Aoud initially opens with fantastically bright notes of lemon, geranium, jasmine and ylang however quickly develops more depth and complexity as the oud, rose, saffron and ambergris become more prominent. These notes blend together so beautifully, and this opening blows me away every single time I wear it. The dry down bears a noticeable similarity to Amber Aoud as the composition of rose, oud and saffron is the same. However as it lacks the fig and intensity of the ambergris, the resulting scent is much less sweet and instead more dry and woody compared to Amber Aoud. The warm spices of cinnamon and nutmeg are also slightly noticeable, however the rest of the notes are so well blended you would struggle to pick them out. To me this is the best rose-oud fragrance money can buy, and my absolute favourite from the Roja Aoud line. It perfects this classic scent profile with ingredients of the highest quality which will leave you breathless. I would advise against following the hype and trying this before buying Amber Aoud as this is much more regal and refined, a one of a kind fragrance and a true modern masterpiece.
I have recently acquired a vintage bottle of Aoud, the first batch ever created back from its original release - the old paper label and blood red juice is absolutely beautiful. As for the scent, it’s stunning: an absolute work of art and compelling masterpiece. In the opening, the rhubarb note is more noticeable than in current formulations, while the lemon and verbena have a slight aged bitterness. The rose and jasmine stay true to my current bottle, however here I find the geranium to be more prominent which gives the heart a certain greenness. The oud here is far dryer and almost ‘dusty’ which might just be due to its age, while the ambergris has a lot more depth - bringing that addictive saltiness combined with a deep leathery amber sweetened with saffron and sandalwood. This perfume is magical to me and I feel these vintage batches are worth seeking out if you already love the current formulations of Aoud.
This was my first review (written ages ago but not posted for some reason??) of Roja Dove and Aoud was good but having tried the range I'm somewhat a fan of these fragrances. Well, well, well Roja Dove fragrances! Hyped and bashed in equal measure. I'm going to try to get to the bottom of this and hopefully bring some clarity to proceedings. I've only tried two from this exclusive line and Aoud was the first one. The reason I didn't hurriedly put pen to paper (or finger to iPhone) to document the momentous occasion will become apparent. The sample vile looked extremely inviting, containing a thick, oily, dark, dark amber goop. As soon as I tried it on my skin I got a smoky ploom of woody Oud reminiscent of fragrances from countless houses but Zerjoff sprung to mind due to a distinct 'diesel' quality. This is backed with hints of resins and tiny florals peeking through. It's nice...very nice. I made the mistake of thinking that Aoud was a lovely thing which oozed quality but was linear and somehow lacking in depth other than the great Oud and labdanum. It's only now that I've tried it a couple of times that I can appreciate the subtle complexities, which almost makes me want to rethink and revisit several fragrances, to see if I change my mind on them. As I said I tried RD Aoud a few weeks ago now and haven't thought a great deal about it since, until I got it out for my girlfriend to try. She loves strong orientals, Ouds as well as quite feminine florals so she's pretty well rounded. I should maybe have given her no prior knowledge about the fragrance but I decided to give her a quick bio of Dove and the price of this juice. Her reaction was wild! She absolutely couldn't get enough of this scent. I bore/bombard her with allsorts of fragrances on a pretty much daily basis and normally reactions are fairly blasé but this provoked a BIG response. I then did something I never do, post trying a fragrance myself. I proceeded to look at other reviewers on YouTube etc...just to see what the buzz was. I came across one guy who seemed very balanced and knowledgable about perfume and the process of perfumery in general, who was offering up his opinions. Have to say his description 'Stale Newport cigarette's and the cheapest feminine drugstore perfume.' I just don't get? To say that this fragrance gives NO hints as to the quality of ingredients used, shows a fundamental lack of understanding about perfume. Whatever you think of the composition or what your tastes might be you have to give credit where it's due. I did appreciate his point about the use of 'finest ingredients' and what people mean by that and 'Can you smell it?' I thought he was missing a trick slightly assuming that people think 'fine quality ingredients' mean 'naturals' then going on to make the point that Amouage readily use synthetics. Well the truth is, majority of houses do regardless of price and I think it's a bit patronising to assume that other frag heads don't know this. when I say something smells 'synthetic' I don't mean it in the literal sense, same with 'cheap' or whatever? It's difficult to explain and for another time perhaps? The point is Roja Dove Aoud is a very opulent and strong scent which delivers what I expected. Anyone who is looking for the holy grail of fragrances will probably be a little disappointed because high price and exclusivity don't guarantee anything. Aoud is very, very good...even great for me. It's by no means that original or groundbreaking and if you think it's worth the money then good for you, there's a ton of fragrances to get before this one would figure on my list....but eventually I think it would. Great projection at first, great longevity as you would expect.
ROJA PARFUMS Aoud (2010) Parfum Unisex Sensual Inviting Sophisticated Mellow Very versatile Rather fresh than sweet High end quality 🌹One of the best rose ouds in my opinion! This was one of my first niche perfumes when starting my journey and the first rose oud in my collection. I still remember the feeling when smelling this one for first time. It’s still astonishingly A M A Z I N G 💎💎💎 Like all Roja Doves this scent has a lot of different notes and it’s impossible to separate those all. Three of them are anyway dominant in Aoud: Rose de Mai, Saffron and Oud. Oud is not skanky or animalic in this at all. It’s very restrained. After this settles down it’s getting more soft because of vanilla, nutmeg, cedarwood and sandalwood in the base but it’s strong anyway. Vanilla is like in most of Rojas: it’s impossible to detect. It gets mystical vibe and certain character from musk, leather and ambergris but all of them are blended perfectly and not at all bringing that sexual and erotic slightly animalistic vibe like in Musk Aoud. Longevity is eternal. From their website Top Notes: Lemon, Bergamot, Verbena Heart Notes: Geranium, Rose de Mai*, Jasmin de Grasse, Ylang Ylang Base Notes: Rhubarb, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Saffron*, Patchouli, Cedarwood, Casmir Wood, Sandalwood, Aoud*, Vanilla, Leather, Ambergris, Musk * KEY INGREDIENTS That travel size is Aoud Absolue Precieux (discontinued). It’s a little bit more refined than original Aoud and the oil concentration is higher. Just a note: juice is really dark and it stains light clothes. Available in Crystal which is the same perfume without a color. I’M TELLING THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AOUD AND AMBER AOUD IN THE REVIEW OF AMBER AOUD Thank you for reading and I would appreciate a lot if you want to follow me on IG: @ninamariah_perfumes