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alexzlobin – :
A very typical Arabian scent.
I don’t feel any rose in it though, just the usual base of sandal-amber-musk + some spice (cumin perhaps) and a touch of fruit (melon or peach).
My bottle was waiting for my attention on my shell for more than a year. It is well known for most perfumes in order to perform well you have to let it “steep” for a while. Possibly that is why I don’t feel any chemicals now when use it. Pretty rounded smell coats like a transparent heavy veil of exotic arabesque ornament.
Practically identical with another creation of Rasasi “Maisam” with only difference being that one is a little more powdery and drier.
naxal – :
I had never tried any Rasasi perfume oils before today but after opening the delightful little bottle i think i am in love with this perfume. I honestly know nothing about perfumes so I can only describe this as a warm sensual mix of rose and wood/incense which doesn’t do it justice at all. Delicious.
myxun – :
Avoid: A very cheap synthetic amber/peach smell,too sweet,too cloying,it doesn’t feel or smells natural. If you are into Arabic attar oils you will notice the poor quality of this product. Pay a little more for quality instead of buying the wrong stuff or smelling like plastic.Try Al Haramain amber oils like Marwa or Khalta.
Xoxlov1970 – :
I have tested it in Islamic Center in Chicago yesterday.
I really like it!
The quality of wood/ oud is really nice- blends so well.
Pure oudy scent… for this price is really good one.
On my list!
I really want it.
The bottle is adorable as well.
lar570Negeltzex – :
یه بعضی عطرا با اینکه هنری و کیفیت خاصی برای ساختشون نیست و با ترکیب و میکس چند رایحه و اسانس ساخته میشن ولی یه بوی های خاصی ازشون درمیاد که مثلش حس نشده
این عطر بسیار زعفرانی و شدیدا خاکی هست تا حدی که اگر ساحل نشین جنوبی باشین بی درنگ یاد ماسه های گرم کنار دریا میفتین
کسانی هم که این رایحه رو استشمام میکنند تقریبا متفق القول هستند این بوی خاکهای کنار
دریا میده
عود ناچیزی هم داره. ولی بیشتر مذاب گونه و زعفرانی و خاکی هست
عطر ارزان با ارزش خرید نسبتا بالا
AmuR_Vetal – :
Soapy rose+ vanilla+ white musk
Could be unisex at first ,a bit feminine.
And the after 3 hours it becomes an old school Cologne like ..mainly can remind me of grandma and grandpa soaps.
But the vanilla note is very nice so a use it at home for the fresh vibe ..projection and all very good
Eventually its an old laidy smell on my skin.
I gave it to my mother in law and on her it was a bit
Fresher so I don’t know…try before buy.
assenoglorops – :
This is the smell of oud and amber mixed with rose and spices. Warm, mysterious, Sensuous, strong and complex fragrance. One touch on the wrist is enough to provide a lingering effect.
Top notes: Jasmine Sambac, Rose Taifi, Amber, Iris &Agarwood
Heart notes: Cinnamon, Cloves, Cardoman & Agarwood
Base notes: Agarwood/Ood & Amber
ylide – :
Received today: starts out interesting, but longevity is nil. Ends with a laundry-soap/Bounce dryer sheet musk smell. Tested 3x with the same conclusion.
I’ll give it another few goes over the month, see if the oil settles down from shipping, or see if my nose needs a fresh morning, but I see myself returning this.
HelmInemy – :
@nopasho. Triggered Arabian macho men incoming. (Joking)
w203 – :
It’s fragrance is like “agar batti” end of story.
rud-grid – :
I’ve orderd it online, after reciving i will add my review.
wareos – :
Warm, deep, mellow, woody. I smell the oud, rose, and something that reminds me of oak moss. The amber too is lurking in the form of rounded undertones. The end result can be dusty/musty on the wrong skin type. Or amazingly expensive and gutsy! Not blind buy territory, IMHO.
For me there is little or no sweetness, even while amber rescues this from the harsh or sharp rose/oud that epitomizes so many attars. Clean? Somewhat, but more earthy than soapy, on me at least.
My impression is that while Amber Oud is unisex, it leans firmly to the masculine. There is nothing here to resemble ‘amber’ perfumes in the western world of fragrance as created for women. Nothing gourmand, ‘pretty’, vanillic, sweet, or powdery.
A vague comparison that comes to mind? Saat Safa, with it’s slightly sweeter undertone and considerable emphasis on saffron and oak moss. But the IMPRESSION it creates is more or less similar – a natural and organic attar of presence and power. Saat Safa is more feminine in my opinion, perhaps largely based on skin chemistry… Neither one is sweet or pretty in a traditional sense of the word. Both encapsulate eastern style beautifully. Quality in every way.
Update – Today when wearing Amber Oud I was willing to imagine it might be more feminine than I’d originally thought… but no. Several hours into wearing I looked around and thought I was smelling my brother’s very masculine cologne. NO, it’s me! The base notes on my skin are even more ‘traditional men’s fragrance’ than I’d thought. Very manly.
mih-gen – :
#1 DON’T believe the notes!!
I have a generous rollerball oil decant of this and it is mostly about fatty thick soap aldehydes. If you take a traditional bar of white soap and rub it into a nice froth in your hands, this is the smell you get. There is a slight touch of oud under this, but it’s mostly soap. So glad I sampled as this is not what the notes implied; a thick, rich oud and amber rose.
Sample first unless you love the smell of clean washed hands!
tagna – :
1November 2015
This is a very clean scent， definitely unisex. Not too sweet at all with good silage too. Value for money.
jfe449speagoessenda – :
Beginning is an oud of style. But it fades away and gives room to some rosy middle that on me then turns to amber. Pure amber. Beautiful as such but less of an oud than I hoped for. The longevity is enormous, easily 12 hrs on a few drops of oil. Be easy on it, it radiates. Little goes very far with Amber Oudh, and that is the beauty of it. You get super cheap fragrance that will turn heads where ever you go. This could easily be sold as a niche perfume just like another old favourite of mine, Tabac. yes you heard me! Tabac! Although these two have nothing else in common. But you gotta love it when you find a bargain that is a real diamond.
huk_ke – :
@likes2paint
Weird! Firstly you said bottle went to bin, then you say you blotted the top…..so that means you bought another bottle or salvaged the bottle by going through your trash-can??
Weird & doubt creating!!
DemaDuradag – :
@ Miss Guerlain
Very, very good review! Totally agree with all you said .
@ Nopasho
Wow! Review! Wow!
&
@ Sam ldh
Nicely written review, that finally pushed me into buying this one!
A BIG Thumbs-up to all three reviewers!
ALL three great writing & perfumes’- expression and experience!
Fragrantica & all its fragheads rock!!
twergenotrogy – :
Oh My.
This is such a paradox.
So powerful yet so soft. Starts so synthetic but settles down quickly to something so natural. Awkward, if not repulsive, on first try but magnetic on subsequent applications.
Very slight to no oudh here (my opinion). Ambery and rosy, which is really not my thing. But for some reason this concoction works for me.
Full points to Rasasi
Scent: good – complex
longevity is good 8 hours+ for 2 drops
silage good enough, probably arms length from what i guess
Price: unbeatable (you get 14 ml that will last you as long as any designer/niche spray if you use 2 drops per application)
PS. Nopasho, read your review 5 times!!
antonio1234 – :
I never into arabic perfume before. One day, owner of arabic perfume shop nearest give me 3ml of Susan Al-Rehab as a gift. God, its heavy! I look inside his shop, there are many big shiny gold bottle. I thought, maybe there something I like but sure expensive, maybe thousand. I never enter his shop. Never made same mistake, now I know, gold bottle does means expensive. Do not just smelling arabic perfume through bottle, put on your skin first to experience true beauty.
Base on review here, I go searching at perfume shop. When I smell at first time I thought, “What is this?” I purchase because one reason,wanna know why it get huge positif review by fragrantica.
I fully agree with JudyK review…
It smelled very strange and synthetic at first. I dislike strong amber smelled but not give up easily. I wear before bed and going to work that morning. I ask my friend.’Its smell like incense?’ she said ‘no, its smell so good…’ I’m surprised! my friend has picky nose. She doesn’t like strong arabic perfume, not even sweet and gourmand. She picky, only liked white floral and white musk.
After half day working I back home. Evening time I want going out, I take my jacket and… Wow! what its beautiful smell?That my Amber Oud I put on that morning! it went on smooth, sweet and quite pleasant, settled down to an all right.
Only one word to describe… BEAUTIFUL. I have no idea how its change, It seems to get better with each wearing. I don’t care about scary caterpillar looks at all (strong amber.) I rather will wait until butterfly out from the shelter, because its true beauty.
YES, I also recommend you giving it a couple of tries before you discount it.
kolj-fifa – :
Smelling it now. As open the bottle my expression was ooooh Wow!!!. This is the beauty. A must have perfume. Reviewers have not disappointed me.
DortDrync – :
The more i wear this perfume the more complex it seems, it starts sharply but mellows down to a resinous, deep, sensuous amber that lasts for a long time, i think this is one of the best from the rasasi range, though i have not tried all of them yet, certainly it smells a lot more expensive than what i paid for, a great perfume!
александр тимин – :
A very sensuous perfume, a great choice, the amber dominates beautifully all day with the rose notes softer, one of my favourites!
diverr – :
I like strong fragrances but was disappointed with this – not because it is strong, but it had that kind of furniture/wood polish scent that put me off.
I prefer sweet intense ambers rather than masculine smelling ones – which this was on me.
sodrx – :
How very opulent for something so affordable. A very well blended fragrance, warm but not sweet. You definitely get a leathery note from the oud that lingers. I had to let this bottle sit for a few months to get rid of the initial plastic-y impression. As nice as it is, it is very strong and to be used very sparingly. Something in it does give me a scratchy throat and a bit of a heavy feeling in my chest. I think I’m allergic to something in it.
levinigor – :
I want to second what Staar77 said. The first time I put Amber Oudh on I thought, “What the…?” It smelled very strange and synthetic but it settled down to an all right scent – nice enough that I didn’t immediately consign it to the “sell” box.
So one day I tried it again and it went on smooth and sweet and quite pleasant. I’m wearing it again today and it seems to get better with each wearing. It’s one of my faves now.
I have no idea why it goes through this metamorphosis, I thought it was just my bottle or my nose 🙂 but I would recommend giving it a couple of tries before you discount it.
manfrid65 – :
Some folks have found this perfume to be synthetic and unpleasant. Well I have to say that when I dabbed it onto my pulse points-it did smell rather synthetic to me. After a few hours there wasn’t that much of a scent left on me, and I could just about smell the other notes-but it wasn’t easy to tell what they were, as this perfume is well blended to my nose.
Several hours after the first application I decided to give it another go on the pulse points…all I can say that the second time around, it smells lovely and mysterious, with a hint of spiciness and exotic, the synthetic smell has completely gone!
Unfortunately the sillage is not that much on me-something I’ve been finding in general with Arabian perfumes.
This scent is lovely-and to me a good introduction to the world of oud scents…shame the sillage isn’t that good!
kased – :
what to say about this ???? nopasho said everything…just want to add really really love it..just amazing … great comination of amber oud spices …very warm, rich, deep, strong , high quality …wow wow wow…this is really a hidden treasure a must have for oriental lovers!!! l got it as a blind buy and l am sooooooo glad to do it!!! just one drop of it …and magical Arabian dreams are starting …just be a part of them…
Roman – :
I’ve had this for a while (blind buy based on reviews) and have to say that I’ve not found a way to wear it because, for me, it’s just so hugely overwhelming; simply opening the bottle means that I won’t be able to smell anything else for hours, and a dab on my skin makes me feel dizzy, suffocated, and a bit sick. I *do* get the love, though, because just sniffing it from the neck of the closed bottle, it’s definitely rather gorgeous.
This one would absolutely wear me instead of vice versa, though, and I’m afraid I’d cut an olfactory superhighway through any (even sparsely) populated area instead of leaving a lightly tantalizing or intriguing fragrance trail — so, yeah, this is one beauty I have to love from afar… the more afar, the better.
bqp854intitytek – :
After reading your reviews I bought a bottle in February, online, in Arshad Europe.
It´s august now. No scent no money. Beware.
Нинель – :
To nopasho
Gotta love you for your passion!:)
nadiy-10 – :
Btw…ive bought 3 bottles of this and also AL SHAMS by Ajmal. Now i combine the 2 of them when i go out and i swear nobody smells like me! Its a promise! Huge huge sillage and 2 days longevity!!
Shurshun – :
Just ordered this, and will update as soon as It has arrived and warmed up on my skin : )
*update*
Well this is my first experience with a quality Oud, purely down to curiosity after reading some amazingly detailed reviews here,
Now I’m fairly well acquainted with some amber based oils and of course rose and musk, so I can single these notes without too much difficulty, but as it stands I’m getting a teasing background of Oud after an hour or so which has still in that amount an addictive quality after evolving into a warm and rounded aura.
I find myself suddenly wanting a stronger hit now I’m accustomed and secure in it’s effect after heading into unknown territory, and there is a familiarity that I cannot quite pinpoint but love very much!
I will definitely check out other Oud attars : )
Alex_1977-77 – :
just now as I’m typing I’m opening this little wonder and smelled it, i swear to you its so fantastic that not even BLACK AOUD montale come even close to this treasure oil!!! unbelievable !!!!!!!!!!really amazing!!! how come i didn’t know about this? that tells me right there that it must be so much out there, better perfumes than bullshit armani, or stupid gucci, tom ford and so on,…this is cheap and beats them all i promise!!!!!! i will stop buying all this crap watered down big heads perfumers ripping off all of us and getting rich , selling perfumes that doesn’t even ;art or project more than 1 hour. bravo RASASI, bravo!!!!!!!
seaman1980 – :
This is absolutely fantastic the aroma of oud and amber is so soothing its just “bliss” its just blend all the notes perfectly like the clasping of the hands.. Longevity and Sillage is monstrous..
alexandrma2011 – :
This is the smell of ‘The Tales of Thousand and One Nights’. Sensuous, mysterious, full of hidden surprises, strong, unadulatered, the real stuff, deep, intricate, multi layered with the layers not on top of each other but intertwined with each other, a hidden perfume treasure like in the ‘fragrance department’ of the 40 Caves of Ali Baba.
‘Amber Oudh’ is in the Arabian world a very famous fragrance oil from the high quality perfume house Rasasi (a kind of Arabian Chanel, Dior, Estée Lauder…). But it is largely unknown in the Western fragrance world and here on Fragrantica. Even among ‘niche specialists’. Too bad, really, because it is a glorious gem of a fragrance. A 9/10. And it is no niche because it has the potential to appeal to a larger audience thatn the niche ghetto. And yet it is with these undiluted, highly original and complex oils, that the best western maitres parfumeurs (‘noses’) and fragrance visionaries from Tom Ford, Jo Malone, the late Yves Saint Laurent over Pierre Montale, M. Micallef, Francis Kurkdjian, Sarah Horowitz, Betsey Johnson and renowned perfume houses like Bond nr 9, Armani, Comme des Garçons, Korres, Creed, By Kilian, Amouage, Byredo, Keiko Mecheri,Brecourt, Mona di Orio, Juliette has a Gun… get their inspiration these days. Arabian oils or ‘attars’ are the next big thing in the perfume industry, mark my words. Will the quality Arabian perfume houses be incorporated in giant conglomerates like P&G, LVMH, PPR… or stay independent, that is the question. Will they adapt/dliute/change themselves to western tastes or remain 100% original and traditional? One thing is sure: the high quality attars and pure oudh will be big amongst Western perfume-lovers. It is only a matter of little time.
This review is meant as an appetizer and first of my maybe other reviews of an Arabian oils, meant for those who want to get a feel about what a typical Arabian high quality attar is all about and explore a totally other intriguing and vast perfume world that is largely uncovered territory on Fragrantica. It’s is a shame really, because the fragrances of the renowed Arabian perfume houses are on the same level as the Chanels of this Western world. Only much cheaper and longer lasting. Searching for ‘sillage monsters’? This is a sillage Godzilla!
And let me tell you more: this particular oil is super and very accessible for ‘western’ tastes: flowers (mainly Taïf Rose and Sambac Jasmine) and ‘mild’ ‘yellow amber’ in the front seat, followed closely by the spices (mainly cinnamon and cardamon) and the acquired taste of oudh ‘safely’ in the background. So not too ‘radical’. It is the legendary stuff of ‘Thousand and One Sensual Nights’ with which the mysterious femmes fatales, Arabian style, all perfumed themselves and by doing this brought all these proud macho Arabian ‘men’s men’ on their knees and eating out of their henna painted hands. ‘Amber Oudh’ by the in the Eastern world very renowed perfume house Rasasi, is part of ‘Arabian’ or ‘Eastern’ perfume art of the highest level and best quality. If you go farther east, to Japan, minimalism reigns. Lesser and lighter is better. With Arabian attars it is the contrary: more and heavier is better.
Yes, I know. I have a nice collection of western ‘alcoholised’ fragrances. But the fact that I pay mucho mucho bucks for 80 to 90% cheap industrial alcohol in a 100 ml edp bottle of very expensive Western edp or edt in these tough economic times that will continue for some years, makes me venture more and more into the wonderful world of super concentrated affordable high quality Arabian oils or ‘attars’. And also the revered ‘mystical’ ‘oudh’, the pure agarwood oil that has been used for centuries in the Arabian world and is kind of the Arabian version of (frank)incense/myrrh… but much more facetted. ‘Attars’ or ‘mixed oils’ are mostly a mix, yes!, of natural flower absolutes or essential oils, spices, vegetable ‘yellow’ amber and the elusive oil from an noble rot infected agarwood tree, oudh. You don’t see much fruit notes in attars like you maybe would expect (dates, grapes…) in the traditional Arabian oils. They are mostly bone dry musky, very sweet floral or like this: a rounded mix of creamy amber, a lot of spices (‘Spicebomb’), floral (‘Flowerbomb’) and oudh. And the oudh is more pronounced than in the westernised and thus consisisting of 80% and more alcohol fragrances, where it is merely a ‘fragrance note’ like the Montales, Tom Ford’s ‘Oud Wood’, YSL’s ‘M7’… But the oudh in this oil is the real deal and not camouflaged by buckets of cheap industrial alchohol. But because it is a ‘floral amber spice oudh’ mix, the oudh stays in the background.
These ‘attars’ are ‘pure perfume’ oils. But ‘pure perfume’ in Western fragrances means that the ‘pure perfume’ consists at least of 50% non-fragarnced ‘carrier oil’. In high quality attars it is about 95% perfume oil and 5% carrier oil. So 6 to 8 ml of these oils is the equivalent of the ‘perfume oil’ in a 100 ml ‘Western’ edp which costs ten times more than the equivalent of the Arabian high quality perfume oil. That’s why the Arabian attars or mixed oils are sold in vials from 3 ml to ornate bottles of about 14 to 20 ml oil max and applied with a dipstick to put one drop on each wrist or behind one or the two ears or in that sensitive area between neck and shoulders or in the gap where your clavicles meet. Spraying would make you smell like that attar from ten blocks away for about one week or two. One drop of such super concentrated attar is enough and lasts for 8 to 12 hours or longer. And the prices of attars are more than reasonable. Certainly compared to the obscenely and ever higher prices for ‘Western’ perfumes. BTW how much do you think Brad Pitt will receive for his Chanel 5 ad? Money which you will pay in the shop. No celeb scents or ads with celebs for the attars or oudhs. The fragance must speak for itself. Like this ‘Amber Oudh’ from perfume house Rasasi.
Arabians are renowned perfumers for centuries. Long before Calvin Klein and Coco Chanel were born. Long before French ‘Sun King’ Louis XIV laid the groundwork for the French perfumery industry because at his court nobody, including him and his mistresses, showered or washed up. His mistresses by the way were known to put a drop of their ‘female secretions’ behind their ears to seduce the king and other men, a ‘female seduction trick’ or method that still seems to be very effective… And where French perfume house Etat Libre d’Orange got their inspiration for their notorius male version of this ‘natural perfume’, their controversial fragrance ‘Sécrétions Magnifiques’. But in the time of King Louis XIV they needed strong perfume to cover up their BO. The art of perfumery (and the perfumes were strong then, you know why) came out of the Arabian world. The French followed suit with producing strong perfumes. And still do. Think about the Chanels, Diors, Caron’s… The Americans loved more ‘fresh’, clean cut’ or ‘natural’ fragrances with ‘White Linen’ by Lauder as archetype. To each its own. Just to be clear: Arabian attars, still today, are mighty strong and dense. The counterpoint of CK Ones, Cool Water, Aqua di Gio and the breezy Hilton-posse of light fruity florals. Also the Arabian world is vast and big name Arabian oil houses like ‘al Haramain’, ‘Rasasi’, ‘al Aneeq’, ‘al Rehab’, ‘Ajmal’, ‘al Quarashi’, ‘Swiss Arabian’… are as famous over there as Chanel and Dior in the West.
Anyway. You maybe know the ‘al Kabaa’ and ‘al Marwah’ oils by the excellent reviews written by other Fragranctica members. Go have a look. ‘Amber Oudh’ by Rasasi is another high quality WOW- fragrance oil! Dense, intricate, mysterious, deep, strong, long lasting, a sillage to kick ass, and high quality all around. You know that Arabian oils are ‘smolderers’. They start very faint and get stronger and stronger. Because the oil has to warm up on the skin to release fragrance molecules gradually and there is no initial alcohol evaporation-driven fragrance blast. That also means that unlike alcohol-frags of which a substantional part literally goes up in the air when you spray them on the skin and the alcohol evaporates immediately, taking with it a lot of the expensive perfume oil, here the perfume oil stays in the upper layers of the skin, slowly releasing an ever stronger smell that hangs like an aura around the wearer. ‘Western’ fragrances go from strong to weak. Arabian oils develop in the opposite direction: from weak to strong to finally after 8 hours-plus gradually fade away. After about an hour a drop on each wrist is creating a total halo or aura of fragrance around you that can last for 12 hours. So super sillage and incredible longevity.
But what does ‘Amber Oudh’ smells like exactly? Another difference with western fragrances is that the notes in Arabian oils are totally fused, so that you don’t have clearly separate fragrance notes anymore. By the thorough mixing, part of the various fragrance molecules are mixed and ‘glued’ together. So you get a dense flower-spice-amber-oudh (or other ingredients) mix. So pinpointing the different fragrance notes is partly ‘guessing’, and I do it based on my experience with a lot of other fragrances. These are the notes, which are by the mixing fused and ‘broken’, can detect.
Here the original notes IMHO are certainly amber, flowers, spices and oudh. First the best way to describe Rasasi’s ‘amber Oudh’ is to compare them with the other more known attars or Arabian oils. It is more dense than al Marwah and a bit less floral than al Kaaba. So more ambery. ‘Amber Oudh’ is very rounded, rich, creamy and not sharp at all. The usually very distinct oudh note here is quite far in the background, then more prominent are the spices (cinnamon and coriander is my guess and some more) but in the front seat are no doubt the amber and the flowers. Which flowers? First I get the Täif rose or Damask rose, also known as ‘Bulgarian Rose’. This rose has a smell that is more deep, warm, sweet and intense than the western peppery ‘rose’ smell. And then I get Sambac jasmine, also known as ‘Arabian Jasmine’ or ‘Sampaquita’ in the Philippines, where it is the national flower. The fragrance of the sampaquita is sweet and heady, and less indolic than the ‘western’ jasmine. And I detect in ‘Amber Oudh’ also a whiff of other flowers like Iris and Daisy. The amber is as prominent as the flowers. The amber is yellow amber, but on the the smooth side of the amber spectrum, not the dry resinous, very musky amber. The English word amber comes from the Arabian ‘anbar’. It refers to the dried resin or sap of plants. The amber used in Arabian oils is ‘vegetal’ or ‘yellow amber’ and must not be confused with the much more pungent amber coming from whales, which is commonly known as ‘ambre gris’ and has a very distinct, animalistic, sexual smell. ‘Yellow amber’ in Arabian oils where it is used mixed with flowers, is very smooth. Like the amber in ‘Lutens ‘Ambre Sultan’, ‘CK’s ‘Euphoria’, Nazrciso Rodriguez, Coco, Dior’s ‘Midnight Poison’, Boucheron’s ‘Trouble’, a lot of Estée Lauders… It is nowadays mostly made from labdanum, a vegetable resin that is dried sap coming from certain shrubs or rockrose. In floral oils it has a light musky, green totally original and smooth smell because it is mostly combined with benzoin, copal and vanilla. Which I also detect in this great Rasasi composition. The straight Arabian ‘amber oils’ like al-Haramains ‘Amber 960’ are very musky, pungent and very animalistic. You’re warned. But in the floral oils like this ‘Amber Oudh’ the ‘dirty musk’ factor is pushed for the most part away by the flowers and the spices. The spices I seem to detect are certainly cinnamon, cardamom, saffron and maybe mace and cloves.
So all these notes are mixed into one big perfume cauldron that hits you like a punch of Mohammed Ali in his best days, but where unexpectedly and pleasantly whiffs of difference ‘ingredients. They are so finely mixed that you can’t call them separate notes anymore. And that for 8 hours minimum. Talk about bang for your buck!
So again the notes IMHO of ‘Amber Oudh’
Floral: Täif Rose, Sambac Jasmine, Iris, Daisy
Spices: Cinnamon, Saffron, Cardamom, Mace, Cloves
Resins: Amber with Vanilla, Copal, Benzoin
Woody: Oudh (Agarwood oil)
So you get a love quadrangle between these 4 elements with their notes: spices, amber and flowers and oudh. But oudh is in itself so intricate that you could name 30 fragrance notes that you can detect in oudh. This mix where the florals, the spices and the smooth amber reigns and the acquired taste of oudh is in teh background, makes ‘Amber Oudh’ very palatable for western tastes and a revelation for everybody who has never smelled a quality Arabian oil from a big ‘Eastern’ perfume house, before. Of course: always buy an attar from a big, renowned house. It is like the difference between a vintage Chanel (Brad Pitt!) and Mariah Carey’s Lollipop Bling Bling (Mariah Carey!). So if you like ‘Lollipop’-likes, don’t try this. It will certainly be ‘too perfume-y’ for you. All other perfume lovers can go ahead and try, I invite you to get to know this. It won’t break your personal bank. You can buy a vial of 3 ml that will last for a few months for almost no money on line. There are threads on Fragarantica with reliable attar and oudh shops. But stick first to the known houses. If you are intrigued by the unique sweet-sour-bitter-woody etc oudh note, maybe later you can go on exploring the more expensive pure oudh oils.
But ‘Amber Oudh’ by Rasasi is an excellent, nose and soul opening introduction to the wonderful world of Arabian attars. I feel like I’m just starting on my journey…
Sayana_tray – :
The price is SO reasonable. I bought the 14 ml perfume concentrate oil based on the recommendations I read on Fragrantica. I am very happy with my purchase. Many thanks to the contributors for their informative reviews.
I am not an expert on oud fragrances but I love Amber Oudh. It doesn’t matter to me that the agarwood element used in this perfume is probably synthetic. The price is just too low for it to be the natural ingredient. But no matter. The fragrance is round, creamy and sensuous. A real exotic amber. I even love the charming little bottle. I could wear this scent any time of year, but I have to remember to use it very sparingly. One tiny drop from the glass dabber will last me all day and into the night.
DeeOne – :
I love the fragrance but it is very subtle or softer than my expectations from an Arabic perfume.
kamyshoviy – :
Tested this one today and would say that Oud has been done beautifully on it and is very prominent at first sniff. As Oud alone is very strong and sweet bitter to smell but here the amber blends with it to soften that sweet bitter tone and makes it smell like soft and sweet. Very Arabian.
serrgei – :
What can I say more than WOW !!! I never thought that this little bottle hid a Arabic magic elixir. The best with this fragrance is, that’s right, the Amber, which softly caressing rounds off the oud.
If Montale would come across the recipe for this, they would be very happy! Fortunately, I can get it for the perfect price from “Rasasi”.
I agree with Moyra 100% (Thanks for the review, it made me buy it. And what a GOOD blind-purchase this is) !!! “olibanum (frankincense) and myrrh” indeed, but also real saffron (the expencive stuff, not the “made-to-smell-like” saffron stuff). And, saffron is one of my no.1 fave-notes. And this IS saffron to my nose. This pure perfume oil melts into oud-heaven. And as a heavy-Montale-oud fan, I know my ouds. And goodness WOW – this is AMAZING stuff. A pure oriental arabic dessert-dream, and I never wanna leave!
And to top this all of, the bottle is so beautiful. This is “1000 and 1 nights” in a bottle!
esk1moo – :
Warm amber with a delicate brushing of non-medicinal or animalic oud, and a touch of what is listed as “resin”, which I suspect is a mixture of olibanum (frankincense) and myrrh.
Although this is sold and listed here on Fragrantica as a unisex fragrance, I think its really more of a woman’s perfume, albeit a rather exotic one.
Amber Oudh is definitely not a Western scent, yet its well enough made so it isn’t in any way redolent of head shop hippie juice but exudes the pleasant aura of far away lands.
As is the case with many middle eastern fragrance containers, the little bottle with the glass applicator may be a little over the top in western eyes. Its actually very nicely made out of frosted glass, metal and glass rhinestones (at the tip of the top), with nary a piece of nasty western perfume bottle plastic in sight.
Extremely well-priced for the quality received, Amber Ooodh is a lovely exotic amber for ever