13 reviews for Zahd Slumberhouse

1. 

   Opededumb – 2022-06-29:

   3 out of 5

   If you are looking for one I have a full bottle available PM
2. 

   aleksluka – 2022-06-29:

   3 out of 5

   Zahd is the sixth creation from Slumberhouse I have had the pleasure of smelling – one that was of particular interest as it has been constantly held up as perhaps the great wine fragrance, and also in the differing approach to Lobb’s typical wall-of-notes pursuits.
   To me, Zahd is primarily focused on cranberry, cherry, with the mysterious phantom plum note that many have acknowledged by now morphing from the mixed berries, as if the user is on a psychoactive olfactory trip of one sort of another. The champaca here comes through as a slightly herbal (to me smelling like a sweet tea) which is joined by the oak, cocoa, tolu balsam and sandalwood to create a dark undercurrent which the other notes seem to float atop – as if indeed a tea, where the bottom of the mug holds a darker concentrate from which the pleasant aromas seem to emanate from – although in this fragrance they are indeed differentiated by more than simply concentration and appearance. Occasionally the semi sweet, semi herbal quality conjures archaic breads of sorts; ones made in far off lands and using ancient techniques.
   There are, at the same time, two more affects which this fragrance seems to contain in its totality: the first is a dark, sweet quality which is distinct from the berries and tea – it is an spicy (tolu), (benzoin) ambered-vanillic character that never fully pronounces itself, and instead seems to fall back constantly into a dark undifferentiated sludge whose mediation into the other affect is guided by Trisamber, which adds a dark, woody, ambered quality which brings with it most of the synthetic taste to this fragrance.
   The trisamber also leads into the fir and incense which come across mostly as a smokey quality underneath the primary dualism (think more messy bonfire and less holy frankincense) rather than ever becoming an overt accord or featured note. Together, the two help make up the ‘surrounding’ quality of Zahd, as if making cranberry sauce of some dark and spicy nature on your stove, by heating up the ingredients in a home made, rustic vinegar – a way to understand the affect is as if the smoky, burning and vanillic gourmond elements are in the house already, which is primarily consumed by the now heated elements on the stove (delivered to your nose through a carrier of vinegar) and you might get some idea as to how this fragrance comes across.
   Overall this was quite worth the experience, especially if you maintain a strong interest in exploring Slumberhouse as a whole, or are interested in the aesthetic genius of Joshua Lobb – but it is constantly held back from being among my favorites of his work. In utilizing more clarity in this work focused on more readily accessible memories for most folks, it makes more apparent the synthetic content and occasionally becomes ‘screechy’ on my skin as a result of the ‘lighter’ notes being placed with the other notes which generally occupy a darker space and told to preform just the same.
   6.5/10
   YT: Jess AndWesH
3. 

   Slulkusela – 2022-06-29:

   3 out of 5

   Slumberhouse Zahd marks my only try so far of one of the house’s discontinued scents from years past, and I believe Zahd specifically had a deliberately-limited run of bottles.
   It’s a notable departure from both the other scents from the house I own (Norne, Jeke, Ore, Sova) and have sampled (Pear + Olive, Sadanne, Kiste, New Sibet).
   It smells mainly of fine cherry / red wine, sweet and sultry, and even somewhat alluring. Benzoin contributes a certain creaminess, while champaca lends a floral charm and sophistication. And there is an inherent mixed woodiness supporting the whole fragrance, though I don’t detect one specific woody note of note above all others.
   It features the potency for which Slumberhouse fragrances, in part, are known, exceptional in terms of both projection and longevity, with skin- and clothing-staining potential admonished to me by the kind soul that gave me a sample of Zahd.
   I’m very impressed by Zahd, and the general hype and unusually high prices surrounding it seem to be warranted to an extent, as I’ve never smelled anything quite like it.
   8 out of 10
4. 

   Deneb – 2022-06-29:

   4 out of 5

   Incense soya sauce with cacao melts & red wine.
   I can’t sense the cranberries but there are plums, fir, & sandalwood, but mostly balsamic.
   This one is kind of similar to Sova somehow for that soya note.
   After the calm down, the cacao rise up somehow to a limit beside the tolu balsam, & the red wine.
   It’s quite weird to be honest, but more into the Asian gourmand mixed with wines varieties as i believe the middle and the base notes are quite impressive as i begin to detect coffee ,red wine, & cranberries with slight fir, tolu balsam, & woody notes.
5. 

   slamm – 2022-06-29:

   4 out of 5

   I would love to obtain this if anybody wants to get rid of it please contact me.
6. 

   EYddieU – 2022-06-29:

   5 out of 5

   been using this a bit in the last few weeks, and i’ve *just* figured out what it has reminded me of all this time; poorly prepared mulled wine! my first time trying to make mulled wine i completely botched it up, not enough spice and probably the wrong type of wine!
   deep, rich wine, balsamic resins and coniferous green/woodsy notes. it smells amazingly deep, rich and sophisticated.
7. 

   re1oader – 2022-06-29:

   3 out of 5

   A dear angel of a friend was so very generous to gift me with a smaller-sized bottle of Zahd some time ago. Zahd is so concentrated that this bottle will last me a lifetime. I don’t wear Zahd often, as it is so distinctive and requires a certain mood, I think.
   The dry-down is the best part for me. It has a sweet and slightly sour cherry/cranberry zing, causing me to imagine a homemade wine (mulled maybe). Zahd has a certain ‘rising’ heat quality that I enjoy a lot. This is a very persistent fragrance, and I fear that if one sprays too much, you may smell like a Yankee Candle Shop. But tread carefully with Zahd, and you’ll be rewarded with a spicy fruit elixir, and no doubt find yourself in a Holiday Mood. Excellent!
8. 

   Buggyvos – 2022-06-29:

   5 out of 5

   I’ve had this in my top 5 for some time now so I suppose it’s time for a review. There is a quality to Slumberhouse fragrances that seems to exist within each one, it is a certain depth. Rarely am I able to carve out a single note, the blend is always very complete. Zahd is no exception to this. There is an aspect to it which I have to acknowledge as Cranberry Candle, but that isn’t a bad thing to my nose. It’s the very finest of candles and it does contain that waxy quality. There is also wine, deep, red, fruity, very sweet red wine. But I don’t mean that to imply that this has anything in common with the fruitichouli concoctions common at Kohl’s. This is a sophisticated sort of fruit. The character speaks to the festivities of Christmas, not to mention the color and the presence of cranberry. It’s it’s own sort of package, waiting for it’s mysteries to be discovered a bit more with each wearing. It feels luxurious, like plush velvet and satin drapes. Highly recommended, highly difficult to find. I own two bottles and have often considered selling one, but I simply can’t seem to bring myself to let the second go.
9. 

   maksan – 2022-06-29:

   3 out of 5

   Okay, I went to bed with this fragrance on and nine hours later, it is STILL HERE and softened quite a bit, morphed into a feminine sweet cherry scent. Who knew it would turn so docile and I like it now. Usually, I get little or no longevity with perfumes but it is still humming along in a merry little tune on my skin. This makes me want to look at all of this dudes perfume, as it least by the two examples, he takes you on an olfactory journey. Better then rehashing the same old notes over and over.
10. 

    VVVengerov – 2022-06-29:

    3 out of 5

    I enjoy interesting fragrances. For months I hunted down another bottle of miel de bois, Lutens polarizing tome to honey, but, when I opened this, I shuddered. Firstly, it has an odd betadine tint to it. I can appreciate odd or new ways to use fragrance but this just smells bad. I have never hated a fragrance like this. Forgive me fragrance lovers for this review. I smashed the top notes by rubbing my wrists together as was suggested. Here comes a nondescriptive word, this smells yucky. I do love the sweet, briny juxstaposition of pear and olive. That being said, I am glad people are still trying new things in perfume. When you are always looking and smelling, very few stand out anymore. Ultimately, I am almost wanting to just smell good, whatever that means.
11. 

    Sharley56 – 2022-06-29:

    5 out of 5

    after wearing a few times, i’ve really come to appreciate zahd for what it is: a deep, dark futuristic chypre. the trisamber is brilliantly used (and you need to apply a fair bit for its relative sharpness to recede a bit) in conjunction with creamy sandalwood and serves as foundation to the cocao , cranberry & champaca. its subjective drawback is indeed its versatility or ‘wearabilty’, but that’s ok too. i don’t wear a lot of pregoni out of the house either. josh has created a variation on his ore theme, adding lots of lower strings and a fine brass section. the drydown is dark but elegant. i’m glad i jumped at the chance to get this; if nothing else it is quite unique and masterfully executed. chapeau!
12. 

    Annet_OS – 2022-06-29:

    5 out of 5

    If you’ve smelled anything from the Slumberhouse line, you know that there are some recurring themes that run through Josh Lobb’s creations. There’s a LOT of tobacco to be found in the lineup, and a good percentage of the line skews towards darker, cold-weather friendly scent profiles. There’s one other recurring motif, though, which can be pretty off-putting; A lot of his compositions are front-loaded with so many big, loud notes all clamoring for attention, that until they dry down you get a very distinctive “Yankee Candle” vibe from them, like walking into one of their stores and being hit with a clusterfuck of potpurri and candle smells coming at you from all directions.
    Zahd suffers from this problem.
    At the top, the fruity aspects of the fragrance get drowned out by a chorus-line of gourmand notes. The cacao and benzoin run rampant for the first five minutes, with all the subtlety of a tap-dancing Chris Farley. After they shuffle offstage, the fruity, boozy notes come into play. You get tart, muted cranberry, heavy doses of cherry, a faint hint of plum that just barely registers, and a boozy backbone of what smells like a slightly soured tawny port wine. The problem with this combo is that when you put cherries and plums together with a sweet alcohol smell, you get what is, unmistakeably, cough syrup. More Robitussin than Nyquil. So, progressing from the top to the mid, you have a chocolate cordial candy filled with Robitussin.
    The base of the fragrance though is where it really shines, and redeems some of the missteps found at the top. After the fruity, boozy notes begin to fade, and the benzoin fucks right off, the mysore sandalwood and the attar come out, and balance the composition admirably. The sandalwood acts as a bridge to tie the other notes into place, making them sing harmony with each other instead of shouting each other down. The champaca blows through like a gust of warm air on the first chilly day of autumn, hovering above the rest of the notes and lending the composition with a sense of olfactory perspective and depth. There’s also a peculiar semi-dry sweetness in the base that sort of sticks to your tonsils as you sniff it. I’m tempted to say that might be the milk lactone, but I’m not sure.The main draw in the drydown, however is the Trisamber, an inky black synthetic which drags the cacao and the robitussin accords out behind the shed and blows their brains out, Old Yeller style. Here, finally is the signature Slumberhouse darkness, coming out as an encore after the questionable opening acts.
    The shift in feel from the mid to the base is both visceral, and welcome. After the slapstick feel of the top notes, the lights go down and Zahd changes from a Punch and Judy show to more of a tame burlesque. The fruity notes, that seemed offensive at the top, come across as dry and seductive. The remaining hints of wine mix with the trisamber accord and smell more grown-up and almost a little dangerous.
    The best way to wear Zahd, in my experience, is to spray it on the skin and then massage it in immediately. Work it in and heat it up a bit, and you can accelerate the progression a bit and skip to the more enjoyable parts of the scent. Performance is surprisingly middle-of-the road with it, compared to the nuclear fallout sillage of many of the line’s other bottles, but that’s welcome with this scent. You get the sense that the perfumer was purposefully steering in the opposite direction of the unhinged delirium which marked some of his earlier work (Sova, I’m looking at you.) and going for something a little more subdued and intimate.
    The composition isn’t perfect- The first half of the progression is irritating, bordering on offensive, and while the drydown has it’s pleasures, I felt like it was missing an animalic kick that would have helped anchor it and lent some sensuality (It smells amazing if you wear it while sweating, for example.) It isn’t my favorite from the line (that would be Sana) but it’s a mostly successful experiment, and worth sniffing out if you can somehow get your hands on one of the exceedingly rare bottles.
13. 

    i.klim2012 – 2022-06-29:

    3 out of 5

    While this is as strong as anything Slumberhouse has made prior, the nature of the scent is a little more reserved in the same manner that Ore extrait was more intimate than its prior EdP iteration. In fact, you’ll find that there’s some similarity between Zahd and Ore, and that’s no mistake—they’re aesthetically paired scents. The subtle musky cocoa is present in Zahd, but it’s dialed back quite a bit (more so than Ore) and what takes its place is a rich, mysore sandalwood and attar base that feels incredibly encompassing and warm. But at its core, this is strikingly unusual berry scent, and as those of you who had the opportunity to sample Zahd earlier in the year might recall, it’s a cranberry that walks a fascinating line between tart and dry, and it’s mixed with champaca that gives it an incredible brightness. The heart conjures up images of fireworks for me, but it also has a uniquely Eastern/Indian feel to it. Alongside this, there’s a waxy component that serves as a bridge between the deeper, musky base and the bright mids.
    This is a very rich, swirling, and idiosyncratic fragrance—I’ve smelled nothing like it before. With that said, it’s one of the most wearable scents that Josh has produced as opposed to some of his more extreme compositions. It sits somewhat heavy, but gives off the impression of real delicacy. It’s incredibly unusual, yet also strangely familiar. A masterpiece from the line—but one that doesn’t quite conform to the heavy / dark / rustic aesthetic that you might expect. This is fragrance functioning as art rather than as a functional beauty product.