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How do you feel about the oud trend?

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How do you feel about the oud trend? 11 years ago
Personally, I feel two ways about it. For a while, it was exciting to discover those Arabian perfume oil blends, until here, too, boredom has now set in.

The industry, however, is not tired. Everything has now be made more interesting by giving it an oud twist, bar none, not even Old Spice.

So, oud has its place and there is no denying that pure, unadulterated oud is probably pure perfume bliss for the nose, especially for a trained nose.

I don't say, forget about it. I only say that too much hype has been made about it.

So, if there are a few excellent oud scents in both among the Western designer perfumes, or in the Arabian world, let's recommend them to each other and try those out.
11 years ago
I've tried a handful and mostly like the rich woodiness but I'm not bored yet. I am anxiously waiting to see what goodies my two airline steward friends bring me back Dubai.
11 years ago
After participating in Apicius's "Arab Fragrance Explorer Package" last January, I got the chance to sample some very interesting oud based fragrances and oils. I much prefer these to their commercially generated counterparts.
11 years ago
The problem with oud is that it can overpower everything else in a fragrance, even when there is only a small concentration of it.. at least that is what my nose detects.
When testing Trayee (Neela Vermeire) for the first time, all I got was the oud note and not very much else, upon which I exclaimed "enough already with the oud hype!".
Still, oud it is an intrigueing substance and I'd like to test some really high quality pure (higher concentration synthetic?) oud fragrances or better yet, one of the Arabian oils, which apparently is the 'real' thing.
11 years ago
Oh, this is a highly interesting topic, and a lot can be said about this. Thanks for opening this discussion.

The oud hype is of course a fashion trend, and if you look closely, you see that the whole thing is based on a lie.

At first, by buying one of the numerous oud perfumes, nobody has to feel guilty about the alleged extinction of aloeswood trees in the rain forests - simply because there is no oud in the so-called oud perfumes at all. What we smell and identify as an oud note is a synthetic base, i.e. Black Agar Givco 215 by Givaudan, the aloeswood blend by Firmenich and possibly others. Ironically, the synthetic oud notes do not smell like oud. Instead, they smell reminiscent to - and, BTW, much better than - the synthetic substitutes that the Arab brands use in their less expensive "oud" fragrances. These substitutes, however, do not have too much in common with what I got to know as the smell of natural oud oil.

The synthetic oud blends with their characteristic mustiness provide a certain romantic "Arab" image: the 1001night smell of harems, djinns that appear in a smelly must from the magic lantern, and the must of the orient in general. This is why we have the oud hype.

Natural oud oils are also musty, but not in the first place. At first, they are warm woody notes the sort that could remind you of antique furniture. Depending on the origin and the production process, natural oud oils can differ a lot. The most complexity can be found at the beginning - in the head notes, if you want to see it like that. There are animalic, and even fecal notes. Especially Indian agarwood oil can have notes of Swiss Appenzeller or Gruyere cheese, also a biting acidity, and dark, earthy chocolate-like notes. In a Borneo oud oil, I discovered coniferous notes which most people would not link to Arabia. Another oil which seemed to be a bit bland gave me impressions of hemp and sisal.

There is only one Western perfume where I found a discernible natural oud note so far: "Zafar" by Xejoff seems to contain a little bit of it. However, the price tag of well above 300 € makes clear why we do not find natural oud in the oud perfumes.

If it comes to natural oud, there is no hype at all, and there will never be any. I did a sample giveaway of my "Dahn Oudh Al Shams" perfume spray which seems to contain only natural oud oil as the only fragrant ingredient. Nobody wrote a positive or even enthusiastic review. They more ore less disliked it, due to the fecal aroma, and only some found it interesting but stated that they would never wear it.

It seems I am the only one here who likes natural oud oil!

Back to the synthetic oud bases - very slowly, there are releases where the synthetic oud note is not placed into the centre but treated with discreetness as any other note. A very good example where this oud contributes something important without dominating the fragrance is Divine's new "L'Homme Infini"

For details on natural oud oils, red my reviews under the brand oudh.co.uk.

For a sample package of natural oud oils, have a look at www.ensaroud.com/
11 years ago
How interesting. You just saved me from trying to find pure oud: even the cheapest pure oud is about as expensive (or more?) as gold is.. thanks, but no thanks, especially when most say it smells like fecal matter (but that's what they say abotu indolic jasmine which I adore!) Wink
So, just will make do with the tamed down synthetic ouds whenever trying to explore that path.
11 years ago
I like a few of the real oud based scents like Aftelier's Oud Luban and Les Nombres d'Or Oud by Mona di Orio. The problem I have with the trend is that while the "good stuff" is very expensive and pricing needs to follow suit to maintain normal margins for those rare scents that indeed use the stuff, far too many companies are charging "real oud" prices while just using the cheap synthetic stuff and putting "oud" in their scent's name to justify the crazy price markup.
Bond No. 9 stores 11 years ago
The employees will tell you, with a straight face, that "only pure oud" is used in their many oud scents. How would I know the difference? I don't.

I like "Manhattan" - it smells chocolaty. Whatever oud was used, that is ok by me. The scent is pleasant.

______________________________________________ _______

Mona di Orio is said to have a nice oud. Which one ?
11 years ago
I met a guy tonight at the fragrance store, he was looking for Amouage. He told the shop owner that he wanted an Oud fragrance. Long story short, he said he is from Saudi Arabia and is used to the finer Ouds. After taking a look at pictures on my iPad of my Yas and Arabian Oud bottles, he determined they were all junk! lol

Some of us may never know if we have ever smelled "pure" Oud
11 years ago
Digindirt:
I met a guy tonight at the fragrance store, he was looking for Amouage. He told the shop owner that he wanted an Oud fragrance. Long story short, he said he is from Saudi Arabia and is used to the finer Ouds. After taking a look at pictures on my iPad of my Yas and Arabian Oud bottles, he determined they were all junk! lol

Some of us may never know if we have ever smelled "pure" Oud

As he comes from the Orient (Saudi Arabia) he probably knows a lot about ouds. He will have to explain to you as to why Yas is supposed to be "junk" as I was impressed by their Yas internet ads that it was fine and expensive.

When he shops here in the U.S., is he looking here for a better price on Amouage?
11 years ago
I am waiting for some samples, with Oud. Can't wait to try them, as am pretty curious. I suppose that Gentleman in the fragrance shop knew what he was talking about, coming from Saudi Arabia.But, these things sometimes come in waves of popularity...popular for a few months, then all these new fragrances just cash in on the craze. Will let you know what I think of Oud, when I get the samples!
11 years ago
How do I feel about the oud trend? Well, I'm no treehugger, but I dislike the method at which agarwood is obtained. We could get into the whole discussion of the chicken I ate, how cheese is made, etc., but I digress. There will always be people who are willing to pay for the real thing, so I suppose you can't completely stop the harvesting. Also I am sure that many oud fragrances are now using some synthetic, otherwise the cost would be higher.

Personally, I have only smelled one fragrance with oud as a note, and that was Red Aoud by Montale. I was blown away by the strength of it. Although I didn't like it, I can see why it is sought after--it has a rich aroma.
11 years ago
I think as far as men's frags go, the oud trend is here to stay for a while. In my opinion the house of Montale has many oud frags and most are wonderful such as Black Aoud- a cambodian aoud blended with indonesian patchouli and layered over a combination of mandarin,musk and rose petals...yummy!! And Aoud Cuir D' Arabie- a combo of leather, tobacco and dry burnt wood notes, here the aoud produces all it's strength and softness. WoW!! There are many more including more feminine scents.However, Montale is not cheap though all there frags are EDP's and have excellent longevity and sillage.
11 years ago
Hayven:
There will always be people who are willing to pay for the real thing, so I suppose you can't completely stop the harvesting.
As the market increases, also the future of natural oud will be industrilised production, with planting these trees in farms.

The result might be less diversification in natural oud oils, such as can be found on the few websites of the oud oil traders (Ensar Oud and others). Some of their oud oils are being destilled from a single tree, and sometimes they give you specifications or document the production process with photos.

Oud tree farming cannot be achieved within a few years. I read that Ajmal founded an oud farm in India some 40 years ago, and by now, they should be able to make good money with it. Nevertheless, their "Dahn Oud Al Shams" spray, by comparison, is quite inexpensive compared to the offers of oud oils. I don't think that the quality is that much lower than the few oils I tested. Oud tree farming is not a bad thing, and it could bring some money to places where it is desperately needed. Maybe this is the future.
11 years ago
Pipette:
Digindirt:
I met a guy tonight at the fragrance store, he was looking for Amouage. He told the shop owner that he wanted an Oud fragrance. Long story short, he said he is from Saudi Arabia and is used to the finer Ouds. After taking a look at pictures on my iPad of my Yas and Arabian Oud bottles, he determined they were all junk! lol

Some of us may never know if we have ever smelled "pure" Oud

As he comes from the Orient (Saudi Arabia) he probably knows a lot about ouds. He will have to explain to you as to why Yas is supposed to be "junk" as I was impressed by their Yas internet ads that it was fine and expensive.

When he shops here in the U.S., is he looking here for a better price on Amouage?

Recap: We met again tonight at the mall.
He was only trying to replace his almost empty bottle he said. Given a look at my bottle from Arabian Oud and reading the writing on the box and bottle, he said that the Arabian Oud was a good one. When I mentioned Al Haramin and Al Rehad, he shook his head and pulled out bottles from the houses of Junaid and Mesik. I'm not sure if these spellings are correct, I spelled them based on the way they sounded when he read the writing off the bottles. I told him to call me when he gets more. He has a friend going back in two weeks he says. We'll see. In the meantime, I'll keep my arrangements with the two airline stewards I see on a regular basis, they are a sure thing.
11 years ago
I don't care about Oud.
I hate trends anyway. I'm not trendy and will never be.
I got 2 fragrances that have oud listed as notes, but it wasn't the intention to buy them because of oud.
I don't like woody notes in general and the smell of oud is nothing spectacular to my nose. I don't know if you can sense it directly in my scents. If so, it fits the scents directions, but it doesn't give them something wow. There are other notes in there that make the core of the fragrances.

I feel like this oud rush is pure overhype. Everybody needs it, everybody wants it, but in the end, it's just a note.
11 years ago
I agree Fran Fran but I actually crave wood and for me, the Oud laced ones are strong and loud enough to satisfy my cravings. I have a few inexpensive vials of Al Rehab Oud. Synthetic I'm sure but I find myself rolling little dabs on when my fragrance of the day is not loud enough for my liking. I guessing like it because I really like wood.
11 years ago
It's another interesting scent far more common in the Middle East. In general, I think it is used by men far more often than women. I like it a lot on men.

I recently skin tested Montale's White Aoud and found that to be very nice, but still too heavy. (Observing my perfume list you can see I prefer very light florals so this is not surprising.)

I use Japanese incense in my home. Every once in awhile I will heat some Kyara Agarwood....now THAT smell......is meditative spiritual richness and beauty encapsulated in scent to me. To me, it IS the scent of the Far East.

I have never smelled anything close to this in any perfume or oil. I doubt it would be ever generally used as such because no one could justify the cost.
11 years ago
Oud really seems to be a major issue everywhere in the perfume world.
I have come to love Montale´s "Black Aoud" and Armani´s "Oud Royale" as well as "Midnight Oud" by JHAG, I have tried many many more oud scents and most of them had to move out again.
XerJoff´s Oud Stars somehow disappointed me after the first glamour feeling waned. Not even the much-hyped "Mamluk" could thrill me.

Do I feel bored with oud ? Very much so, especially after discovering that now even Roberto Cavalli offers his "oud".

For the time being I will stick to "my" ouds and let the others rave. I think it is perfectly OK not to chase every fashion trend Smile
11 years ago
For the most part, I treat Oud like any other note. I like it sometimes, and other times, its just kinda gross. Of what I've tested thus far, I have about 3 perfumes that I like that have oud in it.
old news to me 11 years ago
I had Arab friends in college back in the early 80's who gave me pure oud perfumes to wear. It was very strong but not unpleasant. I didn't need any more, it just was too strong. I do like the idea of it being well blended into modern perfumes.
11 years ago
I've tried more than few simply in order to review them. I cannot say I enjoyed most of them and maybe it's my westernized sensibilities that cause me to conclude a "sameness" about the majority of them.

There have been exceptions for me and what's interesting is that they are "low end" releases. Ferrari Essence Oud and Swiss Arabian Mukhallat Malaki I liked enough to add to my wardrobe.
11 years ago
I was blown away by the note, when I first sniffed on "Rose Aoud" by Micallef. Later, "White Aoud" by Montale was really nice as well.
But as a trend ? No.
It´s just that being a member in Parfumo for almost a year, I´ve discovered lot of scents that I really like, and Aoud is one of them. I will not avoid it, just because it´s a trend. Wink
Just the same as I will continue testing ginger, figue and roses, which I nowadays like a lot - and, for a time being, there´s also been hype about ginger and figue, right ?

And I suppose one is on the safer side with the western Aouds, when one tests those already established before the trend - like Mona di Orio, which is supposedly very good, but which I do not know yet.
I suppose in 5 years one will also see, which of the new ones make it - trends pass away, but some perfumes stay longer time simply because they are good. So I´m looking for that, I have no hurry ! Laughing
11 years ago
From the moment I smelled my first oud scent I was hooked. Like Digindirt, I have a few rollerball scents from Al Rehab that I get out when I need a whiff of the stuff. All my niche samples are quickly disappearing, so I may actually have to order a bottle of something soon.
11 years ago
For a while, I was testing and writing about it. Now those decants languish in the drawer. It is something strong and foreign, that complicated note of oud.
Going about my daily routines, I rather wear something comfortable, familiar and "me".
Oud as an experiment, great.
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