanilla. Of more interest to me is the marketing angle Lattafa took with this stuff. For one thing, they named it after Egypt's biggest female radio star, which kind of makes Angham a "celebuscent" even if Angham herself has nothing to do with it. The brand leans into this by attaching a chromed metal musical staff imprinted with notes and a G-clef, a design that extends onto the chromed metal cap. Great idea, but one problem—the little square in the center with the fragrance's name makes the whole thing look like a big Band-Aid. The line of the cap's base meeting the bottle even matches the spot where you pull and peel before applying to a minor wound. A textbook case of a good idea badly executed.