The House of Oud
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Bergamot and lemon ignite with immediate brightness, but saffron immediately complicates the narrative, injecting warm spice that feels almost golden against your skin. This isn't citrus-forward; it's citrus-interrupted, and that interruption is the entire point.
Palo santo smoke settles into the composition as myrrh adds a dusty, resinous quality that transforms the fragrance into something amber-lit and contemplative. Ylang ylang emerges as a gentle floral presence rather than a dominant note, binding the spice to what's coming next with surprising grace.
Vanilla and sandalwood create a creamy, almost talc-like softness whilst amber and benzoin deepen into warm gourmand territory, leaving a sweetness that feels earned rather than applied. The base lingers with a soft, skin-like quality—intimate rather than projecting.
Just Before arrives with the confidence of someone who knows exactly what they're about to do. There's a deliberate restraint here—the opening citrus notes of bergamot and lemon don't strut; they whisper against the warm prickle of saffron, creating something closer to candied spice than bright freshness. The saffron is the revelation: rather than the typical fruity bergamot-lemon dialogue, you're getting a golden thread of earthy warmth that immediately signals this isn't a conventional citrus fragrance.
Where many fragrances would retreat into predictability, Just Before deepens into palo santo and myrrh—a combination that reads as genuinely contemplative. The palo santo brings that familiar smoke-without-fire quality, whilst myrrh adds a resinous, almost medicinal density that prevents the composition from becoming sweet. Ylang ylang typically courts indulgence, but here it's tempered, functioning more as a floral anchor than a seductive flourish.
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4.2/5 (139)