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Browsing by tag: oud

Amouage Opus V ~ fragrance review

Posted by Angela on 9 May 2011 64 Comments

Amouage Library Collection, Opus V

Amouage describes Opus V Eau de Parfum as a “woody and floral neoclassical masterpiece.” Sure, Opus V stars a beautiful iris and has wood, but how you feel about Amouage Opus V will likely depend on how much you like oud.

Perfumer Jacques Cavallier created Opus V. It has notes of orris, agarwood, rum, rose, jasmine, civet, and dry wood accord. According to Amouage’s PR machine, “the vision and inspiration for this fragrance is the internet and how knowledge and the art of living are shared amongst the glabal community digitally. This fragrance takes inspirations from the exploration of the tradition and classical art of sharing knowledge to how knowledge becomes fragmented in the world of artificial intelligence, and which has become an acceptable way of living nowadays.” (Whew! I bet Jean Claude Ellena is thanking his lucky stars his thematic fragrances for Hermès have to do with gardens.)

When I ponder classical art, the internet, and fragmented knowledge, I come up with the smell of fried transistors…

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The intense, earthy smell of oud

Posted by Robin on 28 April 2011 10 Comments

The designer Tom Ford can take credit for bringing the intense, earthy smell of oud, or agarwood, to the Western mass market, but his Oud Wood perfume simply tapped into a traditional scent used in the Middle East and Asia for thousands of years.

— From For a Coveted Resin, the Scent of Rarity Takes Hold at the New York Times. (But if Tom Ford can take credit for bringing oud to the Western mass market, surely it is because of Yves Saint Laurent M7, not the Private Blend Oud Wood).

SoOud Asmar ~ fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 16 February 2011 40 Comments

Qajar prince
Oud, or (most often) a synthetic chemical resembling its aroma, has established itself as a major fragrance note (and scent category) over the last ten years, but even with all the oud perfumes for sale, few people have smelled authentic oud. I’m guessing most perfume lovers (fanatics) no longer regard oud, or ‘Middle Eastern,’ scents as ‘exotic’ — oud perfumes are just another option in an overcrowded fragrance market. (Personally, I need a break from oud!)

The company SoOud was founded by Stéphane Humbert Lucas of Nez à Nez, who describes himself as a “painter-aesthete” who “writes and sculpts aromas.” The ‘oud’ in SoOud perfumes, if there is any oud in the formulas, is conjured by rich fragrance notes delivered in a Middle Eastern style.

Asmar, “the dusky one,” contains bergamot, white honey, carnation, roasted coffee, amber cigar, Grape marc, amber, tobacco leaf, chamois, musk and vanilla. I like the first minutes of Asmar best: a bold mix of honey and “amber cigar” (a creamy, sweet tobacco note). As the perfume develops, it becomes smoother, more gourmand…

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L’Artisan Al Oudh ~ fragrance review

Posted by Robin on 18 December 2009 68 Comments

L'Artisan Parfumeur Al Oudh fragrance

2009 turns out to be the year of oudh, at least in the niche perfume sector. Let’s see, there was Pure Oudh from By Kilian, and Midnight Oud from Juliette Has A Gun. Czech & Speake relaunched Dark Rose. Le Labo contributed Oud 27, and Bond no. 9 did an oudh for Harrods and then another as their first signature scent, Bond no. 9 Perfume. Indie line Soivohle did Oudh Lacquer, and Micallef did Aoud Gourmet, and Amouage did the Epic duo. Comptoir Sud Pacifique did a quartet (Aoud de Nuit, Aouda, Nomaoud & Oud Intense), but got beat out by the 8 (!) fragrances in the Boadicea the Victorious Oud Collection. For all I know, Montale beat them all — it’s so hard to keep track of new fragrances from Montale that I’ve mostly given up trying.

Al Oudh, L’Artisan Parfumeur’s latest entry from their travels series, thus joins an already overcrowded room. That, plus the fact that perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour is working with a traditional oudh palette of Middle Eastern spices and rose (the notes: cumin, cardamom, pink pepper, neroli, rose, castoreum, civet, leather, musk, oud, sandalwood, Atlas cedar, patchouli, myrrh, incense, vanilla and tonka bean), might make you suspect in advance what turns out to be true: Al Oudh is not the most original or unusual oudh fragrance of the year.

Still, Al Oudh is a bold, very enjoyable outing…

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A parasitic mould

Posted by Robin on 7 December 2009 30 Comments

Try telling people that your perfume contains pungent oil extracted from a thick black resin produced by a parasitic mould and you'll probably get suspicious stares.

But refer to the pungent ingredient as oud and watch their eyebrows rise with interest.

— From As a fragrance ingredient, earthy oud breaks the mould at The Globe and Mail. Kevin is quoted in the 11th paragraph.

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