Get ready to turn heads. Forget diamonds – in my eyes, oud perfumes are a girl’s best friend. Hear me out. Often referred to as ‘liquid gold’ in the field of fragrance, oud is one of the most expensive perfume ingredients in the world that, like diamonds, demands to be noticed. Rich, opulent and seriously sophisticated, no fragrance wardrobe is complete without an oud perfume. It was my parents who first made me fall in love with ouds.
But agarwood also has a special miracle: each tree develops its own disease and so the resin is unique each time, meaning every fragrance is a unique vintage,” the Initio Alchemists explain further. Oud can be teamed with lots of different notes in order to create different effects. At Initio, the brand's most famous fragrance Oud for Greatness £305, Selfridges, uses the natural essence of oud wood highlighted by patchouli and musk.