Oud Palao
Diptyque (2015)
Average Rating:
28 User Reviews
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About Oud Palao by Diptyque
Oud Palao is a shared scent launched in 2015 by Diptyque
Fragrance notes.
Reviews of Oud Palao by Diptyque
There are 28 reviews of Oud Palao by Diptyque.
Alchymia. Perfumare. Magnum Opus.
What is this contemporary obsession with trying to imitate oud? It clearly doesn’t work, unless the oud is somehow blended more gently but never ever – the centerpiece; and even then, it is a risky and I would say – ungrateful – job. I should have known better than to try a perfume which has “oud” in its name.
What can I say? A tinfoil oud opens a boring dialogue with vanilla. After some time, sandalwood breaks in with impudence, interrupting the conversation, which is no longer boring, but instead becomes terrible and unbearable. Sure, the whole thing is put on a bed of some incense, but so what? Another cloying sweetish oud-sandalwood soup, but with a pinch of incense.
I liked how Fabrice Pellegrin’s did his “Eau de Minthé” fougère, but not here. I would go as far as to say, that any self-respecting perfumer should stay away from this synthetic oud theme, unless, as I said, it is very carefully blended. In fact, I consider integrating oud without making it loud a mark of mastery. Oddly enough, Alberto Morillas managed to achieve this in his “Bulgari Man Black Orient”. But there we have an exception that proves the rule, since Alberto Morillas has done a lot of oud-centered perfumes too and I want nothing to do with them. Enough is enough.
Diptyque, Oud Palao:
Composition: 4.5/10
Complexity: 6/10
Development: 3.5/10
Naturality: 2.5/10
What is this contemporary obsession with trying to imitate oud? It clearly doesn’t work, unless the oud is somehow blended more gently but never ever – the centerpiece; and even then, it is a risky and I would say – ungrateful – job. I should have known better than to try a perfume which has “oud” in its name.
What can I say? A tinfoil oud opens a boring dialogue with vanilla. After some time, sandalwood breaks in with impudence, interrupting the conversation, which is no longer boring, but instead becomes terrible and unbearable. Sure, the whole thing is put on a bed of some incense, but so what? Another cloying sweetish oud-sandalwood soup, but with a pinch of incense.
I liked how Fabrice Pellegrin’s did his “Eau de Minthé” fougère, but not here. I would go as far as to say, that any self-respecting perfumer should stay away from this synthetic oud theme, unless, as I said, it is very carefully blended. In fact, I consider integrating oud without making it loud a mark of mastery. Oddly enough, Alberto Morillas managed to achieve this in his “Bulgari Man Black Orient”. But there we have an exception that proves the rule, since Alberto Morillas has done a lot of oud-centered perfumes too and I want nothing to do with them. Enough is enough.
Diptyque, Oud Palao:
Composition: 4.5/10
Complexity: 6/10
Development: 3.5/10
Naturality: 2.5/10
Love this. Really smooth and creamy, yet animalic Oud. Not a people pleasing fragrance as it has a really strong character so I wouldn’t recommend a blind buy. Great performance too with a solid 10-12 hours on me with good sillage too.
Brown Rose Oud
Its a rose oud, dirtied up by patchouli. The papyrus almost gives it an incense quality in the heart. It does smell like Diors Oud Ispahan. Performance is also similar to Dior, read enormous. It smells really good. So does Oud Ispahan. Whatevs, its a thumbs up. I won't buy a bottle. If I want this I'd buy the Dior. But Diptyque does decent work, and this fragrance isn't rough.
Its a rose oud, dirtied up by patchouli. The papyrus almost gives it an incense quality in the heart. It does smell like Diors Oud Ispahan. Performance is also similar to Dior, read enormous. It smells really good. So does Oud Ispahan. Whatevs, its a thumbs up. I won't buy a bottle. If I want this I'd buy the Dior. But Diptyque does decent work, and this fragrance isn't rough.
Very feminine opening, lots of heavy, harsh florals. But then the drydown, much better and absolutely unisex. Pleasing, sexy and slightly animalic. The heart/drydown reminds me of the top and middle of Outrecuidant by HdP. They share the rose, oud and patchouli and all those notes are prominent here. Oud Palao stays true to that dirty-sexiness all the way to the end while Outrecuidant goes into dryer sheet territory deeper into its drydown.
Very good performance with solid projection and all day longevity with only 4-6 sprays.
Very good performance with solid projection and all day longevity with only 4-6 sprays.
So, I recently tried this fragrance after purchasing a small sample. With the exception of Kilian's "Incense Oud," I imagine I am still on-the-fence about oud fragrances. With that said, I decided to give Oud Palao a try. For me, this fragrance is just a big fat "NO!"
Seems as though every time I try a Diptyque fragrance, it is a no...a strike out. For me oud fragrances seem to be "hit-or-miss." After applying just a wee-bit of this fragrance on my inner wrists and neck, I was afraid to leave the house. One of my cats, who was sitting with me at the time of application, thought this perfume was cat repellant (like Boundary Cat Repellant Spray). My cat, Crush took off running and gagging. I mean, apply, gag, streak...Crush was gone.
Yes, Oud Palao opens with an EXTREME scent of bakhoor oud. I guess I wasn't quite ready for the application, so the fragrance nearly choked me. I found the opening note to be rough, harsh and extremely intense.
After an eternity, I can say that for me, all I continued smelling was rough, thick, resinous, dirty oud. Disappointingly, the patchouli never made an appearance. Thick, dense, overpowering and nearly cloying oud is what I encountered for a few hours.
Finally, after a short scrub, I applied Kilian Incense Oud to the same areas I'd applied the Diptyque. For certain, the rose, patchouli and additional notes in Kilian calmed the Diptyque Oud Palao down. Finally, I felt it was safe to leave the house.
For me, this is a total fail.
Seems as though every time I try a Diptyque fragrance, it is a no...a strike out. For me oud fragrances seem to be "hit-or-miss." After applying just a wee-bit of this fragrance on my inner wrists and neck, I was afraid to leave the house. One of my cats, who was sitting with me at the time of application, thought this perfume was cat repellant (like Boundary Cat Repellant Spray). My cat, Crush took off running and gagging. I mean, apply, gag, streak...Crush was gone.
Yes, Oud Palao opens with an EXTREME scent of bakhoor oud. I guess I wasn't quite ready for the application, so the fragrance nearly choked me. I found the opening note to be rough, harsh and extremely intense.
After an eternity, I can say that for me, all I continued smelling was rough, thick, resinous, dirty oud. Disappointingly, the patchouli never made an appearance. Thick, dense, overpowering and nearly cloying oud is what I encountered for a few hours.
Finally, after a short scrub, I applied Kilian Incense Oud to the same areas I'd applied the Diptyque. For certain, the rose, patchouli and additional notes in Kilian calmed the Diptyque Oud Palao down. Finally, I felt it was safe to leave the house.
For me, this is a total fail.
Oud Palao is an excellent woody oriental in a clichéd genre. As mentioned by others, this smells like oud chips rather than the oil. The rose has a very soft-hazy focus, similar to the rose note in Habit Rouge or Egoiste, rather than conventional rose-ouds. In fact, this is very different from stereotypical rose-ouds such as Oud Ispahan, Black Aoud or Thirty-Three. Here, the rose is mostly in the background, providing a subtle contrast to the oud which is woody, a little sweet, somewhat creamy, slightly musky and quite cosy. The vanilla is very restrained, even more so than the rose. It is a bit too clean, could've been more animalic. However, it is not clinical, and the musky facets render it warm, furry and sensuous.
Oud Palao would be an interesting choice for people looking for a conventional woody oriental, but with more punch. A must try, even if someone doesn't like rose or oud. In fact, I'd probably place it closer to Egoiste and Habit Rouge rather than typical rose-ouds. Oud Palao is quite androgynous, maybe leaning a little masculine and perhaps just a bit more interesting on a woman. Unlike other fragrances from Diptyque which are on the lighter side, Oud Palao is quite a heavyweight with adequate sillage and excellent tenacity at over ten hours; which makes it an oddity in the range. In terms of 'personality' and 'style' it smells more like a Dior La Priveé (circa 2010-2016) than something from Diptyque. Perfectly wearable, and very versatile.
Very nice work.
3.5/5
Oud Palao would be an interesting choice for people looking for a conventional woody oriental, but with more punch. A must try, even if someone doesn't like rose or oud. In fact, I'd probably place it closer to Egoiste and Habit Rouge rather than typical rose-ouds. Oud Palao is quite androgynous, maybe leaning a little masculine and perhaps just a bit more interesting on a woman. Unlike other fragrances from Diptyque which are on the lighter side, Oud Palao is quite a heavyweight with adequate sillage and excellent tenacity at over ten hours; which makes it an oddity in the range. In terms of 'personality' and 'style' it smells more like a Dior La Priveé (circa 2010-2016) than something from Diptyque. Perfectly wearable, and very versatile.
Very nice work.
3.5/5
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