Bidun Esam

To my nose this is a beautiful, sweet, light, flirty fragrance but with a hint of substance from the musk and oud (as it is a middle eastern fragrance after all). But it’s only a hint. It actually really reminds me of Gucci’s Envy Me, which is now discontinued. It was my signature scent when I was in high school, so trust me when I say they are similar. Envy Me was a sweet white floral heavy, and this one has hints of that. It’s more animalic than Envy Me though, because of the oud I imagine. The florals and the fruity sweetness really come through for the first few minutes, and then it begins to dry into the woody base. very feminine and performs very well. I would pair it with something very dry and Woody to bring down the sweetness, or something caramel-y if you want to go all out. Not a masterpiece but definitely an asset in any collection IMO.

I got this today and I'm not sure about it. I have a feeling I'm going to have to let it develop for a while to let the notes come through. Will check back in later with an update. 11/24/25- round two. Rich, lovely rose / oud scent. Very strong, lasts forever.

Rose saffron and subtle oud Sweet and floral but oud make it more complex than other oud/rose combos Longevity is eternal you'll smell it on clothes after a week!

Again this is the master piece 🙌

*Re-written* to account for an evolution in experience over months of regular wearing/ testing. Note that this review is based on experiences in warmer temperatures (20C-34C). If you were to call this fragrance a 'rose/aoud' combo, you would not be telling the full story. The perfume opens with a potent blast of a cold rose note and pungent cambodian aoud, so give it at least 30 seconds before you stick your nose to your wrist. As the alcohol evaporates and the oil begins to dry on skin, my nose begins to detect white flowery notes like jasmine (on clothing these flowers is more easily experienced). The aoud note softens drastically and takes on a mild incense vibe as it marries beautifully with rose and saffron notes. If saffron does not work well with your skin chemistry, you are guaranteed to find this beautiful marriage of notes offensive. In a way, all the notes develop around the rose note in the opening and towards the first half of the mid. Now, the mid... on clothing, the mid is dominated by roses, white flowers, and aoud... this doesn't change much in the dry down which is musk-rose-white flowers and a bare hint of cambodian aoud. On skin, this is a different kettle of fish. The saffron note turns medicinal, the white flowers all but disappear, the aoud begins to take on an animalic expression and the rose note is no longer at the heart of the matter. The dry down is dominated by animalic aoud, heady musk and hints of rose. Whilst the silage and projection are mild-moderate, this fragrance proves itself to be long lasting and stays on clothing for days. The wonderful thing about curating a relatively small fragrance collection is that I become intimately acquainted with my perfumes and my views mature as my experience of the fragrance increases. I went from a straight love to wondering if my thoughts on the animalic aoud will change in time for it to survive a declutter by the end of the year. I've certainly never smelt any rose-aoud quite like this.