Oud Silk Mood Extrait de Parfum

I eagerly opened my latest perfume sample shipment and tentatively applied Maison Francis Kurkdjian's Oud Silk Mood after reading mixed (many negative) reviews. Anticipating the perfume's arrival, I deliberately did not apply any other perfume that day because I wanted to experience this expensive perfume in its full glory. Surprisingly, I really LOVE this fragrance; however given the hefty price tag, I may be forced to move on to similar rouse oud perfumes and rose oud blends, such as those produced by Jo Malone, M. Micallef, Montale and Tiziana Terenzi (to name a few). I am NOT a perfume expert and I especially am not an oud expert. I've never smelled the true scent of a natural agarwood tree. With that said, I experienced and owned a few ouds but only adored perhaps one. MFK's Oud Silk Mood is a gorgeous fragrance but IMHO, you MUST wait for the dry-down! For me, the basenotes and dry-down are what make this fragrance stand out and shine. Even someone like me with limited perfume knowledge can tell this perfume is created with some fine ingredients...oud, rose, papyrus and chamomile...that's about it. Lovely. I warn the opening notes are intense, loud and almost vulgar...rubber, SMOKE & metallic notes jump out of the bottle, onto the skin & through the nose, showing no mercy! After initial application, I thought "Uh oh...oh no...this is gonna make me ill...this is gonna be a SCRUBBER!" All I could smell after initial application was something akin to burnt rubber...oud! Within 10-15 minutes, this EDP exposed its true glory with the longest lasting & loveliest wood (oud), musk-y, dark rose notes I have ever experienced. After 30-60 minutes, I could not stop enjoying the glow of the most gorgeous Bulgarian rose & wood-y oud fragrance I have ever experienced! MY husband kept commenting, "You smell GREAT when you walk by...is that the SAME PERFUME you HAD ON about 1 hour ago??? The SAME one??? Really??? You smell great...nice!" Silage!!! One reviewer, who disliked this perfume called this fragrance "cheap, synthetic, dark, odd, etc with 'urban glossy darkness' & pretention, etc." I can understand this reviewer's experience, I really can because that is (sorta) the way this fragrance opens. But give it time and delight in the dry-down. This EDP is long lasting and is a beautifully warm, comforting floral (rose) & resinous fragrance. Silage is great & really pleasant. Not sure I have the budget to spring for a full bottle. And unlike By Killian, not sure if this MFK fragrance is worthy of its hefty price tag. I'm going to take some time in the near future to re-experience "similar" fragrances, as mentioned above. Definitely worthy of a sample try, if you like rose & oud AND you can wait for the dry-down!!!

After wearing this, it's my new favorite rose. Au revoir Montale, Amouage and Bond No. 9. In the beginning, it kind of smells like a rose-scented, black, permanent felt-tip marker. I always loved that smell, and it occurs to me that someone should make a fragrance that smells just like that. I'm looking at you, Comme des Garçons. I do like most of the Montale roses, even if they are screechy synthetics, but they don't compare to this rose, which, while strong, smells more authentic, and kind of green and leafy, which I'm guessing is the papyrus. The rose in Amouage's Lyric for men starts out so bright and lively, but it dries down to the lumbering clumsiness of incense and spices consistent with the house's style. I respect Amouage and I do wear Interlude, but the house style for me is just too damned fat. Bloated even. I also wear New York Oud by Bond No. 9. I like it a lot, though I don't care much for that house's copycat approach to product development. And they put out too much too fast (not unlike the perfume mills that are Parfumerie Générale and the other Pierre Guillaume projects). Anyway, New York Oud is incredibly sharp and the rose and oud both smell just as synthetic and screechy as any Montale, if not more so. I've also found that the Bond and Montale oud-rose scents don't evolve well on my skin. The Bond stays the same and just gets weaker with no significant changes. The Montales tend to turn acrid on my skin after a couple of hours. Every now and then, I love wearing ridiculously luxurious, regal scents like those from Amouage, but most of the time, I'm happy with innovative use of a few high-quality ingredients. That's what Oud Silk Mood is. It's so simple and elegant, only a genius could have come up with it. The rose and oud are soft, but definitely noticeable, and complement each other beautifully. They don't compete with each other like they do in New York Oud.

This is my second review of MFK Oud Silk Mood. I wrote the first review more than a year ago, when I was still familiarising myself with this perfume; but now that I have had it for many months, I feel that it deserves a second account. At the moment I own 40 fragrances; obviously, that's not much, considering that some Fragrantica members have hundreds, even thousands of scents - but, on the other hand, it's way more than I ever thought I would need! When purchasing new fragrances I try not to duplicate what I already have; diversity is the keyword and each fragrance that I own is a standout, for one reason or another. Among these 40 'chosen ones', MFK Oud Silk Mood is definitely THE best, because it is such a unique minimalist artwork. On paper, it should be a simple little thing, consisting of only four major ingredients - rose, chamomile, papyrus and oud; but these four are so masterfully blended and balanced that the resulting scent is seriously addictive. In order to appreciate Oud Silk Mood, one must be a rose lover, because an enchanting, powerful rose is the main protagonist here. This heady rose is freshened up with chamomile, papyrus and a very subtle oud, without a trace of its skankier facets. The fragrance is quite linear and stays true to itself throughout its development; all notes are present from the beginning to the end. Although it is marketed as unisex, I'd say that it leans feminine: this is made for a mature, confident, successful, classy woman. I'm not sure that I match this description, but I do hope so! To sum up, this is one of the best investments that I ever made and worth every penny. Do not bother with dupes and save up to buy the real thing. It is meant to be used sparingly, so a 70ml bottle can last for many years. This is a perfume to bring to a deserted island.

What an amazing scent... It starts off a bit sharply, but in around ten minutes it calms down and becomes the most harmonious oud based composition I have ever smelt. To add the chamomile note into the composition was a brilliant idea, it creates something special here, unexpected, unusual, gorgeous. It's hard to explain, hard to describe this slightly herbaceous freshness-to-bitterness, which by no means makes a bitter perfume out of SILK MOOD, no, it's actually a sweet perfume! The sweetness comes from the roses. Oh, I'm in heaven right now as I smell it from my wrist... I think I fail to unravel the magic of this work. Usually I can tell why I love what and why this and that work this way, etc. But not here. Just pure delight. Francis Kurkdjian does it again. I think he's the biggest perfumer of our time. There are perfumers out there who are undoubtedly very talented and whom I love with all my perfumista's heart (and nose), but this guy is just one of a kind. I think he's a man of rare genius. I have observed his career for around ten years, because, in my opinion, he demonstrated sparks of genius even in the very beginning of his professional path. I must say that his talent has developed into something truly outstanding and influential. Back to the perfume - I think it's completely unisex, however, it's so refined, so exquisite, and I may imagine that guys might prefer a "tougher" oud from MFK's collection. I would say SILK MOOD will do wonders on female skin. It does on mine... I'm starting to save up for this miracle of perfumery from now on.

At first i flat out said, "this is black aoud by Montale". But its not even close. Its so different. Oud Silk Mood is the epitome of the Middle Eastern Rose & Oud perfume in my eyes. Its so beautiful, so sparkling, so sexy. There is absolutely nothing that doesn't ooze class here. The Rose is gorgeous and juicy. It never fades to the background. Its always there, to let you know that its the boss. Its not soapy, not powdery. Its as if you were to pick a Rose out of the ground and dig your nose into it. Thats what you get. There is something that adds a certain dustiness to the rose, it almost smells like an ever so slight citrus, but not. I believe this is the papryus. That would make sense to me. The backbone of the scent is the Oud. Everpresent. Giving character, depth, and thickness. It adds a layer of beauty that no other material on the earth could. The liquid is purple, and somehow, if i had to think of a color while i smell this perfume, i swear it would be the dark grayish purple color of the liquid. The presentation is absolutely outstanding. Heavy glass, heavy metal cap. Gold embellishments throughout. Projection is absoultey perfect. Medium. It draws people into you. It does not hit them over the head with a bat. Longevity is excellent. Easily 10-12 hours. Yes, it is extremely expensive. But it has done what many perfumes fail to do at any price. It makes my heart sing, and when i close my eyes and breathe deeply, it takes me to a place far far away. Another Masterpiece by Francis Kurkdjian.