Oud 24 Hours

DARK, MYSTERIOUS, SENSUAL AND CLASSY ORCHID Ard Al Zafraan's Oud 24 Hours is one of the many little-known gems produced in the Middle East. The bottle is nice and heavy, although a little tacky. There is too much information around the walls of the bottle, which results in a poor final image. The strange "look" is compensated for by the "comfortable feeling" when holding the bottle, as quality materials are used for the bottle, cap and sprayer. The perfume turns out to be a perfect blend that results in a fine, seductive oud fragrance. It's dark, mysterious, sensual and very elegant. Oud 24 Hours is like a gourmand dessert that you love and enjoy from start to finish. I'm not sure it's a showstopper, but it certainly attracts a lot of attention. In addition to its sensual and not cloying aroma, its above-average longevity and strong sillage help the lucky user stand out from the crowd. It lasts 12 hours and the sillage is enormous, filling a room for 2 to 3 hours and projecting close to a metre for another 2 to 3 hours. It's a unisex fragrance but develops a totally different effect on men and women. Strangely enough, it's almost as if it has a dual personality, because it's very masculine on men and evokes a lot of femininity on women. As noted by many reviewers, it is an "inspiration" of Tom Ford's Black Orchid and its strength is halfway between Black Orchid EDP and Parfum. In the drydown it's less harsh than Tom Ford's perfume, and because it's more civilised it's easier to wear for both men and women. The other differences I notice are the greater aggressiveness of the Ard Al Zaafaran fragrance in the opening with a very strong note of dark chocolate, and the fact that there is no oud in Black Orchid. Oud 24 Hours offers a sweet, domesticated and almost discreet oud, somewhat disguised by the notes of patchouli and sandalwood. If you find the harshness of the first five minutes cloying, don't worry. Five minutes won't take long at all. Top notes are bergamot, mandarin and dark chocolate; heart notes are spices, fruity notes, jasmine, gardenia and ylang-ylang; base notes are amber, incense, sandalwood, patchouli and agarwood. Although not listed, I detect a strong coconut vibe in the opening for a short time, and a very strong note of sweet vanilla in the base notes and drydown. At the opening, we're confronted with a pleasant note of dark, sweet chocolate (yes, some people don't like it). The chocolate note combines perfectly with the fruity and spicy notes that follow. Agarwood, patouchilli, incense and vanilla dominate most of the fragrance's longevity, particularly in the drydown. The notes behave very similarly to those found in Tom Ford Black Orchid perfume. Oud 24 Hours conveys an impression of exclusivity and distinction based on the strength of its persistent scent. Lets confirm it with the Oud 24 Hours math: ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Scent Opening: 7.5 (my judgement) Scent Dry Down: 9.5 (my judgement) Longevity: 9.0 (12 hours+ with three sprays) Sillage: 9.0 (fills a room; 10~12 feet projection at its peak with 3 sprays) Uniqueness: 7.0 (Besides Black Orchid you have a similar scent in the magnific Charriol Royal Gold, in Maremma from Tiziana Terenzi, in the very cheap Estiara Fleur Noire, in 24 Gold, and in many other perfumes) Compliments: 8.0 (close to a serious compliment grabber during the drydown; consider it a head turner because it puts you in the spotlight) Wearability: 7.5 (Use it day or night during Winter and Fall; You may experiment it as well in Spring colder days and nights) Versatility: 7.0 (Don't abuse of it as a day scent. Don't use it in the office. Never use it in sunny events and workout. If you use it in the beach, half a dozen sharks will eat you because they confuse you with a very tasty over seasoned mammal) Quality: 8.5 (my judgement) Presentation: 7.5 (nice box, nice flask and tacky label. The bottle and cap look solid and expensive. Good sprayer.) Price: 10.0 (100 ml non-tester for £ 12,50 + shipping) ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Overall rating: 8.23/10.00 - between 7 and 8 =above average; - between 8 and 9 = recommended; - bigger than 9 = don't miss it; My opinion: I recommend this fragrance to all dark-scent lovers! if you don't like dark fragrances don't even try it. Music: "The Lady Is a Tramp" by Frank Sinatra

I do adore this fragrance. Oud 24 Hours is a bit of a monster. A gentle monster in that it is a powerful fragrance where the initial blast goes BOOM but isn't overpowering or cloying. I immediately get the fruity notes which are expertly blended with the chocolate. The dark chocolate note is actually quite creamy but certainly has a dark quality to it. It's within this first whiff that I also get a subtle, slight tease of the amber and incense notes. After a few minutes, the patchouli note really starts to creep in and mingles really well with the chocolate and fruit. I'm constantly amazed how these three notes complement each other so well in this fragrance. The oud note is visible from the get-go but is very subtle compared to the other notes. For me, this is a bonus. It isn't overbearing and doesn't dominate the fragrance as a whole, it just sits quietly underneath, making its presence known but takes a back seat. The fragrance last an eternity on me (especially on clothing) and I have garnered many compliments when I wear it. It's definitely a firm favourite now and a must-have in my collection. Without repeating everything has been said before, by others (re TF's BO similarities) , I will add that it is incredibly similar to TF's BO. In my opinion though O24H is much nicer. Slightly softer but with equal longevity, if not more. Many TF fragrances don't particularly agree with my skin and it took me a long time to enjoy (some of) them after a bad testing experience when I was ill (long, boring story). Black Orchid is one of the TF fragrance that I genuinely really like. However, for me O24H comes out a winner in the comparison stakes, both in smell and certainly without question in price. Two weeks ago, I sprayed O24H on my wrist before going into Harvery Nichols store and rather sneakily went to the Tom Ford counter. I sprayed TF's Velvet Orchid on one of my wrists and then *pretended* to spray Black Orchid on the other wrist [on which I was wearing O24H]. I then cheekily asked the lady behind the counter to smell my wrists and asked if she could tell which one was Black Orchid. Immediately, she chose the wrist that had O24H on and said: "It's that one - it's my signature scent and I can tell it anywhere". That comment told me all I needed to know.

Just got this yesterday so I know it'll get stronger after it's sat for a while. I used to think that was just a myth but after getting a few Arabic clone perfumes that hardly smelled of anything at first that ended up being beast mode I've changed my mind. This isn't bad to start with though. It lasted on my hoodie well into the next day but had faded a bit compared to others I've got. The smell is very, very, similar to Black Orchid. I don't own Black Orchid but I've smelled it and I've got another dupe of it. It is missing that earthy truffle note and the slightly medicinal blackcurrant in the opening but it's not noticeable once it's dried down, they're identical in the air after a few minutes. Some people might even prefer it that way but I do like the liquoricey opening of Black Orchid and the other dupe I've got has that too so I'll layer it over the top of this. This one is more chocolatey so they both have things I prefer about each one. It's totally unisex but I can see why some women find it too masculine and some men find it too feminine. It's a strange one and I can totally see why some people find it too weird. I used to hate Black Orchid, for years, the first time I smelled it I realised I'd had a really cheap dupe of it a few years prior and I'd hated that at the time. However it's grown on me over the past year or so, my tastes have changed a lot, but I don't want to spend that much money when I can get 100ml of this for less than £15 and it came with a free body spray. This is chocolatey, rich, with incense, patchouli, spices, creamy florals (I could have sworn there was some rose in it), woody, slightly sweet but not sugary gourmand sweet, and just perfect for the winter. It smells like the inside of a hippie shop. You'll either love it or hate it. It's quite a distinctive scent. If you don't know whether you'll like Black Orchid then it's a great way of finding out without risking loads of money. As I said, I expect it to just get even stronger over the next few weeks and months so I think it's an absolute bargain. For me it's an everyday scent but I'd definitely wear it for a night out too, I think most people would say it's a night time sort of perfume and not "office friendly"

Thank you Fragrantica for adding the Ard Al Zaafaran brand to the database. Please add some more fragrances from this house - they are very good and worth exploring. I have been trying a lot of attars and Arabic fragrances and am regularly stunned by the quality and value for money they represent. Many - including Oud 24 Hours - are ridiculously cheap; for example, 20ml "pocket size" spray of this can currently be purchased for £2.99 including P&P from eBay UK. I bought 100ml in September and have worn it and gained many compliments several times since. I am testing this against TF Black Orchid official sample, not a decant (thank you Fragrantican swap partner, lovely Alex aka Planet_X for the sample). BO opens with peppery top notes and an almost minty/menthol smell. I picked up on a more dominant menthol note when I tested Velvet Orchid a few months ago (which I thought may be coming from the Peru balsam), but there's no balsam in BO, so there may be DNA common to both, which I can't quite identify. There's an almost cucumbery/earthy/bitter smell to the BO too, which may be coming from the tuber. This is not present in 24 Hours. Oud 24 Hours is smoother and sweeter than BO, for which reason I think it leans slightly more to the feminine. BO has a stronger presence and greater sillage from the outset. Oud 24 Hours could easily be Black Orchid's quieter non-identical twin. I know this may be considered heresy, but I think I prefer the Ard Al Zaafaran - and at £2.99 for 20ml, it is clearly FAR better value for money. I would not recommend buying BO from eBay unless you are very familiar with - and trust - the seller. There are a huge number of counterfeit perfumes for sale on eBay (and on Amazon) and if something seems too good to be true, the chances are that it is. Don't waste money on potentially fake BO - try Oud 24 Hours. I doubt many people will be able to tell the difference and you will save a LOT of money. Oud 24 Hours is currently for sale for £8.99 for 100ml EDP on eBay UK (admittedly this is a special offer, but it normally sells for roughly £12.00 for 100ml). Even if the longevity and sillage aren't as good as BO, you can happily re-spray every couple of hours and still save money.

First and foremost, I've never smelled TF black orchid. I'm interested in the DNA and accord structure alone, not the bottle or the luxury buying experience or the ingredient quality. Oud 24 Hours by AAZ is a wonderfully warm ambery chocolate thing that brings out some of my favorite things in amber fragrances. Below are a few things I noticed about this fragrance. 1. The vanilla is well blended into the composition and doesn't overpower the ambery facets. This doesn't smell like a vanilla gourmand. It smells expensive, a little boozy, and mysterious. 2. The florals are present, and they do not overpower the other notes. They are exceptionally well blended, and they aren't interfering with anything else. They're polite if you could call them that. 3. The patchouli is great. It's dark and blends well with the incense, amber, and woody notes. I've been looking for fragrances that have the trifecta of amber, incense, and patchouli, and this ticks my boxes. The incense here is clearly a perfumer's "take" on incense, and it doesn't smell like myrrh or olibanum resinoids are present. It lacks the pinenes and green terpenic facets of incense that I prefer, but that's not really the point of this fragrance. 4. The price point of this fragrance is incredible, especially considering the 100ml volume and the packaging, as well as the quality of the perfume. The packaging itself deserves a reward. The box is gorgeous and includes a spray aerosol deodorant. I think I paid under $30 to get this fragrance from Amazon. 5. The longevity isn't amazing, but it is serviceable and reasonable for the price point. There's maybe 4 hours of detection, and then it becomes a skin scent. I don't mind that. I recommend skin and clothing application for this one. Final thoughts: I think it takes the right confident person to wear this one. I'd ideally wear this at night, in any setting, at any age. Ideal for date night, dinner with family, or even at work, depending on how you spray it. This one isn't super fresh. To me, this is a nice, comfortable amber fragrance that has some woody, spicy, and semi-gourmand facets to it, and some nice creamy florals. Great price and ok longevity. 8.5/10 for me.