Parfums de Nicolaï presents a new collection called Oud. Amber Oud and Rose Oud are two new launches built around this rich woody note. According to the press release, ” ‘I have created perfumes based on oud because I wanted to enrich my collection of powerful and long lasting fragrances’ explains Patricia de Nicolaï. ‘I wanted to combine the extraordinary richness of agarwood with amber for one perfume, and for the other, with rose, all the way retaining the tradition of French elegance.’ Patricia de Nicolaï added noble essences of patchouli, Atlas cedarwood, castoreum, tonka bean, costus or nagarmotha to magnify her oud.”
Amber Oud includes notes of lavender, thyme, sage, davana, cinnamon, saffron, agarwood, Atlas cedar, patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla, tonka bean, styrax, musk, castoreum and amber.
Rose Oud features raspberry, davana, osmanthus, rose, lily of the valley, agarwood, patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla, musk, castoreum and amber.
Rose Oud & Amber Oud will be available in 30ml (58 €) and 100 ml (174 €) Eau de Parfum starting November 19th. Via press release
38 Comments
rosarita: There’s much complaint about the oud saturation in today’s perfume market but I’m interested in the Nicolai treatment. Big fan of this line, not least because of the 30ml bottles. Looking forward to reviews. November 20, 2013 at 8:26am
Eric: I would be interested to smell Nicolai’s oud. She might even convince me to like this note. November 20, 2013 at 9:06am
Victoria: If you’re very new to oud and want a little taste, I recommend L’Artisan Vanille Absolument. It has a hint of oud and the rest is smoky, woody vanilla. November 20, 2013 at 2:43pm
Annikky: I agree. I have complained about the ubiquity of oud, too, and still find it a bit of a lazy choice, but I guess it’s kind of difficult to ignore by now. Many people expect it to be a part of the line-up and to be fair – no-one is complainig about jasmines or vetivers or incense perfumes, that are also present in almost every niche line.
PS It looks like they have improved the labels! November 20, 2013 at 9:07am
Cornelia Blimber: I don’t complain about the omnipresence of oud. I like the note, as far as I know it (Oud Mona di Orio, Colonia Intensa Oud Acqua di P. and who knows where else).
What I ask myself: how much oud can there be in this world? I was informed that it is rare and expensive…and yet so many perfumes with oud?
That can’t be true. November 20, 2013 at 9:37am
monkeytoe: Much like the iris explosion of a few years back, the oud explosion has come with the marketing of a creditable oud synthetic.. November 20, 2013 at 10:11am
Cornelia Blimber: Yes, of course. I was naive supposing all that stuff was natural. November 20, 2013 at 11:11am
Victoria: Very few of them contain any real oud. Since much of natural oud on the market isn’t sustainably grown, I’m ok with the companies using oud synthetics or accords of naturals and synthetics mimicking oud. November 20, 2013 at 2:49pm
Victoria: You have such a sharp eye, Annikky! You’re right, the labels look different.
I suppose that if a company distributes in the Middle East (or wants to cater to the Middle Eastern clientele), it needs to have something oud based. I agree with you, these days people expect a line to have at least one oud. November 20, 2013 at 2:48pm
Austenfan: Perversely I may actually like the old labels better. 🙂
However it makes sense that she would improve the designs if the prices get higher.
I am really looking forward to try these. She does orientals really well (well most other things too), and I love most of her work. November 20, 2013 at 3:30pm
Elisa: My thoughts exactly. She’s late to the party but I’m still interested to try these. November 20, 2013 at 10:17am
Victoria: Me too. A well-made and original perfume can give a new character even to the most ubiquitous note. Plus, as Annikky said, we aren’t complaining that every brand has incense or vetiver or iris. November 20, 2013 at 3:03pm
Victoria: I’m a bit fan too. If there is one perfumer whose oud I would be curious to try, it would be Patricia de Nicolai. November 20, 2013 at 2:42pm
Alicia: How I would like to try a true rose attar to know how the real thing really smells! As it is I am not sure. I have tried Tom Ford Oud Fleur, which I disliked; TF Oud Tobacco, not quite dislike, but far from memorable, and finally Amouage Jubilation 25, which to my nose is a masterpiece.
Patricia de Nicolai has created two of my favorite fragrances (Odalisque and Le tamps d’une fete), thus I wait eagerly for your reviews of these Ouds. Perhaps you save me from confusion. November 20, 2013 at 11:53am
Victoria: Did you try by Kilian’s Ouds? I love their Rose Oud and Amber Oud. Another nice oud is Montale Black Oud, which smells very traditional to me. And then there are Arabian Oud perfumes, also very traditional. November 20, 2013 at 2:56pm
Alicia: No, Victoria, I haven’t tried any of those, but I certainly will. Thanks to you I discovered Feminité du Bois, and now it is one of my very favorites. (I ha told you that I love Bois de Violette, and you mentioned FdB). So, in the future, I will try the ouds that you recommend. Thank you so much! November 20, 2013 at 8:58pm
Victoria: I posted on my Facebook this video of Serge Lutens explaining Feminite du Bois. I hope that you (and others) enjoy it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1GxdmgCMbc November 21, 2013 at 10:01am
Alicia: Thank you very much, Victoria. I enjoyed it indeed. November 22, 2013 at 11:29pm
nozknoz: That’s interesting – I tried the original Shiseido FdB recently and was struck by how clearly it is the foundation for BdV, as well as how weird and wonderful it is.
I remember reading LT’s description of how SL created many of their subsequent perfumes by “running FdB over a funhouse mirror” (exaggerating or highlighting different notes). So true! November 21, 2013 at 11:45am
Lucas: I’m really looking forward to trying Amber Oud and Rose Oud from Nicolai.
I wish the brand was offering samples as PdE are nowhere to be found in my nearby area.
174€ seems to be quite a lot as for a 100ml bottle, I think. November 20, 2013 at 11:57am
Victoria: A sample set would be great!
If they’re actually using oud in the formula, the higher price makes sense. November 20, 2013 at 2:57pm
Anne of Green Gables: I’m yet to explore oud dominated fragrances. When the time comes, I can work through the perfumes listed in your oud overview. I have some questions (as usual ;-)). Is the cypriol (nagarmotha) and oud combination quite commonly used? I see that both perfumes contain davana note. What does it smell like? I see that this note is included in Paestum Rose, which I sampled recently and liked (it was unusual but in a good way). Can you detect it in Paestum Rose? November 20, 2013 at 12:08pm
Victoria: I don’t really remember Paestum Rose well enough, but if you want to imagine what davana smells like, picture rum soaked raisins, sliced red apples (the sweet, sugary kind) and a few jasmine petals. It’s a boozy, rich note, with lots of dried fruit accents, and it’s a nice way to add an opulent sensation to your blend.
I don’t know how often cypriol is used with oud, but yes, it works well in the woody, resinous accords. November 20, 2013 at 3:00pm
Anne of Green Gables: Thank you, V! Your description of davana sounds so sumptuous. November 21, 2013 at 6:18am
Victoria: It’s a delicious note! November 21, 2013 at 10:08am
The Perfumed Veil: Though there are many beautiful and disgusting oudhs out there, I am always interested to try a new one. The bottles look pleasant. November 20, 2013 at 12:49pm
Victoria: Very true. I’m curious how these ones measure up to the existing ouds. November 20, 2013 at 3:02pm
Patricia: Love rose, amber, oud, and PdN. Yes, please! November 20, 2013 at 6:26pm
Victoria: I like her darker blends too, so I’m curious. November 21, 2013 at 10:00am
Figuier: These sound really interesting – Nicolai’s perfumes are always worth a sniff. Also, much as I adore By Kilian’s Rose Oud, I found his Amber Oud positively revolting, so maybe Nicolai’s version will be more compelling!
Wish she could have come up with more distinctive names, though – it’s getting really hard to distinguish between all the different ‘x Ouds’ out there.. November 21, 2013 at 6:22am
Victoria: Yes, the names aren’t inspired, but I suppose that given the hassles that many companies experience registering and trademarking unique names, many opt for something simple like this.
By Kilian now has a bunch of other ouds–Black Oud, Gold Oud, etc. They smell very good, but Rose Oud is plenty for me. November 21, 2013 at 10:10am
nozknoz: I love BK Rose Oud for its airy, dry, balanced take on this theme. November 21, 2013 at 11:50am
Victoria: Same here. A scattering of rose petals is such a beautiful contrast to the dry oud backdrop. November 21, 2013 at 2:25pm
Aisha: I’m so glad I discovered PDN fragrances through this blog. I absolutely love Vanille Tonka, and these new woody fragrances sound interesting. I hope you’ll be able to review these one day. 🙂 November 21, 2013 at 10:48am
Victoria: We’ve talked about Vanille Tonka so much that I myself have been wearing a lot of it later. You’ve inspired me to revisit it, and I’m now addicted again. 🙂 November 21, 2013 at 11:00am
Aisha: It’s such a fabulous, easy-to-wear — yet interesting — fragrance. I’ve been alternating between it, Lolita Lempicka and Candy. I’m surprised I don’t smell like a candy factory. 😉 The three really seem to fit the cold weather we’ve been having here lately (about 20 degrees F). I tried “moodier” fragrances like Dune and EL’s Sensuous, but they seemed a little off on me when they normally wouldn’t. Even Cuir de Russie doesn’t seem to fit the season — and I adore that fragrance. November 21, 2013 at 11:08am
nozknoz: PdN deserves a Nobel Prize for steadfastly producing beautiful and reasonably priced perfumes at a time when so many of the big names are doing the opposite. I’ll definitely try these. November 21, 2013 at 11:57am
Victoria: True, the reasonable price give the quality is a very attractive part. November 21, 2013 at 2:25pm