Woo Hoo Posse! Continuing the month of trawling through my lovely husband Jin’s fragrant wardrobe today. This was the most expensive bottle I’d ever purchased at the time. It was Jin’s birthday or our anniversary or somewhere such. While shopping at Peony Melbourne we were sniffing the new violet MdO when Jin tried Oud and went full apeshit for it. This led to a series of misadventures before I finally got him a bottle. When he wears it he says Oud smells like Cow Poo, in the most adorable way ever. He doesn’t wear it much but I know he loves it. Sadly it was first reformulated and then the company ceased trading. This is the BEST bottle. I love the whole idea and design.
Oud by Mona di Orio Les Nombres d’Or 2011
Historic lists give these featured accords:
Top: Pettigrain, green mandarin, elemi
Heart: Nagarmotha, patchouli, osmanthus
Base: Oud, Atlas cedar, musk, ambergris
Oud is a big fragrance. Surprisingly, it’s not only a punch in the face of oudh. It’s much more than that. It’s a resinous, woody fragrance that works on multiple levels. While talking with Jin about his ride I think it also works very differently for each wearer as well. Jin gets a spicy wooden ride with unmistakeable references to cow poo and full blown barnyard. I get a textured resinous journey with medicinal notes, including band aids and cough mixture, sodden earth patchouli, crisp woods and smoky incense. For me the barnyard smells more like an open air urinal, ultra sweet and ambery.
While oudh has been extremely overplayed this century, something as gorgeously, thoughtfully composed is such a joy to wear. It’s a crying shame we lost Mona so early, and that the brand is now gone.
I wrote about MdO Vanille a few years ago here on Posse
Did you ever get to smell Oud or the Oud Osmanthus reform?
Portia xx
Love the smell of real farmyards. A comfort from my teenage years when I could find little comfort at home. Do I want to smell like that? Not really.
This was a house I struggled with, sometimes that happens.
Heya Alityke,
If EVERY house and EVERY smell worked for us we’d be in a lot of trouble.
Sometimes it’s nice to sideline a whole house so you can focus on what you love.
Portia xx
I absolutely LOVE reading about your and Jin’s perfume forays!
Saying that…
There is NOTHING about this that appeals to me! It’s so unappealing, it’s actually funny!
… maybe because I live around horses and cows ? and while I revere their by-product ( gardening GOLD)I definitely don’t want to smell anything like that!
HA! Of course Musette.
This is your here and now. For most of us it’s a happy childhood memory from family farms and riding lessons. We are smelling from different standpoints.
This is one of the things I love most about perfume.
Portia xx
Oh, oud is a toughie for me — but hey everything doesn’t have to be for me, I bet it smells magnificent on Jin! Also laughing at the notion of a non-perfume person reading this post and your fabulous description and going, what is WRONG with you people hahaha like when I talked about how a whiff of skunk at a distance could be oddly nice.
I remember seeing the Corpse Flower at the Huntington a few years ago when it was past it’s prime stinkyiness. It was almost pretty- definitely could see where it’s kind of a cousin to those lush white flowers we know, love and sometimes fear. That would scare the casual reader, not to mention sniffer.
(and I am spam on the Windoze box now too. Annoying!! But at least I can log in as an admin..
We have a Corpse Flower here in Sydney too Tom. It flowered a few years ago but I did not go.
HA! You’re right March. It’s a bit like listening to wine wankers go on (and on and on) about the whatever. We are perfume wankers and proud to be here. Even for the creepy, sleepy weird stuff. Maybe ONLY for that?!?
Portia xx
In solidarity I’ve just spritzed on a tiny amount of Dusita Oudh Infini, which is pure midden heap for the first hour or so. The next 23 hours are very beautiful, though. The small decant will last me a good decade or two…
Hey AnnieA, I just ordered a sample of Oudh Infini a couple of days ago. Can’t wait.
Portia x
Prepare to have to sit down quickly and collect yourself. It’s quite a nose-punch!
Woo Hoo! I do hope so. This nose has been happily battered for decades now.
I’m with Jin – Cow Pooooo! To me, that’s a stink. I do admit though that I like it sometimes when it’s very subtle (maybe synthetic oud?) in the background.
HA! Yep. He has a very dual response to oud Maya.
Yes, a little smidge in the background definitely adds depth and breadth.
Portia xx
I remember trying the first ones released from this house. A long time ago.
I am still looking for ‘my’ oud… This sounds like serious business on both of you.
That original Carnation was so beautiful Cinnamon. I bought a bottle long after it was DCd but because it was so precious never wore it. Moved it on to someone who loved and wore it.
Portia xx
I had a tiny scrab of this that I picked up somehow and oh my! I think I met somewhere in the middle between the slightly fishy salty thing I usually get from oudh and the barnyard, complete with sweaty men in overalls and hay. It was for some reason not a purchase but it was pretty,,
Sweaty Farm Hands is a great name for a perfume Tom.
Portia xx