Oud Bazaar

I have recently acquired a Saltworks discovery set, after hearing tales of their "legendary" status amongst fellow perfume hunters. Superior sillage and extreme longevity are apparently hallmarks of the Saltworks universe. I'll believe bold exclamations like that when I've experienced them personally. Oud Bazaar was the gorgeous golden unicorn of the discovery set, with the other scents in it appearing as boring, predictable, three-legged tired old nags. As soon as I smelt Oud Bazaar, my brainbox was reminded of Papilefiko by Nishane. Oud Bazaar goes down the same olfactory road, but doesn't charge you the cost of a black market kidney to go for a stroll down it. £95 for a full bottle that smells similar to a super popular fashion scent? Yes fucking please, deal me in! Turns out that sillage and longevity are the specialty of Saltworks. For sure, it's other nine scents in the discovery set are as dull as dishwater (except for maybe Surfari; I've not smelt a coconut-based perfume that has bigger bollocks than that cunt), but all perfumes in the set have exceptional sillage and brilliant longevity. Sometimes, in the instance of Rose Boheme, the quality of the perfumes gets quite annoying, soapy and headache-inducing. But, Oud Bazaar stays true to it's name; I can almost imagine a bustling market, in a very hot country where sand is fucking everywhere, especially when I look at the Oud Bazaar picture, in the cute little booklet that comes with the discovery set. There is also space to write your thoughts about each scent in the booklet, which is a really nice touch. Anything with oud in it tends to be a winter/autumn scent, but I reckon I could pull this off in the dreaded sunlight, due to the hot market place it takes your brainbox to. It gives some little fruity smacks in the gob as well as the oud, so that makes it acceptable for summertime use. 8/10. It loses two points. Firstly, the bottle looks the same as all of the others in their range, so if you buy different bottles, it is not clear which is which. Secondly, whilst it is very nice, it is a tried and tested formula of oud, spices and sweetness, so it's not exactly breaking new ground. But, eight out of ten ain't bad.

Absolutely love this one. I think the name is very apt - it smells beautifully exotic and heady on first spray, conjuring up the impression of a bustling Middle Eastern bazaar. It has a potent animalic quality from the oud that lingers as the perfume dries down, which I find very addictive. Seems to last an eternity on skin, and clothes in particular - I could smell it on my t shirt days and days after I'd first sprayed it. In my experience this one has a much greater sillage than any other Saltworks perfume I've tried in their discovery set, going off the comments by family telling me they could smell me from across the room. Potentially quite polarising, as the aforementioned people who could smell me were not a fan of what they smelled, but I personally can't get enough.

Lasts well for about 6-8 hours. Smells very much like rose, leather and Oud. I am generally a fan of Oud and also pink pepper top notes so I did enjoy this one. I will try it a few more times to decide if it is FB worthy but overall quite enjoyable. Definitely one of the best ones in the set. Disclaimer- I tried this full sample set to give a cheaper, UK based brand a chance, some were good, some were bad, most were meh but worth a try nonetheless.

Sample set - very similar to halfeti DNA but not one to one. The oud is spicy and there is definitely cypriol used here that I can smell. Not listed in the notes though. It's lovely - makes you stand out. Good lasting power.

Nice smooth Oud opening, with a subtle powdery /dry floral aroma. Develops into a leather and oud bodied fragrance and stays mainly the same through dry down. Quite a simple fragrance, needs something else to make it stand out. Very nice, but not very original, longevity 7/10.