In the English language "opulent" stands for someone rich, wealthy and affluent. If a person is "opulent", the reason is due to having goods, properties, and money in abundance, besides not being shy to show it. I believe that if the word is applied to a fragrance, that certainly implies good things about its concentration and the richness of its notes. Certainly, it's not because of the flask and cap as both are a bit tacky, exhibiting shiny golden coated parts.
As per my "private investigations" (my nose and a couple of Arabic websites) I believe that these fragrance notes go as follows:
Top: Lime, Saffran, Musk (or Angelica)
Middle: Jasmine, White Flowers, Praline, Musk
Base: Woody Notes (Cashmere, Cedar, Sandalwood & Oud in my opinion), Vanilla, Fir Resin, Cedar Resin, Amber, Musk
Lattafa keeps amazing me with the quality and "savoir-faire" they have with most of their perfumes.
Opulent Oud is no exception. It's a true oriental perfume, worthy of being used in any Arabian Nights tale and, why not, in the Scheherazade closet itself. Looking at the fragrance notes it's easy to understand why the name "opulent" has been chosen.
Musk is the dominant note making its appearance from the first whiff till the end of the (long) drydown.
The top is eased up by saffron and flowers. The top musk note is light and easy, so probably the effect is produced through the use of a floral note like angelica. It's really through the bottom notes that the perfume reveals itself. We get a heavy load of wood, wood resins, amber as well an animalic woody musk.
There is no evident borderline between the top and bottom. Due to the lighter notes, I kind of prefer the opening to the drydown. But don't get me wrong... it's a fantastic drydown as well.
You must go easy on the trigger as this juice is truly powerful. I may describe it as dark, smoky, woody, velvety, resinous, sweet and spicy.
The performance is quite high but what puzzles me the most is the fact that it really projects between three and four hours depending on the number of initial sprays.
How opulent will be my ratings?
___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Scent Opening: 9.5 (Close to a musky and spicy perfection)
Scent Drydown: 9.0 (Fantastic woody notes)
Longevity: 9.0 (More than 9 hours in my skin, with 3 sprays)
Sillage: 9.0 (8~10 feet sillage with 3.5 hours projection)
Uniqueness: 9.0 (It is quite unique even if it shows a certain similarity with
Armani Privé - Oud Royal from the Armani Privé line, without being its clone. It also evokes some other Lattafa scents)
Usability: 6.0 (Winter and Fall nights, and not much else)
Versatility: 8.0 (Go easy on the trigger and you will be surprised by its versatility)
Compliments: 8.0 (More a self-pleaser than an attention grabber but catching the attention of all oud lovers)
Quality: 9.0 (Above average quality ingredients)
Presentation: 7.0 (A bit tacky)
Price: 10.0 (€15,00 / 100 Ml - a bargain in an Islamic shop sale)
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Overall rating: 8,50/10.0
between 7 and 8 =above average;
between 8 and 9 = recommended;
bigger than 9 = don't miss it;
Opinion: One of the best exquisite oriental scents in my collection and I really like it. It's a true oriental gem.
Recommended? Yes, but only if you like the scent of strong smoky woods with oud and musk. With a different label (and a different presentation) it could sell for several times its actual price. Get it while the price does not rise.
Blind buy worthy? No! Do try it before any purchase if you have that chance. It may be too dense and dark for your taste, but you may make happy someone like me, with an unexpected "opulent" gift. Due to the perfume's low price, it may be less expensive to buy it, and more expensive to buy a decant for testing.
Music: "Spartacus" from Aram Khachaturian
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