Illuminum Rose Oud

It’s been a while since I tried a fragrance with oud in it. And just about as long since I tried a rose centered scent. So I picked Rose Oud pretty much out of the blue and was pleasantly surprised.

Rose Oud

Rose Oud

In Bottle: Smells very familiar to me. It’s clean, fresh and simple and plucks at some memory that starts forming the longer I wear it.

Applied: Rose Oud is decidedly less rosey and oudy than I thought it would be. The rose is there. I’m not sure I can say the same for the oud, but the rest of the fragrance carries it forward. The instant I put it on, I’m reminded of something, but it settles on the tip of my brain and doesn’t let me progress much further until I let the fragrance settle down a bit more. As Rose Oud continues its progression, the rose makes its way to the forefront, dominating the scent and leading a pack of fresh florals, most notably the lily of the valley that gives the fragrance it’s soft feel. I’m waiting for the oud and find myself waiting a while as it never really makes itself known. Rose Oud smells more of roses from afar and more of roses and florals up close. For those worried about the castoreum, don’t be. I never got much in the way of it as the fragrance remained largely clean, fresh and floral. I quite like Rose Oud. It might actually be my top pick of the Illuminums so far and it’s mainly because of the memories it teases up for me.

Extra: Castoreum is, ready for this? The secretions from the scent glands of beavers. And of course, as with all these animal sourced notes, the scent glands are located on the animal’s rear. But, don’t worry, castoreum is derived from these secretions after they’ve been put through all sorts of processes. By the time it gets to be an ingredient, you end up with a leather-like fragrance. If you enjoyed Shalimar, you’re smelling more castoreum than I did in Rose Oud.

Design: Rose Oud is bottled and packaged much the same way as the other Illuminum fragrances. Held in a squat and square frosted glass bottle with a brushed metal cap.

Fragrance Family: Floral

Notes: Basil, coriander, jasmine, lily of the valley, rose, geranium, oud, castoreum, patchouli.

While I was disappointed when the oud didn’t show up when I was searching for it, I finally realized why Rose Oud smelled familiar to me. It takes me back to 1990. I’m a child and my aunt is hugging me one last time before my parents put me in the taxi. I won’t see her again until 1992 and it made me sad. Two years isn’t that long for an adult, but it was ages for a child. The smell of roses and soap were wafting around at the time, partially from someone’s perfume and partially from the laundry soap that permeated through our luggage. I remember more precisely how dark it was because we were up at the break of dawn. Not much of a happy memory, but still a precious one.

Reviewed in This Post: Rose Oud, 2012, Eau de Parfum.

Disclaimer: The fragrance reviewed in this post was provided to me for free for the purposes of review. In no other way am I receiving pay or compensation for this review. This review was written based upon my personal experiences and opinions of the product.

4 thoughts on “Illuminum Rose Oud

  1. I do not like agarwood much (in some perfumes it’s fine for me), I don’t like agarwood-rose combination and I feel some distrust towards Illuminum (after the story with two different batches of the “princess'” perfume so I’ll probably pass on this one.

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