Oud

As something of an amateur fragrance cocktail mixologist, I often find that I want simple, earthy base notes to anchor and round out other fragrances I might find too sweet, fruity, or floral on their own. Demeter Oud fills this role for me and provides a somewhat more complex alternative to my standby sandalwood, mahogany and leather base fillers. I'm pleased with the light, some might say imperceptible, impression of oud in this frag, as I have always found other scents with strong Oud notes to go rather dirty and fecal with my chemistry (looking at you, Terre d'Hermes). As a stand alone fragrance, I would say this pulls masculine, though soft rather than aggressive. Projection is good, longevity middling but better than many Demeter pmu colognes. If one were looking for the concentration of oud typically found in expensive designer and niche scents, this fragrance would disappoint; but if you enjoy a subtle, earthy skin scent that's a bit darker and richer than sandalwood, Demeter Oud is very pleasant.

This smells so damn good. I recently got into fragrances and bought a dozen small demeter fragrances so I could learn the smell of common notes used in perfumery. Although I'm a bit disappointed to learn that many people don't think this actually smells like oud, I find it smells incredibly good mixed with the jasmine and cardamom samples. It's difficult to describe this smell but I would say it's definitely a little sweet like vanilla but with a rich woodiness? Maybe something slight spicy like cinnamon? I don't know but it's straight up heaven to my untrained nose and I'm not a huge fan of vanilla or gourmand scents.

this is baby oud. if you like oud, but traditional designer ouds tease but are just too much, this is for you. soft and friendly.

wonderful mellow comforting. love it

I bought several samples from Demeter a few years ago, largely for the novelty of it (dirt? thunderstorm? frozen pond? sign me up, I want to see what this is about), but to also familiarize myself with what certain scent notes were supposed to smell like. This was one of the samples I ordered, I remember it very well.... and I really don't understand the hate this fragrance is getting in some of the reviews. Where Taylor of Old Bond Street's "Sandalwood" cologne has that sort of old-school English gentleman/grandfatherly feel with sandalwood, Demeter's "Oud" has that same vibe to it, but a little more resinous and incense smelling. It's almost ancient smelling compared to "Sandalwood," but it's also lacking that "barnyard and fecal matter" scent that other oud based fragrances on this site are said to have. The only downside to this fragrance that I can imagine would be that it's a difficult fragrance to wear just on it's own, you would HAVE to layer this with something else, I'm just not creative enough to look through the massive library of Demeter fragrances and figure out what you could layer this with, though... a vanilla would be an obvious and safe choice, but at last check, their vanilla fragrances were sweet gourmand fragrances, and I don't know how that would work with this.

Oh, now don't be so hard on Demeter you guys....it is super cheap! You shouldn't expect high end niche or exotic oil performance from a $20 bottle of cologne. For this price, you can't expect to get a high dose of precious agarwood oil. What you get is the "essence" of smelling oud. I think it smells nice and it does have an oud-like smell to it. It doesn't last too long but it is a very inexpensive cologne so I expected as much. Demeter Oud is NOT that bad at all, especially for the price. I have tried expensive stuff that was much worse and smelled even LESS like oud because it is buried under a million other notes. I was just curious to see what Demeter's interpretation of oud would be like and I got a sample for little of nothing. I didn't expect anything like what you would get from a $300 bottle of an oud EDP - since it is a $20 bottle of cologne - so, I pretty much got what I expected and I enjoyed trying it.

Soft, sweet spice, tame and safe. I personally get vanilla rather than cinnamon and maybe a little bit of sandalwood but with very little wood. It's surprising how little wood - never mind oud - there is in what's supposed to be a woody scent. With the above caveats, it's... nice. For me it evokes the idea of, NOT the actual scent of creme brulee or zabaglione, or Sauternes or Muscat desert wine. I suspect it would layer OK. Spraying it over my currently worn Tea Rose (extreme rose soliflore from Perfumer's Workshop) made it, strangely, less puddingy and a little more masculine to my nose. Pleasant and cheap and thus 6/10, but not quite what it says on the tin.

I got this mostly because I'm trying to help keep the store in business which is the only Demeter dealer in the state. And I'm the only one I ever see in there! And they recognize me instantly when I show up! It's good for layering. it's a light, spicy, simplified oud that is easy to layer with other light scents to give some depth (not a lot). I get the cinnamon scent, but it's more than that. I layered this and it's the one standing strong 4 hours later. I was actually surprised at the longevity. This is not the ideal oud, but it's yummy and approachable and a good place to start if you're new to oud.

Starts off with an odd B.O. vibe, but oud can be tricky, it often reminds me of burnt tires or petroleum at first. Once this on the skin, it quickly becomes what most would recognize as oud. A little watered down and a little too soft, but over all its a nice resiny and dark woody scent. I have an extensive collection of expensive oud fragrances and I didn't feel the overwhelming urge to get this (even though it was a steal for $7.99 at Marshall's) but for someone just starting to wear oud fragrances, its more than decent. I could also see one using this to layer with other scents. Overall a thumbs up.

Smells nice but with a little amount of oud, just a bit of anisse/cinnamon. The oud is a much stronger and complex. I thought this perfume would be the closest thing, since it is the main ingredient that supposedly has, is that artificial, but at least similar, no? Has a remaining oil in the skin, unfortunately the smell is very mild and does not project. Fragance: 6/10 Sillage: 5/10 Longevity: 5/10 The good news is : You can open the bottle and add a little bit of strong oud oil, as I did it, so now the thing is different. I fixed my cologne for better.

Demeter, so it's a fun and interesting scent. If you are looking for a heavy, intense oud fragrance, this isn't it. What it is, however, is unisex, wearable, and sexy in a light and playful way. It smells more like an oriental gourmand scent with hints of gingerbread and cinnamon. If you like Demeter gingerbread, you'll like this. It's a more subtle, woody and remarkably long-lasting option. Lasts for hours on my skin without needing to respray.

i don't even think they are using the synthetic oud accords the large chemical houses have available. This smells like someone trying to recreate a synthetic oud accord using a little spice, a little synthetic wood. Ultimately this smells like a harmless spicy sweet slightly woody combination, nothing like synthetic oud nor real oud for that matter. Don't take this as I don't like it because I do but its laughably not oud.

Oud. Slightly synthetic (for nose trained ppl) but also very strong one, good for layering for oud lovers if looking for alternatives. Def recommended a tester first.

it's friendly warm come-on-in sandalwood, it gives you a pat on the back when it comes through the door

Okay so this is not fresh, but becomes powdery sweet in the later drydown like old heavy makeup. It develops similar to the Frankincense fragrance even though that one is heavier right away. Frankincense is balsamic, slightly green and very sweet and then heavier sweeter and kinda rosey balsamic, like these powdery deep pungent Indian incense sticks. Well Oud starts off nutty and woody, creamy kinda like a walnut smell to me and like damp wood which is all great, so beautiful - it's not powdery at that point, but a neutral, earthy woody smell, not fresh or masculine though, then instantly it has a deep balsamic woody amber-y tone to it, very whiskey-like which smells to me just like the woody deep whiskey scent in BBW Coffee and Whiskey which I love. All of that is amazing at this point. In the mid phase before the powdery sweet "old 90s makeup" effect, it smells like a balsamic woody Macademia Nut by Demeter - it has that creamy nutty feel to it, only deeper here and more woody. The projection is great btw. After 30 mins though it totally changes and this nutty woody creamy smell develops into this sweet powdery scent like a incense-type of powdery makeup smell, like the scent of these old makeup powders of the 90s, yea it's heavy and cloying to me, too much powder. It's like a balsamic pink powdery scent. It becomes softer gradually so I still like wearing this perfume. Actually the Macademia Nut perfume by Demeter becomes kinda powdery on me too without being super powdery or balsamic like old makeup tho or like incense, but Oud completely deviates from the more austere neutral nutty, 'damp wood' type of opening scent. It sort of reminds me of an almond perfume which becomes very very balsamic powdery like baby powder in a cloying "old makeup" way, the Almond Cookie by Carol's daughter - they are different scents though, but they have a similar sweet '90s makeup powder'' balsamic vibe. Almond Cookie though has a Johnson's baby powder element to it; at least we don't have that here. This is not as pungent, but it's still like old makeup for real. If you expect a fresh dark Oud with an earthy smoky or leathery character or with a unisex feel, very woody with green facets, look elsewhere. I mean I wanted a dark woody Oud not smoky or manly, but still solely woody and this takes a weird turn. At first I thought it had that fresh potential since it smells more unisex woody like walnut, but the powdery makeup scent I did not expect at all. I will try pairing it with Sawdust which is linear woody, solar, nutty, subtly green and see if it takes some of the weird powdery effect away. Also it's not like the Oud in Michael Kors Twilight Shimmer, dark, cold and woody-deep. I do like it though as a scent especially due to the opening and mid phase; its balsamic whiskey-like woody aspect and the nutty vibe. I hadn't realized how nutty and attractive woody notes can be just as the guaiac cedar with the anise in Philosia by Korres and the woody smooth nutty element of Demeter's Sawdust. Woody notes have always been my favorite. For a manly woody scent I think Demeter's Oak will be better.

Woody, musty, sweet similar to almond. Some cinnamon and tacky sweetness comes out. Close up, it’s actually quite deep with nice wood stain/molasses, vanilla, and incense. Not bad or off-putting, but not one of Demeter’s best. Good enough to at least try.

This fragrance is ridiculous! Anyone who has smelled at least one oud based fragrance in a lifetime, no mater designer or niche, will laugh to death. This smells 100 % cinnamon, like halloween pumpkin cake. Even Paco Rabanne's One Million is not so gourmand. Yeah, it's very cheap but who cares, when you buy oud fragrance you want something that smells like oud, even synthetic recreated. There's so many cheap fragrances, which describe that note much better - Jacques Bogart One Man Show Oud Edition, Ferrari Essence Oud and so...Again, do not blind buy this, you'll be very disappointed.

You can make out the oud in the opening, but it's really tame, and then it just disappears into a musky woodsy scent. I was expecting an accurate representation to use as a baseline, but as expected this wasn't it. It did not smell of funk in any sort of way as some other frags I tested later on did, you might as well go off on a frag that is known to *be* prominently oud.

disappointing and weak....demeter...put some damn wood in this shit...its like oud lite lite......an insult..considering u can buy genuine oil oud easily n cheap online....take lessons from your arabian bros n sisters..this shits weaky weak...embarresed to admit that i bought this dung for 25bucks...rip off

It just doesn’t smell like oud. No oud. None. I get a faint vanilla, powdery sweetness, and then a little creamy woodiness. It’s too mild even for sandalwood oil. If you love the exotic funk of oud this will do nothing for you.