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Three Days of Oud

Just started my investigation into Ouds with a small purchase of .02ml samples from Agar Aura. Taha was kind enough to surprise me with a third sample. Here are the flavors:

Borneo Symphony
Oud Kampuchea
Kemenyan

I am wearing each of them for one day, one after the other and am posting my impression of their scent as they change through the day. This was inspired by yesterday's experience with the Borneo Symphony which I wrote about in another thread. Summarizing yesterday, it went as follows:

Borneo Symphony-less than half a drop distributed between both wrists and on the top of the chest.
  • Applied at about 5:30am and the overwhelming impression was of intense woodiness. Specifically deciduous not coniferous.
  • About 6 hours into the Borneo Symphony and the scent is still persistent but can now pick up "greener" scents. It's not balsa/poplar, but close to that underneath the dominant hardwood.
  • It's been about 13 hours since application and the scent finally is gone. One interesting note. At about the 10 hour mark, it seemed to shift into a very strong smoky wood charcoal scent. Imagine the scent coming from a burned lump of wood not totally consumed but blackened nearly through and through and that was the scent at the end. It might have been there earlier, but it went undetected by me. Reminded me of camp outs as a kid and keeping the fire burning in our old farmhouse fireplaces.
Oud Kampuchea-again, less than half a drop spread across both wrists and this time the a swipe on my undershirt rather than on the chest.
  • Applied at 6 am and scent was incredibly "green" and reminded me of standing in a sawmill as fresh pine was being cut up from tree into boards.
  • About 2 and a half hours later and it has subsided somewhat to more of a fresh sawdust aroma. Fresher and more piney than the Borneo.
  • 4 hours later and there's something floral coming through and the sharp greenness/pine needle less obvious. Still quite sawdusty though, which I like.
  • Interesting. The scent is much stronger where I put it on my undershirt than on my skin and as a result smells different. On the t-shirt, the green wood smell is the overwhelming note, but the wrist has just a touch of something like apple in it. Maybe not apple, but something fruitlike.
  • 9 hours later. The scent is nearly gone on my skin, but still kickin' it old school on the cloth of the undershirt. It's devolved/evolved? into a clear straw smell. For those of you who have had horses, you'll know the difference between the smell of fresh straw vs old straw and this smells fresh. The difference between the smell of horse stall before and after it's been mucked out and filled with fresh bedding. This is the after.
  • Final post on this oud. It's been 13 hours and scent is undetectable by me on the skin, but still quite present on the garment. The only change and it may be in my nose and not the oud is that I think there's a menthol aspect to it that wasn't there early. I'm not a fan of menthol in general, but this is mediated by the pine scent that was prevalent initially and that makes a difference.
Like last night, I'll shave before going to bed and will not be using any of my fragrances as part of that ritual in case it interferes.
 
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Well you saved the best for last, apparently, so I'll be interested to hear your follow up after you try Kemenyan. In my opinion, Oud Kampuchea was a close second to Kemenyan, I liked it a lot. I wore OK a couple of nights ago and was thoroughly surprised at how good it was. I must have missed something when I tried it a few months ago. Excellent stuff, all of these, really.
 
Well you saved the best for last, apparently, so I'll be interested to hear your follow up after you try Kemenyan. In my opinion, Oud Kampuchea was a close second to Kemenyan, I liked it a lot. I wore OK a couple of nights ago and was thoroughly surprised at how good it was. I must have missed something when I tried it a few months ago. Excellent stuff, all of these, really.

I'm a little nervous at how much I like the Oud. Prior to learning about it on the other threads, I was thoroughly enjoying the Penhaligon's BB ASB and the Floris Santal AS and ASB and looking into other scents. This simply trumps the experience of wearing those other fragrances. The best way I can express it is that Oud, through the day, smells like stuff I know...or experiences I've had. All last weekend I wore Knize 10 which I got as samples from Pasteur's. It's a tremendous fragrance and I loved how it reminded me of leather. It didn't smell like leather, however, just reminded me of it. Does that make sense?
 
Roughly how many applications would think you will get from the .02 ml samples?

I don't have enough data yet to know. When I said earlier that I put on less than half a drop, it was actually much less. The stuff is powerful. At the same time, I find myself yearning to use more. If I had to guess, I'd say modest usage per sample would get you somewhere between 2 weeks and a month of wear.
 
Thanks for this. I'm also getting worried that I am going to want to try some of these samples. You're description of the kampuchea sounds delicious!
 
I don't have enough data yet to know. When I said earlier that I put on less than half a drop, it was actually much less. The stuff is powerful. At the same time, I find myself yearning to use more. If I had to guess, I'd say modest usage per sample would get you somewhere between 2 weeks and a month of wear.

I got about 20 uses from each .2 ml sample. I was really surprised at how thick the samples are, I was expecting something more the consistency of cologne not thick oil.
 
I haven't explored oud oils enough to form an opinion, but what I have sampled has smelled too much like vaguely-sweet wood/hay and sawdust/wood polish for me to enjoy it. But as for oud incense....wow!
 
Day 3

Kemenyan

  • Put the Kemenyan on at 5:30am. Same amount and locations as yesterday. Immediately notice the difference between this and the other two ouds. Much less "loud?" than the other two when first applied. With both the Borneo and the Kampuchea, the first half hour the scent, even in the tiny amounts used, might be overwhelming for some. Not so the Kemenyan. In fact, after about 3 or 4 mins, I went back and applied just a touch more thinking that I might have not used an equivalent amount.
  • There is, of course, that woodiness which must be integral to oud, but it's not as dominant as in the Borneo and not as resiny by far as in the Kampuchea. I find it hard to describe except that it makes me hungry. There's a meatiness to it that makes me think of food.
  • It's been ten minutes and just as I was shutting this down to head to work, I got another whiff and thought of a cabin in the woods. Maybe the cabin you stay in each year for deer season right at the moment you open it for the first time in months.
  • Contribution from SWMBO. Just before walking out the door, SWMBO sashayed down the steps and I asked for her opinion of the Kemenyan. She nuzzled my neck and declared it "spicy" and "musical". Single men take note.
  • Been about 5 hours now and the intensity has abated and this definitely has a lush floral character to it it didn't have before. (I hate myself for writing "lush floral character", but there it is.) This is much softer and way more subtle than the other two. It's easy to see someone unused to Oud enjoying Kemenyan.
  • It's been 7 hours now and the Kemenyan has hit a sweet spot. When I get the scent, it's sublime. If I didn't know it was Oud and had a woody scent bias implanted in my brain, I might think it was something with pear, hibiscus (or some such tropical flower) and a very faint touch of what I associate with baby powder. Specifically, the freshness of baby powder whatever that scent is.
  • 8 hours and just got noticed the cinnamon. This is amazing stuff.
  • 10.5 hours later and can't pick up anything on my skin, but the swipe on the undershirt going strong. Overall impression is that this is a much less obtrusive or obvious scent than the other two as well as less long lived. Seems as if it's more aged or mature. Like the difference between a Ruby Port and a Late Bottled Vintage for those of you with the Port habit.
 
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I haven't explored oud oils enough to form an opinion, but what I have sampled has smelled too much like vaguely-sweet wood/hay and sawdust/wood polish for me to enjoy it. But as for oud incense....wow!

Based on the three I've tried so far, if you don't like the smell of wood, then Oud is probably not for you. It's not the only component, but it's a dominant one obviously.

I love wood and find it has a vast array of possible scents.
 
Kemenyan
"spicy" and "musical"
Single men take note.

Now THERE'S an endorsement!
Kemenyan smells clean and woody to me but dark enough to make it interesting - and it smelled very incense-like, too - very different from your interpretations. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, let us know what it's like around lunchtime, and happy hour, and after dinner!
 
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