These were rose centered fragrances; Miss Charming was a light and more feminine rose and Lady Vengeance was a darker, more unisex rose. It is another good choice, as you need the strength of patchouli to stand up to the oud and rose and it does a nice job in that role. This beautiful unisex perfume by Ard al Zaafaran smells very similiar to the Amouage Iterlude cologne. Seven years later, 2009 looks like oud’s coming out party as we have seen a number of different takes on oud throughout this year from Houses big and small. You might remember the previous gold cap, it has been replaced with a gold crown that has net at its centre.

I think Midnight Oud might be one of the most easily wearable ouds on the market, for either gender.

Instead it entices you in with its unusual aspects and then brings forth a rose note to combine with it. The best pure oud oils from the region are some of the most expensive and powerful perfume oils to be found. Do you let it have full rein trampling everything in its path or do you try and find partners that stand up to it and complement or contrast it?

As I mentioned in the beginning, the first two fragrances from Juliette Has a Gun were rose focused and that ability to get the most out of rose in their perfumes is seen again here. The oud is very restrained here, of all of the oud scents out there it is most closely akin to the level of oud in M7.

This is as strong a saffron note as I’ve come across recently and it is an excellent choice to start off an oud based fragrance.

The saffron imparts a slightly dried grass and leather aspect to the beginning which adds a little bit of exoticism to the beginning.If what he means by that phrase is he wanted to make a less aggressive oud which would be more wearable by people who are not enamored of strong notes, I think he succeeded.