Les Nombres d’Or Oud Mona di Orio for women and men

Mona di Orio has been the greatest artist of this generetion and one of the best of the last 50 years.

What a great pleasure! A newly received e-mail which states that Basenotes has recognized Mona di Orio as the winner perfumer of the year whereas the same brand, owning her name, is the best fragrance house, moreover ' Oud' (the most complex oud I've ever smelled!, even though my opinion is really irrelevant being myself not so experienced about it) is the best fragrance!
It is a pity she will never know it!
A postumus award .......after all.

Well, I was intrigued by all previews and wanted to experience it. I got my tiny capsule from LackyScents. Have to agree, it is a quite complex (I would add “and balanced”) composition.

First note – a sharp green and citrus burst – was so quick that I don’t even consider it anymore. On dry down I imagine myself quietly standing in a deep-deep forest after rain in a late warm spring. So dusty, woodsy and mossy. As it continues to open, it gets richer with oud, amber, with a touch of musky sweetness. I felt in love with those notes. Simply couldn’t get enough of it.

BUT I found myself applying the fragrance every 3 hours to enjoy that bouquet because it cannot stay on my skin any longer. After 4 hours it was completely gone! So disappointing!!! For the price ($500+ for 100 ml) of this piece of art, the harder work should’ve been done on its lasting power.

Dos anyone knows where I can find this in Toronto ? if yes please don't be afraid to shoot me a line thanks.

Men ... you may definitely want to give this a try.
Chickenpotpie - I LOVE your review. You may consider yourself (as you said "...a real perfume noob..." but you speak eloquently, as from the heart.
alfarom - I am always interested in your reviews. You can be a harsh critic. I liken you to 'a Fragrantican Simon Cowl"; you are a hard judge of fragrances but when you do give a fragrance an 8/10 or higher I tend to take notice. BTW oud is oud is oud. It comes from many places, and while the oud used in this composition may not necessarily be to your liking or akin to what you are used to it is still oud.
That being said upon my first whiff I am immediately reminded of cigarette ashes in a glass ashtray. A blast from days gone by. It is so overwhelming I can't detect anything else for awhile then I smell petrol/fuel with a dry dirt undertone which is frantically trying to clean itself up by running through dried leaves, rolling in them, if you will, but that dry leafy,dirty smell remains and the ashtray smell lingers in the wings ready for whatever.
I am by now desperately wishing for some of the other notes listed to make an appearance, to relieve this dry, arid playground I have found myself within and voila! After about 15 minutes I am given a hint of a dusky, musky sweetness, relieving my nose. I can almost believe it is the patchouli or the orange but never the juice. It is more rind than the juice.
I'm of the mind that this scent doesn't want to be figured out because just when you think you have it pegged something about it changes or tries to get you to change your perception. Does this fragrance evolve your senses or the other way around: Do your senses evolve as the fragrance develops? No matter, it is most intriguing. There is somewhat a moment of black tire tread and then it is gone and here again is the patchouli wrapped lovingly around the oud which is such a subtle player yet being such is liked all the more for not being so overwhelming.
The oud in this fragrance is not your "typical Arabian oud", which is so in your face sometimes it takes your breath away. No, this is a strong undercurrent oud, carrying the fragrance from top to drydown, as if it alone bears the responsibility of carrying this beautifully orchestrated fragrance from beginning to end. It is always there but I only realize that after many moments. If you are initially put off by the initial sniff taken, please do thyself a favor and wait for the drydown. For those wondering why Ms Mona finally selected this oud for her perfume I hazard a guess that she indeed found a jewel of an oud.
I usually don't rate by the numbers but for this one I will say 9/10.
Masterfully done

In the interview, Mona said she did not initially wanted to make an Oud perfume since the ingredient is so popular and because she has not found an oud that inspired her. I think she did mention that she finally got a hold of this very rare oud that we can now admire in this composition, which convinced her to tackle an oud composition by herself.

I am not a massive oud fan, but this one is actually really good. Well, aside for the horrendous price (400+ GBP... can't see myself spending this much on a bottle of perfume). As for the notes, it is opened by a lot of patchouli and osmanthus. I think I also got the resins and amber accords, something smoky and incense-like (smells a bi like my yoga studio). The oud here is quite quiet, surprisingly quiet knowing is should be the centre of the composition. Despite the woody and smoke, it actually has got a green vibe to it. Interesting.

And probably would be worth buying... for half of the price.

I got my sample of this scent from Luckyscent.com

I'm a real perfume noob so I'll do the best I can to describe this scent.

On application I get a sharp green and citrus burst. I quite like it, its really quite pretty.

After application I smell a very...dank musty smell. kinda like a dried mushroom or wet root type smell. I actually quite like that. In the middle of all that I get a very lovely tobacco smell.

As it continues to dry down I get some crazy scents. This one changes so much on me its unreal.

As I go through the day I smell black licorice, cigarettes, rubber, a bit of a motor oil smell, powder, and a really strange tangy fruity thing.

As it continues to dry down I get the cedar and amber scents a bit more. Maybe its my body chemistry or what I had for dinner last night, but the amber and cedar is accompanied by this very mild spice smell that hums around it. The smell reminds me of Turkey (the country not the food)

And crazy enough, its not unpleasant or even overwhelming. You can't just pour this stuff all over you though, no. pulse points only is all thats needed.

Sillage, yes, oh yes. but again, not in a bad way. Considering the price you wouldn't want to take a bath in it, and, a dab or 2 will do you.

For me the scents are distracting and thought provoking. Every note in this puts me in a place down memory lane.

I seriously feel like I'm in love. Its kind of like the first time you've laid eyes on the most spectacular person in the world and the full body awareness of when they make the slightest move just tingles through your body.

My heart thumped a bit faster wearing this scent. It was sexual, but not...if you can get my meaning. It speaks me to at the soul level. Thats never happened before.

Now even with ALL THAT, I wouldn't buy a full bottle of this stuff, Not because I hate it, but because of the reaction I had.

A scent, any scent is something that should make you feel good. Man this one does..a little too much so! But it also puts me in a place of melancholy which isn't bad, but isn't great either. While wearing this I don't feel in control, the scent is what is controlling me.

The scent dosen't make me feel on top of the world, it dosen't make me feel La Femme Nikta or anything like that. I feel, sort of inferior to wear such a great scent, but even so, I'm drawn to the allure of it.

This is not a scent for those who don't have an open mind. Thats really required to enjoy this scent to its fullest.

Anyway I won't wax poetic, not exactly my style but this scent will make you want to try!

Mona Di Orio's Oud is quite a complex composition but if you approach it expecting the usual sweet-medicinal accord that's typical of many occidental ouds you'll be seriously disappointed.

Oud's opening seems relatively fresh/transparent with citruses and osmanthus surrounded by a remarkable woody vibe. The oud is there but is enhanced in its complex "woody-freshness". The fragrance gradually evolves and darkens towards the drydown that is when the oud starts to seriously bite merging perfectly with ambergis and musk. In the latest phases the fragrance get bolder, deeper and, somehow, closer to the pungent oud we westerners are used to but still nowhere similar to Montale's or whatever occidental oud I have experienced.

IMO this is a solid composition and, possibly, one of the most realistic "oriental ouds" around but it seems that for the same price you can buy some real oud oil, and we all know that nothing is like the real thing.

Extremely pricey.

Rating: 8/10