Secret Oud Caron for women and men

Caron's entry into the oud category is a nice one! The opening of SECRET OUD has a slight harshness, which I attribute to what must be the use of "true oud" in this composition. I've read here and there that the "gentile" oud perfumes do not really contain oud, and my experience of "true oud" in the past was not entirely positive. So which is better: "authenticity" or "beauty"? In this case, Caron strikes a balance, it seems, as the opening harshness quickly morphs into a lovely oriental labdanum-oud which blends with the rose to produce a great over all oriental-woody composition.

The rose and the saffron are light, relative to most rose-oud-saffron perfumes which I've tried, so I would not recommend SECRET OUD to people looking specifically for equally balanced rose and oud--there are better choices for that. However, this perfume seems like it might be perfect for a guy looking for a less floral presentation in a perfume featuring the oud note. In wafts, SECRET OUD has a slightly leathery feeling, as I sometimes find with not only oud but also myrrh. Definitely worth testing by oudies, but if you do not appreciate oud, obviously you won't like this!

My only reservation is that the longevity is not very good for a perfume of this type, but it smells wonderful while it lasts.

I wanted this to be more than it was. That being said, it's a competant fragrance,delivering a nice woody incense with a touch of resin from the rock rose. It's very nice as I'd expect from Caron, but it's not different enough to be full bottle worthy on my shelf.

I wanted to like “Secret Oud.” I like Caron as a house generally, and I have been searching for another oudh perfume to add to my wardrobe. So I got a couple of samples of “Secret Oud.”

For the first hour or so, I was intrigued: the perfume featured a distinctive, somewhat resinous oudh accord, in which the oudh was front and center, which accord the perfume kept delivering, steadily, in a linear way. Now, real oudh oil is anything but linear, and has an olfactory trajectory that can, depending on the particular distillation, be quite a wild ride. So the steady oudh accord in “Secret Oud” was obviously a fabrication, comprised of who-knows what oudh substitutes, isolates, and/or clever new molecules. Nonetheless, I liked it. Just as Caron “Pour Un Homme” is a kind of comfort scent for people who like vanilla, so too perhaps “Secret Oud” could be thought of as a comfort scent for those who like oudh. So I thought.

At about 2 hours, however, I noticed that my new comfort scent was, disturbingly, fading fast. By hour 3, “Secret Oud” was just a trace, and I had to work to find it. Sometime between hours 4 and 5, it simply could no longer be smelled. Several trials, over time, were consistent in result.

There is room in the world, I think, for an oudh comfort scent, in which modern perfume techniques are used to create a semi-affordable oudh accord that just keeps on reliably delivering and delivering something satisfying, if artificial. Unfortunately, “Secret Oud” is not that scent.

All the fun happens within the first 2 hours, with “Secret Oud.” After that it’s just work.

My score: 4.5/10

Alright, an oud from Caron. I've got high hopes for this one so let's jump right in.

-Opening was trying. The phrase 'rode hard and put away wet' came to mind, and unless you're a horse lover, that ain't a good thing.
-Middle phase waxed and waned, starting off harsh and 'reed like', but ending up as a deep, oriental floral. I'd say it took a good hour and fifteen minutes for me to finally start liking this.
-Dry down is faint, which I am NOT used to with this house. Especially wiht a price tag of $250 for a 50 ml EDP. Around the 2 hour mark this is a skin scent, and really now...

Take away: oud is not one of my preferred base notes, and it needs to be one of yours in order to love this. But I have to say- of all ouds i've tried, this is one of the better. Its more an old school, dark green chypre on me, and I see it best worn with a plunging neckline and glass of champagne.

this is true oud in its classic form. Not so called ouds with light flowery notes, but propper show stoper!love it.

it smells simple but great for those who is oriental fragrance lover and admirer!As for me the beginning is sharpen by spicies and agarwood,but a while later it gets soften throught the whole pyramid by flowery notes!I`d rather prefer wearing it in dry winter evening time than in humid summer daytime!But this fragrance is worth being optional for both sexes!Have a good time trying and wearing it on!