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Oudgasm: Tobacco Cow
Say what you will about Kayali, but they're one of the brands that really work for me. I love many of their fragrances and so far haven't actively disliked any of them.
This was before I tried Tobacco Oud last winter.
What an atrocious smell. It doesn't fit in with the feminine, glamorous vibe I get from other Kayalis at all.
The opening is pure barnyard for me. Oud doesn't have to smell like that, and I certainly didn't expect a brand like Kayali to put out an oud scent that is so animalic. That's usually something for very niche-y niche houses. I'm sorry, it really just smells like cow manure to me and I never understood why anyone would want to smell fecal in any capacity.
Interestingly, I can sense the other notes through the barnyard oud assault on my nose, and I even find them pretty nice. This definitely has a gourmand sweetness to it, a dry and warm tobacco note, a hint of something rosy (geranium?). It all doesn't matter though. I don't want to smell like I tripped and fell in a cowshed and tried to cover it up with a perfume.
To me, this is the least feminine Kayali, even less so than Velvet Santal for men. Not that I find this particularly masculine either - it smells like the kind of experimental unisex fragrance that doesn't flatter anyone, no matter what gender.
I was retesting this as I wrote this review and deliberately sprayed it under my sleeve so it was at least covered up. For some reason I feel like it smells better this way, even though the opposite is true for many other fragrances: They usually unfold best on uncovered skin.
Very weird experience all in all. Hopefully an outlier and not indicative of Kayali's future releases.
Sorry again to any fans for bashing this so hard, I hope it's not taken personally by anyone, remember every nose is different and sometimes your own skin type plays a role in how a fragrance develops.
This was before I tried Tobacco Oud last winter.
What an atrocious smell. It doesn't fit in with the feminine, glamorous vibe I get from other Kayalis at all.
The opening is pure barnyard for me. Oud doesn't have to smell like that, and I certainly didn't expect a brand like Kayali to put out an oud scent that is so animalic. That's usually something for very niche-y niche houses. I'm sorry, it really just smells like cow manure to me and I never understood why anyone would want to smell fecal in any capacity.
Interestingly, I can sense the other notes through the barnyard oud assault on my nose, and I even find them pretty nice. This definitely has a gourmand sweetness to it, a dry and warm tobacco note, a hint of something rosy (geranium?). It all doesn't matter though. I don't want to smell like I tripped and fell in a cowshed and tried to cover it up with a perfume.
To me, this is the least feminine Kayali, even less so than Velvet Santal for men. Not that I find this particularly masculine either - it smells like the kind of experimental unisex fragrance that doesn't flatter anyone, no matter what gender.
I was retesting this as I wrote this review and deliberately sprayed it under my sleeve so it was at least covered up. For some reason I feel like it smells better this way, even though the opposite is true for many other fragrances: They usually unfold best on uncovered skin.
Very weird experience all in all. Hopefully an outlier and not indicative of Kayali's future releases.
Sorry again to any fans for bashing this so hard, I hope it's not taken personally by anyone, remember every nose is different and sometimes your own skin type plays a role in how a fragrance develops.