Perpetual Oud

writing this review just having peeled my club dress off and unlaced my shoes at my place after a 12 hour club night. tldr: this peppery creamy rose and oud combo lasts surprisingly well and hits really nicely from start to finish, even with hardcore dance sweat LOL from the bottle, I could smell the pear and rose, and from first spray the freshness was there in full force, which then went into this sharp, almost peppery rose (it smells just like a lokum in my fave flavor). the peppery rose part kinda lets you peek through and smell something incense-y in the background, and it slowly pushes through to reveal a very warm yet slightly menthol-y oud scent combined with a sweet creamy note that reminds me of very glamorous middle eastern women with brows sharp enough to slice wood. the dry down gives way to a vanilla with a bit of tooth to it, likely from the leather, amber, and pepper; this dry down just wraps you in this “just bordering on smoky” mist that works extremely well. while wearing this perfume, I sweated out on stage doing an open mic performance, danced and smoked the night away, went to another bar, rinsed and repeated, went to a friend’s place, hotboxed, pizza’d, crashed, and woke up to the amazing dry down going strong about 12+ hours later. longevity is quite good (just almost mugler-adjacent tier which is surprising) and my friend on the other side of the couch said she could smell it on me still. all in all, I’d keep several bottles in my room. for around 20 euros this perfume is kind of a big slay... it’ll be a mainstay in my rotations!

I have to give kudos for the deep red rose element. The rose is robust, jammy, and a little mature. I personally can’t enjoy this scent much because it reminds me of the scented rosary I was given by the catholic monastery I grew up going to.. however! It’s a powerful rose with a soft woodsy undercurrent. A little sweet, but nothing girly about it. Not very smoky or dangerous though, just a bit leathery and spicy. Surprised this is called perpetual oud because it’s way more perpetual rose in my opinion. Great find for rose lovers with impressive longevity! Perfect for winter nights. Update: Okay I ended up embracing my roots at the monastery and purchasing this lol! I love how empowering it is. It’s grown and glamorous— and for such a steal. Exotic and sensual. This is special night vibes, the colder and darker the better. I’m now getting a vanilla powdery note and I take back what I said about rose being dominant, it actually fades to the background after a couple hours, letting the oud, amber, and a well-blended patchouli shine ✨

I have several of the oud range from Zara. Bohemian oud is probably my most used but this is not to be overlooked. The rose does come out fairly strongly and easily identifiable. It’s quite a sweet fragrance. The first time I sprayed it, I over sprayed, as I tend to do with most Zara offerings but that was a big. It was way too overpowering and I actually felt a bit yukky. I tried it again a few weeks later, but this time going carefully, just a couple of sprays and that was so much better. This is quite a strong one and lasts all day easily on clothes. Skin has less longevity but still longer than most Zara perfumes I’ve tried. Probably around the 4 hour mark, before you have to start sniffing your wrist, lol.

Perpetual oud smells almost identical to KAYALI sweet diamond pink pepper 25 but without being too sweet. I have tried them on me and right away I can tell that this is somewhat 90-95% dupe of the SDPP25. I have also tested out OSM from MFK and Perpetual Oud. They smelled like from the same family of Oud but OSM’s oud is a top notched quality, well blended with other notes, rich and luxurious smell while Perpetual oud is simple, lovely and good enough to wear daily. For me, this is worth buying, it smells sooo good and way better than the rest of the Chapter 4 from Zara. I hope this helps. It lasted for 8-10 hours plus on my dry skin. (Tested on hot/dry weather)

Either this perfume works insanely well with my skin chemistry or its sillage is AMAZING! It is certainly reminiscent of MFK oud satin mood. Significant example of when a more affordable scent can be just as good, if not better, than some high-end perfumes. Such a beautiful blend of rose and oud. It manages to feel sexy and comforting to smell at the same time. Considering its price and use I get out of a big 90ml bottle, I cannot fault it. Zara can be very hit or miss with the perfumes they offer, but this is one of the best ones they've ever released. One of my favourite dupes I've smelled, even if it isn't wholly the same!