Is Oud a fad? Will Oud be passé soon?

[maxman]

Oud, Oud, Oud.
Every where I turn it's Oud.

(I happen to be interested in Oud, but haven't pulled the trigger to try any yet just in case you're wondering)

Articles from my favourite fragrance websites on it.
Posts from my favourite wet shaving forum on it.

Oud is all the rage.

How long will it last??

Is Oud here to stay or just a passing fad?

What say you fellow frag heads?

[petr]

If you wait more than a month to decide on an oud well liked or discussed ... it's all sold out. Same for blends. That is going to keep the game interesting.

You know you want what you can't have.

[mdevine]

It seems that every big designer and niche house has come out with their own oud based scent. Just like with any component, whether vetiver, aquatic, rose etc., how it is all put together matters more than a single note. The first oud based fragrance that I remember really catching on was M7 a good decade ago. Since than, I've tried quite a few and most are more different than similar. I don't think my two favorites are remotely similar. Montale Black Oud with its rose, patchouli and sharp, almost medicinal oud is markedly different than the soft, dirty leather, amber and civet that lie beneath Dior's Leather Oud. I think oud will stick around, but many of the quickly released fragrances designed to quickly capitalize on its popularity will fade away faster than 4711 on a hot Summer day. The best of them will stick around as long as oud is still readily available.

Mike

[Kevan]

Oud has been a staple fragrance for millennia probably, and an essential facet of Arabian perfumery. So it most definitely is not a fad. But if you're talking about the Western market....yeah, maybe.

[Evbo]

I HOPE oud is a fad! And sandalwood, too! That way, there'll be more for me. Sadly however, I don't think that'll be the case.

[maxman]

Oud has been a staple fragrance for millennia probably, and an essential facet of Arabian perfumery. So it most definitely is not a fad. But if you're talking about the Western market....yeah, maybe.

Oh yes I am talking about the western market.

[StylinLA]

I don't think oud itself is a fad. But it is a trend within the designer world to hustle out an oud scent for sure. Real oud lovers have been aware of it and using it for many years. Tom Ford sort of introduced it to more mainstream folk via M7. Montale has made use of it throughout their history, but it's probably near the top of the curve within regular designer scents. When oud style scents hit the very low end drugstore type scents, that will be the beginning of the end of the trend.

[maxman]

Yes I suppose when there is Rianna Oud or ADIDAS Oud then we've hit rock bottom.
No wait...Ed Hardy Oud!

[blantyre]

Pure oud oil is pretty hardcore, rare and expensive - it's not a fad and it's not likely to disappear. Some of the best may never be available again because it's literally "running out" as the old agarwood trees with the right parasite have mostly been harvested. The recent bunch of designer and niche scents with oud in the name probably won't be around for more than a season or two in most cases. I would expect that most of them use synthetic oud fragrance to keep the production costs under control.

[StylinLA]

Pure oud oil is pretty hardcore, rare and expensive - it's not a fad and it's not likely to disappear. Some of the best may never be available again because it's literally "running out" as the old agarwood trees with the right parasite have mostly been harvested. The recent bunch of designer and niche scents with oud in the name probably won't be around for more than a season or two in most cases. I would expect that most of them use synthetic oud fragrance to keep the production costs under control.

Synthetic indeed. The only EdT style scent I've seen that purports to use real oud is Mona di Orio and it's a $520 bottle.

[maxman]

I have a sample of the Mona di Orio and I didn't really like it too much.
Maybe it's better to say that it had to grow on me.
Even then it just didn't make the cut.

Good thing because I can save myself the $500

[cb91710]

Few months ago someone posted a link to an article... or maybe they actually posted an article... about the unsustainability of Oud with current market demand.
The article left the feeling (paranoid or not), that supplies would be gone within a year.
Of course, the person was involved in this very trade himself and prices were quite high.

[insomniac]

When oud style scents hit the very low end drugstore type scents, that will be the beginning of the end of the trend.

"Pinoud" will sell millions, I tell you, millions.

[The Chandos]

It's definitely a fad. The Western market has no shortage of synthetic ouds and the longevity of this market is likely to last a good decade. Aquatics are still a rage among a certain demographic and oud-based scents are going to satisfy yet another demographic. It will take a considerable amount of time before there are just a handful of western oud-based fragrances still standing and folks are saying "it's a classic." You know, like M7, which is still a very popular fragrance and which also has the cache of being the first synthetic oud-based scent. The historical significance is comparable to being a modern day Fougere Royale. It is most certainly a fad and showing no signs of going away soon but like all good bubbles it's destined to burst. However, my prediction is that eventually there will be a synthetic version of oud that is so remarkably similar to real oud oils that it will completely change the market. Think about the recent synthetic "oak moss" fragrances, which, I admit, smell very very good, and very close to the real thing. Modern day moss-heavy chypres are back thank to such new ingredients and a reliable and recognizable synthetic oud is certainly on the horizon.

[Vickers]

"Pinoud" will sell millions, I tell you, millions.

[Schad]

It is a fad and I hope it goes away.

[jakespoppy]

When the majority of scents marketed and sold in department stores are oud based scents instead of fresh, aquatic scents, then we fragheads here will all be looking for something different, not what "everyone else" is wearing.

[Igor01]

Perhaps the recent deluge of the "oud" frags is not just a fad driven by the consumer but a way for the fragrance companies to capitalize on this relatively new and little known (in the West) aromatic substance. Since the advent of various synthetic "oud" bases from the likes of Firmenich and Givaudan they don't have to use even a drop of actual oud in their creations while having a carte blanche to spin wildest tales of how mysterious, rare and precious oud is conveniently "forgetting" to clarify that their wares have nothing to do with it.

I can understand how the constant buzz about oud this and oud that can be irritating to some fragheads but the thing is all these "ouds" are not really ouds. I could care less if the entire plethora of "ouds" by Tom Ford, Creed, Le Labo, Bond no.9 etc. disappeared tomorrow never to be seen or discussed ever again. There still will be pure ouds and lesser visibility will hopefully translate into less people and less dollars chasing the very limited amount of the really good stuff that can still be found. Anyone who has been following the real oud situation knows how painfully expensive (and in many cases - completely extinct) the high quality oils have become.