Singular Oud Urban Scents 2014

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When I embark on a self-chosen journey to another city, I want to crown that experience with a new fragrance, bought there. That's how I felt recently when I visited our vibrant capital.
I didn't know exactly what I wanted to bring back, no checklist, no wish list, no Parfumo, no plan... I wanted to go with the flow, trusting that things - in this case, the fragrance - would come to me when the time was right. And if it was the right one. The one for *me*.

With this somewhat herbal mindset, I leisurely sniffed my way through Lehmann's selection and then stumbled upon a small, rather inconspicuous, interesting shop that wasn't overly stocked, which I immediately found appealing. The service was excellent, relaxed, friendly, and knowledgeable.
I tested various scents. I left two candidates on my hand so I could let them develop throughout the afternoon. Singular Oud wasn't among them, but its sister Gunpowder, also from Urban Scents, was.

Throughout the enchanting, inspiring afternoon, I kept checking my two test fragrances on my hand. Yes, they were nice. Yes, I liked them. But something was missing. Namely, that famous spark that ignites me. That one lever that gets flipped. I think you understand what I mean.

Then I remembered that the shop owner had held a thin glass stick under my nose just before I left the shop. He had sprayed Singular Oud on the glass stick, which I eyed somewhat skeptically due to the OUD in the name - I'm not an Oud fan - and therefore preferred to stay away from a skin test at first *lookingashamedlyattheground*.
I then recalled that I had somehow found it appealing, but of course, I couldn't verify that anymore. So I decided to go for a skin test after all. Thus, I made another visit to the beautiful shop on Rosa-Luxemburg-Strasse.

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And when I sprayed Singular Oud on myself, it happened: the lever flipped. The spark ignited me --- wow, what a fragrance....!
At first, it pours over me like from a cornucopia with dark chocolate-coated, warm fruits, (slightly)bitter/bitter-sweet, dusted with saffron, swirling around me are colors of dark violet, berry red, dark brown, refined with matte golden and bronze speckles. What fruits? Here we read green fig, but it could also be plums, in addition to the fig. And cinnamon is right there too, quickly followed by warm wood.

That sounds quite impressive, but it isn't. Singular Oud retains that soft smoothness that Angua described so beautifully in her review: nothing sticks, nothing is stuffy, nothing thick, nothing gooey, nothing heavy. This entry is already noble, and it continues to be noble without Singular Oud becoming too dry or too elegant or "only for special occasions." It also has a casual, unpretentious quality that I generally appreciate, not just in fragrances.
The fat and sugar content is rather low, and yet the fragrance exudes a purring, soft warmth and the flair of the exquisite, high-quality, and special.

I do catch a hint of the animalistic, while the bitter note gains momentum without slipping into unpleasantness or harshness. After about an hour, the dark, soft, warm, completely non-musty patchouli rises ever more distinctly, wafted by an almost imperceptible smoky note that keeps the fragrance dark, vibrant, deep, and mysterious along with the patchouli, wood, and remnants of fruit.
Where is the Oud? I struggle, but can only perceive noble wood; the typical Oud note doesn't quite reveal itself to me (I'm not sad about that).
The sillage, initially quite impressive, soon diminishes and becomes noticeably more discreet, but not too close to the skin. And now Singular Oud merges with my skin into a warm, earthy, smooth, subtly dark chocolate harmony that I can indulge in. For a long time!

It easily lasts 12 hours and a shower. And even more! It seems to me that Singular Oud simply doesn't want to stop smelling; it is devotion in fragrance form, my permanent, loyal companion, not a scent for a quick spritz or one that will be forgotten by tomorrow. No, it really wants to make an impression, it seems to me.

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Basically, I had wished for a fragrance that is (in my opinion) different. Different from the over 600 fragrances I have sniffed in my life so far. But at the same time, I wished for it not to be an overly cerebral, too edgy fragrance, one that doesn't flaunt the attitude "I am different" openly. Nothing that disturbs me, irritates me, or challenges me with weeks or months of struggles to access it, tempting me into an olfactory S/M relationship. None that exhaustively externalizes its otherness, celebrates its distinction, and sees itself as a (better) counter-model.

But a fragrance that, despite all (of course subjective) otherness, its richness of facets and depth, is cuddly, accessible, tender, and friendly, managing the balance between foreign and familiar. A little jewel that wants to be discovered, that wants to come to me, to merge with me, just as I do with it, while still maintaining its special personality and uniqueness. Et voilà - here it is. Touché!

"The mind seeks, but the heart finds." - George Sand -