Oud and Dior Privée – a truly animalic experience. Leather Oud, the other oud scent in the Collection Privée, evoked the animal in me and Oud Ispahan, a supposedly softer pairing of oud and rose means the animal is back, with a vengeance.
Oud Ispahan was created by Francois Demachy in 2012. Notes include labdanum, patchouli, sandalwood, rose and agarwood (oud).
Oud Ispahan is an excellent perfume. I state this right away, because I believe this is a very well balanced, beautifully constructed perfume, that is not reinventing the wheel of course (how could it? the genre is surely well populated already), but bringing an interesting and intriguing rendition of a well-known theme to the market. It is just that I cannot wear it, and that is a huge disappointment for me. I was all set to love and invest in Oud Ispahan, but unfortunately it is not meant to be…
Oud Ispahan opens slightly harsh and medicinal, but then a beautiful, no an exceptional rose note takes center stage. It sings an aria like a diva accompanied by a well-tuned woody orchestra.
For the first hour wearing it is pure delight. Then the animals take over…
It is a classic case of “It’s not you, it’s me!”. My skin seems to amplify the animalic notes in here to an extent that is not bearable for me and I would not want my environs to encounter me like this.
Lady Jane Grey, my local sounding board and reality check, gets no barnyard whatsoever and swoons over the rose the whole time. No sweat, diaper and cow shed associations for her (the lucky woman!).
Maybe I’m done with oud for now. Maybe I’m just happy with oud in the cold season. For now, in any case, my sample of Oud Ispahan is locked away in a plastic baggy and two wooden boxes.
It is safe there, and so am I.
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Oh! We have the same skin : The dry down is not for me at all ! It is pretty the same experience with Leather Oud…but the few 45 minutes are very nice indeed . I really like the image of the Camel 🙂
I’m glad I’m bot alone with my experience. 🙂
Have I heard my name ? Looks like I (a robust little creature…) was built to wear Oud. I pull off even the IMHO most animalic one, LeLabo’s Oud – Birgit was wondering, how tame/different it was on me (although I get the dirty horse on the beginning too…).
Now it’s true, unfortunately, I got mesmerized by Oud Ispahan when visited London 2 weeks ago – I got nothing animalic/indolic in there, just gorgeous rose and burned wood. In fact, the danger is not banned yet : I have a bussiness trip to LDN next Monday again and the devil already plays with my brain (and purse…)
Yay, you are going to London again! Watch out, the perfume buying devil is powerful, but then you are a robust little creature… 😉
Why oh why am I still considering this despite repeated warnings, Lady Jane may be happy if I buy it though, I am still waiting for a small tester of it, I am not daft enough in this instance to blind buy this one. 🙂
Good to hear! Well, let’s hope Oud Ispahan knows how to behave on your skin. 🙂
I hope so too…
“It’s not you, it’s me!” Ha!
This is too bad. I know you wanted to love this one! Maybe you can re-visit it in colder weather, I think you make a good point about that. I wore Rose Oud the other day in the humidity and it was just suffocating. I couldn’t deal with barnyard in any weather though…
Ah well, money saved, and lots of it! 😉
Interesting that even Rose Oud can be too much in the heat. One more reason to look forward to autumn.
You know, yesterday I sprayed myself in a shop with Pampleune and it didn’t turn to cat pee. So there is stil a chance that this one will work ;-).
Pamplelune doesn’t turn stinky on me either… sadly this one does. Although it’s a different kind of stinkiness. 😉
Oh no, not another Dior La Collection Privée for me to love? Goshdarnit! Stinkiness aside, I really do love the sound of this, thanks for the review!
Oh yes, this one has our name all over it… 😉
Oh pants!
Most agarwood-heavy perfumes do not work for me so it will be a miracle if this one will – so I won’t be upset if it won’t. But I will try it when I get a chance – and see what animals it brings to my mind (the wolf looked better than the camel, I think… I even liked Dee’s bear more than that camel).
I guess I’d rather be a wolf than a camel too… ,)
I think I’ll pass on this one, notwithstanding the pretty colour!
Unfortunately the colour is not indicative here. 😦
LOL so clearly I wasn’t the only one a little bit repulsed by this scent! I love the way you describe it as animal like.. If I may add to that.. I think its almost dead animal like and am regretting the moment I let the sampler spray it on me @ doha airport! Quite the price tag too…
Hi Soraya, it is not for everyone apparently. Although I know many who adore this. Well, for us it means money saved. 🙂
I like that description LOL: then, the animals take over…. Um if I may add to that, they’re more like dead animals… I found this purely revolting and regretting the moment I let the perfume sampler spray it on me at doha airport.. And what a price tag!!
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