02/24/2015

ColinM
516 Reviews

ColinM
Helpful Review
2
Decent rose-oud
As the name goes, Rose Oud by Monotheme is a more-than-decent rose & oud scent, soapy and dark, with a zesty-candied touch and a musky, slightly camphorous base. And oud, obviously, that type of woody-rubbery synthetic note we’ve been so used to in the recent years. Overall a bit plastic and not that original (not to say mediocre), but honestly, in my opinion acceptably pleasant to wear, especially if you like that sort of “glamorous” dark refinement of rose-oud scents. The thing is, and I say that after having tested countless cheap (but costly) niche scents with the same accords, that Rose Oud is identical - and I mean it literally - to pretty much any “mid-level” niche rose-oud scent, so think of any Montale, or Mancera and similar products. Mostly Montale: I instantly thought of so many of their “Aoud Whatever Petals” fragrances. It smells exactly like that, to any extent: but (as for Leather by this same brand), this costs ten times less than them. And this to me “allows it” to be a bit mediocre and synthetic: at least you get what you pay for, quality-wise (no, actually here you even get more value than you pay for). I always criticized Montale and similar brands mostly because of the quality/price issue, while now, I’m giving this a higher rate just because I see something with, finally, a fair price. Actually even too low for the quality. Rose Oud is nothing extraordinary, but it’s well-made, smells nice (even quite classy), lasts long and is totally unpretentious: a perfectly compelling, more-than-affordable and valuable alternative to so many synthetic rose-oud scents currently cloying the market.
6,5-7/10
6,5-7/10