Initio Oud for Greatness NEO 2024

Heya Posse! Strangely, for a brand that has become so famous and widespread over the last few years remarkably little has been written about it here on the Posse. Initio Parfums Prives is a Dubai based French brand whose first perfumes hit the market in 2015. Yes, next year Initio is 10 years old! I can’t speak for the rest of the world but here in Australia perfume peeps have gone a little wild for it. NEO is a flanker of the bestseller Oud for Greatness and I read somewhere that it’s a collaboration with Harrod’s. During 2024 the City Perfume crew, who distribute here in Oz threw a huge party at our Circular Quay Four Seasons hotel.

When Jin smelled it he said some funny things. First that it reminded him of traditional country bathhouses in Korea. As soon as he said it, I got the reference. They have a very particular smell of woodsy soap cleanliness and the smell of thousands of men dirty and then clean. Then he said it smelled like a well presented very drunk man being brought home from the local by his wife to have dinner with the family. A scent he had loads of association with in his childhood.

Initio Oud for Greatness NEO

Featured accords include:
Agarwood, Bergamot, Lavender Orpur®, Saffron, Fir Balsam, Musk

Initio Oud for Greatness NEO smells good. I’m not a perfumer and can only go on what I smell but NEO does seem to have had some money spent on the juice. If you are not particularly an oudh fan but like the woodsy saffron perfumes of the 21st century then you will probably go into paroxysms of delight. I did. Less huge than its antecedent and much more nuanced (to my nose). It fits into the traditional paradigm for masculines but anyone and everyone can and could wear it.

NEO smells like a summer take on the original but remains deep and dark enough for wear all seasons. Still a big perfume and a little goes a long way for projection and longevity. For those that care this could easily go beast mode and skunk a whole suburb if spritzed with no care for the general public. Initio is riding the wave of bro sized fragrance, but two spritzes was well enough for me to garner compliments at work last night, double figures in a 3 hour window.

Initio’s Oud for Greatness NEO is a new fragrance. It harks back to traditional masculine perfumery. Especially the barbershop fougere but it does it in a new and beautiful way for modern sensibilities. Priced aspirationally, Initio €315, LuckyScent US$430 and City Perfume AU$598. When it goes on sale I would like a bottle but right now I’m going to eek out the sample I was given at the launch.

Sound good? Have you tried any Initio?
Portia xx

For those that have been celebrating this month. MERRY EVERYTHING! I hope it all went to plan and that everyone survived. If not, do share your disasters in the comments. I love a family melt down story.