Thirty Three

Rose-oud may be the most crowded field in modern perfumery. It seems like every house--niche or designer--has an offering. The vast majority are either predictable, banal affairs or ill conceived thought experiments that should have remained inside some perfumer's head. I therefore approached Ex Idolo's Thirty-Three not so much with trepidation as resignation. Much as I WANT to love this style, I simply have not found it to be wearable...until now. Thirty-three is not a particularly inventive fragrance, and perhaps that is its great accomplishment. It simply delivers what it promises: a delightful Taif rose supported by well-blended "oud." I put the latter in quotes because, while I am sure that Thirty-Three contains a quantum of aged oud, it is clearly supported by synthetics as well. No shame in that! Especially given how smooth the overall composition is. Sillage is decent, but not of the Montale Black Aoud variety. And this, again, is a good thing. If Thirty Three were nothing more than a dialed back Black Aoud, it would be worthy of respect. But it is more than that. It feels more natural and better blended. The rose note in particular is quite nice here (and I find rose to be the most challenging note in perfumery). This is probably my new reference for the category. Overall rating: * * * *

This is the most beautiful aromatic type oud rose Ive ever smelt. It brings you back to the victorian days and its easy on the nose. Its not overbearing and doesn't pack a punch like love and crime does but dont at all think its weak. Its a big hitter and to me, a master aromatic rose blend. To me there are a few different types of rose smells in fragrances. You get a dirty root rose that smells very natural like a gardener who just pulled it out of the ground aka (MFK Rose, Khandahar), then you got the thick powdery Rose that fills the nose and sometimes can be overbearing or feel synethic and then you have aromatic rose, that hits the nose with less molecules and feels like your smelling the rose as it came over a fresh mountain river. This is that. Its not super sweet but there is enough patchouli on drydown to at least get hints of a sweeter rose which says something about its character. Definitely a story in motion here like love + crime and worth checking out if your a rose and oud lover.

love it! this is the perfect oud-roses combo, becasue rose here smells tea like fresh, zesty and airy, just like Taif roses smell, and oud hints to medicinal, clean surgery like side, but not harsh, not synthetic, natural and adds to this airy velvety feeling, this combo although it may sound like boring smells like perfection. the price was 130 pounds for a bottle, and i think its worth every penny. I dont like patchouly and i dont smell it here, as time goes by the scent softens a bit, rose patchouly would be classic standard boring combo, this is amazing how the list of notes makes it look like another boring frag and then you smell it and you are blown away of how everything is proportioned to the perfection. P.S. i hate to know that EU houses sell cheaper in the USA, 120 USD!?? this is london based house simmilar perfumes: Beyond rose just cheap ingredients, but without taif rose...and taif rose here reminds me of Homage attar

"Vintage Chinese Oud oil" and "Vintage Chinese Rose oil". How exciting! Surely this will be the perfume to crush all other Oud and Rose perfumes! And at a fairly decent price, its worth a blind buy in my book! Too bad it smells exactly like Montale Black Aoud. I was so disappointed, i was beside myself. Not that it smells bad, it smell amazing. But so does Black Aoud, and i already have a whole lot of Black Aoud. So either Ex Idolo is taking the piss as they say when they tell us this perfume has all these "natural" oils, or Montale REALLY knows how to copy natural ingredients. If the Ex Idolo wasnt half as strong as the Montale, i'd say they truly are identical. But 33 is no where near as strong as the Montale. That's probably good news for some i'm sure. The longevity is great, but also not as good as Black Aoud. Not even close. Not much else to say, if you know and love Black Aoud, stick with it!

A lovely sophisticated Floriental. Although much of the scent is jammy and resinous rose and a nice light Chinese Oud, this one has a more softer and velvetier feel than many of its counterparts. Addition of other floral/fruity notes including a standout patchouli and an interesting light metallic note give this juice a nice texture, vibe and projection. Moderate to strong in sillage and longevity and unisex, this is a relatively inexpensive but well composed Rose Oud with character and depth that needs to be tried by those into modern exotic Orientals and rose based fragrances. Enjoy!