Shams Memo for women and men

Shams is quite an interesting take on the modern-oriental theme. It opens with a very "contemporary" pepper/ginger accord immediately joined by dry-earthy woody/mossy notes (vetiver/nagarmotha), spices and oud. The overall effect is remarkably stark, energizing and balmy at the same time and brings to mind of a successful mash-up bewteen a trendy masculine (such as Bang/Terre) and a more classic oriental a-là Pure Oud by Kilian. Tonka beans and amber start lurking in the back providing some sweetness to balance the harsh opening. In this phase Shams reaches its peak of charme. It's bold but not overpowering, solid and modern, distinctive yet easy to wear. While it's not a sillage monster, it still projects quite nicely.

After a couple of hours or so, oud begins to fade and merges with a moderately sweet labdanum/ambery that takes over till the end (which occurs at 10+ hrs). Overall I'd rank Shams among the most easily approachable oud-based compositions around. Its modern structure makes of it a valid option for anyone looking for a different take on the oriental theme. Very nice.

Rating: 7/10

I first smelled Shams when a SA sprayed it on a test strip - it smelled wonderful! There was pepper and tonka bean together with oud, ginger and some balsamic notes.

On my skin it was different. Still interesting but a lot sweeter than on paper. It seemed like there were gallons of honey in Shams, clinging to my skin for at least 6 hours.
It was rich and warm, I constantly thought of the colour red, heat and embers. In this respect, Shams is the perfect name as it is Arabian for "sun".

I learned not to judge a perfume without trying it several times. So I revisited Shams again and again. This is the result:
- the start is spicy and a bit medical (the typical oud smell). The oud is predominant for the first hour. Nice.
- After one hour Shams starts to resemble Manoa. Still nice but a bit lame.
- After 2 hours you get vanilla and this is mostly it.

I am sure there are other vanilla scents worth trying and a lot of oud fragrances that are better than Shams (take a look at the Montale series or the Arabian nights series by Kilian).

Shams IS nice but not earth shattering.

This is an absolutely gorgeous seductive scent that starts of as a musky peppery fragrance and after about half an hour you start to get the ginger coming through and also the sweet, smokey luscious smell of vetiver. You do not need much of this perfume and it really does last and is a very seductive, sexy fragrance that will have people asking you what that fragrance is as it is very unusual and throughout the day will change slightly in a good way during the dry down and as the hours pass by. This fragrance will easily last a good 5-8hrs without needing to respray and will last the next day minimum on clothes or on your bedding Lol! Yes it is pricey but you don't need much and you won't forget you have it on either because of the subtle change in the fragrance throughout the day. I don't have much of this left but when I have saved a few more pounds I will buy the 75ml size as that will last for ages. It's definitely not for the fainthearted this is for the person that wants to ooze classiness, sexiness and class and wants to tempt people and get them to notice who they are but with subtlety at the same time xxx

Shams became a member of my collection ;) about a month ago. In my opinion it's a quite special oriental fragrance (I do not think it's delicate at all...) starting with a wonderful strong peppery blast with saffron and indeed subtle and not at all harsh or medicinal oud. It's a very strong fragrance and on my skin it lasts forever. The perfumer advised wisely to use it in autumn/winter time because it might be to much for spring/summer weather. My collection is quite big, but I think that Shams will become one of my better colder months fragrances ;)

I was expecting typical Arabian perfume full of oud, roses and dust. Surprisingly it is very delicate and full of light fragrance. The oud and saffron are prominent from the start to the end but they are very well balanced and none is harsh. There is also sweetness in this fragrance as an echo from vanilla and tonka beans. I can classify Shams as a woody delicious. However I like it a lot there is one problem. Sadly it doesn’t last on my skin longer than one hour. After that time the only little sweetness remains and it is detectable if you sniff your skin. Shams is good to have it in the collection if you love perfumes but it is not worth money if you are looking for strong oriental one.