Hiya All,

I have the best friends in the world. we had a BarBQ get together yesterday with a few of them and I was given a bottle of The Aoud by my mate Alice who has just returned from the UK recently. She was down shopping in Selfridges fragrance floor and the Mancera SA was so good at her job, and Alice so overwhelmed by the incredible amount of choice, that in next to no time Alice was buying herself and me a bottle each of different frags in the line. I’m not sure what Alice got for herself but The Aoud by Mancera is a winner. Don’t go to the Mancera website, it has no information, is totally annoying to navigate and doesn’t even tell you about their fragrances other than 3 of them. GRRRR! So bloody unhelpful and this lack of information only hinders us blogging perfume enthusiasts that like to go see what is what. Even more terrible for shoppers I think.

Fragrantica has this to say:
Perfumer Pierre Mancera opened his first Mancera luxurious perfume boutique at Place Vendo in Paris. Mancera perfumes are made from precious and luxurious ingredients, rare and refined materials, inspired by Art Deco design.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

The fragrance features accords of: Geranium, sandalwood, saffron, incense, rose, agarwood (oud), leather and ambergris.

On opening the beautifully presented package with its shiny gold, very Arabian feeling, embossed cardboard box there is a gold drawstring pouch with the Mancera M in black repeated. It is a luxurious first glimpse and I like the feeling. The 60ml bottle is hefty and simple. Fits beautifully in my hand and the screw cap is a nice touch meaning the bottle is hand or gym bag ready without the worry of cap loss and self spraying of atomiser. V Important.

Photo Stolen lindsaybrothers

I love the opening medicinal notes, they are refined and luxurious. The oudh is noticeable right at the start as a warm, earthy, horse apple, green and grassy waft that lasts through the fragrance but it’s not toxic or heavy like many of the Arabian style of oudh. It is airy and fresh. The geranium adding a bright counterpoint and the sandalwood giving its buttery smoothness almost immediately. Oudh, geranium and sandalwood are triumphant kings through the story of this fragrance for me, their characters working in tandem and against each other to keep The Aoud interesting and unusual. Though rose is a featured note it doesn’t play heavily here, more a light accompaniment with the leather, saffron and incense. At about the 1.5-2 hour mark I start getting a lovely salty beach/sea water smell that I think may be The Aoud by Mancera’s ambergris. A fragrance of many colours, light and shade, an adventure in a bottle, subtle, alluring; I am running out of cliches to describe something far from cliched; even with the completely overwhelming amount of oudh on the market this is different and extremely wearable. No problem wearing anywhere except a strict no fragrance policy or close quarters work environment. The Aoud has good sillage but is not a skunker unless you are extremely lavish with your application, scent bubble around one meter maximum after the first hour.

Photo Stolen ferrebeekeeper

See how bright and new, sleek and lovely this trireme looks, The Aoud by Mancera has a kind of freshness about it that makes me think sea journey in a newly hewn ship with livestock in the hold for food and riding, naked, muscular slaves and the ever present smell of salt water on the cool breeze, but on the deck it would be warm and fragrant, and we of course would be in charge.

UniversalPerfumes&Cosmetics has 120ml/$130
Selfridges in the UK also has a selection in 60 & 120ml

Thanks for coming and spending a moment at APJ, see you tomorrow,
Portia xx