Manogi

Okay, I'm not as old as the title suggests. But "Ocean" by Demeter makes me feel like I've been transported to the ocean. It's the only thing I can smell all the time, salty sea air. Not too stiff a breeze, but still strong.

I know from many reviews that the community is divided on this perfume. Either people love it or they hate it. Obviously, there's nothing in between. I'm in the first group. I really like Ocean. It was a blind purchase based on a review. I have to admit, at first I wasn't sure what to make of it. It takes getting used to the smell. You won't find natural notes in it. As I have already indicated above, it smells to me exclusively like salty sea air. Sand or "solar notes", which are mentioned in the description, I absolutely cannot recognize. But after I got used to it, I learned to appreciate "Ocean". As I already indicated in other comments, a perfume is good for me when it triggers feelings in me. And the perfume does just that. I feel transported to the ocean and feel the wind blowing around my nose. The sun is shining. Seagulls are crying. The sea is a little rough. And I like the rough sea. I like this ocean

A little warning at the end. After spraying Ocean quickly becomes exceptionally oily on the skin. So it might not be a good idea to spray it on clothes. I can't tell you exactly what it is, but it's not unpleasant on the skin.

When I was on YouTube looking for reviews of animal perfumes and heard about this perfume for the first time, a reviewer called it "unwearable". Another one even got nausea while testing it. But that didn't scare me off at all, it made me curious, and I had to have a sample. And then something happened that could be described as "love at first sniff". The smell knocked me out. But not with stink, but with its magic.

Yes, Ambilux is incredibly animalistic. Most of the other perfumes I know that call themselves "animalistic" can't stink in the truest sense of the word. One exception is "Hyrax" by Zoologist Perfumes, which I also appreciate very much. But Ambilux is completely different from Hyrax. The pink pepper and the cumin have a full impact right from the start and contribute to a certain sharpness and "dirtiness". But also the castoreum is clearly present and later gives way to the more sweet notes, but stays in the background throughout the whole process. But is it too dirty because of this?

No, absolutely not. For me, a fragrance is beautiful when it makes me feel good. And Ambilux does. I feel a deep sense of security when I smell it. It's like intense cuddling with a loved one with their very own familiar scent.

I also do not find the fragrance at all "unwearable". Without question, you have to like animal scents to wear Ambilux. So it is definitely not for everyone. But you don't walk around with it like a skunk. The mixture of animal and sweet notes is very balanced and pleasant for my taste. You don't leave an unpleasant sillage. Admittedly, the fragrance is not for a more festive occasion. It is too animalistic for that. But in everyday life it is very well wearable in my eyes.

The only downer is the durability. It's okay, but it could be better. Especially on the skin the scent weakens over time. On clothes it lasts longer.

"Oud Oud Oud!" was my first - let's call it relatively mainstream commercial - oud perfume - and a bitter disappointment. I can't even begin to smell the oud perfume. I can't feel any musk in it either. Leather is present to some extent. Vanilla is still the most dominant for me. It may be that I have different and higher expectations because of my many pure oud oils. So every mainstream commercial oud perfume has a hard time. But Floris with Leather Oud, Dusita with Oud Infini and Mancera's Aoud Café manage to convince me much better, to name three examples, even if the oud notes in them may be partly synthetic