Across Sands

I love this. It’s unlike any other oud fragrance I’ve tried. I think it’s unique while also managing to avoid the usual pitfall that comes with this kind of creativity: Being polarizing. I can see some people saying “not for me”, but I can’t imagine anyone thinking it’s gross. I can smell neither rose nor that sharp bug-spray note that comes with other oud scents, like Oud Palao or Velvet Tender Oud (both of which I own and enjoy). This is sweet, *extremely* date-forward, and heavy on cinnamon as part of its spice profile, and it’s a strong performer that won’t need too many sprays. It’s also a classy, modern, and one-of-a-kind club night or date night scent. I also understand people’s comparisons to rum raisin cake, but I think it’s reminiscent of going to a high-end, artisanal bakery rather than the hit-or-miss home baked stuff. To me, there are also hints of booze and cherry in the scent that aren’t immediately obvious, but are revealed for those willing to study the drydown patiently. While I don’t deny the sweetness of this fragrance, I have to say I’m surprised that so many are saying this is a “feminine” scent. I frankly see it as tilting toward more masculine, and I kind of have trouble envisioning it working for most women. Not that it couldn’t work for women, just that it doesn’t scream “female fragrance” to me. As a guy who works with his hands and wears a beard, I haven’t had any comments indicating that it’s out of place on me. Across Sands *will* get you compliments, even from some unexpected sources. People who never comment on this sort of thing (to me) do notice and appreciate Across Sands, in my experience. One final disclaimer: This is absolutely a cold weather scent in my mind. I think it could also work very well on extremely hot, dry nights during summer. Unless you literally live in or near a desert (I do), it’s really difficult for me to imagine this fragrance working well outside of those scenarios.

Considering the fact that this has been discontinued for some odd reason, this was a total pain to find from anywhere to purchase. I managed to get my hands on a near full bottle however, and i do have to say, it surprises me in the most delightful way. For a fragrance thats been touted as strong and spicy with a powerful oud presence, the sillage is unfortunately extremely light on my skin, which is a shame as this is an absolute gem of a fragrance. Across sands stays true to its name with a very middle eastern DNA. The date accord is one i can safely say i haven't smelled in another fragrance yet, and despite thinking it would be too cloying and sickly sweet, the date notes actually have a certain warm fruity honey sweetness that balance out the stronger wood and spice nuances and help tie everything together. I don't get a true "oud" smell from this, more a dark, dried oud scented wood, which in all fairness may have actually been to its benefit as a stronger oud would have probably easily overpowered the date sweetness. I don't know what it is about the scent, a personal memory trigger perhaps, but a whiff of this transports me to a hot summers day in my Great Grandmother's home after she burned incense throughout the house and set desserts for the family. It has the quality of being a very warming "cuddle up at sunset at home" fragrance while also containing a mystical exotic "arabian nights" quality. If only this had a little more Sillage, and a bit more longevity, i would have dipped in my savings and bought 3 to 4 bottles of this and used it exclusively. It is truly that good. A shame that its been discontinued, but i do hope more fragrances with this formula and fragrances that use dates, honey, spices, and "oud" make more of an appearance. If you have the luck of finding this, or obtaining a sampler, GET IT.

After seeing a second hand bottle pop up for the lowest price I have ever seen I coudn't resist. I only had a tiny bit left in my old bottle that I hadn't really used since about a year ago baucause I wanted to keep some for memories. I remeber the first time I was wearing this again it brought me to tears. There's something about this perfume that makes it so comforting. It was my first oud fragrance and one of the only fragrances I own that I'm always in the mood for. It's well blended with a soft warm sweetness from the dates, for the rest I mainly get spices from it, but it also seems slightly floral. I often wear it to bed but also like it in any weather or season. It's very comforting but also quite out there. Definetly my most complimented perfume also, for what it's worth. These days it's not as as exciting as it once was anymore, the longevity and sillage are okay at best and the whole scent profile is a lot less crazy than some actual Arabic oud scents. Not to mention the quality of the oud itself, these days I would prefer a realistic oud which this definitely isn't but probably also would not work in this. And despite all of that I still haven't found a scent that felt as much like home as this one does. Maybe it's the memories, but I still haven't come across anything with this much personality and uniqueness which also wears this easily. Such a shame it's dicontinued cause this is so special to me. I don't think I will ever get tired of it and I don't think anything could replace it.

I've been diving into Oud scents for the last few months. So far i've tried Gucci-Intense oud, Hugo boss-Bottled oud, Mancera-Sand Aoud, Rasasi-Faqat Lil Rijal and Tom Ford-Oud wood. This one is a beauty for the price (125 euro for 100ml).. It's a spicy Oud with a sweet base. Official notes are: Top: Cinnamon Essence, Osmanthus Absolute, Davana Essence Mid: Date Accord, Everlasting Flower, Cistus Absolute Base: Oud Absolu, Patchouli Essence, Incense Essence It's more of a western Oud, but it's nice and starts of strong without being overpowering or too skanky. If you don't like oud, it might not be your thing. But if you do, this one is well behaved and not yet venturing into barnyard territory. From the scents mentioned above, the oud resembles Mancera's Sand Aoud the most. Longivity is good with 7+ hours on skin. Projection is only good for the first 1.5 to 2 hours, then it goes closer to the skin. Sillage is ok. People will catch whiffs of it when crossing your path. Tbh i catch myself sniffing my hand alot while sampling this :D Overall i'm very pleased with the scent!

You know there is more than 3 notes... This is from Basenotes. Across Sands celebrates the Oriental tradition of a daring ‘oud’ fragrance softened with warm earthy notes of dates and cinnamon. The suave, fruity concoction is lifted with liquorice, osmanthus and divana flowers on the deep woody base of oud, patchouli and incense. This heady cocktail of spices evokes an otherworldly mysticism for a voyage into the undulating hills of one’s imagination. These are the notes. Dates, Cinnamon, Licorice, Osmanthus, Davana, Oud, Patchouli, Incense The whole morrocan vibe is captured perfectly with this scent. Spices, warmth,depth, IDK about oud but whatever. Sillage is heavy for the first few hours and longevity is 8+ hours with this gem. This is a perfectly mild scent that is office friendly and reminds me of L'Erbolario Meharees. MMM seems to always be discounted on Ebay. For whatever reason the labels are generic and get dirty fast or start to peel off. If I can find this at around 60-70 bucks as other MMM's are priced then it will most likely be in my collection!

This is actually one of the cherished gems of my collection. If there were such thing as an uplifting oud fragrance, this would be it. It almost comes across as sour - id imagine it’s not from one note in particular - but all of them combined. The oud is nice. Not tough. The date note gives it a delicate feel. I’m one of those guys who stays away from “feminine leaning” scents - and while I see that some feel this leans feminine, to me, it definitely does not. I’m fine wearing this year round. I don’t think it’s too heavy to wear in the heat - and it certainly has the bite to pop in the winter. I can see how this would not be for everyone. I wouldn’t recommend blind buying it - unless you’re cool with spicy, sour/oud scents. If you are, you’ll love it. Also - when I say sour, I’m not talking about citrusy - more like a ripe date mixed with oud...like anyone has ever smelled that combination anyway :) This is a great fragrance - no designer/mainstream dna In this. Love it!

Weird, beautiful gem. It's a shame that the best of the Replica scents from the otherwise rather mediocre line are the ones that get discontinued... Spiced dates, quality oud and comes with great performance to boot. I'd really love to see this brought back, because Ebay scalpers (sorry, "resellers") are a plague and I refuse to give them anything, no matter how great the fragrance they're selling is. This scent is really magical and has an almost otherworldly feel to it - it perfectly captures the idea of being 'Across Sands'. I imagine myself in a small village between the dark dunes, night has just fallen, the snake charmers ply their trade between the spice stalls which have mostly closed down, but recently enough that you can still make out hints of their wares on the cold gusts of wind and against the backdrop of pure, ethereal desert. Do not blind buy this, though. It's certainly not for everyone.

DRY DRY DRY. I feel it does disservice to the fragrance putting the word Sweet up on the Main Accords list. That, coupled with the picture of the moist juicy date would lead one to believe this was an unctuous oily sweet oud. This is not. This is so terrifically dry it is almost dust dry -(and don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with that.) Had i read the description as a dry date oud, i would be just as intrigued if not more so. After the opening dust storm settles the first word that came to mind was Muskmallow. Dont know if that is a recognized listing but that's what i get. Then Adenium flower and Agarwood stick (not the heartwood). Overall a fairly linear progression, just a few elements here, but the elements are so unique it really does put you in a Lawrence Of Arabia headspace. Highly recommended for fans of the unusual. And highly un-recommended for those who like sweet frags.

Dates are present, yes, but beware it being overstated. I sense mostly a dusty oud, with only a little date sweetness at the heart when smelling it directly, The converse, however, is that when smelled at a distance through the air, and on skin, the date note is much more pronounced. My bottle is very old, 2017 at the earliest, so well macerated. I haven't worn this in years before this review, and I'm a little taken aback. There is a red/pink pepper note that I did not remember. There is musk and a slight animalic white pepper, too (but not barnyard). It's very corporeal, it lends itself very much towards scent sprayed 6 hours ago, almost equally matched by natural body scent (not BO or overt sweatiness, more a masculine kind of human musk after a day at the office). It's sexy. There is a refreshing pink grapefruit skin note when huffed from the skin. 8/10, wear it to bed with company.

Date, mild spices (cinnamon, cumin?), osmanthus, a woody base and a touch of smoke. Kinda smells like a freshly baked raisin spice cake. The notes list here is not complete. The woody base is nice, but doesn't smell like real oud. Across Sands is pretty cozy, very blended, linear and mildly sweet. I love date and osmanthus and cinnamon and woods, so this scent is really just sort of "comfort food" for my nose. I didn't expect to like this one - a lot of MMM's scents don't work on me and seem over priced. But Across Sands seems to be better crafted than some others in MMM's range, with no sharp notes sticking out. It's not as strong of a projector as I would like but it's not bad. I would suggest this as a good first scent to try if you want to dip your toe into exotic scents - it's sort of an Arabian-lite, with extremely mild spices. Like/love!

Treid it a few times a long time ago and finally decided to buy it when it was on discount. It has been my go to scent since. Since I wear it almost daily I don't notice it anymore after a while or sometimes think I'm getting bored of it. However; everytime I get back to it I fall in love again. It smells dark, sexy and mysterious while still feeling very gender neutral which is something I look for most the the time in my fragrances. It is a little sweet for my liking but I don't mind too much since it's still quite dark and complex. Haven't found anyone that doesn't like it but it's still not for everyone.

The dates are the star of the show. Its jujube sweetness reminds me of saffron notes, which I love. Actually this is a very close match to Alkemia's The Golden Bough, a saffron-centred fragrance. I particularly like this combination of dates and oud. The oud here is of the inky variety you frequently encounter in Arabic perfumes rather than the barnyard Laotian variety. This goes on juicy, treacly and warm. I don't find it dry at all. Lovely depth and mystery from the oud. In my opinion, one of the best from the house Maison Martin Margiela. But then I'm a oud and oriental fan :))

Across Sands by Maison Martin Margiela creates the illusion of travelling through a warm, silky desert. It takes you to a desert paradise, where dancing sand dunes are overflowing with notes of enchanting spices and burning oud, sweetened by an oriental date accord. The creamy top note of davana blends with an intense floral note of osmanthus and is entwined with cinnamon, thus adding an ardent and spicy twist to the scent. At the heart of the blend are date accord and everlasting flower, while deep woody notes of oud, patchouli and incense complete the base.

Across Sands is one of my favorite gourmand fragrances, and the best representation of dates that I've tried in a fragrance. The fragrance has a seductive and mysterious opening which I find intoxicating. As the fragrance dries down, you get the wonderful sweetness from the dates and develop a dessert-like quality. Overall, my wear has been good, but this fragrance, I believe, is more appropriate for nightwear. I can see this being someone's signature scent if they choose. Overall, a highly unique scent that is now hard to find.

I'm in love! Across Sands opens up with sweet spiciness then the oud reveals itself in a glorious fashion, like a desert warrior emerging through a dust storm. You are eventually left with a lightly-sweet, spicy, rosey oriental aroma that has a wonderful deep oudesque richness to it. This is fantastic. A simple formula executed to utter perfection! I feel like I could wear this all the time. This was my first Maison Martin Margiela Replica & I just hope & wish the rest of the line is this gorgeous

Ugh, I love this. I've been wearing it for four years now or so. I just adore how the dates sweeten up the oud, but not overly so. I'm a big fan of this scent profile in general, and I have sampled so many woody fragrances, but my holy trinity remains: Across Sands (mellowest, slightly sweet, still impactfully woody) / By the Fireplace (smoky powerhouse with some smoothness yet) / Oud for Greatness (a psychedelically layered, mystical oud for special occasions).

What a delight...! I really love the scents from MM and this is no exception. Sweet dried dates spicyness and oud. It has a clean feel behind the sweet spicyness. Its summer now but I this is wearable for all occasions and all seasons. For men and woman ledning towards the feminine. Perfect, wellblended and intriguing. Smells expensive and exclusive without beeing intimidating. Longevity is about 8 hours and silage is an armslenght. This is a BIG love for me.

I wish they would bring this back in some capacity. I use so sparingly now because I’m less than a quarter bottle left! A spray in each crevice and chest and you will smell all day long. Lingers in the clothes until you need to do the wash. It’s so warm and inviting. I am always complimented. I’m sure there are more notes than listed but it’s not too sweet. Great for unisex and pretty versatile in that you could wear for many occasions and seasons.

This brings about the memories from Jubilation XXV before the formation for that was changed. Very high class niche scent. Only a very few handful of people can pull this off. Great longevity, and moderate-high sillage. People are getting oud from this? god knows why. None for me me. I get dried dates and smokey woodsy notes. Molton Brown reference is BS. They do not smell alike or have the same quality that of Across Sands. 10/10

The central date note is the best thing about this fragrance: it's sweet and earthy, but delicate and airy. The spice accord has a similar warmth to cinnamon and licorice, but less nuanced and more peppery. The base note does not smell like oud at all, just generic woods - a good thing if your skin fights with weird chemical smelling base notes, but don't expect complexity or high sillage. Dries down to a long lasting skin scent.