Carpintero

Admittedly, the title does not promise anything positive, resonates just with the word Maybe a relatively negative connotation.

Years ago, there was once an article about Generation Z, there titled "Generation Maybe", and was about the fact that this generation Maybe has lost itself in the either-or, can not decide, has no answer to any question, would not like to commit.

Why this title and the reference to an article about this generation?

Because Oud Fleur represents exactly that, but without any negative connotations, but full of euphimisms: either-or.

On another platform I read that this could just as well be a DUA hybrid:
Tobacco Oud mixed with Rose Prick.

But is it?

Let's start from the beginning, with the purchase: I acquired the fragrance last week in Zurich, when in a well-known specialty store was just sale and I could purchase the admittedly beautiful 100 ml bottle for under 250 euros.

At home sprayed on me boomed first of all a huge load of spiced oud. Some speak of associations with Tom Ford's London - and these are also absolutely not to be dismissed, even if the cumin (fortunately) is completely absent here and instead cardamom and coriander are to be perceived. Above all, however, the oud is here the tone-setting unit, which makes this fragrance seem extremely loud, strong and masculine in the first moment.

In the next moment, however, the floral units already come into play: here, however, in my opinion, some went wrong with the naming - the so floral a rose may also be, so much all other floral chords are completely missing.
A juicy, completely dark and mysterious rose enters the ring, which wants to fight a battle with the spicy oud. So at least the first impression.
The rose is thereby full-bodied, mysterious, dirty and so not at all sweet and tender. No, the is not only here to play - To fight but also not.
Because she prefers to cuddle.

In the heart, rose and oud unite, complement each other, support each other and hold each other. Completely in harmony they linger - just as if they had been hybridized. So after all Tobacco Oud and Rose Prick?

No. It's not that simple.
Tobacco Oud is beautiful. Rose Prick is beautiful. And they would be the parents of a beautiful child, guaranteed. But should they ever have an offspring, Oud Fleur will not be his/her name.

Oud Fleur is more complex, deeper, more mature than that.
Even if individual chords over and over again remind of the spicy, striking Booziness paired with pipe tobacco and exotic oud, and other chords quite evoke associations with the most seductive rose that the house of Ford has to offer, Oud Fleur does something quite brilliant in the later course:

Sandalwood give the fragrance in the drydown a wonderfully adult, profound and confessed character, which clearly distinguishes the Oud Fleur from all other oud-rose combinations. Completely detached, down-to-earth and sophisticated appears the wonderful combination of rough, spicy, edgy oud with the juicy, dark and dirty rose after the sandalwood brings the fragrance the necessary creaminess, smoothness and calmness into play.
Incidentally, sandalwood is also a component of Tobacco Oud - just in passing.

But that's not all. In the further course of the drydown comes another, completely unexpected component: patchouli. No damp, musty basement patchouli, but real power work: sexy, wicked and dust-dry. This note rounds off the oud-rose combo paired with the sandalwood wonderfully, gives it the final touch, roughens the polished sandalwood again a bit and gives the fragrance once again a very seductive character - nix Maybe, but Definitely Definitely.
Again: Patchouli is a note found in both Tobacco Oud and Rose Prick.

So is it a hybrid after all?
No. It's a standalone, beautiful, and incredibly special fragrance from the house of Ford. Spicy oud, juicy-dirty black rose, deep and elegant sandalwood paired with the necessary wickedness and sexiness of patchouli.

One could think, all the wonderful elements of Tom Ford fragrances have united in this fragrance: Tobacco Oud and Rose Prick right in front, London and Santal Blush a little more in the midfield and Patchouli Absolu in the back rows.
- And yet a very unique fragrance.

The fragrance of the generation Maybe?
No. Definitely not. And yet Oud Fleur beautifully represents indecision, the question of meaning and the eternal back and forth between either and or.

But what is the answer to that?
Does it always need one? - I ask back.
Oud Fleur does not want to be understood, I am convinced of that. Not every question needs an answer. Not every decision needs to be made. Not everything needs to be committed to.
Sometimes it is enough to pause for a moment and enjoy. Existence, life, love and the feeling of not having to have an answer to everything.
And in this moment, it needs a confessed companion - and that is Oud Fleur.

Professionally, it always takes me to the USA, especially to the West Coast and there especially to Los Angeles.

So it's no wonder that I have already discovered my "Favourite Hotspots" for myself. One of these spots is Café Berlin in Long Beach: A small, hip and so cozy café with the best avocado fried egg toasts you can get in LA. So there I sat on this beautiful sunny Friday morning and had just helped myself to two of the highly touted toasts, "tan picante como siempre" as I had instructed Jorge, the Mexican waiter. I was taking another indulgent sip of that perfect Colombian coffee when a young lady sat down at the table opposite.

The sight of her literally flashed me: light brown, straight, long hair, brown eyes with a slight tinge of green, and such a beautiful, no, flawless and innocent face. I must have literally stared. She looked at me and returned my gaze immediately. I looked away, embarrassed. Had she noticed my far too intense gaze?

I couldn't stop looking at her over and over. How could a person be so beautiful? And by beautiful, I mean really beautiful. Not pretty, not sweet, not cute. No, just naturally beautiful.

One more time she looked at me. I gestured to Jorge that I wanted to pay, and Jorge, as usual, brought the bill with a casual quip "Carbron, cuando regresas?" (When are you coming back?) - "Te veo otra vez el mes q viene".
"Why is your Spanish so perfect?" - She asked. "Cos I grew up in South America" - I said.
[The following conversation is in English.]
"Wow, you don't look particularly South American" - she replied.
At that moment, a huge cloud of bitter orange and bergamot wafted over to me. The cloud was so strong, so intrusive, that for a moment I even regretted answering her. Actually just about to leave, I sat down at her table for a moment, unbidden.

I'm just a scent person, a man who immediately notices all smells. And on her, I noticed this extremely strong bitter orange-bergamot note, paired with a slightly alcoholic note, kind of like a disinfectant. Mind you, all of this takes place in 2017, well before Corona.
In addition to the citrusy and alcoholic notes, I also detected cumin and a slightly cooling cardamom, plus some pepper. Whereas the pepper could have come from the fried egg she ordered, which she just generously crammed in.
"This is delicious even without spices" - I said. "Greg uses chili oil to fry it" - I added.
"You come here often?" - She asked, looking at me with her beautiful brown eyes. Had I already told you that they had a slight green tint?
Like freshly harvested pistachios. About that green.
I told her that I'm always here when I'm in LA. "What city are you from? London?" - She asked me with her golden accent.
"Originally yes, but I live in Zurich. And you?" - she stared at me. Her innocent smile suddenly turned into a wide grin all over her face, "Vo wo chunnsch seisch?" - she said in perfect Lucerne German.
She was also from Switzerland. So that was the solution to the mystery of why she had that accent.

We talked for a while longer, she told me about her job as a flight attendant, about how she was constantly traveling the world and which places she loved the most. And I told her about my life, about the encounters and about my favorite places, in and around Los Angeles.

As we talked, our eyes kept meeting. And with each glance, it became clearer to both of us that we were in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.

"Glaubsch as Schicksau?" - I asked her. "Söllemer go?" - she replied.
She paid and we went out the door, walked haphazardly for a few blocks through Long Beach, talking about how wonderful Los Angeles just was.
As a matter of course, I took her by the hand and as I did, I noticed soft notes of orange blossom, jasmine and tuberose. Very subtle, very loose, very light. Those powerful notes from the beginning were gone and all that remained were those seductive floral notes, that light freshness, that lightheartedness like a glorious summer day. Only the pepper, which I now clearly attributed to her perfume, paired with some citrus background melody still gave the fragrance something wicked, something provocative, some sexiness, if you will.

We walked down to the beach, to Long Beach.
While we were talking like this, realizing that we have so incredibly much in common, she stopped at one point and looked me straight in the eye. "Gseh mer üs, wenn mer beide wieder i de Schwiiz si?" (Will we see each other when we are both back in Switzerland?).
I just smiled, pulled her to me and went to give her a kiss. During this move, I realized how rushed that would actually be and just hugged her lovingly. As I did so, I noticed how seductive her perfume really smelled. On top of the fresh citrusy notes and the light-hearted floral summery notes and the subtle wickedness, I now noticed warming amber and extremely seductive vanilla.
When I let go of her again, she looked at me and I couldn't help but kiss her.
Even though the kiss didn't last long, it went on for what felt like an eternity to me. And when I opened my eyes again and looked at her, she just said casually "I thought you would never kiss me".

Without comment we moved on, holding hands, watching the waves, stopping every now and then to kiss or hug and I never wanted this moment to end.
But it did end. And so so soon, at just before 2pm to be exact.

She glanced at the clock and was horrified to find that she had to get back to the hotel urgently, as she had to get ready for her flight.
Realizing that we had almost run all the way to Huntington Beach from all the talking and romance, I offered to order her an Uber. On the side of the road we waited, kissing again and again, and I just never wanted that Uber to arrive. Once again I held her, smelling all the gorgeous notes, but now especially the amber and deep vanilla that now seemed to dominate everything.

When the Uber arrived, she got in with her head almost bowed, "I'll see you in Zurich" - I assured her, closed the door for her and knocked on the roof of the car.

She drove off.
A hint of floral citrus with some vanilla and amber still clung to me now. The rest was gone, Evi, the scent, all the magic and somehow the hope of ever seeing her again.
An unexpected, beautiful date I had experienced, five hours with Evi in LA, a hot summer flirtation, romantic, provocative, attractive and outrageously sexy.

What happened next?
We met again in Zurich, only the magic of the moment was gone. It didn't last long.
Unlike her, however, her scent moved in with me: Tom Ford's Eau de Soleil Blanc.
Like our romance, it doesn't last long - but every time I wear it, it grabs me with the same force as my feelings for Evi in Los Angeles.

Ladies and Gentlemen

It's Friday evening, you've made yourself comfortable at home and your host Carpintero welcomes you to the family duel, this week with two very interesting candidates: Oud Wood from the house of Tom Ford and Cambodian Oud from the house of SweDorf. But before we start the duel, may the two candidates first introduce themselves, because it is not yet completely clear in what family relationship they are to each other - are you twins, siblings or just distant relatives?

[Both silent].

Good. Then perhaps we will settle this question at a later date?

[Both continue in silence].

Fine.

Let's start with the exterior, the wardrobe, if you will.
(Perfumos would speak here of the FLAKON or the PACKAGING):

Both are dressed smartly and chicly. OUD WOOD comes in business attire: smart, tailored, timeless and elegant. Great, simple outer packaging, subtle yet striking label, flawless lid, nice detail with the silver, great shape and overall a beautiful bottle.

CAMBODIAN OUD but has put a little more in the stuff, as a business attire goes through this suit already no longer, rather a costume: Powerful and almost already decadent outer packaging made of real wood (which smells incredibly good), a seal of red wax on the outer shell, the wooden box filled with purple velvet, placed inside a beautifully noble flacon, also decorated with a seal of red wax, a large inscription and a very interesting color spray head: gold and silver! Does Cambodian Oud hope to prove something to its rival Oud Wood? And if so, does Cambodian Oud have anything to prove to Oud Wood? Well... It remains intriguing.

Would either of you like to finally say something about your relationship now?

[Both silent].

Well...apparently not.

Let's move on to the first round.
(Perfumos would speak here of the HEADNOTE).

OUD WOOD dominates in the UPSTAGE immediately with its outrageously seductive and slightly medicinal oud note. It radiates a distant coolness and at the same time a comforting warmth. Cool, aloof wood with subtle nuances of oud. Soothing cardamom. Noble sandalwood. Rounded off by the warmth of tonka bean and the restrained sweetness by the discreetly used amber. A dream.

CAMBODIAN OUD actually starts IDENTIC in the first two minutes. Seductive and at the same time distant, a slightly medicinal oud note. Cool and comforting warmth. A little aloofness here, a little pick me there. But what does Cambodian Oud do now? The audience looks on in anticipation; at home, viewers in front of the TV hold their breath in anticipation: WHAT IS HE DOING? He just won't get sweet... Tonka bean? Hello? Where are you? Cardamom is here, in abundance. The woods are also abundant. But what happens now? The audience stares at the stage in horror, you could hear a pin drop, so tense is the mood: Cambodian Oud unpacks pepper! Pink pepper. And it works... instead of a sweet tonka bean, Cambodian Oud relies on spicy pink pepper. That combined with the beautiful woods, cardamom and medicinal oud gives a perfect melange of incredibly seductive scents.

You definitely aren't twins yet, are you?

[Both silent].

Are you guys really not even going to comment on this right now?

[Both continue to be silent].

Alright... we'll figure it out!

We're going to go to commercial now before we start round two....

A murmur goes around.
Ok... haha... little joke for Friday. Lightens the mood a bit.
No? Nothing? Not even a smile?

Well... here also no one pays for comedy, but for a hard-hitting duel, in which the winner is far from certain.

Let's move on to the second round, the heart, as the Parfumos call it:

OUD WOOD remains beautifully straightforward. It radiates such a perfect aura that captivates the wearer and anyone who comes close. The precious woods complement each other perfectly, the scent is beautifully creamy, perfectly seductive and sweet thanks to the enchanting tonka bean and the vetiver also plays in very subtly, giving the scent its clean-cut image. Oh, you're beautiful. No... You are beautiful!
The audience is in love, the presenter is thrilled and in front of the TV all viewers would now like to smell a bit of the Oud Wood.

CAMBODIAN OUD is not quite so straightforward there, but develops a little further. Here, the noble woods play an overriding role, yes, they dominate! Cardamom lends a distant coolness, the Cambodian oud contributes its medicinal note and the pepper also plays a quite seductive role in this delightful melange. But now, tense silence returns to the auditorium: What the hell is Cambodian Oud doing now? The presenter is stunned, the audience can't believe their eyes - PATCHOULI? Yes, really: it's patchouli. And quite a lot of it. But only enough to be noticed, not too much that it could dominate or even disturb. No, on the contrary: the earthy, dust-dry patchouli gives the fragrance an incredible depth and darkness. Sexy? Yes. Wicked? Absolutely. Playful? Possibly. Sweet? No, definitely not. There are rough edges here. And as we all know, they make you interesting, sexy and desirable.

Are you even related to each other?

[Continued silence].

Hmm, okay?

Let's move on to the third and final round: the DRYDOWN!

OUD WOOD is about to pull back, get skinny. My batch B88 used here for testing is less of a workhorse and more of an 80% job. Beautiful, seductive, cool, warm, distant, close - ambiguity in a bottle. And even though it lasts longer than most of today's oud wood batches, which tend to wear off quickly in my eyes (or rather, nose) and become skin-deep, the B88 is also a candidate to do only 80% - after all, you work to live, right?
Nevertheless, it is a masterpiece in the drydown and simply beautiful: to the noble woods, medicinal oud, cool cardamom and warming tonka bean is now added to the end a beautiful amber, which guarantees well-being. Hach, a dream.

And CAMBODIAN OUD? The presenter is beside himself, the audience freaks out: What is this guy doing?
It's not amber here, it's vanilla! Is he crazy? What does that smell like?
Everyone pauses for a moment... and there it comes: noble, beautiful, luxurious vanilla - not sweet at all, rather tart. But wonderfully beautiful! This note in combination with the aforementioned patchouli, the precious woods, the distancing cardamom and the medicinal oud round out this artist of seduction completely - and that despite (or maybe even because of) its edges. And it lasts... and lasts... and lasts! And that more than skin deep.

Big applause.

So, what are you now? Twins? Siblings? Relatives?

[Both grin].
Well, dear audience, will you find out?

That's it for this week's family duel.
Have a great weekend and see you soon!

Your Carpintero!

The term unisex is applied to facilities, terms, and products that are intended to be used by all genders equally. - Wikipedia.

Even though Wikipedia defines the term more-or-less satisfactorily, that definition is probably intentionally fuzzy in order to fully show off the diversity and complexity of the term. And yet, I keep struggling to think of the term as a prototype. A prototype here is the best representative of a category, whereas categories all have prototypical structures, prototypes have a preferred level of categorization, and the boundaries between categories are again fuzzy.

I chose my brief digression into linguistics here quite deliberately, because: Popped Cherry, the DUA dupe to Tom Ford's Lost Cherry, is for me the epitome of unisex - i.e. the best representative of a category with the characteristics listed above. Why?

I originally bought this tipsy dream of overripe cherries combined with lots of liqueur, syrup, bitter almond and tonka bean for my partner, but today I couldn't help but test the scent on myself. And the result: WOW!

Admittedly: I love, love, love Popped Cherry on my partner, for me it's Sex in a Bottle. When she wears this scent, I just go weak.... All it takes is a few sprays and the room fills with this beguiling scent - it catapults me straight to 7th heaven. This fragrance suits her so incredibly well, it highlights her petite figure, her beautiful style of dress and her discreet make-up in a wonderful way. And with me?

Opening: With HER crystallizes immediately after application an oversweet cherry, the bitter almond and the cherry liqueur play with her only a subordinate role, whereas with ME the cherry turns out rather "sour", the bitter almond much more dominant and the liqueur deeper and darker. The fragrance works with me from the beginning extremely masculine and strong, with her it underlines the feminine side and emphasizes her beauty, her playful shyness and her irresistible charm.

Also in the further course play with HER the sweet, fruity notes an extremely supporting role, the tonka bean gives the fragrance on my partner a beautiful powderiness and creaminess, whereas with ME the tonka bean only very, very restrained shows its effect and leaves the fragrance the necessary edges and corners, which I love so much and which make the fragrance definitely wearable for a man. In addition, a certain liqueur note always remains with me, which disappears relatively quickly with her and gives the cherry free stage. With ME, on the other hand, another note joins in after about two hours, which initially nearly drove me crazy: wicked, sexy, elegant and distant at the same time - I know that from somewhere! But from where? I thought about it, thought about it and thought about it. I was almost going insane. Because I knew the note, I knew this wickedness, this sexiness, the elegance that at the same time also exudes a certain cool distance. And yet, at first I couldn't manage to attribute this note to another fragrance and thought I just knew it through my partner when she wears this perfume. But on direct comparison, I didn't smell that note. In HER case, the cherry dominates at this point, some liqueur and marzipan.... and reading through the individual notes, the scales fell from my eyes: jasmine sambac paired with beautiful, subtle woods. And where do I know this from? From Tom Ford's Ombre Leather 18, that's where!!! For me, these notes accompany and punctuate the beautiful edgy scent with its liqueur-like notes.

In the drydown, the fragrance still remains sweet on my partner, the cherry then retreats and we are left with sticky cotton candy combined with roasted almonds and some syrup, although at this point it is impossible to tell what fruit this syrup is trying to interpret. The drydown sets in very, very late for my friend, though - about eight to ten hours in. With ME, the drydown sets in much earlier, possibly due to drier skin.... however, the drydown is completely different for me: instead of cotton candy, roasted almonds and syrup, I have kirsch (an alcoholic drink from Switzerland that contains strong alcoholic notes with subtle cherry), cherry liqueur and bitter almonds. No syrup, no sugar, no cavities. And I love that!

Conclusion:
For me, the epitome of unisex. The fragrance is a beautiful interpretation of equality, equality and that definitely makes a beautiful statement in this day and age. I am fascinated by how multi-faceted Popped Cherry is and how different this one fragrance smells on a woman and on a man: if I didn't know better, I would almost think one fragrance is a perfume for women and the other one for men.
Stealthily, I sneak back to the closet and spray myself with some more Popped Cherry.

Clear buy recommendation for her and him.
Also blindbuyworthy!

A declaration of love to a beautiful fragrance and to an even more beautiful woman

Sorry about that, I just couldn't resist that homophonically induced wordplay.

In fact, for a reason not entirely unknown to me, this fragrance is constantly sold out.

This is supposed to be a dupe of YSL's phenomenal M7 - the fragrance through which the legendary Tom Ford had made oud accessible to the masses. While living in the Middle East for a few years right after I graduated 10 years ago, I kept coming into contact with the soothing effects of oud. Oud is everywhere in Qatar. And in the rest of the Orient, there is no getting around oud, no matter how far. Initially, oud per se was just too heavy for me, but at that time I was only in my early 20s and had just come out of university as a freshly qualified translator and interpreter. Western just.

I came across M7 on one of my countless business trips: I was living on the plane more than I was actually living in Qatar at the time and had a few minutes between check-in, lounge and boarding to stretch my feet in the duty free in Kuwait City. I held a bottle of M7 OUD ABSOLU in my hand and actually didn't think it was that bad. The saleswoman explained to me that this was the successor to the legendary M7, through which oud had also become bearable for us "Europeans". When I asked if they still sold the original M7, she laughed almost maliciously and said "Darling, no chance! She told me that on certain platforms horrendous sums were already being offered for this fragrance and that I was probably a few years too late. When I arrived back in Doha, Qatar, from Lagos, Nigeria, shortly after a business trip, I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw an orange bottle of M7 in the duty free of the arrival hall: Indeed, the real thing! Without testing I bought this bottle and from that moment on M7 was my constant companion on all my travels. Even though I felt 10 years too young for this fragrance, this absolutely sophisticated classic gave me a certain extra elegance and style when I wore my suit and went to work. The bottle was nearing its end and that should have been the end between M7 and me - I never found the fragrance again.

Until now: last year I came across DUA, a brand that specializes in dupes of well-known fragrances. When I saw that they also carried D7, the dupe of the legendary M7, I immediately wanted to strike - in vain: Sorry, currently out of stock. I read these lines again and again. For almost half a year I regularly checked the DUA page, always with the same result: The fragrance is not available.
Then 4 weeks ago it was so far: D7 is available again - Limited stock!
I immediately struck, ordered 3 bottles and was thrilled. In the evening, my enthusiasm overcame me so much that I ordered another 2 bottles. Such a long abstinence should never happen to me again.

When the fragrance eagerly awaited finally arrived with me, it immediately threw me back to Qatar:
A beautifully gentle mandarin paired with spicy rosemary and some bergamot in the opening, which is immediately followed by elegant and fragrant woods with a little oud.
Many draw a comparison to woody cola and somehow there's something about it.... it has a certain, tangy sweetness, almost like the sweetness of cola, which you empty very slowly over freshly chopped wood. But this fragrance is certainly not a party scent or panty-dropper, but elegance from the bottle.

In the heart note joins vetiver, amber and musk, but never dominate the fragrance, but underline the beautiful notes from the prelude. It happens here a symbiosis of the extra class: no note drowns out the other, no nuance is ever too penetrating, too loud or too strong, but all keep equally in the background, so that the person wearing the fragrance is in the foreground.

A real drydown there is - as with almost all DUAs - not: the durability is above average, could I give a 15 for it, I would. However, the sillage is not as overwrought and loud as many other DUAs. I appreciate that about this fragrance because: Especially when you have to work with people in a confined space (interpreter's booth), a pleasantly decent scent is called for.
And although D7 is really not a screamer, he is loud enough to get even in Zurich in the tram a compliment - despite mask.

D7 is so infinitely elegant, so beautiful and classic that it literally turns my head. I can't wait until I'm allowed out of the home office to wear this exact scent to work again.

On that note.
Peace Oud.