Top Notes 
Grapefruit
True lavender
Heart Notes 
Leather
Oud
Tobacco
Base Notes 
Amber03/21/2026
TheNewNose
137 Reviews
TheNewNose
A Bit Unexpected
I picked this one up recently in the online Ramadan sale from Swiss Arabian for a 50% discount, for the princely sum of AED60, which is around US$20 for a 100ml EDP concentration. It was a total blind buy but I still get a kick out of doing that (yes I know….) and I figured a US$20 blind buy is a safer bet than a US$220 blind buy, and anyway this is oud and leather and I love oud and I love leather. So we should be on safe ground here, right?
Well, sort of.
The opening is light, airy, sweet and quite feminine. I wasn’t expecting any of those things.
The leather is a soft, sanitised suede and the oud is barely, barely there. If Myriad by Louis Vuitton is one end of the oud spectrum, this and Soft Oud by M&S are the other. It isnt animalic or sour in the slightest. What you get from the opening is lavender first and foremost tempered and freshened with some grapefruit. Together they are a little clunky and over-synthetic in the way room freshener sprays are: the blending isnt niche level but you have to remember what this cost. It is uncertainly sweet or floral and ends up being a little of both but I feel is missing a rose accord to tie it all together. More on that later.
The middle is a wet and slightly funky tobacco leaf which again, you find yourself wishing was stronger. The oud is there but is sort of loitering in the peripheries which I find myself wanting it to walk with a bit more purpose into the spotlight.
The notes say there is amber in the base notes and I get almost none of that. There is oud in the base that anchors this but you sort of feel it lacks the depth to really hold it all down. Fast forward a couple of hours and with the drydown very much in process, the oud is a little more prominent, the leather is a little bit more present as the grapefruit dies off but it hasn’t changed really. It is simple, very linear and still quite fresh. I have a feeling this might grow on me a bit on future wears, especially after a few months of maturation in the bottle as Swiss Arabian fragrances sometimes need.
This is not supposed to be an oud and leather fragrance in the way I was expecting. It is a feminine-leaning floral and fruity freshie with oud in. I compared it to Soft Oud by M&S which I reviewed recently and the comparisons are very valid as it is very much in that ballpark and at the same very good value price. Once you understand what this one is about, you realise that it isnt really targeted at guys like me. If you are expecting Ombre Leather with some oud you will be disappointed, and actually if you look at the bottle you realise it isn't packaged in that way at all. It is minimal and clean, light and looks how it smells. Actually very contemporary.
That it wasn’t what I was expecting doesn't mean I don't like it. I think it would be a nice, secret weapon style choice to layer on top of something with a sturdy, deep rose accord in there. Perhaps with some pink pepper as well. It would go very nicely over the top of Atomic Rose for example, to add a more zingy day time freshness.
At the end of the day it has 6-7 hour longevity and goes slightly drier and more masculine as the citruses leave the stage. I actually think it is a nice fragrance for people who arent mega keen on big, animalic leather and oud feels but still want to tick those boxes in a stylish and very current way. I’m going to come back to this one in a few months to see if maturation has done anything to make it heavier. But it did only cost US$20 and it is formidable value for money at that price. I can only really see myself using it as a fresh layer scent but I think it would likely appeal a lot to others, especially women.
Three Word Summary - Unexpected Fresh Oud
Scent - 6/10
Sillage - 7/10
Drydown - 7/10
Bottle/packaging - 7/10
Performance - 7/10
34/50
Well, sort of.
The opening is light, airy, sweet and quite feminine. I wasn’t expecting any of those things.
The leather is a soft, sanitised suede and the oud is barely, barely there. If Myriad by Louis Vuitton is one end of the oud spectrum, this and Soft Oud by M&S are the other. It isnt animalic or sour in the slightest. What you get from the opening is lavender first and foremost tempered and freshened with some grapefruit. Together they are a little clunky and over-synthetic in the way room freshener sprays are: the blending isnt niche level but you have to remember what this cost. It is uncertainly sweet or floral and ends up being a little of both but I feel is missing a rose accord to tie it all together. More on that later.
The middle is a wet and slightly funky tobacco leaf which again, you find yourself wishing was stronger. The oud is there but is sort of loitering in the peripheries which I find myself wanting it to walk with a bit more purpose into the spotlight.
The notes say there is amber in the base notes and I get almost none of that. There is oud in the base that anchors this but you sort of feel it lacks the depth to really hold it all down. Fast forward a couple of hours and with the drydown very much in process, the oud is a little more prominent, the leather is a little bit more present as the grapefruit dies off but it hasn’t changed really. It is simple, very linear and still quite fresh. I have a feeling this might grow on me a bit on future wears, especially after a few months of maturation in the bottle as Swiss Arabian fragrances sometimes need.
This is not supposed to be an oud and leather fragrance in the way I was expecting. It is a feminine-leaning floral and fruity freshie with oud in. I compared it to Soft Oud by M&S which I reviewed recently and the comparisons are very valid as it is very much in that ballpark and at the same very good value price. Once you understand what this one is about, you realise that it isnt really targeted at guys like me. If you are expecting Ombre Leather with some oud you will be disappointed, and actually if you look at the bottle you realise it isn't packaged in that way at all. It is minimal and clean, light and looks how it smells. Actually very contemporary.
That it wasn’t what I was expecting doesn't mean I don't like it. I think it would be a nice, secret weapon style choice to layer on top of something with a sturdy, deep rose accord in there. Perhaps with some pink pepper as well. It would go very nicely over the top of Atomic Rose for example, to add a more zingy day time freshness.
At the end of the day it has 6-7 hour longevity and goes slightly drier and more masculine as the citruses leave the stage. I actually think it is a nice fragrance for people who arent mega keen on big, animalic leather and oud feels but still want to tick those boxes in a stylish and very current way. I’m going to come back to this one in a few months to see if maturation has done anything to make it heavier. But it did only cost US$20 and it is formidable value for money at that price. I can only really see myself using it as a fresh layer scent but I think it would likely appeal a lot to others, especially women.
Three Word Summary - Unexpected Fresh Oud
Scent - 6/10
Sillage - 7/10
Drydown - 7/10
Bottle/packaging - 7/10
Performance - 7/10
34/50
Northscent
