Fragrance du Bois: All Shades of Oud

by: Serguey Borisov

We continue the interview with Global Business Development Director of Du Bois Group, Gary Crates, with an overview of the Fragrance du Bois fragrance collection. A set of samples hides in a box covered with crocodile-patterned black patent eco-leather. Looks awesome, but excessively posh. Samples of the ShadesDu Bois collection differ by the color of logo depicted on them, with no names. Together they form a rainbow of seven oud perfumes, from red to violet, plus one special perfume, Oud Black Intense. For the most part the perfumes that represent the colors are pretty close to my ideas of synesthetic harmonies, and the pure and organic oud oil is not showing off particularly in the compositions. Those who like their oud to be hard and cruel should not necessarily try all the Shades perfumes—I'd advise them to go right to the oud-centric collection Privé Du Bois.

A useful warning applies to the Du Bois perfumes: natural oud oil can stain your clothing, especially light colors, so the perfumes should be sprayed always directly to the skin or hair.

Oud Rouge Intense

Sharp earthy freshness from the first seconds. If there is something red, it should be something like the red clay ultisol of India or African laterite, absorbing the first drops of tropical rain. Just some tree broken by a violent storm, an old cedar pepperbox, or a courageous and handsome lover from France ... Patchouli and spiced earthy notes are gradually replaced by coniferous resin and dry wood, becoming soft and calm. There are some nudges from Lorenzo VIlloresi Piper Nigrum and Frederic Malle French Lover to be smelled in it. The perfume goes to the red part of the spectrum in its decline, when the oud becomes a dark line horizon, and sandalwood and a sweet accord illuminate its dark line. A solid fougère fragrance for men, somewhat too masculine for women.

Oud Rouge Intense

Top notes: Pink pepper, Lemon;
Heart notes: Cedarwood, Patchouli, Sandalwood;
Base notes: Oud, Musk

Oud Rose Intense

We've seen this woman somewhere. She swept through our lives as a dazzling bright pink and purple flash. She has enough curves and bumps, as well as a natural instinct to emphasize them skillfully and to never hide them. She adores roses, but they do not like her too much. Sometimes she comes to our minds, and we think, where is she now, this sweet sexy pumpkin, fruity and plump? She could learn to belly dance—the original version, for example, in Pakistan. She could be a tempting waitress in The Hungry Duck or Coyote Ugly, who dances on the bar in the early evening to light all the people up. Or she could open her own Coyote Ugly-type bar for investors' money to wink at visitors legally. A feminine oriental, exciting and flowing, with a small and dirty oudy shade. Not the most popular version of geranium and amber oud, not a chypre and not a patchouli. The oud is far in the background, like a summer lightning of distant oud storms.

Oud Rose Intense

Top notes: Bergamot, Fruit notes;
Heart notes: Rose, Geranium, Sandalwood, Amber;
Base notes: Oud.
 

Oud Orange Intense

Give me more bliss, more girliness, more gourmand and more feelings of a beloved father's daughter. Vanilla on Vanilla, with Coconut Caramel, and Vanilla again. If something can be a demonstration of the fact that a cozy and nice tanning lotion can overcome and defeat The Powerful Oud then here's an example of this, in full bloom, natural size. For any strong perfume material (Oud) there can be found an even stronger note (ethyl maltol, coconut lactone), and quantity always beats quality in the perfume wars. And it has been done in the perfume—to the delight of those who are ready for the beach in five minutes at any time of the year, or who want to remind themselves of the existence of the beach, sun and sea all year round. And of course, I cannot reject the fact that some girls could just love the pleasant sweetness of vanilla and coconut. The orange color of the perfume reminds me of the carrot-colored skin of a pale person who has spent a month or two under the Thailand or Goan sun, alternating sea and sun baths with soaking their bodies in coconut oil.

Oud Orange Intense

Top notes: Coconut, Fruit notes;
Heart notes: Bourbon Vanilla;
Base notes: Oud, Musk, Vanilla.
 

Oud Jaune Intense

Crazy subtropic Saturnalia. Hot disco bars full of sultry passion at the all-inclusive hotel. The crazy fun of Ibiza, Saint-Tropez, and Miami clubs with the best DJs in the world. Beautiful girls and handsome guys are moving. No sweat at all— all divine fragrances smell sweet. It is absolutely unclear where the oud hides in this space stuffed with wreaths of exotic flowers, full of fruity cocktails and milkshakes, smelling of estrogen and vanilla. Just forget about oud's presence and enjoy the freedom to move in rhythm with a huge crowd of floral gourmand perfume admirers.

Oud Jaune Intense


Top notes: Ylang-ylang, Pineapple, Fruit notes, Monoi;
Heart notes: Jasmine, Fleur d'Orange, Salicilates;
Base notes: Oud, Lactones, Vanilla, Musk.

Oud Vert Intense

A bright and handsome summer cologne, more spicy, aromatic and intense than your normal cologne. It is understandable—the fougère structure made it stronger and more fit. What is oud oil doing in this green ginger cologne with a woody base? Oud gives the woody drydown of this energetic shower-gel-like fougère the virile and rough effect of dirty and worn-out jeans—so you will find your first school love on Facebook some years after graduation, and cannot believe how his or her delicate image could have changed so dramatically.

Oud Vert Intense

Top notes: Bergamot, Ginger, Cardamom;
Heart notes: Coriander, Nutmeg, Geranium;
Base notes: Oud, Vetiver, Cedarwood, Musk.

Oud Bleu Intense

The Mediterranean breeze freshness, with sweet tangerines' predominance on a transparent camphoraceous incense, opens the fragrance. I have seen some Mediterranean miracles like that. They were named after the refreshing sea winds and some Italian island of vacations and dolce vita. But those miracles were secondary—the very first original was named Cartier Declaration, the most popular office colleague of the last years of the last Millennium. But here, surprisingly, with all these easy, breezy and transparent winds and barely audible balsamic resins the oud oil can be also applied, with a beautiful and absolutely invisible (by Middle Eastern standards) result.

Oud Bleu Intense

Top notes: Nutmeg, Cardamom, Mandarin;
Heart notes: Frankincense, Myrrh, Amber;
Base notes: Oud, Opopanax, Styrax, Benjoin.

Oud Violet Intense

Nice and tasty tangerine ice cream of the gourmand start is followed by a distinctly dry smell of steak peppered by shaking hands with all spices. Meat is a phantom, and the spices are just gaining momentum in the incense-amber-gourmand background. All the perfume is about food: spices, gingerbread, cakes, milk, chocolate, a lot of tonka beans, peppercorns, and so on. Oud serves here as the dark brown cutting board on which all these delicious foods are posing.

Oud Violet Intense

Top notes: Mandarin, Black Pepper, Elemi;
Heart notes: Frankincense, Tonka beans, Nutmeg;
Base notes: Oud, Cistus, Musk, Amber.

Oud Noir Intense

A camphoraceous part, created by resinous cardamom and dark patchouli, dominates at the beginning. Could this imposing handsome man be a forester? The slightly spicy metal of saffron sounds in his milky sandalwood voice. Wait, did the handsome forester arrive from India? When the familiar theme of oud, supported by rockrose, starts to unfold in the oriental attar of amber, rose and sandalwood, it becomes absolutely clear that the forester came out of the desert  of United Arab Emirates.

Oud Noir Intense

Top notes: Bergamot, Cardamom;
Heart notes: Rose, Jasmine;
Base notes: Sandalwood, Saffron, Patchouli, Vanilla, Musk, Amber, Oud.