Oud Fresh

Oud, a heavy rich deep woody/mossy/almost ‘dirty’ facet used in perfumery. This rather strange ingredient only comes about when the tree that is its source, gets sick. Yes, literally a tree needs to ‘fall ill’ and start its own fight back in order for this delicate yet extremely desired ingredient to be available. Often regarded as a heavy note in fragrance it is usually found at the base of a juice, the holding notes as such that lingers longest on the skin. But what if a perfumer turned that upside down? literally? Find out more in Oud Fresh. Main image on left JasonYates.com.

Known as the ‘five thousand dollars per pound scent’, or ‘Liquid gold’, Oud or Oudh is by far one of the most expensive raw fragrance ingredients in the world. This essential oil is extracted from the fungus-infected resinous heartwood of the Aquilaria tree when it becomes infected with a type of mould.

With this description, you may even get some idea of how this unique scent may smell, strong pungent deep and woody mossy in style. This is why it is often found in the bottom of a perfume, with notes at the top light being fresh and effervescent, think lemons oranges mint style freshness but the New Miller Harris Fragrance turns this all on its head, literally. Using Oud composed in the right way, this same ingredient can be elevated to levels of bright-and-breezy freshness you have never smelt this way before.

As Oud is extremely expensive, precious and very rare there are great options in ways of re-creating Oud accords ( an accord is several notes together as a chord that has a unique scent so think of it as a group of notes in music). This also means there are more options to ‘splice’ and take from the scent certain attributes. And this is what Miller Harris have created with their new scent Oud Éclat.  This aerated Oud is also boosted by balsam (aromatic resinous substance, from trees and shrubs), so therefore creating a clean note that comes with a delicate warmth.

The scent also has a dusting of sugar, and sweet herbaceous tagete ( herbaceous plants in the sunflower family), all adding to its luminosity. A brightness so unexpected in an Oud perfume, especially when the Oud is sitting at the top of the fragrance and acts as the juice’s bright opening.

Break down the notes and at the top find this precious Agarwood (Oud), Tagete and soft Cashmere Wood. The heart is all warm and soft spice with Amber, Floral Transparent, Fir Balsam, Nutmeg and a sugar accord of maltol blends. To finish and keep the scent lasting find Moss, Musk, Leather, Sugar in the base.

As the fragrance has an almost autumnal freshness it is not the sort of scent to be worn only at night. Heavy perfumes are often associated with special events, evenings and even holidays but this is created as an every day, any time kind of perfume. Oud Éclat is a fresh, airy Oud, reinventing a facet as old (it is one of the oldest ingredients known in perfumery) as time into a new fresh scent.

Miller Harris is a couture niche British fragrance house, committed to using beautiful natural materials whilst pushing creative boundaries. Initially founded by ground-breaking perfumer Lyn Harris in 2000 who was one of the first female master perfumers. Each perfume story is inspired by its home town contemporary London.

Their complete product line is suitable for vegans, is free from phthalates, artificial colourants, parabens and formaldehyde. 

So as Autumn draws in and there is a chill in the air a little ‘cool warmth’ via a spritz of this new fragrance Oud Éclat may well just aid you, a pick me up if you like, spayed on to the wrist to make your day that bit brighter.

Find out more about MillerHarrisCom Here If you enjoyed reading Oud Fresh why not read news of new films Here in A Little Before