Oud two ways: a 5ml oil roll-on that sits on the skin all day, or a 30ml spray that fills the room. Both decanted by hand, in small batches.
The 5ml roll-on is oil. No alcohol, so nothing burns off in the first hour. It goes straight onto warm skin, stays within arm's reach of you, and lasts until you wash it off. This is the one for work, for the car, for the jacket pocket.
The 30ml is an eau de parfum spray. Same accords, built to travel — it lifts off the skin, leaves a trail behind you and reads across a room. This is the one for weddings, evenings and anywhere you want to be smelled before you're seen.
Everything here is in stock now and decanted by hand, so numbers are small. Sillage tells you how far it carries — one bar stays on the skin, five fills the room.
Oil behaves nothing like a spray. Use a third of what you think you need, and give it ten minutes before you judge it.
Inner wrists, the base of the throat, behind the ears. These run warm, and warmth is what lifts oud off the skin. One slow pass each — the vial holds far more than you'd guess.
Hold your wrists together for a second instead of rubbing them. Friction heats the top notes and tears through the delicate resin, which is the part you paid for.
The first ten minutes are sharp and smoky. What comes after is the real scent — soft, woody, close to the skin. Two sprays of the 30ml does the same job as three passes of the oil; any more and you'll stop noticing it before everyone else does.
Got asked what I was wearing three times at a wedding. Nobody guessed it came out of a vial the size of a lighter.Bilal H. — Birmingham
Bought Black Phantom for a wedding and used two sprays. People were still asking about it at the end of the night.Amina K. — Manchester
The 5ml lives in my jacket pocket. Nothing to smash in a bag, no spraying in a car park hoping for the best.Daniel O. — London
Leave an email and we'll tell you when a new oud lands — usually forty or fifty vials, and usually gone in a week. Nothing else.