Malik Al Oudh

I’m not an oud expert at all. I’m not even sure what white oud smells like, I surmise, but I am not sure, it’s a refined, cleaned, more wearable, and lighter version of the medicinal agarwood similar to what soft patchouli is versus the dark one. That said, I would never describe it as having an oud note in the ingredients. I can smell exactly the pyramid they drew. Top notes are spices and saffron, then vanilla and sandalwood creep in following the musk, and if they say a white oud, it would probably be in the base. It’s a very smooth oud. I can’t even say it smells medicinal, nothing like the screaming oud colognes I have, but if it’s in there, it’s cute. It is powdery but not baby powder, its creamy and spicy vanilla-sandalwood combo. I imagine it as a bowl of vanilla ice cream, hand-beaten Italian ice cream. It is so creamy and delicious. Opulent, but perhaps not the dream of luxury it claims to be. Luxurious vanilla, tastefully done, adult and classy. Deeply warm, softly rounded, almost disappointingly harmless: it’s so carefully polished that the oud appears more like a general woody sweetness than the truly magnificent smelly forest the oud can be. The Malik Al Oudh bottle is in the Middle East style, brown opaque glass like chocolate with a golden rose decor and cap. Malik Al Oudh is not opulent Oriental, Arabic or too oudish, notwithstanding its brand and name. It is rightfully a reasonably modern and western iteration of Arabian perfumery. The top is a little fizzy and playful to me; it could be because of the spiciness and pepperiness. Right off the bat, Malik Al Oudh greets me with a blast of bitter and spicy saffron, slightly camphorous, with a tad of bright citrus. Freed at the beginning, a complex and intense blend of bergamot and dry cedar tickle the senses up to the soft heart notes, with a whisper of blossoms yet to come laying on top of cosy vanilla. During mid-development, romantic jasmine emerges once the leathery saffron calms down. In the heart, it is all about jasmine and cedar with a hint of animal musk. A hidden carnal secret awaits, while the amber wraps smooth vanilla and sandalwood to create a mouthwatering melange, an aura of refinement and sophistication, balancing the delectable with the aphrodisiac. It gradually becomes woodier and softer as it dries. I smell creamy sandalwood and vanilla. This part is sexy, elegant and exquisite. Very subdued, but extremely pleasant. When it soothes, it goes tender vanilla all the way and reveals the precious leather facets of a Black Vanilla pod. A sweet leather fragrance with slight smoke and a lot of vanilla. Luscious, soft, tender and suede-like redolence rather than genuine leather. The projection is quite exuberant at first, even if the smell itself is so sweet that it doesn’t overwhelm; it doesn’t project beyond the first hour of wearing it, and the rest of its longevity is a scent for the skin. It has decent longevity, at least 5 hours, longer on fabrics. I feel it softly on my skin and clothes a few hours later. It remains moderately linear. And even in the evening, it smells like vanilla. But not loud. It’s cute, but not too attractive. A luminous, cuddly smell. Pleasant feel-friendly atmosphere. Don’t judge it quickly, be patient, and ask the surrounding people, and you will be happy when they say they can smell you. Probably a safe blind buy, if you like powdered perfumes and don’t enjoy spending money. It’s a safe blind buy for vanilla lovers. It’s not even childish vanilla; it's an elegant and straightforward vanilla—good sweeter smell. For me, absolutely a vanilla scent with few trimmings and an unusually adult aura, rather than an all-round oriental.

When I first sprayed this, it was right after Signature N°III by Maison Alhambra. Have you seen this reel where they go like "money screams, wealth whispers"??? I don't like the saying but this is the vibe I got. Signature N°III is loud and sexy, almost a clubbing scent, and this one was, in my mind, more associated with an older person, more mature and confident (I'm not saying that confident people do not go clubbing). Maybe it's due to the santal. But the scent is more comforting and soft. On my skin it evolved into a very nice, not sweet, but very nice and soft, almost chocolaty woody vanilla. So to put it in a more organized way I first got the oriental spices, the saffron and and the santal. Now in the openings I do get a lot more cedar and amber at the point when sometimes I get told when I spray it on me at home that it smells like "those old ladies who wear way too much cheap drugstore amber cologne to go to church". But this impression does not last. As I have let it macerate, I like the openings less, the cedar/amber mix is reaaaaally sharp. But this impression does not last at all !! After a few 10/15 min, I have made my closed ones smell it again and they thought it was a different perfume because the sharpness had disappeared and the fragrance became really soft. As it dries down, it always evolves into this soft vanilla, although elevated with the cedar/santal combination. I like it, do not love it, but I like the soft perfume vibe. Once I thought that it smelled like Aladdin's flying carpet ??? Because of the softness of that spicy woody vanilla scent ??? Longevity is great HOWEVER it does not project at all. This is an intimate fragrance, smells strong if you put your nose on your skin but people will not notice your fragrance first. Which is nice on the days you really just wanna be soft.