CLEAN Reserve Sueded Oud launched in 2016, during a time when Oud was really having it’s moment in the fragrance community. Niche fragrance houses were more likely to have oud scents, but then the designer houses started to jump on the bandwagon. CLEAN is known for its naturalistic scents, featuring fragrances called “Skin”, “Warm Cotton”, “Rain”, etc. Oud is a very strong, animalic note - you either like it or you don’t. It’s often described as “stinky.” In perfumery it gives scents a sweet, woody, balsalmic, resinous scent. Oud oil is sourced from the agar tree and it’s one of the most expensive oils in the world.
Sueded Oud is an oud fragrance for people who can’t tolerate this powerful fragrance note and honestly, to my nose, I don’t detect any oud at all. CLEAN characterizes this perfume as a “woody musk.” I think it’s more appropriate to call it a “woody floral.” However, I still think this fragrance is really unique and well done, even though I don’t think it smells like how it’s marketed.
Notes:
- Top: Cypress, Incense, Birch, Pimento
- Middle: Agarwood (oud), Balsam Fir, Cactus, Night Blooming Jasmine, Honeysuckle, White Magnolia
- Base: Suede, Musk, Praline, Amber, Patchouli, Olibanum
There are so many notes in this fragrance, I won’t even attempt to go through them all - I’ll just discuss what I detect and what this smells like to me. Overall, I’m only able to detect a wood note (perhaps the birch), jasmine and suede. I find that this fragrance is quite linear - I get those three dominate notes constantly from the time I first spray Sueded Oud and after I’ve been wearing it for a while.
Though I don’t think this scent quite smells like oud - I do like Sueded Oud. The wood notes are the top are naturalistic, earthy, dry and a little sweet. I’m not a big fan of heavy floral fragrances and I find that the jasmine here is blatantly jasmine, but not obnoxiously so. It’s a sweet jasmine, but not cloying. It’s also not a green jasmine, meaning that the leaves ann stem of the plant are not involved in this scent, but rather the emphasis is on the flower head. The suede here is nicely done - it’s dry, earthy, a touch animalic as you’d expect a leather note to be, and it adds a bit of ambiguity and an androgynous quality to this fragrance.
Again, like I said, there are so many notes listed, that I really can’t detect them. But CLEAN did do a good job with balancing all of these notes out somehow, so that the final result isn’t overwhelming. the best way I can describe Sueded Oud is that this smells like someone rubbed a jasmine flower on a leather biker jacket, while standing amongst a pile of dry wood that will be used to light a fire.
Wear Time & Sillage: I find that Sueded Oud has a good, moderate wear time on me. It lingers for quite a while on clothing and I really don’t feel the need to freshen this fragrance up throughout the day. It has a moderate projection from the body, but because this scent is so distinct I wouldn’t recommend applying this with a heavy hand. This has enough oompf, that it can easily be over sprayed and become cloying or irritating for other people in your vicinity. You should wear a fragrance, the fragrance shouldn’t wear you.
Season: This fragrance, due to the prominent wood and suede notes, would thrive best in Fall and Winter. It has enough presence to also be able to peak through layers of clothing in the colder months. I could imagine this being a bit too much and too heavy in really hot, humid weather.
Recommended for: This is a truly unisex fragrance - the jasmine is not too much for some men who typically may not want to wear a heavy floral, and the woody/leather elements are slightly sweet enough to appeal to some women. This is definitely a fragrance for leather and wood lovers and people looking for a distinct fragrance that you won’t sniff on a lot of people. If you are a fan of strong, distinct oud fragrances, this may be a pass for you, as I find that the oud is non-existent. Also, fans of white florals may enjoy this. I would not recommend this as a safe blind buy. I enjoy this fragrance and I always want to spray it on when I’m wearing my biker jacket. For some reason, I only seem to gravitate towards this in the month of October - I like to shift to spice, incense and vanilla scents for the remainder of the chilly/cold months.
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