Eternal Oud

smells like a sunday service worshipping a god of amber. a deep, rich, and resinous amber and vanilla combo that leans into all of the classic amber accord facets heavily to give a radiance of warmth. in the same way i would show somebody Erba Pura to teach them what musk smells like in perfumery, or Le Male for lavender, or Eros for apple, or DHI for iris, I would show somebody this DNA or Blonde Amber's to demonstrate what amber really smells like, as this is the one of the most beautiful and complete takes on amber (which is an extremely common accord/note) i have had the grace to put my nose on. Blonde Amber/Amber Empire, the only other bottle I have that I would say smells somewhat similar to this is still quite different, as that amber is a bit more masculine, and the DNA lacks the light fruity and floral notes that give Eternal Oud a sort of unisex appeal and effervescence that stops it from ever feeling TOO warm. this is also supremely close to the actual MFK Grand Soir, despite what other reviewers may have you believe. i have been to Nordstrom to get my nose on most of MFK's most popular offerings many times and have sampled Grand Soir itself multiple times. while there is a bit of deviation from the OG DNA with the added fruit and floral notes, the overall scent and rich amber accord that dominates it is pretty indistinguishable to the untrained nose. the main difference i pick up on is the added notes giving a sparkly, almost powdery quality that fits the heavy amber DNA splendidly. naturally, the higher quality of MFK's blending and lack of other notes gives the OG a slightly higher quality, and more expensive smelling richness, however considering the difference in price, the slight subjective difference in quality is practically nonexistent in the bigger picture. some people may even find the added notes improve the overall DNA. performance wise, you can expect an easy 8-10 hours minimum of being detectable on skin, i would estimate about a 6 foot projection bubble for around 3.5-4 hours before projection begins to draw itself in. to compare to the OG, i would say its about a 15% decrease in overall longevity and projection, but once again, when considering the massive price difference, it might as well be the exact same, especially because the DNA is a very well performing one in the first place. if you enjoy Grand Soir, this is a pretty safe blind buy imo. i would not blind buy this in general, as this is a pretty mature and unique profile, not exactly a dumb reach. i can see this being a good reach for date night, would also fit formal occasions very well with its rich and mature character. i would not wear this in warmer weather whatsoever though. i enjoyed my bottle out of the box immediately, but i also must note that after a few months, be it from maturation or my sense of smell changing, the juice definitely seemed to have a more refined quality with smoother performance. all in all I would rate this an 8/10, no disappointment at all for 30 bucks from Burlington, another testament to why Lattafa has so much dominance in the dupe market. (the oud is also very smooth and nigh indetectable for those who are scared of it)

An intoxicating fragrance. The bottle needs some time to macerate. I macerated mine for about 4 months, and the fragrance was COMPLETELY different than the first time I sprayed it. The first time I used the fragrance, it smelled like a strange crayon box that had been sitting in vanilla pot-pourri. After 4 months, the notes have emerged and the fragrance is delicious, sultry, sexy, and intoxicating. The grapefruit really only show up in the immediate opening, which lifts off the amber, vanilla, and plum from the skin and throws a smack-you-in-the-face-blast of these notes out into the room. Let it settle for a few minutes and revisit. Then you will notice the Tonka Bean, and Labdanum warming up to come out and play. The sweet plum adds an almost aquatic juicy base for this fragrance to lift itself from. After about 10-20 minutes the scent takes on the powdery almond quality of the heliotrope. This mixes in with the balsamic almost spicy take on benzoin that this fragrance posesses. The benzoin here almost smells as if it has been rolled in cinnamon and nutmeg. This is where the intoxicating nature of this scent hits. From about an arm's length aways, the scent has this fresh, juicy sillage. If you follow it to its source and move in for a deep, longing inhale, you are engulfed in a cloud of sultry, balsamic, spicy, depth bathed in a deep, woody, bourbon vanilla. And around the 30 minute to 1 hour mark, the oud makes itself known. Not a loud announcement . I imagine it entering the room silently, while all of the fragrance dances around the room. No one notices. He just joins the dance and before anyone realized he's there, his movements through the room have left a faint trail of his scent. Everyone opens their eyes to find him, but he has hidden in the shadows, leaving only the intoxicating woody aroma clinging to the fragrant air of the party. BEAUTIFUL scent. Projection is not quite BEAST mode, but it will slap someone in the face when you walk by just outside of arm's length. Performance is POWERFUL, as I can still smell this on my skin the next morning when I wake up, after applying it before a night out. Definitely worth the money... and you will smell like you didn't spare any expense on your fragrance choice when you walk in a room. 😉

When I bought this, I thought it was an original scent and I didn’t learn that it’s a dupe for Grand Soir until a few days ago. I never tried Grand Soir, so I can’t speak to how close it is to that. But I am surprised by what I am seeing with some of these reviews. Firstly, maybe my skin just loves this, but I do not have any issues with longevity as this stays on me for around 7 hrs before I start to notice that it’s fading. And secondly, I get no lavender, medicinal or otherwise, in this composition. I smell plum and along with a hint of dirty bitter grapefruit for sure. The plum is sweet, a little syrupy, and gives a dark and sensual vibe to the fragrance. Beyond that, I smell mainly amber and other resinous notes, but I do also get a bit of a cola like blast from Tonka I’m assuming. And the oud, though I don’t smell much, there is a slight smoky vibe, so I imagine that’s from the oud, and maybe a little from the labdanum as well. I do not smell any heliotrope here, I love that note and can usually always pick it up, but I don’t in eternal oud. The overall feel I get from this fragrance is a slightly masculine leaning unisex fragrance that is bold, refined, elegant, and a little sensual. But I don’t feel that it leans to far into masculine territory that I would have trouble wearing it. I love wearing it. It does give me the impression that it is fitted to being a special occasion fragrance because I can imagine it well at any event with a dress code. As far as the packaging goes, the bottle/cap are lovely and a joy to gaze upon. But the plastic dome that it comes in is cheap, tacky, and poor quality. Mine came chipped in two spots at the base, and apparently I’m not alone here. It doesn’t take away from the fragrance, but I usually keep full presentations for what I buy, and I definitely will not be for this one. But that bottle. Wow! Why did they cheapen it with the dome? Overall, I am incredibly pleased with the fragrance. And I would buy it again.

Got this today? What are people on this site smoking? They be saying “medicinal” and “old man smell”. Zero weirdness, zero medicine, zero annoying opening. This fragrance is likeable and inoffensive from first spray: sweet vanilla, amber, and I’d agree with the plum, in the best way possible. Sweet woods in the back bone, but not oudy at all. Although it’s nothing technically new, it’s a pretty unique DNA if you consider what others’ are currently wearing. Ignore the manly tendency on votes, if I smelled this on a girl I’d melt. Almost gourmandy but still smells like perfume, so not all the way there, perfect balance. If you like amber, vanilla, and something that not everyone wears, pull the trigger. Just smells great, after 2 hours it’s still very present on my skin, I’ll edit this post after a week or two to talk about performance / evolution although I don’t think this will change much. Update on performance: It's very good, on skin lasts easily 10 plus hours, projection seems to be at least an arms length bubble. I went for an 80 minute walk, drank 4 beers in a bar (which took me like 2 hours), and walked another 15 minutes to join some friends in another bar, and when I got there and sat at the table one of them complimented my fragrance, so even with me smoking cigarrettes, and air and sunlight hitting me from walking, I was still projecting 4 hours after applying. Self-perceived projection has varied for me, some days I smell it all day, other days I get the peekaboo effect.

Opening has this kind of medicinal cinnamon-fruit(maybe plum?) smell, but at the background, the Amber and vanilla is present. Doesn’t take time to notice what this fragrance is similar to... MFK GRAND SOIR!! But hold up, it’s not done. The Oud then introduces itself, but as a backbone to the ambery accord, this makes it darker than Grand soir. . Lattafa has now passed the stage of being called a clone house, they now do twists of fragrances like Mancera. Speaking of mancera, some people mention this being a clone of Red tobacco or PDM Carlisle, I understand why... the style of the whole composition—from the Oud, to cinnamon, to vanilla, to that fruit—gives a very slight vibe of Mancera Red Tobacco. But just a little. . The deep dry down familiarized me with a new note—Benzoin. That’s what really connects this fragrance to the deep dry down of another fragrance from Lattafa called Asad, and I checked, they have similar base notes, tho. . In summary, I love it. At times, when I sniff the atomizer, I get a very realistic vanilla and Amber smell... very sexy! The presentation is off the chart for the price. . Longevity is not bad. I’m getting 8-10hrs or more. Projection is smooth, not loud or soft, just a bit above moderate. Quality is excellent, that smooth vanilla smell got me impressed. . Rating- 8.5/10 . I think Lattafa deserves the BRAND OF THE YEAR award, sentiments aside.