Fumé Oud à la Vanille

Ok, I really like this one. But I think I know why some people don't. You don't feel exotic or hip or at the top of high fashion when you're wearing Fume Oud A La Vanilla. You feel like a hippie. Especially if you bought it in the little amber bottle with the screw top. Even buying the larger clear glass spray bottle Alkemia makes might only have taken a bit of the edge off. On the other hand, you haven't fallen for the hype. You're just smarting because you've found a good oriental fragrance in a cheap presentation few people will see because it's sold nowhere probably than the website and is advertised probably nowhere. No one to reinforce your excellent choice or to chime in here about how complex this scent really is despite how few notes the website lists. And I keep thinking if this juice was in a Tom Ford bottle....well, it's not quite his style, but maybe a Montale can or even better yet a Van Cleef & Arpels bottle you'd dropped $150+ on, you'd be gushing all over yourself about how fabulous Fume Oud A LA Vanilla really is. It lasts 6 hours on my skin.

I love this one- although there is no leather or suede note, that's what I'm getting here, along with the vanilla and tonka. I find it a warm, comforting golden-brown scent, great for fall and winter. It reminds me a lot of another favourite of mine, "Boudica" from another Etsy perfumer, Deep Midnight Perfumes, that one also includes honeyed leather notes and smells deep golden-brown to me.

I like this fragrance! I’ve never had perfume that focuses on oud before but I think I understand now why it’s such a divisive scent. Am I the only one this doesn’t read vanilla on at all? If there’s any vanilla it is hiding behind the super powerful woody musky smell I’m getting. I wanted a sweet woody scent but not really that sweet on me.

I don't dislike this, but it's not what I expected off of the description. Rosequeen is right, don't expect refined or sexy from this fragrance- maybe aromatic hippie instead. On my skin, the vanilla takes a backseat and is more oud prominent. Honestly, my first impression was cat piss. That being said, I'd never smelled oud before, so it's likely just out of my comfort zone. Smells like smoke in a mossy forest! I get the appeal, I think I was just expecting more emphasis on the vanilla.

I get mostly tarry attar black musk like you'd find in an import store, wood smoke, and a dusty vanilla fragrance oil. I get no oud at all. Overall, it lacks the richness and depth some of Alkemia's other offerings have.