Hand in Hand

GORGEOUS! A total Blind-Buy SUCCESS! Hand in Hand seems to be a very polarizing fragrance, but I find it to be a PHENOMINAL fragrance! Somefolks describe Hand in Hand as being a "Chemical Mess" but imho, I feel that is bc some folks are judging this scent immediately after spraying it wo giving it much of a chance to settle on the skin? Now it does open somewhat astringent, think Perles De Lalique astrinency but much more potent, and Im sorta convince that theres a dash of Black Pepper in here although its not on the notes list. As this scent begins to dry-down it becomes a bright, beautiful, slightly soapy, woody rose fragrance with hints "authentic smelling" Oud which is NOT "Fecal" in THEE LEAST, but I can pick it out and is not at all over-done, but Im thinking is whats making this scent so polorizing. I have a couple.of authentic Non barnyard, yet slightly Fermented and "rubbery/plasticy" types of oud which I feel may be the type used here albeit in very small doses, and is what gives hand in hand its back bone. Also, its NOT as "Challenging" or "Eternal lasting/potent" as folks make it out to be here on Fragrantica, but It does lasts atleast 8 to 9 hours on skin and DAYS on clothes.. Idk, I love Hand in Hand. Its completely Unisex, oh and it gets the slightest hint of smokiness in the far dry-down. A 9.5 outta 10 fresher, brighter take on a Rose/Oud and completely UNDERRATED!

I am surprised there haven't been more recent reviews for this one! You have to give this one some time. It opens VERY fecal, but after a bit it dries down to a great rose-oud. In that sense, it reminds me of something like Mamluk by Xerjoff (not in how it smells but in the magnitude of the change from the top to the dry down). I wouldn't call it 'fresh', but it certainly isn't a dark oud/deep red rose. The other florals must be lightening it up. I honestly think this is very wearable, but almost anyone. Don't be turned off after the first 5 minutes.

This smells like pure heven , On my skin 12 hrs and going strong , On my clothing 9 days and still going strong . I love it , Peace

Good lord, this is a MONSTROUSLY loud burst of oud, high quality/concentration rose essence, and a fistful of spices (yes, cumin's high up there)! At first I recoiled; the fumes coming off the opening might make you feel like you inhaled a mix of rubbing alcohol and gasoline fumes. Give it a second (unless you're into the pain and lightheadedness, your call) though and it really becomes an entracing, powerful oriental blend that you do not need to get your wrist close to your face to smell. For people like me (with very dry skin) who had projection/sillage issues, that's a great feeling. Rich, dark, woody rose, cumin/oud blend in its most intoxicating, bodily form, and a high quality (white?) musk beneath, stitching it all together. I'm so glad I didn't run and scrub! My smoky eyed, devil-may-care sultry side is intrigued, and that's the highest compliment she can pay. Comparisons: Le Labo's Rose 31, after playing some kind of kinky bedroom game involving gasoline &/or calligraphy ink.. and forgetting to put on deodorant beforehand.

Holy cow who voted this stuff as soft? Lol The Mcelheney's over at tobasco? Wow is this stuff loud! A spiced rose projection beast that lasts for days! This stuff is cocked locked & loaded with the perfect mix of oud, musk & roses... I love it but FOR MY WIFE! TOO FEMININE for me...

Many others have described this perfume better than I ever can. Pradva48’s last paragraph made me laugh out loud (below). Hand in Hand works better than others in this line, but it’s still a pass. The rose and Oud play nicely off each other—after the brief, extremely loud opening—but overall too synthetic and potentially headache inducing for me to wear long term.

Today I’m sharing my experience with my first and last purchase from the house of Ramon Monegal, last week I treated myself to “HAND IN HAND” it’s supposed to be a rose Oud combo, but all I experience from first spray is, harsh chemical synthetic loud mess!! I get some sort of sharp citrus geranium tang!! No Oud at all even in the dry down it remains the same!! Maybe they should re name it to “find the oud” “where’s the Oud” lol, Could this be a bad batch? It’s just headache inducing and making me nauseated and sick!! I’ve contacted the company but their just not interested in helping me out, saying it’s a blind buy!! So never again will I purchase from this house again!! I bought this from Harrods London!!

Given that I find Monegal to be one of the worst contemporary fragrance lines on the market, I would have overlooked this if a friend hadn’t convinced me to give it a shot. This is a shrewd chypre with enough personality to stand out amongst similarly styled scents. It opens mossy and rich with a musk that’s perched somewhere between dry and sweetly animalic. An anonymous rose spins the scent down traditional paths, but it’s the kind of rose that reads a tad soapy as well. So, you get this intriguing juxtaposition of dirty against clean—a move recently perfected in Bogue Profumo’s vastly superior MAAI. The effect here is that of a vintage chypre but with an added twist—completely unexpected from a line like Monegal. Yet this is supposed to be an oud—and like most Westernized ouds, it smells nothing like oud. But it doesn’t even smell like westernized nagarmotha-oud, really. Hand in Hand (odd name), I’m assuming, is using the same new molecule that’s popping up in a number of scents and is responsible for more of a "subliminal oud” so as not to offend delicate sensibilities and whatnot. But the bottom line is that it works quite well in this composition as it steps out of the way and allows the other notes to do their thing. Although the dry down is disappointing in that it becomes progressively soapy and bland, the scent is overall quite surprising and the opening is pretty special. I’d urge those of you who would ordinarily run from a Monegal release to stop and take a sniff of this one as, while it’s hardly reinventing the wheel in any meaningful way—nor is it even *that* good—it’s a step in the right direction.

Rosy Arabian bokhoor. Bulgarian roses indeed with cardamom, patchouli, and sour amber. The first spray forms a bokhoor, an Arabian one, then calms down to be Bulgarian rose spray, (aka sweet rose spray). Now there is something weird, the drydown smells like aweaker, more tender version of "Flamenco" by the same house! as the raspberry, cypress, and apple sweet violets rises up but weaker than "Flamenco"! A cute blend.

Notes listed on Ramon Monegal's website TOP saffron, coriander, geranium HEART rose, oud, osmanthus BASE leather, musk, vanilla