To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
LisaSilver – :
Delicious resin powder. I rather love but it’s too powdery for me to want a full bottle, as I really don’t like wearing powdery fragrances. This one is gorgeous though.
student2110 – :
GORGEOUS!
SIMPLY like the sweetest Musk Candy stick – fresh not powdery as such because of the florals – very natural.
High quality oriental, very feminine but very wearable for men.
A novelty for me – sadly can’t imagine wearing it for an occasion…
le107 – :
“…and if I were to choose a home,
I would say:
My home is your love.
And if I were to forget you,
my heart would forget me.
And if I lost my way,
I would live in your eyes.”
Farouk Goweedah
My hypnotic fascination with Khôl de Bahreïn is grounded in the marriage between its Orient-informed inspirations and its cosmopolitan sensibilities and contemporary execution. Yet, mysteriously, it remains as intangible and far away as a mirage of distant shores in the middle of a desert. Khôl de Bahreïn tempts with promises of sweet delight simultaneously examining the smell of beauty as well as the beauty of taste.
Straight up there are intensely sweet and smoky resins dipped in creamy golden-ambered warmth. Enter a lipstick-like iris, the diva of the show – rich, soft and buttery, underscored by a briny and iced ambergris, which works to prevent the balsamic wrapper from melting the waxy and powdery protagonist. There is a clever and very peculiar balance at work here between the hot and the cold – a joyous and rather unique give and take between do-not-touch and go-ahead-and-eat-me. As the composition settles there is a thoroughly intriguing juxtaposition of the contrasting sensations of the warm complexion of perfectly groomed facial skin enriched by make up on one hand and that of sweet and chilled, toffeed and orange zest infused baklava with just a sprinkling of crushed almondy pistachio on the other.
It is precisely because I imagine Khôl de Bahreïn being worn by a very particular type of woman that I claim it for myself and this is where the circle to Goweedah’s poem closes for me.
gaus – :
A gorgeous Floriental with the SHL signature all over it. So many wonderful reviews below here so I will keep this one brief. The central notes are that of violet and iris which are blended with tolu and peru balsam, sandalwood, ambergris, and musk. The resulting bright sweet juice is an Arabian nights fantasy come true with pronounced sillage, projection and longevity. A bit feminine leaning, the fragrance exudes warmth, luxury and is simply beautifully blended with natural ingredients. An exotic sweet confection of the highest order!
Dachnik200970 – :
Swoon-worthy iris perfume. A very pretty fragrance and also very delicious. At first it smells like iris with traces of violet. It’s odd at first because there is something that smells like rock candy, but it’s a bit synthetic, almost metalic in a way. Luckily the notes really start to melt into one another as the fragrance takes on a ton of peru balsam, which I love adding to my home-made lotion bars and lip balms because of its sweet, vanilla-choccolate aroma, similar to cocoa butter. The fragrance starts to smell like white chocolate. It gives me flashbacks to Iris Ganache but a little sweeter and without any patch or suede.
In the drydown, it starts to smell very arabian, reminding me of Montale’s Red Aoud, another perfume with a strong white chocolate note. I swear that rose is missing from the pyramid here because it doesn’t smell like iris and violet could be the only florals in such an arabian-style fragrance. In this stage I also pick up sandalwood. At no point do I notice any ambergris, one of my favorite notes, and one which is featured in a couple of my perfumes. I have also smelled the natural thing on its own. No trace of it here, so I have to assume it’s synthetic ambergris, but whatever. It’s a gorgeous perfume!
I know that a lot of people like myself are always seeking those waxy lipstick and powder perfumes, but this does not fit that bill for me because it’s mostly gourmand and arabian. I had hopes of waxy lipstick but the base is white chocolate and more white chocolate, which is great since white chocolate is one of my favorite notes.
I like Kohl de Bahrein because I like sweet vanillas sometimes, and it’s along those lines but a lot more elegant due to all of the iris. At times I wish there was some leather, but there are other nice perfumes on the market that do the iris/violet/leather combo, so this one stays lighter and unique. The overall vibe is very chic, like French perfume with an Arabian twist. Love it.
roh279elipseskism – :
This is very well done and probably beautiful for those who like this kind of thing. It reminded me of Shalimar and Unum’s Opus 1114. It’s amber-y, powder-y and ambergis-y
Meens022JeomiWogkig – :
Lush, sultry, woody, sweet—I’ve never sniffed anything quite like this. The one that comes to mind off the top of my head (for it’s rich Oriental quality) is Aqaba Classic. Kohl de Bahrein is more delicate and evocative, yet still lush enough to satisfy any gourmand lover. Silage is immense, longevity (even with light application) is impressive…over 12 hours and still going strong.
dedmazai – :
JTD nailed it. This is a luscious cosmetic gourmand that sublimely developes over the course of the day. Sweet but not nauseatingly so. It has exceptional staying power and is sooo intoxicating. Compliments galore! A serious contender to my beloved signature. ❤
marianna306 – :
I couldn’t wear this fragrance in the summer time, too hot and humid here in NC for this powdery cake bomb! Today, on this cool and bright fall day, it’s a different story. Khôl de Bahreïn reminds me of the dessert, Turkish Delight, heavy on the powdered sugar, rose water with a bit of crashed iris candies. I inhale it deeply, enjoying the resins, ambergris and sandalwood, and while it dries down, it becomes less gourmand with the musk and peru balsam taking over. The scent is sweet but in a good way, balsamic and very creamy, sometimes becoming an old school lipstick and makeup powder, only to be rerouted to a more sultry amber scent.
The longevity is fantastic! I smell it on my clothes and my hair even the next day. Sillage is pretty good, but it doesn’t overwhelm anyone with the powdery notes.
HaundaLat – :
Stephane Humbert Lucas is definitely one of the best perfumery house from nowadays.I can say that because its line is not that vast.I’ve tried them all,profusely.Each one had its singularity,dna and quality.Niche is the best word to match it up.
This one isn’t an exception.We have all those notes attached with a quality seal. Extracted resins from rare Eastern trees,salty natural ambergris,luxury powder nuances from iris/violet flower and astonishing sandalwood gives an woody/creamy feeling.
Everything looks perfect,everything looks magic.But guess what?!?!Like the Brazilian soccer team,each member is out of this world,description is almost unfair.However,chained together the result is out of control,like every member was trying to caught more eyes,every ego popping higher than its limit.
On the one hand a dark masculine vibe,enhanced by a cozy balmy sensation,by the other hand a powdery grandma feeling dragged by a loud cloying note of chocolate.
The team have won by 1×0,nothing convinced though.
10 for its quality,5 for the scent.
vova75 – :
Dark and sweet floral-resin! Nice perfume,very charismatic. After a few minutes I feel something dusty/ acid in the background, a inkling of fresh makeup but solid thanks to the very evident resins. Scent of contrasts between the ancient and the modern,the sillage is great and very good longevity. Recommend you try…I like and I think I’ll buy !! beautiful!
Sillage: 8.5/10
Longevity: 8./10
Scent: 8.5/10
Overall: 8.5/10
Ilidan – :
jtd described it perfectly.
Just want to add one thing; the name – Khol de Bahrein – is a beautiful name for a perfume, but it doesn’t fit this particular fragrance. First impression was underwhelming and let me tell you why – I expected something darker and much sweeter, with heavier basenotes. I see other reviewers had the same issue.
This exquisit creation smells so French and for its quite different (soft iris, warm amber and musk yet fragile, with tender gourmand notes, ambergris keeping it from becoming too frivolously sweetish) character I unfairly misjudged it as inferior.
Luckily, I gave it another chance and it grew on me as soon as I realized what it is – a tender, classy oriental with a gourmand touch, just what I was looking for.
Arxangel21 – :
A gourmand-cosmetic perfume might not sound like the ideal hybrid fragrance, but Khol de Bahrein is convincing. It is a candied floriental of middle-eastern extraction with iris, violet and heliotropin dipped in amber and incense. The range of resins and flowers is calibrated to create an image of sweets ranging from dragées to nougat and pistachio baclava to orange blossom cakes.
The amber-incense heart is melodic and lightly smoky, less a campfire, more the burnt edges of a cake. Heliotropin’s marzipan aroma hints at vanilla around every corner but you never come eye to eye with it. The buttery aspects of the flowers become embedded in the resin so that scent and texture become linked. The contrasting tones converge elegantly and create a perfume that has a distinctive ‘feel’ for lack of a better word, powdery and oily at the same time like the feeling of pollen on your fingers.
Khol de Bahrein is thick and matte yet light, like the powder of a compact that can be applied lightly or heavily for different effect. The list of notes is like the ingredients in a recipe. They tell you about flavors, or in this case aromas, but give little indications about the texture of the end product. The long arc could allow it to be mistaken for a linear perfume, but on close inspection there is a slow, steady progression, an olfactory inertia that gives the perfume an optimistic and luxurious sense of endless heartnotes. The fugue-like progression of candied notes brings Khol close to loukoum, but it cleverly avoids the cloying sweetness or fly-in-amber inescapability of the loukoum perfumes.
Khol de Bahrein could be compared to Shalimar. It has iris and vanillic amber but it lacks Shalimar’s harp-strumming melodrama and heavy velvet stage curtains. A better comparison is Jicky, little less dense than Shalimar but still forceful. Kohl de Bahrein avoids Jicky’s overt animalism but the sweet leather base gives it a comparable shadowy quality. Like Jacques Guerlain, Stephane Humbert Lucas defines the oriental perfume as a near-gourmand experience.
from scenthurdle.com
SnegSS – :
I agree with Shenandoah in that I, too was expecting a darker, more mysterious scent in Khol de Bahrein. The first few times I wore KdB, I was surprised and actually not crazy about the scent. So I pushed my nice sized decant to the rear of my decants.
Last evening, I wore it again. This time, I understood its’ appeal and really enjoyed wearing it.
Now, you may think me crazy, but it reminds me a lot of Shalimar Parfum Initial!! All evening I kept thinking, what does this remind me of??? Then it hit me. Yup. Shalimar Parfum Initial. Maybe it is the sweet and powdery aspects of both. Tonka/caramel in SPI = the “sweet notes” and resins of KdB? I dunno. But, crazy or not, I stand by my comparison.
To me, both are lovely scents. One pricey, one not. I’m glad to have my decant of this. When I run out, for a very similar feel, you know what I’ll be wearing. 😉
VOVA28058 – :
When I first heard the name ‘Khol de Bahrein,’ I must admit that I was expecting a darker, more mysterious scent with notes of smoke and resins. Even after I read the notes, I was anticipating a resinous amber with hints of sandalwood. Instead, this is an iris-violet powder bomb of epic proportions on my skin. It reminds me of a less candied Meteorites. Fans of makeup-scented perfumes will most likely love this fragrance, but as I am generally not a fan of powdery scents, this one is not for me.
tubykeype – :
Wow, what a lovely scent! So smooth, luxe, and sweet. There are so many facets to this linear yet complex fragrance.
It does evoke cosmetics while retaining this vanillic almond-y gourmand feel, like loukhoum. I’d probably place this in the same category as French Kiss and Lipstick On, which also contain both accords. This one seems to be nuttier though.
It is also kind of like Ombre Mercure in a way, has a similar warm, luxe, exotic feel. OM is one of my absolute favorite scents, it has nearly all my fave notes but lacks one very critical one: heliotrope. Heliotrope can evoke makeup, almonds, or vanilla. Here in Khol de Bahrein it (or a resin that appears to be like it) takes on all 3 characteristics. Almost like OM with almond but no sandalwood (which has turned off some people). If OM disappointed you for this reason, please give this a try!
KdB, I’d say, is more vanillic than floral, powdery makeup-esque but not waxy. Has a Teint de Neige/Jivago Sweet Dreams feel too: heliotrope with classic white Dove soap. I also think of Rochas Tocade and Tonatto Dama when I smell it, and more distantly, Calligraphy Rose.
But the number one perfume it reminds me of is none other than Guerlain Oriental Brulant. I compared the two, the drydowns are nearly identical to my nose. They do differ in opening notes. OB is spicier and fruitier, while KdB is smoother and nuttier. But they both, overall, smell like pure Guerlinade to me!
Along with Ombre Mercure and Calligraphy Rose, KdB is one of my most favorite Guerlain scents that Guerlain never made lol.
At this time, however, I don’t think I’d buy a full bottle of it. Ombre Mercure and Jivago Sweet Dreams are my perfect makeup and Dove soap scents, respectively.
All in all, this is a very fascinating scent, because it takes all of my favorite accords in perfumery and combines them into one perfume, thus reminding me of so many others that I like or love.
If I ever develop a lemming for Oriental Brulant (or more generally speaking, a scent that’s Guerlinade from start to finish), I’d choose this. It’s cheaper too!
cykalov sergo – :
I’m kind of divided about this one. Maybe i expected to love it based on the enthusiasm i saw, but it didn’t make me feel this way once i have applied it on my skin. It seems luxurious with something like an ancient aura made polished and modern, but for me it still has that standard golden amber aura that you get when you make a base of labdanum, benjoin, vanilla and musk. Maybe because i’m not so fond of amber aromas they stick like a sore thumb on all the fragrances i try that has them. But still, at least this is not heavy on those or on any other ambery material, which lets me appreciate the velvet iris, the slightly sweet violet which seems to be completed by a quick sugary note. It’ s for me a kind of comfort, cashmere scent, but it lacks anything really exciting. I’d comfortably go through a decant, but would get sick of wearing an entire bottle of it.
Frodo-Max – :
Since there are no reviews here I feel obligated…
I got a sample of this in an eBay lot bid of marked LuckyScent 1ml’s. I blind test most samples, and all I thought of this was, “very vintage labdanum-based amber, too heavy for my taste. Almost has a styrax heaviness underneath and the powdery vintage vibe I associate with it”. More than 30mins in now there is a definite sweetness rising below that, and a powdered iris edge too. Still, a heavy vintage powdered amber (which I guess is actually a heavy ambergris compound, but since both are lab creations it makes sense I often confuse a heavy amber for an ambergris) dominates, and that’s simply not my cup o’ tea. Sillage seems mod-heavy, longevity yet to be determined but it appears potent.
[10.2.14]