Oud Essentiel
Oud Essentiel by Guerlain is an unisex eau de parfum in the luxury price tier. It opens with saffron and geranium, moves into oud, rose and cedarwood and dries down to leather, incense and guaiac wood. Expect around 10 hours of wear, and it projects strongly.
Notes, explained
Opening
- Saffron Leathery, medicinal and slightly metallic. The signature of modern niche.
- Geranium Rosy and minty at once. Reads masculine more often than not.
Heart
- Oud Resinous, medicinal, barnyard-adjacent wood. The most expensive note in perfumery.
- Rose Can be jammy, green, peppery or soapy depending on the type. Not one smell.
- Cedarwood Dry, pencil-shaving woodiness. Clean and structural.
Dry-down
- Leather Smoky, dry and a bit animal. Can be a new jacket or an old saddle.
- Incense Smoky, dry and meditative. Adds gravity to anything.
- Guaiac Wood Smoky, tarry and slightly sweet. Like a bonfire and roses.
Smells like this
- Kajal Warek
- Swiss Arabian Dehn El Oud Shaheen
- Byredo Black Saffron Absolu
- Lattafa Rouat Al Oud
- Montale Aoud Night
- Le Labo Oud 27
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