AbdesSalam Attar - Hindu Kush

During this weekend two perfumes have struggled for and shared my attention. They have some similarities, both of them are dark and heady, but except of that they haven´t got much in common. One of them has followed me when I have been awake and the other one has followed me in my sleep. One of them is modern, refined and extremly elegant while the other is wild, primeval and well, kind of living...

The modern scent I think about is By Kilians Back To Black and I will write about it some other day. The wild, genuine scent is AbdesSalam Attar´s Hindu Kush, and that´s the one I´m going to write about today.

Alright, I was testing AbdesSalam´s Hindu Kush this weekend and was blowned away. The first time I stumbled uppon it I knew I had to try it, something in the name was spell binding on me. Hindu Kush is a mountain area in central-Asia, between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Honestly I had know idea why the name was so alluring to me. I knew that Alexander the Great had passed trough the Hindu Kush mountains on his way to India, and I think his wife was from that area. But I doubt that was the reason for me to be drawned to the name...

Starting to look for pics to the blog and I was originally looking for something with huge mountains and maybe some pittoresque village, but from start I only found pics of marijhuana. Eventually the pics of the people of Hindu Kush started to show up...

Actually it was now the real magic started. Deep among the Hindu Kush mountains one of very few non-muslim people in central-Asia still live, the kalash people. The kalash' religion, culture, clothing but also outer appearance differs a lot from other people in the region. I promise, I could sit here and write about the kalsh people for hours.

Anyway, the perfume Hindu Kush is a perfect background when reading more and more about the kalash people on the internet. The perfume Hindu Kush is wild, untamed, genuin, ancient and not at all made to please. It´s a scent to approach on the scents own terms. Aloof, harsh, smokey and somewhat dirty. At the same time, the scent Hindu Kush are filled with high and clear mountain air, forrest laiden sloaps and unknown herbs. It is the scents of, a totally unknown nature mixed with the scent of a likewise unknown culture. The smell of primitive incense from little shrines in forgotten mountain villages. The smell of people and animals living close together. The perfume Hindu Kush makes all the other perfume of oriental type to smell fake, made to please, as western pop-orientalism. Hindu Kush is the real thing.

To me, Hindu Kush is so great in appearance it gives me a spiritual experience. And, not all together positive. Hindu Kush make me humble, questionable and almost fragile. I can´t really understand how it is possible, at the same time I am drawned to it but also I have to pay tribute when I wear it. I know I could put on a few drops of Hindu Kush and walk out in to the woods and sit down on a rock for hours being totally content...

Hindu Kush has an ability to create a precense, a meditative feeling, a skinlessness almost overwhealming. But then again, I´m quite sensitive...

AbdesSalam Attar´s perfumes are all 100% natural, and I belive it couldn´t be any other way, such emotions couldn´t be done with synthetic materials I think. Usually I´m not some hardcore-enthusiast for only natural perfumery, I think of course that also synthetic scents have it´s place and I am happy that these different kinds of perfumery can excist at the same time.

Hindu Kush has good sillage, and the longvity is nice for a natural perfume, even tough i think the most interesting parts of the perfume fades away quite fast. Maybe that´s as good, since I approach Hindu Kush very serious and that make it kind of demanding to wear.

Pic 1: Ali Seena

Pic 2: Klash fairy girl