Forbidden Words Bombay Gourmand

This is a SEXY fragrance! Perfectly unisex too. The opening is absolutely beautiful!!! The initial spray is sweet with spices. On my skin, the davana is the STAR of the show, it’s sweet a touch boozy (very honey like), then comes in the sweet orange (for some added zest) then the salted caramel (gooey & sirupy)....I love! 20min later, the rose starts to shine with faint whiffs of the patchouli & cedar and all dry down to a sweet rose 🌹 oud combo. So glad I purchased, great addition to my sexy winter baddies stash 🔥 I get the comparison to Mfk Satin Oud but ONLY in the dry down for me. That bottle is ABSOLUTELY A STUNNER!

Such an addictive, deep, dark, sexy, sweet oud/caramel/rose. I didn't love it when I first got it, but now I'm obsessed. Love this!!!!

Forbidden Words Bombay Gourmand opens like it just walked into the room before you did. The oud hits first - bold, confident, and slightly dramatic, as if it’s announcing, “Yes, I AM here.” Give it a little time, though, and it calms down, softening into a warmer, sweeter dry-down with gentle touches of vanilla and patchouli; not cupcake vanilla - more “grown-up dessert you order with coffee and good life choices.” Despite being marketed as a gourmand, this isn’t a sugar rush in a bottle. There’s nothing sticky or dessert-cart about it. Instead, it leans firmly oriental: rich, smooth, and a little mature in the best way. Think less bakery, more velvet lounge. It reads very unisex and doesn’t try too hard to please - this scent knows who it is. Performance-wise, it means business. Projection is strong right after spraying (people will notice), and it settles into about 5–6 solid hours on skin. This isn’t an everyday, errands-and-gym scent unless your errands involve making an entrance. But for semi-special moments - brunch where everyone’s dressed “effortlessly,” cocktail hour, or anywhere you want to smell intentional - it absolutely shines. In short: confident, slightly mysterious, not here to be sweet but definitely here to be remembered.

Forbidden Words Bombay Gourmand is mostly a oudy, woody, caramelised, bitter almondy, rosy with some sweet vanilla. Compared to Palolem, FWBG is much stronger, more projecting, sweeter and overall more gourmand, so naturally more up to my taste. It’s rather on the masculine spectrum once it dries down, but since it’s sugary sweet from caramel and has floral touches from a beautiful rose and almond blossom the first two hours are leaning more feminine. It’s a fragrance I like, I don’t love, but I wouldn’t write off adding it to my collection one day. It’s unlike anything I’ve in my collection so it’s new and it’s intriguing. Doesn’t smell cheap, barnyard oudy or challenging so give it a try if it seems tempting based on my experience! Great performer.

To me it smells like a less-artificial sweeter Instant Crush. A beautiful scent that I'd really like on another person but not really for me. Also be careful it'll stain light clothes.

Who the hell wants to smell like a mixed street food stall? Bombay Gourmand starts like nothing niche. Sweet fruit preserves, rosy mess ramming into your nose in a mid-heavy weight bracket. Smells like this come from every second bottle of attar, priced for like 30 euro max. 2.5 hours later preserves softly waltzing into some salty-sour, pickled baby cucumbers territory and circle there for another 2.5h, getting occasional side eye from unsuspecting noses. 5h into wear it becomes salty battery pastries/salty caramel/lowkey stale popcorn kinda smell and just lingers around like you just ate, for the rest of your day. No way you can congruently pull the whole thing off as a fragrance and not an eaten food odor, unless you are either Tilo from The Mistress of Spices (2006), or a die-hard grandma at a yearly gardening and food preservation convention.

I wonder where is the gourmand in this scent? I get a huge dose of earthy patchouli, stinky oud, tons of Davana and Cypriol...and maybe something slightly sweet like overripe fruits that are slowly decaying under the sun... If you are interested in this scent, scent split carries the brand. I don't like it...but maybe hard core Oud lovers will understand it and appreciate it better. A decant is more than enough for me.

This is intriguing, yet apparently not sold in the US. If so, someone please DM me if you would be so kind.