I recently received a sample of Oud in Bourbon and the minute it hit my skin, I knew I had found my fall fragrance. It's smoky and deep, reminding me of a forest walk in late autumn where the bright crimson and orange and gold have falled underfoot. What's left are the browns and rusts, a darker palette. The forest floor is fecund. The trees reveal their skeletons. There's something elemental, but not cold. The pulse of process, of inner transformation, is revealed. Over time, the scent sticks close to the skin, embers, remembrance. There's nothing churchy, no incense or cloying sweetness. It's not gourmand, though there are hints of chocolate and coffee; it's more 4 pm on a late fall day, walking alone in a darkening wood. There's a little danger. Nature has fangs, but also a sense of security, cloaked in a woolen cape, you are sacrosant. You can breathe, and when you do, you breathe in the woods, everything summer wanted has turned to mulch, and you are still breathing.

I love the fragrances but they aren't setting enough and they don't last. But they smell amazing!!