Chris Maurice | The Scented Hound

WHAT I SMELL: Warda Al Oud opens with a thick and heady osmanthus that feels as if it’s dripping off the skin. It’s big, bold, rich and completely overwhelming but in the best possible way. While the main star is the osmanthus, jasmine begins its ascent to the osmanthus mountain by adding hints of the light and bright. After a bit, a buttery note makes its way in making it feel more like a lotion than a perfume. I don’t want to call it pretty at this point, instead it’s beautiful in a seductively exotic, erotic and carnal way. Here the perfume resides for quite some time, it’s rounded and voluptuous and it’s hard to believe that there’s any oud in it because it’s so smooth and just slightly earthy. As the perfume slowly continues to develop, the jasmine and a slightly soapy metallic rose dance intertwined in a lilting manner off of the skin. In the end, Warda Al Oud exquisitely embraces the wearer and anyone lucky enough to be near them.

From the Xerjoff website:

Warda al Oud opens with pungent osmanthus and seductive jasmine. Hints of Cambodian oud and tobacco notes are married to bitter roses and establish their auburn scent reign.

Warda al Oud is an attar composition of condensed metallic rose embracing the smoky oud and musk which intensifies the incense.

OLFACTORY NOTES

- Bergamot
- Osmanthus, Jasmine, Bulgarian & Damascus Rose
- Vanilla, Cambodian Oud, Amber & Musk

Actress Peggy Drake, 1941.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Seduction.

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE WARDA AL OUD: thickened, creamy, rapturous

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT WARDA AL OUD: Scented Intuitions

BOTTOM LINE: It is very rare for me to make a blind buy anymore. But this offering was on sale and combined with a very generous coupon allowed for this beauty to end up in my collection. I was a bit worried that with “oud” in the name the perfume would be too heavy, but Cambodian Oud is much softer and that’s very true in this case. Warda Al Oud is so wonderfully beautiful and it blooms off the skin in the hot environment that I live in without becoming cloying and heavy. But what I love most about this perfume is that it stays with you in a very quiet manner throughout the day and into the evening…and even the next morning. Actually, it’s like a haunting tune that you can’t get out of your head.

Bone Rating: 4.5 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Amber
Nose: Chris Maurice
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $225 for 10 ml attar

WHAT I SMELL: Loudo opens with a fizzy bergamot that is quickly met by warmed white chocolate followed by something that smells like woolen mittens that have a bit of a salty worn patina. The woolen mittens then turn to the sock drawer as the perfume now takes on a combination of wood and cotton with the tinge of the lightly creamy chocolate still lingering overhead. But soon after, a light sueded leather comes forward. At this point, the leather dominates and moves all of the other accords to the side. The perfume is warm and comforting and approachable in that it carries with it familiar scents of many of the comforts of home. Slowly, the perfume begins to radiate and pushes off the skin as the leather begins to dry. And I’m not sure if my nose is deceiving me, but there’s a very light buzzing peppermint that seems to pop in and out. After a long time, the leather begins to retreat, leaving a soft and pretty orange blossom to take it’s place sitting atop a woody semi-sweet flattened vanilla. At this point, the perfume softly hugs the skin in the quietest of ways. Loudo is a wonderfully interesting and a delightful journey of a perfume.

From the Sarah Baker Perfumes website:

Playful and sweet with the flavors of childhood appetites, it dries down to something seriously grown-up. Proustian aromas and a nostalgic glimpse of a beloved game encountered in the attic, realizing years later it was the seed of your adult prowess; the sensual, sexy and clever you.

Notes: bergamot, neroli, petitgrain, black cherry, cypriol, orange blossom, white chocolate, Laos oud, Suyufi agarwood, musk, amber, vanilla

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: A cozy farmhouse kitchen laden with all the comfort smells infused in the home.

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE LOUDO: comforting, nostalgic, unique

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT LOUDO: The Sniffer, CaFleureBon, Stephan Matthews

BOTTOM LINE: When I first heard that Loudo was an oud perfume, I couldn’t conjure in my mind how Sarah Baker would interpret it as it seems we all have been overly ouded over the past many years. Thankfully, Sarah’s use of oud makes it the center of the perfume, but not one that is overt nor dominating. The oud here translates more to the leather. And the white chocolate, black cherry carry the perfume to the slightly gourmand. In all, there’s something incredibly comforting about Loudo in that wraps the wearer up in a quieter and more simple time. And as far as I’m concerned, a oud/leather scent that is a comfort is something that’s very welcomed.

Bone Rating: 3.5 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Woody
Nose: Chris Maurice
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $155 for 50 ml parfum extrait