Oudh Infini

Oudh Infini isn’t really something to analyse, it is something to enter. It has that dense, almost meditative atmosphere where the edges blur and the structure stops mattering. The civet, oud, florals, and resins are all there, but they don’t present themselves as separate ideas, they dissolve into a kind of emotional weight. Many oud perfumes of this nature are presented as something sharp, animalic, or dominant, but this feels different. It is more like still air in a dim, sacred space, like something ancient but softened with time, or warmth that isn’t comforting so much as quietly, insistently intense. There’s also that slightly melancholic, introspective quality it carries. Not dark in an aggressive way, more like a deep inward pull, the kind of scent that makes you slow down without realizing it. It is wholly what it is and does not try to fit in by projecting outward in a social way, it simply creates a personal space around you and exists with you rather than for others Strangely, for me, it stirs a childhood exuberance. Like opening a suitcase after long-distance travels: fabrics holding onto distant air; something slightly worn, slightly dry, but rich with history; a mix of warmth and unfamiliarity at the same time; the quiet presence of someone who’s been elsewhere. There is also a subtle contrast: comfort and distance coexisting. It feels intimate, but not entirely mine. More like stepping into someone else’s world. What Oudh Infini creates is not just oud or rose, but an atmosphere of aged materials rather than fresh ones, softened intensity rather than sharp projection, memory embedded in objects rather than diffused in air. It almost feels like the scent is not on me, but stored in something, like it has been carried, folded, and travelled with. My response to Oudh Infini is beyond just to mood, it is more to implied stories and traces of movement, which seems like a very rare instinct. I am eternally drawn to it because it feels like it has been somewhere, it carries a past rather than just existing in the present and, like opening something that has been closed for a long time, it reveals itself slowly with the animalic skin warmth that feels absorbed rather than applied; and soft, almost faded sweetness that feel like they belong to memory of moments that already exist somewhere within me. Oudh Infini is not just about age, distance, or memory, It is about contrast: the depth of something old, travelled, and quietly complex, meeting the brightness of childhood excitement, curiosity, and energy. Its powerful tension doesn’t feel heavy or sombre to me, even though on paper it could. Instead, it feels like opening something unknown but safe; discovery without fear; and richness filtered through innocence. The childhood exuberance I feel whenever I wear it transforms the whole atmosphere. It turns what could be introspective into something almost electric, but in a quiet, internal way. Not loud joy, but that contained excitement you feel in your chest when something new is about to be revealed. It is no longer about just wearing a perfume, but activating personal emotional states through it. The scent becomes something like a set of emotional triggers, different versions of myself across time, and a way to revisit or even reshape memories. It feels like a moment in my life I didn’t have words to describe whenever I wear it. And the interesting part is: no other review, no trend, no external opinion can ever really touch the feeling I get from Oudh Infini. Because no one else has the exact memory, or exact feeling I have attached to it. Most people may not care to understand why Oudh Infini is, for me, the closest thing to accessing a personal archive of feelings, and I completely understand.

Hold on to your hats people, this fragrance is not for the faint of heart and this is not my declaration of surprise or disdain at this fact, I'm well and truly onboard the skankier side of things as a fan of artisan oud. You can't say that this doesn't deserve to proudly display oud in the title because it proudly displays it in the composition that's for certain! Pissara is a perfumer that I've heard a lot about without sampling much of her output, in fact I think this is only my second Dusita. She's become famed for being some sort of floral savant or flower whisperer, creating some of the most innovative and evocative floral accords in recent memory. I only have Splendiris to go on and I thought it was very acomplished, this is a completely different vibe to say the least. Opens with a blast of castoreum,(not the civet listed here) rough/sharp, floral/musky and of course leathery, personally I love it! It's like boozy malt whisky and fresh leather, but it quickly turns into the fine cheese that is the oud material in here. Now I know the country of origin doesn't necessarily define the smell of the oud but I have laos, Cambodia, India etc... split into categories in my mind, probably by the first material I smelled from there? This falls somewhere in the Cambodian-Indian variety of strong, very vivid barnyard/manure but with a complexity of an aged material, that has absorbed lots of life experience. Going from tobacco, spicy cigar wrapper and pepper, to full poop. It has a dancing rose type note, sandalwood and a powder which probably adds to that dirty/clean effect and the association with babies nappies. Well as someone who has recently had to deal with nappies, let me tell you this stuff has you sniffing and sniffing to try to better understand the unusual nature of a fecal edged but phantasmagorical, mind poem that is this fragrance. I think the blend perfectly captures an unforgiving attar, casually smeared on to skin and don't get me wrong it's not as brutal as some civet/castoreum perfumes or a potent Indian oud oil for example, this is quite reserved if you have an extremeists palate or are used to undiluted raw materials like ambergris and deer musk. This is classical stuff in the sense that it's rose/oud/sandalwood/musk etc... but presented in such a way by a brand with largely floral output that it raises eyebrows. Okay so I understand that civet replacement is something which has this sort of vibe, unpleasant, faecal etc... however my experience is that it stays on the skin the drydown when everything has gone in a kind of dirty protest. Oudh Infini, if you can last through the wave after wave of skank, you get treated to an almost darkly spiced woods and no cheesey oud at all. Bare in mind this is hours into the experience but still, it's about the most divine thing imaginable, cozy and like nothing else out there. I thought it was a knockout, bold, refreshing and a really well made perfume because despite the quality of oud being so paramount to the success of this perfume, the surrounds & setting make this stuff special, because it doesn't just smell of oud, and that's a difficult balancing act to perform. Wearability for me personally would only be on very special occasions when I felt in the mood for something racy and opulent. A real experience though and the price likely reflects the rare, raw natural ingredients inside. Bravo!

I’ll start by saying that yes, Oudh Infini is one of the most realistic and natural smelling Oudh’s around. Blue cheese, goats, smoke; it’s all there as a natural facet of the oil, but done very finely. After the opening it doesn’t standout as Oudh, but rather like an animalic note. The smell of Oudh here reminds me slightly of Oud Palao, but apart from that it’s like comparing Mysore with synthetic sandalwood. The note shines on its own and really puts to shame many other Oudh’s with its authenticity. Just sprayed on skin, it opens with a stunning blood red rose, jammy and opulent just like it was in former Amouage creations; bold and bigger than life, incredibly beautiful and smelling as if a bouquet was under your nose. The Oudh shows right from the start all the facets that people either adore or loathe. I really enjoyed smelling the dirtiness and the side that is usually restrained in other Oudh centered creations but I know most people don’t really like the cheesy goaty smell. To me it’s an extension of animal notes and it was a real pleasure. Up until the mid notes it’s simply a rose/oud combo; well done but eventually something that’s been done before and I struggled to find a reason to justify the enormous price tag that accompanies the fragrance. But when the heart and base notes start to show, I feel like I’m not smelling an oud perfume anymore; the oud along the civet (poooooooootent!) act like a catalyst that transforms the fragrance into an animalic chypre oriental. It’s not about oud anymore, it’s rose and animalic notes and a stunning Mysore sandalwood that harkens to perfumes of yore. It’s ‘vintage’ done ‘modern’, it smells like a million bucks, and it strongly reminds me of the perfumes not longer being made. There’s this stage in the long long drydown that reminds me of the base notes of Salome; animalic, engulfing, like the smell of skank on a fur coat. And here, Pissara has used the oud and the civet to create a chypre sans oakmoss and patchouli and bergamot, but that somehow smells more chypre and balsy and elegant than most ‘chypres’ nowadays after reformulations. Smelling is believing. The quality is superb, strong and long lasting with just one spray. The development into something different than what first appears is worthy of praise, and the quality of the ingredients used is evident from the start. What convinced me is Pissara’s ability to use current notes and materials to create something else, and at the end of the day it’s an homage to past perfumes. But, having so many vintage chypres and orientals, choc full of the ingredients now banned or restricted, do I really need an updated version of those? Bogue did it with MAAI, Papillon does beautiful ‘vintage power’ inspired scents, and Vero Kern is simply my diva. All bring something different at affordable prices. At the end of the day, if I have to pay Roja Dove prices, I want and need something out of this world, and as much as I loved trying Oudh Infini, it’s not worthy of its price, to me. Beautifully well made but something I can live without. My travel spray will do, when I just want to luxuriate in its richness. Maybe some day, when I’m filthy rich!

Capturing her in words is almost a difficult feat, if not impossible. Everything that I wrote, always felt, was short of her. Maybe it is that divine discontent that runs ever so recurrently. For one, she has mutliple forms depending on your predisposition and philosophical bent of mind, at the given point of time. To me, she appears as this enigmatic lady, decked in red with golden, decadent motifs and ornaments, culminating in a crown on her head. On the first spray she emerges from the mud like a blooming red lotus, enveloped in a divine yet slight skanky aroma of floral rose, sandalwood, honeyed orange flowers and incensey smoky slightly fecal oud, which is surprisingly very very very smooth for the ingredients it lists. The duality of facets will either make you revel like you finally found God or an higher power/purpose, and embrace her with all your life force like a fulfilled soul who has attained salvation, OR contort back in horror in a futile attempt to deny the existential crisis that engulfs our very being. Both can happen to the same person on different occasions. Should you choose to let her in, she will take you into her arms in a tight embrace, and in her bosoms you will find a warm, comforting salve (courtesy civet and benzoin) that will soothe your spirit amidst all the chaos and dread she made you aware of in the first place. This will ground your soul which by now is either adrift in a big nothingness that is the cosmos or have fallen into a bowed, pensive posture. I have perfumes that can do one or the other (give you a cosmic dread like The Dark Side by Bianchi or give you a warm comfort like Derviche by Rogue), but not both. She is an ultra rare gem at that. A familiar olfactive experience for the Bengalis or those who may have been to Kolkata, will be a visit to Dakhineswar temple. Think about entering the flower stalls overflowing with fresh flower and incense, while the used flowers are wilting under the sun outside and giving off a mix of the vibrant and the withered in one go. Once you take your "dala" or the offering basket, you make headway inside the temple courtyard. While the sun scorches, the old damp, stone corridor provides you brief respite as long as you don't step out in the open. But brave you must, for that one glimpse of 'Maa' (the resident deity), to feel being one with her, to tell her your story of perils and joy and pray for her omnipresent grace. The essence of this entire journey, both Olfactive and Spiritual, I find is distilled into this bottle. This, for me, is less of a perfume, she is more of a guide for transcendence for the mere mortals.

ฝรั่งนะคะ เวลาพูดถึงน้ําหอมอูดที่ Dirty และอยู่ใน Beast Mode ก็มักจะพูดถึงกลิ่นนี้ของคุณพลอยในโผอยู่ตลอดๆ ไม่ใช่เพราะกลิ่นมีเอกลักษณ์ ฉุนเฉียวรุนแรงแต่ประการเดียว แต่ส่วนหนึ่งเพราะกลิ่นนี้มีไดนามิคที่สูงมาก เรายิ่งใช้ยิ่งพบแง่มุมลึกลับของกลิ่นนี้ บนผิวเรา เราลองแล้วดอกส้มเด่นมาก แต่กับเพื่อนอีกคนออกกุหลายเมย์โรสชัดเจน แล้วอูดจะมากจะน้อยก็แล้วแต่คนด้วย แต่ชะมดเนี่ยรับรองว่าชัดเจนแน่นอนไม่ว่าจะบนผิวใคร และแม้ว่าน้ําหอมจะบ่มตัวจนได้ค่าคงที่ดีแล้ว แต่เราพบว่ายิ่งเก็บนานกลิ่นก็ยิ่งกลม เพราะเรามี 2 ลอทเอาไว้เทียบ ใจเราชอบลอทเก่ามากกว่าเพราะกลิ่นคาวของอูดลาวเริ่มเชื่องลง กลายเป็นโทนแบบซอกหลืบของเนื้อหนังที่ฉ่ําเหงื่อ อบอับ เซ็กซี่เป็นที่สุด น่าเสียดายว่าผู้บริโภคยุคนี้ใจร้อน รอกันไม่ได้ เมื่อเชยชมน้ําหอมใดๆไม่นาน ก็รีบตัดสินใจเสียแล้วว่ารักหรือเกลียด รีบเทขายเปลี่ยนมือ ด้วยกลัวว่าเก็บไว้นานๆแล้วราคาจะลดลงประการหนึ่ง หรือไม่รู้จะใช้ให้ทรมานตัวเองไปทําไมอีกประการหนึ่ง อันนี้เราเข้าใจ เพราะบางแนวเราไปไม่ได้กับมันจริง แต่ขอให้อดกลั้นไว้สักหน่อยหากไม่รีบร้อน อย่างเราตอนแรกเราก็เกลียดน้องอูดอินฯมาก น้ําหอมอะไรรุนแรงเหลือเกิน ยิ่งเกลียดอูดเป็นทุนอยู่แล้วด้วย แต่ว่าตอนนี้นะเหรอ หลงรักหัวปักหัวปํา เก็บเงินไถ่ตัวน้องอยู่นี่ เพราะเราค้นพบว่ากลิ่นนี้มันมีพลวัตรปรับไปตามสภาพอากาศและผิวคน ตามแบบที่น้ําหอมที่ใช้ EO แท้เป็น แล้วมันก็คลี่คลายกลายเป็นความงดงาม อย่างอากาศ ณ วันนี้ อูดอินฯเปล่งประกายได้ดี คือขอให้อากาศแห้งแบบไม่ต้องเย็นก็ได้ แห้งร้อนๆก็ไหว แค่ความชื้นในอากาศน้อยๆ แล้วกลิ่นคาวของอูดและชะมดเช็ดจะเบาลง กุหลาบแดงสดแบ่งบาน เย้ายวนแต่น้อย ติดทนเนิ่นนานข้ามวัน กระจายตัวเป็นดั่งออร่าสีทองเข้ม แต่หากในวันที่อากาศชื้น กลิ่นดอกส้มจะมาแทนที่ กลิ่นคาวชะมดดุดัน พาให้นึกถึงผิวหนังเปลือยเปล่าหลังเสร็จกามกิจที่สารคัดหลั่งต่างๆเปรอะเปื้อนเลอะเทอะบนผ้าปูเตียงไหม เตือนไว้ก่อนว่าถ้าท่านใส่หนักมือจะอึดอัดและตายได้ แต่หากบรรลงแตะแต้มไว้บนผิวหนังอ่อนๆใต้ร่มผ้า ตรงหน้าอกที่หัวใจเต้นรัว ข้อพับขา หรือเนื้อต้นแขนติดกับรักแร้ จะรัญจวนเป็นที่สุด เพราะกลิ่นมันไม่ใช่กลิ่นของคนดีที่ไหน ไม่สุภาพใดๆ แต่อัดแน่นไปด้วยไฟปรารถนา และความคิดคํานึงที่ลี้ลับบอกใครไม่ได้ ดึงดูดเฉพาะคนที่คิดเหมือนกัน ต้องการอย่างเดียวกันเท่านั้น