Oud

Le Labo

Santal 33 announces itself with the sharp, almost medicinal bite of cardamom and iris before settling into a creamy sandalwood accord that feels both lived-in and polished.

Tom Ford

Noir de Noir opens with saffron's metallic-sweet bite, almost medicinal before it softens into something darker and more floral.

Amouage

Interlude Man opens with a brief flicker of bergamot before plunging into a dense wall of resinous incense and labdanum.

Agent Provocateur

The opening is a cool magnolia bloom—clean petals with a slight metallic edge, like white flowers pressed against chrome.

Amouage

Jubilation XXV Man opens with a ceremonial density—frankincense and labdanum meet blackberry's dark sweetness, creating an atmosphere that feels both religious and indulgent.

Amouage

Epic Woman opens with a dry cinnamon that feels resinous rather than sweet, setting an austere, almost ceremonial tone.

Yves Saint Laurent

A metallic gardenia unfolds against birch-darkened woods, catching you off guard with its cool, almost surgical precision.

Amouage

Interlude Woman opens with a brief flash of citrus and ginger before plunging into dense, resinous darkness.

Yves Saint Laurent

M7 opens with a flash of bergamot and rosemary that feels medicinal rather than fresh, like the air in a cedar-lined apothecary.

Amouage

The opening is a plume of altar smoke—olibanum sharp and resinous, saffron lending a medicinal tang, cardamom and pink pepper crackling at the edges.

Comme Des Garçons

Wonderwood opens with a crackle of dry spices—nutmeg and cinnamon—over cedar shavings, as if someone struck a match in a lumber yard.

Versace

The opening bristles with black pepper and neroli—a spiced citrus clarity that feels almost austere before the resinous heart unfolds.

Mancera

The opening is all brightness and friction: tart lemon collides with black pepper and a wisp of almond sweetness, setting up an unexpected tension.

Swiss Arabian

Shaghaf Oud opens with the metallic brightness of saffron, pitched high and medicinal before it softens into the warmer territory of sweet spice.

Penhaligon'S

Halfeti opens with a jarring contrast: bright citrus sparks colliding with the dusty heat of saffron and cardamom.

Parfums De Marly

The original Layton's bright apple-lavender opening is darkened here with almond and grapefruit that quickly give way to something muskier and more animalic.

Tiziana Terenzi

Laudano Nero opens with a resinous jolt—rosemary cut through amber and tobacco leaf, herbal and slightly medicinal, like stepping into an old apothecary where incense has been burning for decades.

John Varvatos

The opening announces itself with a leathery dryness and a thyme-like herbaceousness—not green or fresh, but dusty and slightly medicinal, like the inside of an old apothecary cabinet.

Naomi Campbell

The opening arrives with unexpected sharpness—star anise cutting through a haze of coconut and soft white florals, bergamot lending brightness without sweetness.

Amouage

The original Interlude's resinous thunder meets the powdered elegance of orris in this flanker, creating something darker and more introspective.

Juicy Couture

The opening arrives with cardamom-laced bergamot cutting through a veil of raw cedar—less polished gentleman, more workshop at dawn.

Dior

Fahrenheit Absolute opens with a resinous haze—myrrh's balsamic sweetness softened by violet's cool, metallic powderiness.

Tom Ford

Sahara Noir opens with a blast of raw labdanum—sticky, leathery, almost medicinal in its intensity.

Dior

Oud Ispahan opens with a warmth that feels immediate and enveloping—labdanum's resinous depth meeting saffron's red-gold threads.

Parfums De Marly

Haltane opens with an herbal clarity—lavender and clary sage lifted by bergamot—that quickly gives way to an unexpected sweetness.

L'Artisan Parfumeur

Passage d'Enfer opens with white incense, cool and papery, like walking into a stone chapel at dawn.

Calvin Klein

The original Euphoria Men's spiced warmth gets amplified here with a gingered opening that feels less polite, more saturated.

Byredo

Oud Immortel opens with incense and cardamom — a combination that reads as temple smoke at altitude, resinous and spiced.

Xerjoff

The name suggests a city of consequence, and the composition follows through.

Tesori D’Oriente

Byzantium earns its name by reaching for an opulence that doesn't quite exist in mainstream fragrance anymore.

Rasasi

Tomato leaf opens Shuhrah Pour Homme with that peculiar green-metallic sharpness — cold, slightly vegetal — quickly softened by freesia and rose, which together pull the opening toward a fresh aromatic register.

Juliette Has A Gun

Saffron, bergamot, and rose in the opening establish a rich spiced-floral character — the roses at two registers, saffron metallic and warm, papyrus adding a dry papery quality.

Penhaligon'S

Cardamom and coffee open with intensity — the cardamom green and aromatic, the coffee roasted and slightly bitter, the pairing immediately spiced and dark.

Byredo

Accord Oud opens with an unusual fruit-and-spice combination—blackberry syrup spiked with saffron and a dark rum note that feels more molasses than booze.

Tiziana Terenzi

Orion opens with a sharp tropical sweetness—pineapple and apple given an aquatic edge that keeps the fruit from feeling thick or gourmand.

Tiziana Terenzi

Maremma opens with a deceptive sweetness—bergamot and blackcurrant mingling with heady white florals that feel almost tropical in their lushness.

Bath & Body Works

Twilight Woods opens with a fleeting sweetness—coconut brushed with apricot—that immediately softens into something warmer and less literal.

Chopard

Oud Malaki opens with a surprisingly bright contrast—lavender's herbal clarity set against the tart snap of grapefruit.

Maison Francis Kurkdjian

The name promises opulence, and the opening delivers—Bulgarian rose arrives immediately, full-petaled and slightly metallic, softened by a citrus flicker that fades almost as quickly as it appears.

Parfums De Marly

The opening carries a soft almond-tinged heliotrope wrapped in warm spices—cardamom and pink pepper that prickle gently rather than bite.

Atelier Cologne

Cédrat Enivrant opens on lime and bergamot — a sharp, slightly bitter citrus combination that's immediately more present than a typical cologne owing to the parfum concentration.

Mancera

The opening is a fleeting brightness—bergamot and fruit—that dissolves within minutes into roasted coffee and warm amber.

Tiziana Terenzi

The opening is immediate and tactile: rum-soaked leather warmed by a dusty sprinkle of nutmeg.

Parfums De Marly

Habdan announces itself with saffron-tinged frankincense, a resinous haze that feels both ceremonial and surprisingly approachable.

Amouage

Material opens with a deep, earth-dark patchouli that feels almost meditative in its intensity.

Van Cleef & Arpels

Precious Oud opens with a bright, resinous shimmer—pink pepper sparks over bergamot, quickly giving way to a smoky incense backbone that anchors the entire composition.

Atelier Cologne

Silver Iris opens with a bright snap of pink pepper and a tart berry brightness that fades quickly into something cooler and more vegetal.

Estée Lauder

Amber Mystique opens with a bright burst of pink pepper that quickly softens into a warm, resinous embrace.

Calvin Klein

The opening is a soft jolt of cardamom and rum—not boozy so much as spiced and vaguely sweet, like burnt sugar cut with citrus peel.

Guerlain

The first spray reveals an unexpected softness: neroli and jasmine drift above warm spices rather than announcing themselves with typical citrus brightness.

Swiss Arabian

Shaghaf Oud Abyad opens with a brief flash of bergamot before plunging into dense, resinous darkness.

Nishane

The opening is a strange, heady collision—honey thickened with saffron and violet, then sharpened by sage and warmed by fig.

Mugler

Alien Oud Majestueux opens with a bolt of saffron—metallic, almost medicinal—cut through with cardamom's green warmth.

Juliette Has A Gun

Another Oud opens with a bright jolt of raspberry and bergamot that feels almost confrontational against the weight of oud.

Yves Saint Laurent

M7 Oud Absolu opens with a sharp citrus brightness that quickly dissolves into something deeper and more resinous.

L'Artisan Parfumeur

Al-Oudh opens with a distinctive cardamom-dusted orange blossom, the pink pepper adding a glittering sharpness that cuts through the sweetness.

Lubin

A dark, folkloric leather anchored by lavender's aromatic bitterness rather than its soapy side.

Rasasi

Al Wisam Day is a clean aromatic fougère in the classic tradition.

Bvlgari

**Bvlgari Man Black Orient** opens with a jolt of dark rum splashed over freshly cracked cardamom, an intentionally boozy introduction that smells more like a gentleman's smoking jacket than a standard oriental fragrance.

Dunhill

The opening is a sharp, peppery citrus that's more bitter than bright—petitgrain's green edge cutting through any sweetness, black pepper adding a dry heat.

Dolce & Gabbana

The One Mysterious Night opens with saffron's leathery warmth cut by a flash of grapefruit—an unexpected pairing that feels more spiced citrus than conventional freshness.

Nishane

The opening swings between sweet pineapple and a leathery oud, creating an immediate tension that never quite resolves.

Tiziana Terenzi

Chimaera opens with a sharp collision of peppered saffron and raw leather, softened slightly by thyme's herbal bite and a thread of lemon that quickly fades.

Costume National

The opening strikes with bright cardamom heat tempered by pink pepper's rosy bite, a fleeting spice-lit prelude before the fragrance settles into its true character.

Yves Saint Laurent

Y Elixir opens with a burst of bright lavender, aromatic and medicinal in the best sense—clean without being detergent, herbal without being green.

Tom Ford

London opens with a jolt of spice—black pepper and cumin threading through saffron and cardamom, their heat tempered by a dark coffee note that keeps the opening from feeling purely savory.

Estée Lauder

Wood Mystique opens with a pink pepper bite softened by dewy rose and peony—spice tempered by petals.

Electimuss

Imperium opens with bergamot's bright citrus edge quickly overtaken by tuberose—not the creamy, indolic variety, but something sharper and greener, tempered by neroli's bitter-orange coolness.

Boadicea The Victorious

Saffron opens with a metallic, leathery brightness that feels more austere than sweet, threading through jasmine and rose that bloom without turning soapy.

Guerlain

Rose Nacrée du Désert opens with saffron's metallic gleam cutting through dark, earthy patchouli—a surprising introduction that feels more mineral than floral.

Ferrari

The opening surges with rose and saffron, not delicate but forceful, almost metallic in their intensity.

Initio

Lavender opens with unusual depth here, less herbal spa and more purple-gray dusk, sharpened by bergamot that feels more peel than juice.

Miller Harris

Scherzo opens with a gentle sweetness that feels less confectionary than its praline note might suggest.

Creed

Royal Princess Oud opens with a surprisingly soft bouquet—bergamot brightens violet and rose into something pillowy rather than sharp.

Byredo

Mumbai Noise opens with the jolt of dark-roasted coffee, bitter and immediate, like stepping into a crowded café at rush hour.

Gucci

The opening is jammy and bright—raspberry and pear meet saffron's leathery warmth, sweet but not cloying, tinged with something savory that keeps it from veering into fruit cocktail territory.

Xerjoff

Zefiro opens bright and fleeting—bergamot dissolves almost instantly into a rush of cinnamon and cardamom, their heat tempered by the coolness of iris.

Outremer / L'Aromarine

Outremer's Lavande opens with a bright bergamot flash that quickly gives way to something far more complex than its name suggests.

Atkinsons

The opening speaks with Victorian authority: bergamot cut through with peppery clove that borders on medicinal, like a pomander ball in a stately library.

Bvlgari

The opening is bright and fleeting—a whisper of bergamot that fades almost immediately into something darker and more resinous.

Floris

The opening declares itself immediately: dark, resinous honey laced with bright bergamot, creating an almost medicinal sweetness that feels both ancient and refined.

Tiziana Terenzi

Gold Rose Oudh opens with a brief flash of bergamot before the heart asserts itself—black pepper crackling over a dark, resinous rose that leans more leather than petal.

Dolce & Gabbana

Velvet Desert Oud opens with a saffron-tinged brightness that quickly darkens into resinous territory.

Valentino

Valentina Oud Assoluto opens with cardamom's green warmth cutting through orange blossom, a spiced floral introduction that quickly gives way to the perfume's leathery heart.

Dsquared2

The opening arrives ceremonial and resinous, frankincense billowing through citrus brightness like church smoke caught in morning light.

Jovan

Jovan's Ambergris Oil opens with a saline, almost medicinal sweetness that suggests the marine origins of its namesake material.

Swiss Arabian

Shaghaf Oud Aswad opens with saffron's metallic warmth and thyme's herbal bite, tempered by rose petals that feel plush rather than sweet.

Banana Republic

Wildbloom opens with a bright collision of grapefruit and pear that feels less fruity than translucent—a sheer, dewy sweetness that dissipates quickly.

Perris Monte Carlo

Oud Imperial opens with a brief flourish of jasmine that quickly yields to a resinous heart of incense and saffron, the spice adding a leathery, almost medicinal edge to the smoke.

Mancera

Sand Aoud opens with a dusty sweetness — black currant softened by saffron's golden warmth, like sun-bleached wood and dried fruit found in a spice merchant's stall.

Clive Christian

C for Men opens with a saffron-dominated citrus — warm, slightly metallic, with lemon providing brightness and thyme adding an herbal edge that gives the opening a certain seriousness.

Yves Saint Laurent

M7 Fresh arrived as a lighter answer to the polarizing original M7, retaining the unusual oud-in-the-heart structure while opening it up for a broader audience.

Guerlain

Habit Rouge's 2003 EDP deepens the 1965 original's citrus-oriental structure with a heavier base: leather and oud join vanilla and patchouli, giving the familiar citrus opening a darker foundation to land on.

Versace

Saffron, freesia, and rose open Oud Oriental with an unusual balance — saffron's warm metallic spice, freesia's clean white-floral brightness, and rose's familiar warmth together create an opening that's simultaneously spiced and airy.

Penhaligon'S

Halfeti Leather takes its name from a small Turkish village on the Euphrates where near-black roses bloom, and the fragrance leans into that mythology.

Oriflame

Midnight Pearl opens with a crisp pear sweetness softened by orange blossom's waxy whiteness and freesia's soapy transparency.

Mancera

The opening arrives with a saffron-streaked brightness, bergamot lending citrus clarity before the spice settles into something warmer and faintly metallic.

Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle

The fourth Middle Eastern-themed release in the Frédéric Malle Desert Gems series, The Moon by Julien Rasquinet operates in the register of nocturnal excess.

O Boticário

Named after the dark Argentine grape, Malbec Gold from O Boticário deepens the house's popular Malbec line with an oud-and-resin-heavy oriental statement.

Dark Tales

Dame Gothel names itself after the witch of the Rapunzel story, and the fragrance leans into that archetype.

Asdaaf

Ameerat Al Arab opens with a single bright brushstroke of bergamot before the composition settles into its true character: a smooth arrangement of white musk that feels almost translucent.

Rasasi

The name translates as "For Men Only," and the fragrance delivers on its brief without ambiguity.

Mauboussin

Elixir Pour Elle follows a reliable arc — bright fruity-spice opener, classic trifecta floral heart, richly gourmand base — but executes each phase with more precision than the typical accessible-luxury formula allows.

Akro

Night by Akro is a three-ingredient argument: Bulgarian rose, cumin and saffron, oud.

Lancôme

Frankincense dominates the opening — smoky, resinous, cut by bergamot for brightness and softened by red fruits' berry sweetness.

Comme Des Garçons

A collaboration with style icon Daphne Guinness, and it reads accordingly: theatrical, intensely personal, and far more daring than anything commercially motivated.

Fendi

Pink pepper opens cleanly, its dry-spice prickle announcing the composition before yielding to the heart.

Miller Harris

Incense opens with a direct, resinous declaration — lavender alongside it providing the only aromatic gentleness before the composition dives deep.

Armaf

Rose, geranium, and citrus open with a dry floral-herbal freshness — the geranium medicinal and green, rose providing warmth, citrus adding lift before the transition to the heart makes its intentions clear.

Mancera

Black Intensitive Aoud opens with a pairing that gives away its ambition: sun-warmed peach skin and clove, which together read as sweet-spiced fruit rather than something either purely fruity or purely oriental.

Abdul Samad Al Qurashi / عبدالصمد القرشي

A thunderous opulence from one of the Gulf's most revered houses, Safari Extreme throws open a rose garden in full bloom: Bulgarian rose and jasmine at the core, ringed by tuberose, ylang-ylang, and violet, all lifted on saffron and raspberry-tinged bergamot before landing on a cathedral of dark oud, creamy sandalwood, leather, and clove.

Mancera

Dark confectionery meets the oud tradition in one of Mancera's most playful and confrontational dualities.

Fragrance Du Bois

Fragrance Du Bois builds their compositions around sustainably harvested wood oils, and Oud Orange Intense delivers exactly what its name proposes.

Widian

Liwa — named for the vast oasis at the edge of Abu Dhabi's Empty Quarter — is one of Widian's most architecturally complex compositions.

Montale

Nepal Aoud opens with Pierre Montale's signature materials — Nepalese agarwood alongside saffron and nutmeg, the spices amplifying the wood's natural warmth and depth.

Acqua Di Parma

Acqua di Parma grounds Oud & Spice in the Laotian forest — the agarwood used here comes from Aquilaria trees in Laos, and the composition is built to honor that provenance.

Dior

François Demachy weaves Oud Rosewood around a central pairing: the dark, resinous depth of agarwood against the lighter, fruitier character of palisander rosewood — a jacquard, as Dior's own description has it.

Goldfield Banks Australia

Goldfield & Banks' debut positions the Australian house's identity from the outset: a dry, resinous, uncompromisingly woody structure that reads simultaneously modern and ancient.

Memo Paris

Luxor Oud opens with orange, mandarin, and raspberry — a bright, juicy citrus-fruit accord that reads distinctly Mediterranean before the composition's deeper character emerges.

Montale

Deep Roses earns its name through paradox: the rose here is both exposed and buried, rising through Montale's characteristic oud accord like a hothouse flower pushing through dark soil.