Oudh du Soleil

Oudh du Soleil is Angela Flanders' most approachable oudh, part of the East London house's Collection Noire alongside Ambre Noire, Oudh Noire and Cashmere Noire. Where some of the house's darker oud fragrances lean smoky and resinous from the first spray, this one opens on a delicate sweetness, a soft resinous note threaded with vanilla, that immediately takes the edge off the oudh waiting underneath. As it settles, the oudh and agarwood come through properly, but softened rather than sharpened, with jasmine and ylang ylang adding a warm, honeyed floral thread rather than the sharper woody-medicinal quality some oud fragrances lean on. It reads as sensual and skin-warm rather than heavy or aloof, the kind of oudh built to be worn close rather than projected across a room. The dry down settles into cedarwood and amber, with tonka bean adding a soft, sweet warmth and a hint of leather giving it just enough grit to stop it turning purely gourmand. Vanilla lingers from the opening through to the base, tying the whole composition together. Brand copy and the fragrance's own positioning (Angela Flanders has flagged it as one of its solar-leaning scents, distinct from citrus colognes) suggest it wears well in warm weather against bare skin, though the smokiness and cedarwood base give it enough depth to carry into autumn and winter evenings too. It suits date nights and smart-casual evening wear best, less an office fragrance than a sensual one for closer company.