Fragrance Du Bois
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Bright spearmint and bergamot cut through immediately with an almost sharp clarity, the lemon joining forces to create something that reads almost cologne-like in its freshness. The marine notes arrive early, too, lending an ozonic quality that lifts the composition away from typical oud territory and towards something cooler, more cerebral.
As the citrus softens, the lavender and jasmine emerge with restrained elegance, allowing the cardamom and nutmeg to introduce a creeping warmth. The woody accord deepens as the oud begins its slow declaration, supported by cedarwood's structural backbone, whilst the patchouli adds earthy texture without heaviness.
The spice eventually subsides into a woodsy, slightly mineral dryness where oud and cedarwood dominate, accompanied by fading echoes of patchouli and cardamom. What remains is closer to sophisticated wood smoke than animalic oriental—austere, faintly herbal, and distinctly reserved.
London Oud arrives as a studied contradiction—a fragrance that treats oud not as an orientalist fantasy, but as a structural component in a decidedly Western composition. François Merle-Baudoin constructs something unexpectedly cerebral here: the spearmint and bergamot opening suggests a barbershop precision, whilst the marine notes inject an almost aquatic clarity that prevents the woody base from becoming the cloying, resinous affair oud fragrances often devolve into. This is oud domesticated, civilised, presented in a crisp linen shirt rather than draped in velvet.
The heart reveals lavender and jasmine working in tandem—the lavender providing herbaceous restraint, the jasmine offering a whisper of elegance rather than seduction. It's here that the spice accord (88% according to the composition) asserts itself through cardamom and nutmeg, creating a subtle warmth that feels almost medicinal, vaguely reminiscent of a high-end dental surgery or an apothecary's back room. The patchouli sits in the shadows, earthy but not opulent.
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3.6/5 (130)