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!

Rosa velatissima, oscura, misteriosa, soffusa di oud, ma nello stesso tempo ardente, speziata, poetica. Patchouli delicato come polvere. Una rosa byroniana, immensamente languida e inebriante. Una bellezza struggente. Profumo splendore, purtroppo difficile da reperire in Italia. Insieme a Alhada di Tola (altra rosa stupenda...), la più estasiante fragranza alla rosa incontrata quest'anno. Grazie Mr. Matthew Zhuk per questa emozione! Edit: Felicissima di sapere che questa meraviglia si può acquistare anche in Italia. Incanto e bellezza perfetta...

My signature perfume! Everywhere I go people make positive comments about how I smell! I like that it does not only smell like roses but patchouli as well! It lasts for a very long time and sometimes find myself awakening with a good mood to it with clothes that had the perfume on it that were hanging near my bed! I love this perfume! Not too strong and not weak at all! 10 out of 10!

On my skin this is primarily a rose fragrance. I see a few earlier comments also said this. This is a very beautiful natural tea rose accompanied by a wonderful tea note. It performs well - in fact very very well, and has a soft pleasant oud dry down. This is a great fragrance and I'm happy to add it to my collection. The quality of ingredients to price ration is exceptional.

Sharp and narcotic. Lasts forever on clothes and skin. The rose and metallic notes really blanket much of the oud to my nose. This is the type of scent a confident, well-dressed villain would wear - dousing himself in a powdery rose cologne after wiping blood off his hands.

This is one of the best and earliest rose ouds on the market. As it dries down, it becomes creamy, almost ambery on the skin. It is sweet, dry and perfect except for the pain point price.

I only have a sample and I really like it! Such a strong perfume and reminds me very much of Wood Mystique by Estee Lauder! Both so powerful but Ex Idolo takes the lead in my opinion :-)

To me this smells a bit like a church, it smells like religious devotion, what the hot priest in fleabag would wear

Thirty three is a dark papery rose fragrance that starts with an overpowering gasoline note. I think it’s the caoutchouc or a combination of that with the initial phase of the Oud oil, and it’s not pleasant, it almost caused me to abandon this and wash it off, but hold on. It burns off within the first half hour to forty minutes, leaving an Oud rose that is dark and papery but still intense and a little bit gothic. This Oud isn’t an overpowering barn yard type of Oud that stands out from the rose, rather it completely blends in with this dark red rose and slowly dyes its petals black. The rose is very present but it’s not lush or jammy or sweet, it’s strong and austere. This is the heart of the perfume and it’s lovely. For about 3 hours it projected off my skin like this, but then it turns into more of a rosy skin scent. The skin scent phase lasts a long time, up to 10 more hours. I really liked this aside from the top notes which are definitely a bit of a sticking point. There’s very little that is traditionally feminine in this fragrance and I would call it unisex or masculine.

This is pure heaven. It's been a while since I clicked love instead of like for a perfume and this gets so much love, I've given some thought to knocking Miel de Bois off my signature spot to give way for 33. Its in the same vein as Kurkdjian's Lumiere Noire Pour Femme, another heartbreaking love of mine. This is the kind of rose I have decided I really like, non powdery, dark dark DARK rose and in your face oud and patchouli of amazing, headshop quality but with some ritz. Patchouli haters steer clear of this one. Those who have migraines triggered by strong scents, stay away from this one. Another super plus point of this is the fantastic sillage and longevity, it's been even longer since I slid the longevity bar all the way to the right side and sillage is huge, it's Amouage style and more. I blind bought this to celebrate my 33rd year on this planet and this has to be the best blind buy ever. Those who own but dislike it, I'm ready to buy up bottles and I don't have a habit of keeping back-ups :) That's how good this smells on me, to me.

Let's be honest: right now on the market you could wander through rose-ouds like getting lost in a forest. (Actually I wouldn't mind doing that. Sounds like fun, if I had enough snacks...) I like my sample of Thirty-Three, but it's not *that* much different from other rose-ouds in my collection. The initial burst of oud is sharper, perhaps. A bit rubbery which I don't mind. Perhaps it's the much-touted "natural" oud. I like the bitter, medicinal oud funk. However, the drydown is similar to other combinations of rose and oud I have smelled, and it's just not special enough on my skin to make me want to seek out a full bottle. Additionally, some reviewers get a lot of longevity out of this one; not me. Ninety minutes in, and my skin has sucked it all up. I put my nose to my wrist and... well, goodbye, sweet funky oudy dream. But if you like rose and oud, you should at least sample this one. Who knows, on you it could be magic!

This is familiarly Arab. It also smells just like incense that is often burned in mosques and fragrance worn by men in attendance. I imagine this being worn by a kind uncle, though it is unisex. Like other reviewers mention, the rose/floral is most prominent, with an underlying oud that doesn't stand out as the fragrance wears. The opening is quite strong, with that rubbery scent making a brief entrance before making way for the overall warm, rosey-iris incense scent which I think characterizes this fragrance. What I also found interesting, and which other reviews don't seem to mention, was that I picked up on a slight menthol note which creeps towards the end of every sniff as I directly smelled the fragrance on my wrists. Not a personal favorite given that it does not feel unique to me, but still a pleasant fragrance which wears nicely.

It's a great rose/oudh/patch combo. Wears nicely, keeps your nose interested. But, that's the problem for me. I feel like it's wearing me, not the other way around. The metal takes it more to the masculine side than I'm wanting right now. But, I change fragrances like underwear, lol, so the fact that it's good quality, interesting and smells good may have me reaching for my sample more often than my review suggests. Edited to add; the oudh is really silky smooth. Nothing jarring, it blends beautifully. You know it's there as a main note, but somehow it ends up supporting the floral aspects as well. It's one of those rare stars that share the limelight. And I'm not really an oudh lover, maybe bc so much of whats in modern perfumery isn't really oudh? Ha.

I have finally found a perfume that is full bottle worthy. I've been testing samples with rose notes for 3 months and after the 4th wear, Thirty Three won! I have never loved a fragrance more than this. Here is the decision maker. I wore Thirty-Three last night to the movies and had on a scarf. I put the scarf back on tonight and the fragrance wafted up and it was gorgeous. A full 24 hours later. I reveled in it for about 3 hours and finally was compelled to go online a buy a 30 ml bottle. The perfume has everything I love. Citrus, rose, heliotrope, lilac, wood. It is an absolute eye roller..for me anyway. The bottle is a beauty too.

After sampling, I have to say this thing is one of the best performing fragrances I’ve come across. Though it does share a common DNA with other rose/patch/ouds, this one is just done better than most. I kid you not, one spray will last for 24+hrs and, at least for me, never gets too cloying. I’m sure if you overspray you might not survive, but with a light hand it’s great. It’s making me wanna trash my Black Aoud and Gold Rose Oud for this one. Price is right and 30ml is more than enough.

With this fragrance it is definitely better to catch wafts of this scent rather than sticking your nose right on your arm and taking a big whiff. That being said, I think I'd prefer to smell this on someone else rather than on my body and having to smell it all day long. So, if you wear a fragrance to please others then this is a bold choice, but if you wear a fragrance for mainly yourself you better hope you really like this bc you will smell it all day long and even into the next day.