Oud Wa Ward by Parfums Berdoues is a scent of rose and oud, a combination about as unique as peanut butter and jelly, but let me tell you why I liked this scent enough to spring for a bottle when it came out about three years ago. Oud Wa Ward was one of a trio of oud scents put out by Parfums Berdoues, the others being Oud Wa Vanilla and Oud Wa Misk,neither of which worked for me. These three heavier scents came out a year after the one hundred year old company had reinvented itself with the introduction of six Eaux de Colognes, each scent referencing a country and emphasizing three notes of raw material which I wrote about here. These scents were light yet had more heft than the average cologne. In the same manner, Oud Wa Ward displays the richness inherent in the marriage of rose and oud but it wears somewhat softer than many similar scents in the market.
For me this is a good thing. There are occasions when I want a big fragrance, but much more often I need a scent I can smell but that will not permeate the radius of space around me. I like that Oud Wa Ward opens with a big opulent rose shrouded in a bright oud. At first it feels like a bit of an attention getter and a special occasion perfume. There is some fruitiness in the opening moments and a touch of smoke. Oud Wa Ward has that exotic Arabian souk feel but the oud has been tamed and for me the fact that it is not an oud beast is a good thing. I have to be careful when wearing perfumes with oud; I like mine somewhat sanitized and with a bright edge. I realize for others this will be the very thing they will not like about this perfume.
Rose and patchouli is a favorite combination of mine and Oud Wa Ward features a strong patchouli note. Patchouli can have a sweet and intoxicating scent and its overuse in some perfumes helped coin the term "fruitchouli". There is a rose-sugar-jam moment in the opening when the fragrance feels like it could turn into rose cotton candy, but the oud notes help balance this and the scent maintains a balance between rose--woody oud--patchouli. The rose note makes it lush and sexy, but after a while it becomes more faint and it is the patchouli and oud that will combine into a slightly sweet woody scent with occasional smoke which will simmer for hours. What started as a rich fragrance never loses its lush aura but it goes from low boil to slow simmer.
There are many big, beautiful rose and oud scents out there by Maison Francis Kurkdijian, Kilian, Amouage, Lancome, Guerlain, Armani, and countless others. Oud Wa Ward may not be as lavish as these perfumes but it beats them in subtle wearability and price point, while still having rich presence and soft but continuous sillage. Try Oud Wa Ward if you like the idea of wearing a l rose and oud combination but some of the scents you've tried are just too much for you. This is a good scent to share as it would smell equally great on a man or woman. Lastly, the bottle is very attractive, much more so than it looks in the picture.
Top photo from Indian wedding shoot by Uma Studios. Photographer Uma Sanghvi, at www.studioumabloghome.com.
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