Oud Satin Mood
Maison Francis Kurkdjian (2015)

A medium sized boozy rose and tame oud, with no medicinal notes at all.

Oud Satin Mood is a pleasant, safe rose and oud fragrance for people who don’t want to deal with the difficult aspects of oud.

If OSM is too tame for you, then give Black Prestigium by Mancera a go.

A saffron spiced rose water like oud fragrance that is not as jammy sweet as Oud Satin Mood. I actually like Silk Mood slightly better as it is a bit more diverse as an oud scent. Yes it's a bit synthetic but it it still smells nice and I would enjoy smelling it but I don't think I would purchase this for myself.

I found this incredibly unpleasant - the type of scent that used to made me think I hated rose. I usually keep samples for reference, but this one I dislike so much I'm passing on. A queasy mix of cloying rose and something saccharine and harsh.

This scent is vile! Nauseating plasticky, burnt, and insanely sweet rose come together to form a nightmarish assault of the senses; it doesn’t help that it’s so strong one spray fills a room. To me this is one of the worst scents I’ve ever smelled.

My girlfriend got to try it too, and said that it smelled like a “microwaved condom”, whatever that smells like…

One spray of this fragrance is enough, as it has a slightly sour rose and oudy vanilla scent that can be overpowering. However, if applied sparingly on the wrist, it is perfect. The vanilla is blended with oud, giving it a different twist than other vanilla fragrances like Eau Duelle or Guerlain's SDV. The scent has a bit of sourness which may turn some people off, but overall, Maison Francis Kurkdjian has done a decent job with this scent.

Although other houses have created the rose and oud combo, this fragrance is still worth trying, especially if you enjoy scents like BR540, Grand Soir, and Oud Cashmere Mood. It's on the pricier side, but the excellent performance justifies the cost.

However, while the scent is suitable for special occasions like dates and evenings out, it may not be suitable for a cuddling scent due to its strong projection. It's essential to sample before purchasing the full bottle.

Maison Francis Kurkdjian Oud Satin Mood (2015) is a real love-hate for me, but love just edges it out thankfully. Up front I need to say that this isn't really an oud fragrance, at least not after the first 30 minutes or so, but with a title like "Oud Satin Mood", we can chalk it up to oud just being part of the equation in a larger composition. One thing is for certain: this fragrance is indeed a "mood" unto itself, and garners attention with the way it transitions to that mood in the end. All of the "mood" fragrances in the oud range of MFK are designed to use the custom synthetic oud accord Kurkdjian has created (with maybe a touch of the real thing) in a novel way, while the original eponymous Maison Francis Kurkdjian Oud (2012) showcases the accord on its own. I wasn't a fan of the oud by itself, but the way he uses it here really works, with a few hangups that almost break the deal for me. The "she loves me, she loves me not" way this scent dries down is really saved by sheer kismet of what the scent finally lands on when finished developing. Had things been reversed and the recessive notes been dominant instead, this would have been a very different review. I'm not 100% sure if this is intentional by Kurkdjian himself, but at least it means Oud Satin Mood is a niche scent by design if nothing else.

The opening of Oud Satin Mood is a brief flirtation with violet, and I do mean brief; if you blink, you might miss it. The synthetic oud and rose forms the core for the next 25 minutes or so of the wear. MFK lists two different types of rose, similar to what he did with the previous year's À la Rose (2014), but from what I can tell this is just a sweet powdery rose soap note that sorta buries the scratchy cola oud vibe of his custom accord. To me this is actually a good thing, because I really enjoy a powdery old-school almost "Victorian" rose soap kind of treatment, and I'm not big on MFK's oud accord so less of it is better to me. The rose does teeter a bit on being too prim, but the next phase sees to a corrective course. Amber and vanilla, both things Kurkdjian is very familiar with by now, make up the base of this. Some say these two destroy Oud Satin Mood's credibility as an oud fragrance, and I say it never had any so who cares? For me, the sweet vanilla actually helps keep both the scratchy oud and potentially scratchy amber in check, rounding out the dry down as romantic if not a tiny bit sexy. Oud Satin Mood feels cozy and attractive for about 8 hours of good performance in this final form, but it's not for everyone. Avoid use in hot weather due to that prominent vanilla, or you'll be sorry. Oud Satin Mood reads mostly unisex but veers a bit feminine or at least telegraphs a certain demure feeling in its "satin mood" projection on the wearer.

What is Maison Francis Kurkdjian Oud Satin Mood? It's a fragrance that feels like it sounds, a soft satin robe that surrounds your nose. The usually abrasive synthetic oud and amber here is smoothed by a very feminine soapy/powdery rose accompanied by a sweet creamy vanilla that could have been cloying if dialed just a tad higher, but juxtaposed as it is, works really well. I'm not a huge fan of the giant marked leaps from heart to base, nor do I really like such a heavy slug of "Dove soap" rose running right up my nose for 30 minutes before the rest gets on, and I am also upset the violet note of the top plays peek-a-boo, but the final destination is very highly enjoyable. If that destination wasn't the 7 1/2+ hours total of the eight you'll be spending with this rich eau de parfum, I'd have drawn a different conclusion, so that's the saving grace. There is no getting around the $300 price for 70ml however, which is even higher than most MFK lines, so I wouldn't call this bang for buck either, but fans of the range or sweeter oriental rose treatments won't find much fault beyond the cost to enter the satin mood as presented by our maistro FK. Definitely worth exploring if you can find a good deal, but also not a real oud for oud connoisseurs. Thumbs up.

It's all oud almost. Might as well put on an oud essential oil. A smoky oud with a burned smell in the background. You may have smelled this type of oud fragrance being worn by many Middle Eastern (religious) men. I can only see this being applauded by this target audience as oud to them is the go to scent and deeply engrained within their cultures. They might also pick up various subtleties where Oud Satin Mood may or may not outperform other ouds, as they are so familiar with the stuff.

The rose you get is harsh and pungent and to my nose not all that natural smelling just because the sharp oud keeps being in front of it morphing the rose notes (that probably are in fact very natural at this price point). Because of this, I'm reminded of many a room deodorizer with similar rose like scents.

It's completely non-gourmand. I get no vanilla at all, no pods, no essential oil, no vannilin.

I wish Kurkdjian had surprised me like Montale did with Black Aoud but he didn't.

This is a stunningly beautiful fragrance that smells to my nose of Persian ice cream (Bastani Sonnati). It's usually vanilla ice cream with a lot of saffron sprinkled on it and drenched in rosewater. Well that's exactly how this fragrance smells, especially the vanilla and rosewater. I don't really smell any oud in it, but that's ok because it's incredible smelling anyway. It smells extremely elegant, and I feel this would be the perfect fragrance to wear with a tuxedo. Projection is subtle yet strong (not cloying at all throughout its duration); while it projects in this way for 4-5 hours and then lingers for many more hours as a skin scent (so great longevity overall). This is one of the best fragrances ever made and one of my favourites of all time; a true masterpiece.

5/5

Absolutely brilliant! WOW... Soft Rose, Subtle luxurious Oud, Creamy Vanilla- it is absolutely stunning! Performance, and projection are phenomenal. This is not an in your face, hello Oud- and that is what I love about it. This is sexy, seductive, mesmerizing come hither scent that leaves a trail meant to turn heads. Certainly more for fall, winter, and maybe some cooler spring nights. Surpassed my love of Maison Lancome Oud Bouquet (i think- no im sure)... Elegant, Rich, Truly unisex, truly beautiful!

Smells too much like a Montale. Heavy, dirty, rose-oud combo, not enough sweet vanilla-amber to balance it out. I'm getting zero violet.
Just ends up smelling like an old-lady. The vanilla does come through the more you let it sit into the drydown but it's hard to get past the loud rose that becomes cloying.

This thing projects so be careful with the sprays, you won't need many.

Stardate 20170531:

Too sweet. Wish they had toned it down. The oud,rose and whatever else they have in it gets drowned by the cloying syrup. It does gets better 10 hours later but that is too long a time to wait for.

A rose-oud fragrance that is not a rose-oud, but more about amber and vanilla. The initial violet is brisk and quickly leads to the oud and the rose - which have received the MFK treatment, and are tempered. Nonetheless this accord is quite compelling and feels plush and rich. However, this accord barely survives for about 2-3 hours before a giant halo of sweet amber and vanilla takes over and dominates the composition till the end. There is a very nice diffused sillage, and duration is excellent at more than eight hours.

While this one is a good composition, eventually it's an amber/vanilla in my books and not an oud or a rose composition. And, within the class of amber/vanilla it's a solid composition, but nowhere near the crème de la crème when it comes to amber or vanilla compositions.

Therefore, more of a filler in a line called the Oud series.

2.5/5