Emporio Armani Stronger With You Oud

I initially wrote this in SWY Leather because Oud wasn't yet listed so copying from there: I've recently gotten into fragrances and have been acquiring quite a few samples of popular colognes. My favorite of the SWY's so far is Absolutely. Where Absolutely is rum forward initially, Oud I immediately get leather. (Can't comment on SWY Leather as I don't have it but would be interesting to compare it to Oud). This SWY Oud is pretty similar to/ but a weaker version of Tom Ford's Ombre Leather Parfum at first sniff. But the leather from SWY Oud soon dissipated after 20-30 minutes (altho seems to last longer with 5-6 sprays) and then I just got the drydown similar to the other SWY's and Azzaro's The Most Wanted, but maybe a little less gourmand sweet and more lavender which is actually quite pleasant. Personally, I still prefer Absolutely out of the SWY line up. If you really want the initial leather scent and something that will last longer, get Tom Ford. You could also layer with any of the SWY's or The Most Wanted. But that can get quite pricey. For me, I'll stick with Absolutely until the next flanker comes along. Would have been neat if they tried something a bit less mass appealing like layering Encre Noire (much more woody/ earthy) or Bentley for Men Intense (more boozy) with the SWY drydown. Surprised there's no mention of leather in any of the accords or fragrance notes. Don't get any woody scent at all. Just straight leather. 🤔 Only place I've been able to sporadically find this in the US is fragrancebuy ca Update: I tried this again with the remaining amount of the 2ml decant I got. This time I sprayed about 5 sprays - one on each wrist, two on chest, one on neck. Previous time I only did two sprays. Now for some reason, the leather opening lasted much longer - a couple hours. And then transformed into a warm lavender bomb. Minimal of the sweet SWY dna found with all the others - more in line with the scent accords above. Really digging it this time; I'd get whiffs of the lavender throughout the day...one of my fav floral scents - but still in a masculine kinda way. Really strange how the nose works. Maybe because I let it sit a few weeks before trying again?? Think I'll need to get another 3-5ml decant of this. Great stuff.

Work out. Hot shower. Doused myself in SWY Oud and immediately questioned if I made the right fragrance choice for the evening. It was sweet, and nutty, and interesting. Nose close to the skin it smelled organic, whole grain, nutty, oats? Designer style oud I guess. Now I’m committed, so I layered up and took the dog outside for a walk in 50° Northwest springtime weather at the park. Sun setting. 9pm. And that’s when the magic happened. As it gently rolled out of the top of my jacket around me it smelled amazing. Slightly sweet. Slightly nutty. Slightly oud-y. Slightly vanilla-y. Along with the crisp, cool air it was perfect. All the green leaves on the trees, yet this scent evokes darker shades of brown/black/gold. This scent matches the color of its bottle exactly. Light oud fragrance. Nice contrast to all my other strong-arm ouds. Non-offensive. Decent projection. Kind of gourmandy without the overt sweetness which I appreciate. Very nice addition for a cool, relaxing evening.

Stronger with you DNA with some woods. If you have one fragrance from this line, you pretty much have them all (especially on the drydown). If one of my friends wore a different Stronger with you flanker on different days/weeks I would have trouble telling most them apart if I didn't have them side by side to compare, and thats coming from someone that owns and loves 4 of them (Leather, Oud, Amber, Tobacco, and I'm currently looking for Sandalwood too) These middles eastern SWY exclusives that have a new note in their names are pretty much what you would expect. SWY Amber? Stronger with you DNA with more amber SWY Tobacco? Stronger with you DNA with tobacco Get it..? This doesn't just apply for the ME releases, this is what they do for the entire line. Every new Stronger With You release is a slightly tweaked version of the DNA with a new note. With that being said though, I love this DNA and I will continue feeding into my consumerism by buying every new middle eastern release.

First off, this is a great fragrance! It’s well made, classy scent, great-looking bottle and performs incredibly well. That being said, if you have any other Stronger With You (SWY) lines, as well as any other Oud fragrances (less animalic and fecal ones), this fragrance becomes redundant. It starts off with very soft Oud and lavender, and dries down linearly to vanilla and Oud. These combinations sweeten and soften the Oud to the point that it basically isn’t there and is very pleasant to wear. Performance 10 hours on skin, projection is good and sillage is too. I don’t have any SWY lines but I prefer Absolutely over this purely because I already have a wide variety of Oud fragrances (from soft-sweet to skanky-animalic) so this feels pointless in my collection. Dunno if I’m going mad, but this is reminiscent of Bvlgari Man Black Orient to my nose. Blind-buy safe. Recommend: BUY Rating: 4.5/5

I've been wearing this when I can for the last couple of weeks and I'm hooked. Originally got a 50ml and now a 100ml backup. I'm a fan of Intensely and Absolutely but this was a whole new level. The open is deeeeep, rich and rivals the more opulent niche openings. The oud has a VERY slight medicinal touch but that disappears very quickly and the oud gets sweet and spicy. The chestnut and the sweet boozy note come up thru that opening and it just melts together into a fragrance blend that's really amazing. As the oud sits back a bit the familiar SWY base comes up to carry the fragrance thru the drydown. A genuine 9.5/10 and a strong buy recommend. Projection, sillage and longevity are ALL well above average to very long lasting. This has no shortfalls aside from the fact that it's a flanker. It's a flanker that has exceeded to original IMHO.