Bohemian Oud Zara

First impression of Bohemian Oud: Terrible. Everything my nose perceives in the first 10 minutes is pepper, which is followed by tobacco after a few moments. Not a combination I want to smell. I had already written off the fragrance when, some time later, a wonderfully enveloping scent wafted into my nose at my trusted Zara store.
Bohemian Oud develops into a beautifully dry, warm, woody, sweet tobacco, vanilla, cocoa scent for me. It also evolves into something dirty, sexy, and yes, a bit animalistic. A fragrance that is definitely unisex. On my skin, it becomes quite sweet compared to when I just spray it on my clothes. I only perceive smoky notes a little. Bohemian Oud reminds me of Çomme les Garcons Wonderwood, which my mother owned years ago, better yet decades ago, and which, according to her, was considered a unisex fragrance back then. No idea if there was a relaunch of the scent.

I have never had the chance to try By the fireplace. I have heard a lot, and especially a lot of polarizing opinions about "By the fireplace." Since some consider Bohemian Oud a dupe of it, I really wanted to test BO to get a rough impression. I was all the more surprised when both my mother and I had an immediate association with Wonderwood in the drydown.

Thanks to the incredibly delicious drydown, Bohemian Oud has moved in with me. I like it a lot; unfortunately, the opening is so "Hardcore-No" for me that it really takes all my strength to "bite through" it. I don't know of any other fragrance that I despise in the opening but celebrate so much later on.