Montale Wild Aoud

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The Montale line of fragrances is known for its numerous different interpretations of aoud. I find it kind of funny that up until now, I only had non-aoud samplers. But that’s okay, I’m going to remedy that by smelling Montale’s Wild Aoud.

Wild Aoud

Wild Aoud

In Bottle: Whoa, lots of aoud in this one with an underlying hint of warm smokiness. Very nicely done.

Applied: Bergamot with sharp citrus as the aoud comes up rather quickly as the scent heads into its midstage followed by a soft floral presence that lingers in the background of the fragrance. As Wild Aoud continues to progress the florals disappear while the aoud continues to go strong as a clean woodsy note settles into the midstage marked with a progressively smoky personality as the fragrance keeps aging the dry down smells like a warm amber and smoky patchouli fragrance with that–by now–familiar aoud scent.

Extra: I haven’t gone out to seek many aoud fragrances but many perfumistas love the aoud note. Aoud is a resin that forms in the heartwood of Aquilaria trees when they are infected by a certain type of mold. The smell, to me, has a very pungent animalic quality with a hint of sweetness. Unpleasant on its own but mixed well into a fragrance and it can give the perfume a whole different dimension.

Design: Designed in much the same way as many other Montale fragrances. A rather plain-looking metal bottle that is, in this case, a warm dark brown color. It’s functional though not entirely exciting to look at. The most fascinating part of these bottles are the toppers.

Fragrance Family: Woodsy

Notes: Bergamot, geranium, artemisia, aoud, teak wood, patchouli, tobacco.

Wild Aoud is a nice fragrance that showcases the aoud note in it, but given how many aoud based fragrances (many in Montale’s line too) , I do wonder if there are any that interpret aoud in a different way. This makes me want to hold off on committing to an aoud until I’ve tested more.

Reviewed in This Post: Wild Aoud, 2009, Eau de Parfum.

Chanel Chance Eau Fraiche

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Chance Eau Fraiche rounds off the line of Chanel’s Chance flankers (at the time of this writing). It’s the first flanker to the original, meant to be a lighter, younger, interpretation of Chance. Though Chance was young to begin with. Chance Eau Fraiche

In Bottle: Light, crisp and green. Very clean and citrus heavy topper with a sweet fruit-like note lingering around as well.

Applied: Sweet, after the sharp citrus kick that immediately invades the nose upon application. The citron is going bananas in this fragrance as Chance Eau Fraiche mellows a teensy bit in the mid-stage but still clings to its sharp, clean, blaring personality that it displayed on initial application. I don’t know how to calm her down but she is very energetic! The middle has that sweet fruity note again and a familiar hyacinth echo that was present in the original Chance. It’s pretty much a cleaner, lighter, more citrusy Chance and there isn’t a whole lot else to it. The mid-stage is rather disappointing this miasma of sharp, sweet and clean that doesn’t quite go well together but tries anyway. The drydown is a mildly woodsy white musk. Like faintly wood-scented soap and sweet lemon drops.

Extra: Eau Fraiche is good for the young audience too though it is definitely a flanker and isn’t likely to excel much beyond that. It’s got clear echos of the original Chance except even cleaner, even more sheer and slapped in the face with a dollop of fresh.

Design: Much like Chance and Chance Eau Tendre, Chanel Chance Eau Fraiche is bottled in a circle with a square cap. Same effective deal with the same minimal but attractive Chanel elegance. Eau Fraiche’s juice is colored light green.

Fragrance Family: Fresh Floral

Notes: Citron, water hyacinth, jasmine, white musk, vetiver, amber, patchouli, teak wood.

Ranking the Chance series, I’m going to have to put original Chance in number one, Eau Fraiche in second and Eau Tendre in third. Mostly Eau Tendre suffers because of how familiar it is to Marc Jacobs Daisy on the opener.

Reviewed in This Post: Chance Eau Fraiche, 2010, Eau de Toilette.