Oud Bouquet

Sometimes it’s impossible to know just how good a fragrance is until you smell it on someone else. I’ve loved this fragrance from the first sniff, and part of the reason I waited so long to write a review is because I wanted to do it justice. So here is goes. This is a strong powerful oud, sharp in the opening yet sweet. Rest assured, she is not a barnyard oud. This fragrance is meant to be palatable for a western audience (albeit, the slightly more adventurous lot). The rose is rich, not jammy, and shows itself after the initial blast of oud and saffron. Oh the saffron! I may be biased here as saffron is one of my favorite notes in perfumery.. but I just really appreciate that the saffron sticks around for as long as it does. By the dry down, it’s no longer detectable but it’s there for at least an hour on my skin. Now for the dry down. It is rich, decadent, creamy. The vanilla is so present and made delectable by the light chocolate creaminess of the praline. It never smells like straight chocolate but the fragrance certainly goes into full on gourmand territory. Oud Bouquet has my favorite dry down of all time. I smelled this on my sister at a wedding. She had spritzed some of this on her neck. I could smell it six hours later, wafting around me like a billowy cloud of creamy vanilla praline goodness. It was like dessert for the nose. I have tried Shagaf Oud in the past and loved it too. To my nose they are incredibly similar. This is full bottle worthy and back-up bottle worthy .

This is DEFINITELY Oudh no doubt about that But not sharp like Chantecaille’s Oud Fume (it is a male cologne so it’s expected I guess 🤷🏻 where as this is for women) very very rounded and soft... for an Oudh... generally nostalgic, EDIT: TOTALLY wearable & absolutely Needs no occasion. My aunt who is very picky said it smells “normal” & “nice” when I was asking if it smelled too strong / manly. Bonus she’s a working / career woman, who has worked for The Saudi oilers i.e. rich royalty & sheiks in their homes, so coming from her that says alot. She is a fault-finder with perfumes. Now coming from me: there is no hype here. It’s all 100% real. More than an exquisite well blended Oud, but absolutely an exquisite praline too. To top it off drydown is a mouthwatering Vanilla. 🤤 (EDITED) PREVIOUS REVIEW: I wouldn’t consider this a perfume, but more a “room spray” for your home. I just spray 2 tissues (2 sprays), and The smell lights up an entire room and then some... The whole hall way actually. Very pretty and femme version of an otherwise strong and sharp note of Oud. Definitely for more trained noses. Otherwise you’d smell all kinds of ghastly things.. like... “gasoline”. When there is actually no gasoline

When I (reluctantly) smelled Oud Bouquet for the first time, I fully expected to dislike it BUT instead it knocked my socks right off. I got the Oud, the yummy praline and vanilla, the rich rose. In the opening, the Oud is the most prominent note although the other notes are by no means shy either but once it has melded into your skin, the oud recedes a little and settles into a delightfully balanced, blended, beautiful but still strong fragrance. This is a dense, sweet powerhouse, 10/10 for longevity, sillage and projection so DO NOT over spray or you will choke yourself and everyone around you out. I prefer the latest version/reformulation of this perfume as I feel like the Oud in it is smoother, more rounded and balanced whereas in the older version it is just the teeniest bit sharper, with rougher edges and the other notes are maybe a little overshadowed by it, especially in the opening. The differences are really minor and only there if you want to nit pick. I love all the Maison Lancome bottles but this one with its decadent almost burnt red colored juice is my favorite! I was born and raised in the middle east and because this perfume reminds me of home, I will always own it!

So sad that the Maison Lancôme line is being discontinued 😞 I'm grateful to own all three Oud's that Lancôme had to offer, my favourite being Oud Ambroisie which is severely underrated. A lot has been said about this so I'll keep it short and sweet... Oud Bouquet opens with a blast of oud accompanied by praline, the oud settles and the rose comes out but I can hardly pick it up on my skin. I get mostly the vanilla, praline and oud - thankfully as I'm not a huge fan of a dominant rose fragrance. The rose that I can detect is a powdered pink cabbage rose and not a lush red rose as some might suggest- my mum has a rose garden which I grew up around, they still bloom the same as they did 20 years ago so I am able to decipher the different types of roses. The performance is great (same can't be said about the newer formulation) as to be expected from an oud fragrance. In sum, I'm lucky to own an older formulation and will use it VERY sparingly...I do have so many other fragrances to wear and collect so I can have some peace of mind knowing that I won't go through this like a bottle of water!

This perfume is lovely. A sweet delicious oudy rose. The rose doesn't smell like a potpourri rose, it's a light pretty rose, and although you can pick out all the individual fragrance notes, they are smoothly amalgamated. Which is weird when you think about it.... tree sap, rose, and praline? But it works to make a smooth lovely fragrance. Worthy of purchase. Which is my biggest problem with this perfume....how to come up with the money to purchase it! Edited to add: I did come up with the money to purchase this, in that I had Macy's star money at the same time it went on sale. So pure fucking luck. Now that I have worn this a little longer, I find the Guiaic wood to be the strongest note in the opening, along with the pretty rose, oud, vanilla and a hint of praline, which makes the rose smell sweet. I mostly catch the oud and praline notes in the scent aura around me, but nose to skin, this is all guaiac wood with a sweet pretty rose. Smoothly amalgamated. I really love this fragrance. It somehow smells effortless, but also intense. Sexy beautiful. Fragrance pleasure in a bottle.