For those who love it, the intensely woody scent of oud incites a kind of delirium. And this fall, its fans are in luck: The heady, and usually pricey, fragrance happens to be the highlight of a handful of new products.
Originating in the Middle East and India, the oil is derived through a laborious process from increasingly rare agarwood trees and has been the basis of high-end fragrances like Tom Ford Oud Wood. A limited supply now makes it more precious and, it seems, all the more covetable.
“We spend close to $5,000 a pound for the oud we use in our fragrances,” said the perfumer Ben Krigler of the Krigler perfume house in New York, whose Ultimate K’Oud 75214, an updated unisex version of a cologne created in 1975 for King Hussein of Jordan, costs $555 for 3.4 ounces.
Price may be no hurdle for oud devotees, who prize it for its warming properties — just the thing to offset autumn’s bitter chill — but more budget-friendly variations include these new entries.
MOLTON BROWN OUDH ACCORD & GOLD BODY WASH ($33 at moltonbrown.com).
Part of a three-piece collection that includes a body lotion and candle, this heady shower gel is infused with oil from agarwood trees in India and lathers into a rich foam.
PHILIP B. OUD ROYAL PERFECT FINISH SHAPING FIBER ($29 at philipb.com).
This thick hair cream from the Los Angeles hairstylist Philip B. thickens tresses without leaving them greasy, and it’s so redolent of oud that it could do double duty as an eau de toilette.
ERH1012 DEAD OF NIGHT PERFUME OIL (from $55 at erh1012.com).
Made in small batches in downtown Manhattan, this unisex oil from a year-old fragrance company is formulated with oud sourced from trees organically grown on a plantation in Borneo. Sensual and musky, the oil is absorbed into the skin slowly and lingers long.
SOURCE:http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/20/style/oud-fragrance-oil-short-name-big-effect.html
