I spent a couple of months really living with my oud candles before I started picking up out fragrances. I now have five in my collection and I feel like I have a good mix, not only in terms of fragrances but also in terms of price point.
Demeter Oud – The Non-Oud Oud.
I picked up the Demeter Oud fragrance, as I had expected that it would be a pure oud note. Not too strong but Demeter are known for their one note fragrances. My plan was to use it to blend with citrus fragrances to see if I could recreate the warm but bright oud blend that I enjoy. Sadly not as on my skin Demeter’s Oud starts out as a chocolate vanilla with a hint of amber blend and after about thirty minutes looses all chocolate and after a couple of hours looses all vanilla. It only stays on the skin for about 5 – 6 hours. Interestingly, this fragrance leaves a veil of a light oil on the skin so as a blending fragrance it works well to anchor other fragrances but overall it is very disappointing.
Axis Oud – The Affordable Cologne
I picked up Axis Oud from the Perfume shop as it was on offer for £9.99 and I though I would not go wrong with the fragrance. You get 100ml of product so it is plenty but the oud note, whilst there is not very strong.
- Tangerine
- Black Pepper
- Saffron
- Rosemary
- Orange Blossom
- Patchouli
- Oud
- Incense
- Amber
- Leather
La Fumee Alexandrie – My First Oud
This Miller Harris fragrance was my first venture into the oud note. I love it. I wear it very regularly. A bit like mary poppins bag, every time I smell it I seem to get something new. Sweet bright mandarin, my nose is always drawn to citrus so that is a no brainer. Next I get floral, as you know, I don’t like rose but tempered with the geranium I am not put off. The spicy wood is always there, throughout the citrus sweetness and the floral element it is a constant but it is not overpowering or overbearing and somewhere in the midst of the amber and sandalwood the oud is waving at me. This is not a ‘smoky scent despite the incsnec enad it is not dry like paper. I just like this mix. It does nto scream oud. It does not turn people off, it is very long lasting. It is busy but not claustrophobic. I t is interesting but not overstimulating
- Mandarin
- Lychee
- Cinnamon
- Cumin
- Rose
- Geranium
- Incense
- Papyrus
- Sandalwood
- Amber
- Oud
*Oud Bouquet – The Oudy Oud
Wow. When I first smelt this I just thought wow. I like it but was a bit overwhelmed by it at the same time. This is on the very oud end of my person al oud spectrum. This is a heavy hitter and it took a few spritzs to learn how to appreciate it fully. Firstly, this is not a scent that I can spray liberally. For me, that is a no and unfortunately for me when I first got it that is exactly what I did. Secondly, this is not a scent that I want on my clothing… because not every day is an oud day so I spray this directly onto moisturised skin straight out of the shower, walk around a bit and then put my clothes on. I don’t spray it once I am dressed. Having learnt those two lessons, it has been plain sailing ever since. There is something ‘animalic’ about this scent. I like it… in small doses. Because I spray this in small amounts, it stays quite close to the skin so I can and occasionally do wear it to work, but for me this is evenings and weekends. As it dries down this turns into edible oud. The vanilla really softens the oud and the praline’s nutty sweetness as opposed to fruity sweetness compliments the oud rose combo beautifully. Rose is a classic accompaniment to oud and to be honest, I can’t smell the rose in this at or the saffron. This is gorgeous. For day I layer it with a citrus cologne, for evening, I team it with a scented body oil and the expectation of a fun evening.
- Saffron
- Rose
- Oud
- Vanilla
- Praline
Clean Reseve – The Musky Oud
I bought this fragrance towards the end of my oud journey as it intrigued me. I had done my research so I knew that it contained a lot of notes, but when I smelt it on the blotter and on my skin this fragrance felt very linear to me. Nothing wrong with a linear fragrance but what you smell at the beginning of the day is 75% of what you smell at the end. It is a very delicious woody musk. Very close to the skin, very light. This is one to spray liberally if that rockst your boat and one for the people who say they don’t like oud, but they do like wood. The Mr was is not a fan of this one – he likes his fragrance to have a bit more oomph, but I really enjoy it.
- Incense
- Cypress
- Birch
- Pimento
- Honeysuckle
- Oud
- Jasmine
- Magnolia
- Balsam fir
- Cactus
- Suede
- Patchouli
- Amber
- Praline
- Musk
- Olibanum
Final Thoughts
For the moment my oud collection is big enough. Five fragrances of which three are true loves and two are also rans is fine. I do have an oud wishlist but I will cover that in another post. I really want to get to know the fragrances that I have, work out which layering combinations I enjoy before I purchase any more. If you have a faourtie oud, leave me a comment so that I can check it out.
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