Oudain by Lattafa Perfumes

I received and sprayed it a week ago. At first, I thought I’d been scammed with a fake or expired perfume. As Bofifa says, it hits you like a punch to the stomach at 6 AM. The first scent is automotive grease and burnt motor oil. After two or three minutes, second wave: rancid oranges with vanilla and woody touches. After 30 minutes, it softens, giving orange peel, incense, wood, leather, vanilla, and something bitter or tar-like. This lasts until the first or second hour. Then comes a third wave just as strong and weird as the initial one, that animal fat, bait, or lanolin sensation (like sheep fat). I don’t recommend buying it without smelling it first. I didn’t like it at all, but I sprayed it on papers and surfaces to see how it evolves, and it’s improved a bit in a week. Maybe in months it will be pleasant. It lasts forever; I smell it on papers after four days with no change. Watch out, on papers it leaves ochre and oily stains, so don’t use it on skin for safety. I doubt its authenticity because the box looks fine but the bottle has handmade details, defects, and uneven UV resin. I’ve heard Arabs have factory defects. If anyone knows how to verify it, I’d appreciate the help. Anyway, it’s not bad, but it’s not to my liking nor to anyone I’ve shown it to. I’ll keep testing it on inert surfaces and will update. Update (09/19/25): It’s my diary, I retract almost all the negative stuff. The scent is exquisite and strange; the main chords are precise, though not the olfactory notes. I’d describe it as a ‘serious vanilla’, warm with fresh hints: smells like vanilla, leather, citrus-type orange, black pepper, woods, and smoke. It’s in my top 3 and here you can get it for 10 or 11 dollars. Cheers!

The first thing I thought of when smelling it was tiger balm, the miraculous Chinese ointment, or something medicinal. I looked up the composition; balm has mint, cinnamon, and clove, which match the perfume’s notes. It also resembles Ameer Al Oudh and a bit of Kamrah from the house: the sweetened woods of the first and the cinnamon of the second are here. I find that rubber, grease, or mechanic shop smell that people say about Gucci Guilty Absolute, and it’s true, even though Fragrantica doesn’t list leather. My conclusion is that it’s not bad for the price and offers something different from commercial scents, although I prefer Ameer, Kamrah, or Gucci separately; this is a hybrid that doesn’t surpass its originals. I don’t understand the reference to Alexandria II; they don’t resemble each other. Same with Lattafa Ramz Gold compared to Xerjoff; if that were true, Ramz Gold and Oudain should match, but they are light years apart; they have nothing to do with each other. I clarify that I own both.

The best way to describe it is a child of Lattafa Ameer Al Oud Intense and Gucci Guilty Absolute. If you haven’t tried them, it’s a well-sweetened vanilla/oud, like a syrup on a dessert with cookies. At the same time, it has that automotive grease accord you recognize if you’ve hung out with any mechanics, but it’s not unpleasant; it’s the part of Gucci Guilty Absolute that many men like but women don’t. It’s linear: what you smell at the start is what you’ll smell all the way through. If you like blind buys and aren’t turned off by this type of aroma, it’s a good option for the price; you won’t lose much or can resell it. If you only like easy, generic scents, try a decant first. I haven’t measured skin longevity, but on blotter it lasted over 3 days. It’s for night and cold weather if you’re into that.

I regret buying it. There was too much hype in the reviews and the declared notes don’t reflect the scent of this fragrance at all. I must warn you that Oudain smells mainly like the work clothes of a smoker mechanic who left it outside and got dusty… it smells exactly like that. The sweetness on the other hand doesn’t help at all; on the contrary, it makes it worse. Maybe the batch was bad, unbalanced, or something like that; I tested it on blotter, on clothes, and on different skin types of women and men, and it’s hopeless. DO NOT BUY BLIND! It’s not worth it even at the price.

A good fragrance with a surprise. It’s the same as Opulent Red from the same house; I say the same because it’s the same liquid in different bottles, identical. I own both, and on the first spray, I thought of Opulent Red, then tested it on the other arm and confirmed: same fragrance, what a pity. They are usually strong, rich, with good projection and longevity for the price. If you already have Opulent, save yourself the trouble of buying this because you already have it.

What a blast! It opens with a whisky that cheers you up for the night, then vanilla, woods, spices, and tonka bean take over. The price is ridiculous; you can’t believe how good it smells for so little. It reminds me of Sand Dance by Stéphane Humbert Lucas 777. I bought one, smelled it, and immediately wanted a backup; in fact, I’m grabbing a third because it’s discontinued. It’s straight into my top 5 fragrances of all time. 10/10.

A challenging perfume with a marked personality. Explosion of spices and woods sweetened by vanilla and tonka bean. Very good sillage and eternal longevity. Like any good perfume, it’s not easy at all and needs time to adapt, but if you want to smell different, exclusive, and elegant, this is the perfect option. Abstain if you’re a fan of commercial and mass-market perfumes. A true Arab delight, risky, and sublime. A 10.

Honestly, I don’t get why it has bad reviews on Fragrantica. The opening is smoky vanilla with burnt sugar and a touch of caramel; when it dries down, it stays sweet on top, but the base is leather and animalic oud (goat smell). If you don’t like these scents, you won’t like this, but if you’re hooked, you’ll love it because for the price, it’s amazing. There are niche ouds eight times more expensive that are worse.

Smells like a wet stable like a picador’s hat… a strange mix of quality ‘cheap’ things that have nothing to do with A.2. Starts with leather, smells like bad hairspray, something sweet, and a weird dry-down that’s barely acceptable. It lasts a long time. Since Shades of Wood by Armaf (smells like dust and insecticide) made me not try anything so bad, at least the bottle is nice. I don’t recommend it at all.

I regret buying it. So much hype and the listed notes don’t match the scent. Oudain smells like a smoker’s mechanic work clothes left outside in the dust… exactly that. The sweetness doesn’t help; it makes it worse. Maybe the batch was unbalanced; I tested it on paper, clothes, and skin, and there’s no point. DO NOT BUY BLINDLY! It’s not worth the price.

Spices, nuts, a touch of leather, and a slightly sweet vanilla note with woods. A fairly common formula in which the brand is an expert. A warm, full-bodied pleasure with great longevity and projection. For me, its sweetness makes it unisex.

Spicy notes, nuts, leather, and a sweet vanilla touch with woods. It’s a formula the brand is an expert at repeating. A warm, thick pleasure with good longevity and projection. For me, that sweetness makes it unisex.

This smells like burnt leather with lots of spices. It’s very strong and long-lasting, hard to wear. Smells like a workshop.

It would perfectly be number 1 on the list of the worst Lattafa perfumes.