Oud for Greatness

What does it smell like? Spicy/sweet/smokey/oudy. Notes are lavender, saffron, nutmeg, oud, patchouli, musk. Yeah, I know, but how does it smell? Let me put it this way: Gucci Guilty Absolute: bold, aggressive, assertive and confident in a very expressive, manly way. Woody, smokey, leathery and masculine smell. Sweat, muscles, defined body, rough, dominant sex. A CEO of a big multibillion dollar company, always well dressed, always in charge, always leaving a trail where people instantly realize that he cannot he questioned. Raw, decisive masculinity in a bottle. Oud For Greatness: you own the company, the office building and the entire block. You never mention it. When you visit the company and the CEO is approaching you to kiss your ass, you shush him without looking at him because you're listening to the janitor who's telling you how her family is doing. Performance A single spray will by many people be perceived as strong and "too much" within the 1-2 first hours. I have bottled it in smaller containers, so that I can dab very small amounts, literally half of a droplet, behind my ears and on my neck. These very small dabs will project and act as a normal strong perfume for 8-10 hours. I dabbed the back of my ears 11 hours ago together with Vaseline and it still smells when I walk around. On clothing, especially winter wool jackets, if sprayed richly, it will project strongly for over a month. The trail will be there for even longer. Price People on this website seem to call every expensive perfume "overpriced" no matter the quality or the performance. Sorry but I don't like this way of reasoning. If a perfume performs well and is well blended, it's not overpriced just because it didn't meet your expectations regarding the smell. Your personal opinion has really nothing to do with determining its value. If you don't like the smell, you shouldn't use Oud For Greatness even if you got paid for doing so, because you will not get rid of the smell for many hours. The price tag on this is high. 250+ EUR. Depending on your income and your personal taste, that may be too much. But it's technically wrong to call it overpriced since it's very well blended with real raw materials. This will perform better than the majority of your current perfumes. This smell cannot, I repeat, cannot be replicated for under 150 EUR. Anyone claiming to have a cheap copy of this with equal smell and equal performance is lying. Unless they bought it from a perfume house that plans to bankrupt themselves. Raw materials are expensive. This perfume may have a price tag that is a little bit over what they usually cost. But smell it! It's insane! If you like it and you can afford it, buy it. It's worth it. It will last for a very long time.

Oh my beloved Oud for Greatness. If I could smell like this everyday, I would do it. However this is reserved for special occasions, fancy dinners or whenever I want to smell like power. You may believe it's an everyday scent but if you do, it loses a lot of its magic. Whenever I have worn this aura, I felt the greatness inside myself. I feel successful and even more attractive. There is magic in the bottle. Price is absurd if not discounted, however let me tell you this: I started with a bottle of oud for glory and never got in love with it, the opening had an amped saffron and a medicinal oud that I never liked, it smells wonderful in the air and after 1-2 hours it wears great but. But this one, oh my god, it feels so luxurious from the moment it's sprayed on. Something ignites at first whiff. I watched some reviews of some youtubers who said that Oud for Greatness was so well blended that it had something special that no clone can replicate. I agree. A year ago I had a date with a foreigner lady and she got close to my body (I was 3-4 hours into the fragrance), inhaling deeply, taking deep mouthfuls of the scent. It has been the most visceral reactions I have seen from a woman reacting to a fragrance. Never did she do it with another one. Whenever I use this I am complimented if in a date and when not, either by placebo or what not, I feel the respect, a difference in treatment and my life just rolling better. This robe is not a safe blind buy, at all. It can be overwhelming, it has a rough edge that I like over Haltane, which is also great but... having this one, it felt redundant, I prefer Oud for Greatness, it's more masculine, more animalic, less compromising and more of a statement. My bottle is 3 years old (2022) and it lasts around 16 hours, I am not kidding, nuclear, 2 sprays is the sweet spot. With recent findings related to previous fragrances I owned (Alexandria RE got so much better in 3 years), I went to check oud for glory again (gifted to my father), it's really good, it lost much of its medicinal smell and make no mistake, it smells fantastic, but... when I wore it, couldn't avoid smelling it sweeter and... something was missing even in the dry down. If I had to buy it again because any reason, I would. Oud for Greatness has a dresscode, I have worn it with dark clothes and leather jacket as well as with a suit, dark colored of course. Works much, much better at night.

One of the nicest oud fragrances out there. Personal: 9.5/10 – I love this sweet, spicy oud blend. It's gorgeous, artistic, and one of the smoothest yet complex oud fragrances on the mass market that's still (relatively) universally appealing. Mass appeal: 8/10 – Loud oud and saffron aren’t universal crowd-pleasers, but this is very wearable compared to a lot of oud fragrances. It isn't for everyone, but it's much better than most oud frags. Performance: 9/10 – Strong projection and excellent longevity. This one fills a room and stays on skin for hours. It'll even stick on clothes for, like, days. Value: 7/10 – Expensive niche pricing, but the DNA is undeniably high quality and beautifully blended. Clones exist, but none even get close to the high quality character of OFG. Uniqueness: 7.5/10 – Distinctive compared to designer offerings, but within the niche space, it doesn’t reinvent oud, though it makes it unbelievably lovable. SCORE: 82/100 Full bottle buy? YES, if price were no object, this is THE oud I'd wear. Blind buy? NO, even though it's beautiful, oud, saffron, and spice are too polarizing. Recommend? YES, worth sampling if you’re interested in approachable oud. Date night? YES, bold, exotic, and attention-grabbing. Not quite seductive, but powerful. Office safe? NO, too loud and too commanding for professional spaces. Pros: Loud and long-lasting, striking saffron-oud combo, very popular for a reason. Cons: Overpriced, not truly unique in the oud niche, somewhat generic/too smooth for oud lovers. Oud for Greatness is often hailed as a beginner oud fragrance, and the only reason I can imagine why is because the oud is softened by saffron, spice and other pleasant notes. It's smoother, and much more pleasant than many other oud fragrances, especially in the niche landscape, and some may feel that makes the price tag harder to justify, but I think the blending, obvious quality, and iconic nature of it makes the price all the more worthwhile. Not everyone will end up loving it, but the vast majority of people will. It's dark, a bit spicy, powerful, and beautiful. You should smell it if you think you hate oud, because this is the fragrance that changed *my* mind. It’s a fragrance designed to impress in a first encounter, and it lives up to that intention. It's glorious. Review #161 in my fragrance journey – this fragrance I own as a decant

Am I the first review here? Noice! Let me just say this fragrance is pure magic. I recently smelled quite a few fragrances at Osswald in NYC, and for me, this was the star. Of course it was sold out. I managed to walk away with only a sample, but it has now become my mission to acquire a full bottle. The opening is nice, but just wait a few minutes and the real magic begins. I have never smelled a smoother oud in my life. It is no way cloying or pungent. It's relaxing and addicting. And the patchouli/musk dry down is what perfume dreams are made of. The drydown is almost similar to my fave Aventus due to the shared patchouli and musk notes. This scent somehow captures everything I love about fragrances in a single bottle. It's fresh. It's semi sweet. It's woody. It’s spicy. It's blended to perfection. The bottle is beautiful. It lasts forever. Over 24 hours for me and I also still smell it strongly on my jacket 3 days later. The projection is not beastly, but it does project arms length for a good part of the day. I can't wait to own this one... QUICK EDIT: If you’re the type who detects and detests a doctor’s office note in BR540, you may not enjoy this fragrance. It does share a similar vibe that I forgot to mention. LESS QUICK EDIT: I am appalled by so many of these negative reviews. Reading all these reminds me immediately of why Fragrantica gets a bad wrap quite often in the fragrance “community”. A lot of amateur noses on here for sure. This is a solid scent and doesn’t deserve the ignorant reviews it’s received. As always, try before you buy and do not trust what you read until you actually do try for yourself.

Oud for Greatness is not only perfumed for its intriguing mystic scent but also to bring "Greatness" to the wearer and every place its trail touches. Oud for Greatness also has a beautiful spiritual porpuse. Every note has been chosen with a meaning. Safron: Historically known as red gold, simbolizes wealth, knowledge, spiritual illumination. In antique rituals it was used to purify the aura and bring success. Nutmeg: Associated with protection, mental clarity, internal power. In antique cultures its spiciness was used to scare negativity away. Lavender: Simbol of inner peace, purification, mental calm. Used in aromatherapy to harmonize the body and mind. Oud: Indian oud that's why some of you think you don't smell any oud. Because there's different kinds of oud. In oriental cultures oud represents conection between the divine and the terrenal. A bridge between the body and the soul. Patchouli: Associated with fertility, transformation and material success. It's considered an amulet of prosperity and greatness in various cultures. The use of this fragrance is a ritual. A mini ritual. From knowledge to protection, find your center, connect the body, the mind and the soul with the divine and materialize your greatness in life.

I received a free 1.5ml sample of OFG when I made a purchase at Fragrancebuy. The only other oud fragrance that I have tried is Le Parfum Mercedes-Benz, and it had me completely convinced that oud was only for weird old men. Well, let me tell you, I was completely wrong! Unless I have become one of those guys, lol. OFG is something like I have never experience before. My initial impression was...wow, that's a bit much! After a couple minutes it kept pulling me back in. I don't even know how to explain this one (most of the other reviewers on here are more knowledgeable in that department). Even after the dry down, this one is stronger than anything that I am used to. But I just can't get enough. This is my first experience with niche quality, and now I get it. This is definitely not a daily/casual wearer (is that a real word, lol). I am not even sure where I would wear this. For now I just spay it on the chair in my home office where I like to sit and drink my coffee wrapped in the cocoon of this wonderful scent. So, it turns out that people are questioning whether or not it actually has oud. Maybe that is why this appeals to me?

Let me Start off by making it clear i absolutely adore this scent, it is exactly the kind of scwnt profile that speaks to me, a masculine sophisticated deep oud fragrance. It lasts long, it projects, yet it does NOT induce headaches. 2 sprays will last AND project throughout a solid 7-8 hours minimum. You do not need to overspray. That being said my main and only issue with this fragrance is the fact that Supremacy in oud exists. Having worn both on my arms at the same time and tested them on 3 occassions (high heat, warm evening and night) i can tell you there is no difference in these fragrances that justifies the price gap. If you are a collector and or a niche fanatic i ubderstand wanting to own this still, and i probably will eventually get it myself, but it is absolutely unecessary and not wise. The scents are identical, the only time i could notice a difference was at night that the initio had a more spicy depth to it. But absolutely trivial and doesnt justify its price. Wonderful fragrance but made obsolete by an identical product for not even quarter of the price. Try it, try the supremacy in oud as well, and decide.

Idk what it is with the fragrance but I cannot stop sniffing my arm. I have tried lots of ouds, very challenging ones, and this is not challenging at all. To me this smells like a very clean Oud but more like freshly cut wood and spice, with lavender supporting it. The imagery I get is as follows; a tree is being cut down in a forest where lavender plants are growing nearby, it then gets chopped into fine logs and sanded and you can get the smell of the wood chips and saw dust in the air at the sawmill where the wood is being processed and set up for assembly into fine pieces of wood furniture. After the wood is assembled into furniture it is varnished and polished giving the wood a leathery smell. Absolutely amazing stuff. I don't know if I will get a bottle but really good. I’m surprised that I don’t dislike this since I like some funkier smelling ouds like Amouage king blue or interlude black iris but this is just perfect spiced and aromatic wood smell to me and not exactly “oud”. This should be renamed as "wood for greatness" The oud is there but it is subtle, accompanied with woods. 9/10

The opening is warm and spicy with a strong saffron note. From the first spray it feels rich and bold. Honestly, I don’t see it as an oud fragrance. The name is a bit misleading. I don’t get that strong animalic oud, especially as someone used to real oud. It’s more saffron with a sweet warm base. More like “Saffron for Greatness” than oud. Performance is very strong. Longevity goes up to around 14 hours, and sillage is strong for the first 3 hours. The main issue for me is not the scent itself, it’s just that I found something better. I prefer Haltane Parfums de Marly. It feels smoother and easier to wear. This one is still nice, but a bit heavier and sharper. I’d recommend it if you like saffron heavy warm scents with strong performance. Just go easy on sprays, it can get loud. Smell: 8/10 Longevity: ~14 hours Sillage: strong (3h) Seasons: Fall, Winter Age: 30+ Main accord: saffron, spicy, warm, sweet, slightly woody

Love it, why does eveyone consider this a fall/winter fragrance? Im wearing it in june currently and getting a bunch of compliments, I think its phenomenal. 1 spray each wrist, 1 spray each elbow, and 2 on the neck, this is a true year round fragrance. Dont be afraid to wear this in the summer at all, its not your typical super loud oud, i think theres alot of BS ratings on this from people who dont actually own it and maybe have just sprayed a test strip and dont know the drydown. Ill check my batch number tonight, maybe I have a new one thats toned down or something. It smells gorgeous on my skin though, and ive been complimented 14 hours after putting it on. If you really want to show out layer it with Narcotic Delight, I do 1 spray on each forearm and 1 center of the neck, in between where I sprayed oud for greatness. Initio is your reading comments by chance a cherry oud for greatness will be a banger for sure.

I’d say this really lasts. Had some on wrist before the gym, was just testing a new bottle. And after a session, the sauna, and a cold plunge, AND a shower, I can still smell on wrist hours later at home The dry down really mellows down to a clean woody masculine scent. However that being said, side by side to the lataffa Oud for glory, it’s hard to justify the price point. The OG smells better in my opinion, it’s got a better sweetness and is more complex, with a better dry down. But for the first few hours I couldn’t tell a difference at all. And for like 5% of the price of a bottle of Initio I’d say save your money. That being said again, I love this scent and am happy to have the OG. That longevity on skin is mind blowing and the aroma feels more natural and refined

Had both this and Imperial by Gisada. As said in my review on Imperial, if you compare them directly you will probably smell alot of slight tweaks. Oud for greatness is darker and manlier. Imperial is sweeter and more aromatic, making it alot more cloying/nausiating. Which was exactly why I sold Imperial after a while. Dont blind buy this, I dont think its as controvertial as other reviews make it out to be, but its still a statement scent. A very well blended, warm, woody, manly, dark scent. For me, its a perfect fall scent. You can probably make it work whenever, especially as a night time scent, due to is having that manly/sexy allure. But I see it as cloying in warm weather, especially above 20 to 25C. All in all, this oud fragrance is greatness.

This fragrance is a statement, it resembles a very brown earth, the Oud is notable and the saffron gives it the right roundness. This is a heavy strong projecting scent, opulent, dark, with oriental spices. It is something that an emperor would wear at the banquet after an overwhelming victory, it's rough, ballsy almost overpowering. The name is simply put perfect it totally represents the fragrance. Oud for greatness: one of the most precious materials made for someone great, someone that doesn't need to prove anything to anybody, somebody that wears something that may not be appealing to most of the people yet doesn't care at all, instead, fills up rooms and halls with it, and walks proudly. 9/10

Oud for Greatness hits you with oud and spices right from the start. It’s raw, powerful, and has this energy of money, power, masculinity, and a bit of sexual tension all at once. I never really thought Haltane was that sweet until I compared it side by side with Oud for Greatness. Haltane, while very aromatic, has this praline running through it that gives it a chocolatey, nutty feel. Oud for Greatness doesn’t go there — it stays focused on the oud and spices. Both are great and similar in some ways, but they have completely different personalities. Oud for Greatness is rawer and more intense, while Haltane feels more eloquent and gentleman-like, but still gives off that sense of money and power.

After 8 HOURS of wear, I got a compliment from someone smelling it as I walked by, with the person sat opposite them agreeing too. Insane life and projection on something I’d pretty much gone nose blind to after 8 hours!! 🤩 This is a beautifully masculine fragrance. It has a dirty edge to it, while having a sweet, soft floral vibe, yet still maintaining that masculinity. It smells expensive. It smells like the wearer has a presence and aura, without being too demanding and overpowering. A fantastic piece by Initio, and an absolute staple for me going forward I think! I wouldn’t quite blind buy it, make sure you like it first. But once you understand it & appreciate it, you’ll be hooked!

NEWER BATCHES ARE REFORMULATED and the performance has taken a hit My batch number is 4243413A if you type it into check fresh leave out the A Comparing this 2024 bottle to a bottle from 2022 and I'm dissatisfied. The new bottle has now macerated for 11 months and it just isn't the same. On my skin it only lasts 3 to 4 hours and the silage is underwhelming compared to the 24 hr smelling it the next day and still having people notice a day later I used to get out of this This is still a really nice fragrance. If you are thinking about buying, go sample a newer batch at a department store and you will see what I'm talking about. The dupes probably perform better unfortunately

10/10. It smells like an angry leather jacket to me, but my family thinks it smells like Christmas. Super dark and deep oud scent. Kind of reminiscent of oud wood, but imagine oud wood had a drinking and smoking habit. Then it put on a leather jacket and worked at a nightclub as a bodyguard. That’s what this smells like. This fragrance is so gorgeous I can’t really stop smelling my hand. Performance, great. Projection, great. But it IS a little difficult to find situations to wear this. Don’t see much use outside of cold formal events, fancy dates, or maybe “Christmas” gatherings. It’s definitely worth trying if you’re into angry leather jackets or oud.

This stuff lasts. I’ve only got a sample of this and have been wearing it today, I sprayed this sample on at 8am in the morning and it’s now 9pm and I got a compliment. Now I’ve been hearing certain rumours about reformulation and I don’t know if it’s that’s true but this sample definitely is from one of the older batches. In terms of smell it’s just a very dark spicy woody oud and its smells incredible. I’m hoping to get a bigger bottle in the near future but I don’t want some watered down one so please if anyone reading this review owns newer batch has this truly been watered down? Nonetheless I love this fragrance it’s a masterpiece.

I had an old one, it was the greatest smell ever, I then went to a shop and smelled the fresh one, it wasn’t that great, when you store it before using it, the lavender gets more potent and you get the sweetness that makes this fragrance the best smelling ever and when it’s that you can use it in any weather but very hot one, lasts 24h and projects quite far from you, it’s wonderful, I used to be a person who hates themselves and the smell of this forced me to love my self back then. Highly recommended but let it macerate before you enjoy something that as long as I’m aware of unmatched in the world of fragrances

I give this review as someone who live in hot and humid weather. I used it during the night time and it smells gorgeous and very unique. It has pretty good sillage and kind of a head turner. This thing lasts more than 12 hours on my skin even I wash my wrist. I can imagine it will last longer if you sprayed it on clothing. I sprayed on my wrists and neck so basically 3 sprays. This one doesnt give me a headache compared to Haltane. Most people like Haltane, but if you wear in hot and humid climate this one smells way better than Haltane because I have both and tried both.