Fall Fragrance Edit: The Best Vanilla & Oud Scents Curated by Olya Bar

0:00Hey guys, welcome back. This is a very special episode. It is our annual fragrance guide for all of you. And we have our amazing expert that we invite every year to bring her favorites on and kind of teach us about what's the hottest right now in fragrance. And so this one is going to be very dedicated to fall. So please welcome back, Olya Bar. Welcome, Olya. I'm so excited to learn from you again this year about what's really going on in the fragrance industry, what the best fragrances are right now. I am so excited to be here. So thank you for having me. I'm super excited to be here. You know, we've done this a few times and every single time it's a pleasure to share all my passions, share what fragrances I have been excited about.

0:41And so just chat with you about life and all things, dented skincare and everything in between. Absolutely. No, I look forward to this every year. And I feel like you always find the best fragrances every year. Just they always hit the spot. They're always, you know, on point. and I know anyone who's been following along I know you guys have checked out our scent guides we get quite a few questions every time we do this episode so I'm really excited to dive in but what's been new with you like what's been going on this year so you know a lot of things on a personal level and professional level because you know my role has been has changed a bit so I'm still in fragrance of course but now I'm the head of marketing for an entire digital division at Europe Perfume so it's been really exciting because we have some really amazing brands that we're kind of leading into this whole digital world and helping them navigate.

1:29So that's been really exciting. I had a baby, so I'm a new mom. That's really exciting as well. And it's been interesting because I feel like my taste has definitely changed. I was not, thank God, affected in terms of, you know, not being able to wear fragrance at all, which I know some women have been saying that that's been their experience during pregnancy and afterwards. For me, it was just the change in taste, not so much in even my perception, just things that used to excite me so much before. Now I'm not so tasty anymore. So that's been quite interesting. And then, of course, exploring all the fragrances.

2:05I actually traveled to Milan while pregnant. I was six months pregnant at the time. And that's the biggest show for the fragrance, basically, of the year. Well, now there are quite a few more. There's one in Dubai. there's you know one happening even in China there's one in Mexico but I would say that the original one is still in Milan the essence so I was smelling so many different launches kind of just working my way through all these exciting new things that are just some of them are just launching now because of course you get a preview so it's been it's been quite a busy year I would say yeah no it sounds like it I mean it's I always love your take on you know fragrance because I I feel like you're always able to really discern like what the newness is.

2:48You know what I mean? But still keep that like, it's always unique. Because right now, I'm not going to lie. Whenever I look on social media, everyone's talking about the same thing. And it's very hard if you're not really, you know, we have talked about this. If you're not really from the fragrance world, you know, it can be very difficult to find like something that's new, something that's unique. And I think for me, especially, I'll tell you right now, all the gourmands and all the vanillas, everything blends together. So it's very difficult to figure out like, how can I really find that like signature scent for myself, especially for fall and winter months.

3:20So I'm very excited to kind of dive in. And I'll kind of let you take the mic now. And if you want to go through and tell us what your favorite source, you know, for the year. yeah i'm excited so let's dive right in yeah so a brand that i'm actually going to dive into vanilla fragrances because vanilla is not going anywhere she continues to rain and she is quite powerful but what i'm noticing about vanilla fragrances of course there are still juvenile launches with you know those kind of sugary cupcake kind of vanillas but those are not the ones that are exciting to me and i'm noticing that people especially who are whether they're collectors or they've been into fragrances for quite a while they are of course developing tastes for things that are deeper richer more interesting so those are the ones that i'm going to cover today of course if you like cupcake type vanilla that's your thing there's no judgment on my end it's just kind of i've noticed that tastes usually start to develop and when somebody starts gets into fragrances a lot of things that are very sugary are exciting and there's a lot of marshmallows out there and things like that but eventually just like anything else you end up graduating towards you know kind of more interesting cocktails so to say of the fragrance world kind of better composition so I think that's what's happening to a lot of people and one brand that particularly stood out to me I did get to smell this brand actually in Milan and then later on we continued this relationship where they were kind enough to send this fragrance to me because they unveiled it there, but it just launched actually a few months ago.

4:51And this is a brand from South Africa and it's called Reserve and Afrik. So it's actually an interesting story because I want to kind of give a little bit of a story behind them because they're new to the U.S. market. They are not really widely available as of yet. However, if you can hunt down those brands, I believe they're only available in like one place. And then of course you can shop on their website, but it's such an exciting brand because they were doing a lot of conservation efforts in South Africa and the family actually owns lands and been, you know, working on preserving the reserve, the plantations that I think reserves kind of like this natural habitat.

5:29And this has been since 1934 that it's been in their family. But of course, in the past few years, they decided that it was time to develop a line of fragrances. And what I think was interesting is that they only use ingredients from the African continent. So every single ingredient that is used in every single fragrance that they launch comes from a certain part of the continent. And their vanilla is superb. So it's called Vanille Maffonia, if I'm pronouncing that right. I mean, let's not hold me to it. And the nose behind it is Alexandre Monet. And it's such a gorgeous vanilla because it has this very salty opening.

6:06But then, of course, it highlights the best facets of the Madagascan vanilla. and then you have this interesting kind of spicy more deeper warmth of cinnamon and pink pepper you have nutmeg and then the dry down has this kind of tropical um ylang ylang so you feel like you're walking through the jungle but yet you're still inhaling this really warm hot air and at the same time you kind of have this like warmth of the fire that you're sitting next to so it's this just stunning composition that I think is so beautiful. It also has this resinous touch of myrrh and olibanum. So it's just ambery, like it's stunning.

6:46So if you can get your nose on it, I highly recommend. And also their packaging, their whole presentation just really took my breath away, which does not happen so often because of course, when you smell so many fragrances, some launches are bad, some launches are mediocre. So it's really just a few that really end up sparking my interest to the point where I'm obsessed and actually end up wearing this so much. So that is one brand and vanilla that I think really stood out for me. Another one, and we have quite a few to get through, is by Matier Premier. And this is a vanilla powder, but this is actually the X-Straight version.

7:21So the original was launched, I believe, last year, and it really took the fragrance world by storm. It was this really interesting kind of coconut powder palo santo vanilla that was very woodsy was by no means sweet you know there was definitely a hint of that sweetness but almost like from that raw vanilla if you if you ever smelled the bean itself it's boozy it's it's dark it's it's almost leather even sometimes so that vanilla powder truly just broke records in terms of sales and and popularity but it was interesting because you know the perfumer who is the owner of the of the brand he really focuses on spotlighting one ingredient in every single fragrance that he launches and in this particular one in the extra version he actually swapped out the original ingredients that was kind of the secondary one to highlight the vanilla and he used tonka bean instead so in the original one and by the name By the way, his name is Aurelien Gouchard.

8:24He is a master perfumer. He's been creating for so many different brands. You probably know, a lot of people would know his work for Narciso Rodriguez. He created almost all of those masterpieces for the brands. I mean, he's been working on so many different ones. And when he launched Matier Premier, the concept was to highlight the ingredients. And they actually grow some of the ingredients in South France. So they have their own tuberose fields and now it's just incredible when they're harvesting these ingredients. And roses, I believe, they also grow. And I think they're getting into saffron.

9:02I might be wrong on that, but there's definitely quite a range of ingredients that they're growing themselves. So for the vanilla powder, he focused on vanilla, but also the secondary ingredient to kind of highlight all of that is tonka bean. And tonka bean is this really interesting, nutty, really kind of ambery, warm, and at the same time, very vanilla kind of ingredient that just works so well with vanilla itself. So it's interesting to see this X-Trait because not only it's starting to gain a lot of popularity because it's just been launched like about a month ago, not even. But we're looking and expecting it to possibly even surpass the original.

9:44So it's interesting to see because it's so much deeper and it's so much nuttier and it kind of has this more depth even than the original. I also think it's less powdery to my nose at least. So I think this is a marvelous vanilla that anyone who loves sophisticated, dark, kind of almost like boozy take on a vanilla. This would be an interesting one. Another one that I would say has been really fun. And this brand, by the way, is definitely one to pay attention to if you kind of like things that are a little on a rebellious side. Because the brand is called Fugazi. And of course, you know, we know the term Fugazi, Fugazi.

10:21And this is kind of the whole concept of the house. And it was actually from Amsterdam. And the brand really has all these fun names that are like angel dust. And I mean, they have so many different ones. but they have like sugar daddy and all these other ones and the owner brand he's quite a young guy and he just kind of was having a little bit of fun in the beginning I don't think he was really taking himself too seriously when he started the brands but then it really started gaining traction he got into this really cool fashion in Amsterdam and then he realized that he actually had something there so he started building out the line and he launched of course he didn't really have a Garmin until he launched the Vanilla Haze, which is this really interesting and kind of delicious, of course, vanilla-based fragrance.

11:10But I would say this is very buttery. So this is definitely in the genre of fragrances that, for people who really like their fragrance, is sweet. But it also is balanced out with this kind of cashmere-based that makes it very airy. And it It also has this nuttiness of the almond and hazelnut and coconut milk. So I think this is a good one for anybody who likes their gourmands, definitely on a sweeter end. However, it likes the fragrances to really kind of be more on a molecular side because the cashmere wood is, you know, it's a synthetic molecule. It's kind of works similar to like a broxen, which is a synthetic ambergris or kind of in the direction of synthetic musk.

11:52So it makes the fragrance really big and volatile and people like that. So they actually launched just this year, within the past month, they launched the Vanilla Haze X-Straight. And that one is also more spicier and has a little bit more depth than the original. And I have to say that X-Straights in general seem to be having quite a moment. We're seeing so many different brands launch an X-Straight version of their top sellers. and I think it definitely works because people like the deeper kind of bigger versions of some of the best sellers and this one gives them that option and this one is very boozy as well so I feel like to me even though there are no boozy ingredients so to say but it seems like this kind of concept of booziness has been pretty big in the past year but we'll we can you know come back to that subject in a bit.

12:45So those vanillas are definitely some of my really most worn. And then the vanilla that I just received in the mail literally a few days ago is from Atelier de Zoffe. And this is a house from, you know, so from South of France, they've been, I mean, they have gold floating in their bottles, they have absolutely stunning packaging. And they already had one of their bestsellers that was called Lune Feline, which is a dark and really kind of ambery, leathery resinous vanilla that has been just a staple in a lot of wardrobes when it comes to vanilla lovers but this year they actually launched a vanilla and I might be mispronouncing this this is like nova nova but it's the the bottle is gorgeous and this is a more powdery version on a vanilla with a really big fluffy mimosa at the heart and I found this to be really interesting because this is but it's by no means a feminine one so i think that was interesting how they were able to execute this because it's kind of hard to make a vanilla so balanced and has have depth and at the same time not you know have it tip over into that really powdery kind of land that a lot of people associated with you know makeup or things like this so to me this is a very almost like it has this interesting concept of minerality it has a mineral opening which is unusual for vanilla and I think it balances out so well so that's definitely a vanilla that's that's worth your noses so another vanilla that's by Mancera that's and they all have like vanilla in the name but you know since this is vanilla opening we're gonna go through all the highlights and of course Mancera is a sister brand of Montal and Montal notoriously has so many different vanillas they have sweet vanilla they have vanilla cake I mean they they literally have a whole range of vanillas but Montal which is a brand that was started by Pierre Montal's daughter is a sister brand and they have so many beautiful gourmands but last year they launched I think it was last year they launched Amore Cafe which smells like affidavit so it's oh my god it's delicious but this year they really went with the brown sugar and oud vanilla with dark chocolate so i don't think this is everyone's cup of tea because the dark chocolate really pulls it into this kind of dark boozy plant but for anybody who likes their vanilla with a lot of depth and appreciates oud and we're going to talk about oud in a little bit which i think this particularly fits into both of these categories.

15:29This is a really beautiful take on this because it's quite unusual. I don't see so many good balanced ouds with dark chocolates out there. There's really not that many fragrances even featuring chocolate, but chocolate seems to be quite a conversation piece this year. So Kayao we launched something with chocolate, you know, the other brands are kind of tapping into this ingredient. So it's interesting to see this, but I definitely think Mencera is, they have nailed it but you have to wear this own skin because Oud performs a little bit differently on everyone so kind of a tricky one and another one that I loved which is not your traditional vanilla but it's really I think it kind of deserves to be in a vanilla lineup because this is more of an amber sweet and slightly even fruity take on it but this is by Lise and this is a woody aromatic vanilla in my opinion that's again launched this year i love what they were doing for the past you know two three years i've been following the brands and i love bow which is super beautiful woodsy tobacco like a grounding one they launched uh shushu last year which was inspired by these like childhood memories and and childhood nicknames and just beautiful gourmands but this year they went with this interesting it actually doesn't even feature vanilla but to me it dries down very sweet so I kind of blocked it in this category and it's this peppery opening with a rice note in the heart and almond with tonka bean and labdanum and for me tonka bean like I said before is very vanilla so I kind of had to add this to this category but then it has quince in the opening so it has this kind of really well balanced fruity fun flirtatious luminous opening and then And it dries down a little bit more.

17:19It gets serious in a few hours on skin. So I, you know, those have been in my rotation nonstop since I have, you know, since I added them to my collection. And one that I'm really excited about, it's upcoming because it hasn't been launched in the U.S. just yet. But it's by BDK Parfums and it's called Vanilla Caviar. And BDK Parfums, they can't do no wrong by me. I own the entire collection, probably minus like one or two. And this one sounds like it's going to be a really delicious launch. So I can't wait for that one to hit the US market. I love that and I love how you went into the different like takes on vanilla because I'm so glad that you went in this direction because honestly for me it's just it was becoming so redundant you know this category and it was like every perfume I was smelling it was like you know the same over and over again so I like that you brought in so many different like facets here with all the selections because you know I think that's one of the biggest things that I'm noticing is people are looking for a new take on vanilla it's definitely out there but it's very difficult I think to find that one that you really resonate with so these sound phenomenal I'm excited thank you thank you for noticing it because you know I think I completely agree with you there's so many launches happening every day that it's kind of getting to a point where it's it's close to impossible to get your nose on all of them as a marketer as a fragrance collector as a consumer so really trying to cut through the noise and just limiting the amount of things that you can even try yourself and really give it a proper wear because of course you're not going to sample 100 different fragrances as a consumer it's just close to impossible and why why you don't need to do that so really narrow it down and just kind of going in for like a really curated tasting so to say that you can do yourself by ordering samples or discovery sets these days i think because it's hard to find all of these in one place so i would say that you know that's something that you can definitely find across perhaps ordering a sample would be easier than what some of them you could find if you pop into some stores but I think that having this kind of tasting perhaps at home with a glass of vino just makes it extra special oh it sounds so lovely and I love it because it's honestly at the end of the day for fragrance I know around the fall time we're looking for a lot of people are looking for that comforting scent you know and it's like very difficult because for me I'll tell you right now when it comes to anything gourmand it wears so differently every time I find out for me on my skin you know and I feel like when I read reviews it's difficult for me to like understand should I buy this or not because with my ph and what I experience it's always different you know than all the reviews and stuff so it's really a hard category I think in that way you know of course and same thing and by the way same thing for ouds that we're about to to jump into next because that's a whole other and I want to speak a little bit on this okay because oud is such a, I feel like oud is so misunderstood as a category.

20:19I mean, I've seen a lot of, and, you know, correct me if I'm wrong, but I've heard a lot of commentary from people where it's like, oh, you know, I can't wear oud. I can't, you know, it doesn't wear well on me. What is your, before we even dive into your favorites, like what's your advice to us in terms of wearing oud in general and working with it, whether it's through layering or whatever it might be, you know, in terms of really making it come out in terms of our clothing or skin or wherever we're putting it on. So I love that question. And I love that you're, you know, you're trying to get a little bit more information because what is a tricky ingredient?

20:49So for anybody who may not be familiar with oud is it's an ingredient that originates from particular bacteria that affects a very particular tree, it's called like Hilaria tree, and it needs to age, you know, so once that once that bacteria kind of like this fungus affects the tree, and then this process begins, then that chunk of tree that's been harvested has to age for a very long period of time. And the quality of oud, the price of oud, and the source of oud will vary depending on that. And of course, we'll actually jump into one particular one by Creed, which was aged like 80 years. And that perhaps could be the reason for this enormous price tag that it has.

21:33But there are different brands that are using different types of oud. A lot of them are using synthetic oud, and there's nothing wrong with that as well. Because, of course, a lot of ouds come from Middle East in terms of the ingredient being sourced. And in the Middle East, it's very common to wear ouds. I would say that oud as an ingredient in perfumes came to U.S. quite recently. If you really look at the range of years that it's been worn across different countries, in the US particularly and even in Europe it's only been around for the past 10 to 15 years and truly getting to be known by the majority of people as a regular consumer who shops in like Sephora or Macy's or Bloomingdale's you know doesn't really go in depth in terms of fragrance search I would say even shorten that to maybe the last five to seven years ever since like Town Ford launched you know more oud-based fragrances and really started getting more noticed but I think it really depends on what type of fragrance do you like because oud can be very smoky very resinous almost boozy it could be very sweet it could be very light as well depending on the blend and depending on whether it's synthetic or not because like for example for anybody who's afraid of oud I would start with Chabot which is a brand from south of france and they have this one fragrance that's called mysterious oud and it's one of the lightest ouds that i've ever encountered in my entire life i remember smelling and thinking this doesn't even smell like oud but yet it possesses the warmth it possesses this really kind of airy um kind of like mystery so i think like the name suits it because this whole concept of mysterious oud it's almost like you can't quite pinpoint it when when you're wearing it like where is the actual oud i don't know if they're using the synthetic or original you know or the real version i would have to probably email the brand just to find out but it does not matter because the price is really most likely a synthetic just because the price point is very low but it's such a digestible oud especially for somebody who's just getting into it that i would say this can really be an easy wear and then little by little you can work your way into something perhaps a little darker um oud wood you know is something by tom ford which is one of their top sellers i'm not sure if it's still in a collection because some of the things got discontinued but it actually was very commercial for lack of a better word but i don't mean anything bad by it actually when a fragrance is kind of commercially built means it's more digestible for the public and easier to understand they usually will become a best one of the top sellers simply because people can actually wear it versus buying something that becomes this kind of piece of art that you don't really know what to do with you paid a lot of money for it but you can't really wear it every day because it's going to choke you with everybody else around you so it's interesting because of course you know in the middle east oud can be used to smoke your clothing to you know as part of the bakor to kind of enhance the sense of your hair the house and everything else of course in western cultures you know this is not common so usually we encounter oud in fragrances and And today people are kind of getting a taste of it in various ways for it to, you need to keep testing.

24:51And some of the ouds that I'm going to mention today, I think are going to be interesting in that sense, because some of them are going to be a little bit on the heavy side. And perhaps those are going to be for a bit more seasoned, you know, perfume addicts. But for, there's going to be a few that are going to be easier to digest. And, you know, we can definitely start with those. because one of the brands that I actually wanted to mention that was one of the first French brands, actually, among the first to really highlight oud was Pierre Montal, you know, Montal Paris. And they've been making ouds for the past two decades almost.

25:26You know, they had black oud, dark oud, Nepal oud, white oud, just to name a few. And each one would be quite different because like the dark oud that I've been wearing for many, many years by Montal is this blend of leather, oud, and sandalwood. And it's one of the best and super underrated fragrances in the Montel entire collection. And the entire collection is perhaps like about 150 SKUs by now, if not more. So it's a vast collection of fragrances. Most of them have been discontinued in the US market, but in Europe, you can still find them. And now because the brand has entered Sephora, so they definitely became a little bit more commercially focused.

26:06they're kind of making fragrances that a bit more easier to understand and recently they launched oud saffron so it's built as a woody sheeple and it opens up with a pineapple like really big bright juicy ripe pineapple but then it jumps into this cambodian oud and saffron which is highly aromatic and fragrant and then the dry down goes into birch and cinnamon with coconut and musk so So the blend kind of starts tropical, then dips into something more dark resinous, and then comes back into that tropical warmth with coconut. So this is interesting trends, kind of, you know, experience that you will get on skin.

26:47I definitely think you need to try this because this is not, this may work for some, this may not work for others. But it's one that I think is really fun. If you've never quite experienced Oud, and perhaps you're a little afraid of it, pop into Sephora, you know, or you can go on their website and order yourself a sample. But of course, that's a fragrance that is definitely fun. And it works surprisingly for summer and fall and winter because of that combo of that tropical aspect and the warmth of the oud, which is sometimes can work very well in the heat. But I think most people tend to gravitate towards it in the kind of colder seasons when big fragrances like that kind of ends up working like your cozy coat or like a shawl.

27:33so that is one another one that i would say was really interesting again in the sense that it uses this tropical kind of direction is astromnova and this is by lectimus lectimus is a brand from britain but they've been they had quite a collection of interesting fragrances over the past years but this one really i think it stood out to me because there is mango and bergamot with like mandarin so it's very juicy in the opening and then you have osmanthus and oris which is a root of an iris and then you have oud with again tonkabine tonkabine is going to be popping up here all the time yeah we keep seeing it yeah tonkabine seems to be like really you know pushing its way through as one of the star ingredients for the past few years but especially this year so this is definitely an interesting take on oud because it's very mango centric and mango appeals to a lot of people in general, but we've seen a lot of fragrances with mango, a lot of them for women, a lot of them unisex, but we've seen mango kind of done in the same way again and again and again.

28:43So this is putting a whole different spin on it. And I think if you're trying to explore oud, but you're still kind of want to stay within fun and delicious aspect of fragrances, this is a way to step into that oud land and explore while still holding on to your lush florals and juicy fruits. That one, I would say, is definitely something I would pay attention to. Then there was an oud that blew me away. This is by a brand called Atelier Materie. They also are from France, a female-owned brand. They focus on highlighting one ingredient with each of their fragrances. They launched a set of extracts.

29:28All three extracts are beautiful. One of them is focuses on neroli with pistachio which is gorgeous another one is an amber based x-ray but the one that really blew me away was burgundy oud and the burgundy oud to me it also features black currant but what really stood out to me was that it reads if you don't actually look at the notes breakdown and at the ingredients itself you know because it has black currant it had like magnolia it had oud it had leather but if you take the whole composition and you just smell it to me it smelled like a great glass of cabernet sauvignon you know so and it was just it was so beautiful like it I you know I tried it and I'm like you know what maybe like a full body pinot noir you know where you just you know perhaps a merlot for some people it was it was just such an interesting experience in terms of it just but it definitely reads as a full-bodied wine so it's so beautiful it's very thick you know you have it's very aromatic it's very thick and kind of juicy on a palate but then you're left with this really beautiful oud and leather in the dry down which kind of leaves you with this kind of sweet woody aftertaste like really smelling like the barrel that the wine had been aged in so to me this is one that stood out among anything else and I've been wearing it and really craving it I started wearing it a few months ago and even in the summer like on days that it wasn't so hot that was I was indulging but especially now when the weather has turned into more chillier i cannot wait to wear this because it's just going to be oh it's just it's going to be a marvelous wear so highly recommend that one because it's just it stands out and of course creed um launched oud zarian which supposedly has this 80 year old aged oud and i mean of course creed can afford it its customers can afford it because they have crazy price tags and that one is also an interesting wear because it's very very smooth on how it wears and it just it comes in this really beautiful presentation it's well I mean a Creed customer it usually stays within the brands and continues buying into their brands you know year after year because it's definitely um a love you know almost like a collector that is following a certain brand or collecting scotches or things like that so I noticed that They also had some, the dry down had those licorice and myrrh and again, tonka bean, patchouli and sandalwood.

32:18And it opens up with a little bit more kind of spicy bite because it has frankincense and ginger in the opening. It has a rose in a heart, which I don't really pick up on. But to me, it's the dry down of that, you know, resins and licorice and oud that really stands out. So that's something that I think for anybody who's interested in the true representation of oud, I think they really try to highlight the essence of real wood here. So if you're looking for that, this would be a good one to smell. and another one that is called Perfect Oud. And Perfect Oud is also the X-Straight of the original that was launched a few years ago and it was quite a top seller for the brands.

33:02So I'm not surprised that they launched an X-Straight version which comes in this really pretty black bottle. And that is another one that I would say is a really good representation of what Oud would smell like to a lot of people. And that one has, first of all, it's made by Alberto Marias. He is one of the top perfumers in the world. And he owns the brand that actually is from Switzerland, where he's originally from. So that one particularly, it opens with like a spicy cardamom, has rose and cedar, and then it dries down to rum and oud. And I think the rum and oud accord with a little bit of vanilla and incense is just marvelous because that booziness in a dry down, it really amplifies the oud and the rose.

33:44so if you're looking again for that kind of resonance take on like the true representation of oud i would look in that direction but because i think you'll find that exact dna and one i think is worth mentioning for sure that i kind of want to close you know the oud selection with would be this um new launch by goldfield and banks and that's a brand from australia so we kind of covered a whole lot of different countries in this in this yeah in this lineup but this is a salty amber oud and again it has this minerality that I spoke about before it's called tales of amber and while oud is not particularly the main composition here I think that it really works so well together you know they kind of have this perfect tango and what I love about this one is that it's quite unusual take on both oud and amber and it has has this really salty, airy, mossy kind of opening.

34:48And it's really hard for me to even describe it because I have to say that it kind of took me through all these different stages when I was first wearing the fragrance when it was sent to me because I was trying to understand what is it really about? Because it opens with orange blossom, but it's not like any orange blossom that I've smelled before. It also has moss, but it's not truly a moss fragrance. It also has auras, you know which is like this big kind of buttery iris take but this is by no means an iris fragrance and then it has labdanum oud you know vanilla and ambergris and ambergris this whale vomit that is also very very expensive ingredient and it does have this kind of salty anabolic muskiness about it so it threw me in all these different directions but in the best way possible where it just kind of continued surprise me on skin and it was you know salty and warm and mineral and all sudden a resonance and then it kind of turned into this warm muskiness and I felt something green and airy so it was just a beautiful wear and I think this is definitely not for a beginner I think this is for somebody who is a seasoned fragrance lover but it's definitely a release that really surprised me in all the good ways so that kind of covers my oud obsession I love it I love it so much.

36:05That sounds amazing. Every single one sounds so fantastic. And it's I love how you have a variety here. Because yeah, OODA is like I said, before you dove into your favorites was OODA is I think another one of those notes where you see it a lot, especially right now. I've seen it quite a bit on social media, everyone's really talking about it. But again, for me, it wears, I really have to be picky, you know what I mean, with which ones I choose, because they can either be too strong, or maybe they don't layer well with others. So it's very interesting to hear your favorites, especially the ones with the tropical notes that I found that to be very interesting.

36:40Oh, I love that. I love when you're building the list to try, hopefully later on. That's the point. Yeah, no, it's beautiful. I absolutely love it. And thank you so much for sharing them. What is something you're looking forward to, Olia, with fragrance, you know, in the coming years? Is there something that really has caught your eye, whether it's like a note or a trend that you see coming up? you know there are always new fragrance notes being developed and there was actually i think it's by born to stand out they're using that fruit the durian fruit the one that smells supposedly really stinky but i've already seen two fragrances that were launched actually both of them focused on also oud but i haven't really smelled them so i can't really speak on their behalf just yet but i did find that interesting because you know this is definitely a new note that has been on the scene and some brands are tapping into it, brands that are rebellious enough to test something out.

37:35So I think it's really fun to see when a new accord is being put together by whether it's like Gervodon or Simrise or IFF, like all these companies that are behind creating some of these new ingredients, bringing them to the market or creating these new accords, then you see some of the brands tapping into it and really putting their own spin on it. So it's always exciting to see who is going to do what in that sense and of course in terms of technology you know i think that um ai is big on the scene because people are starting to utilize ai some people are saying you know that ai is going to replace humans i don't think that's ever going to happen because you still need to work it's a tool to me it's a tool and for perfumes it's a tool and for a lot of people in the industry it's simply a tool that um helps you create perhaps faster or can come up with a certain formula idea that maybe perfumer would have not thought of immediately, but yet he gets to test it out and perhaps bring it to the market if it's the right one.

38:35So I think there's all these things happening with the AI field that can be applicable and kind of can be applied and used and utilized in a great sense. And I'm curious to kind of see it develop and blossom and see how different brands and companies are going to be utilizing it because AI is here, whether you like it or not, you know, it's here and you have to figure out how to run with it and use it to your advantage versus sitting there and saying, you know, this is like horrible that you're using it. It's just a matter of how the brand is using it. And as long as it's in an ethical way, as long as it's in a way that is in a way that helps the fragrance community and fragrance industry altogether, I find that exciting.

39:15So I'm definitely watching closely and seeing what's going to be out there. And one category that I really love myself is the boozy category where it taps into all these different spirits so we have a lot of different liqueurs that are being used you know and well of course it's just an accord that's supposed to replicate the sense we have champagne like zirjov is one brand that specifically tapped into champagne and they actually even um had some champagne at a lot of their parties like it was basically the fragrance that was based on it and i covered it before my channels it was definitely something that was fun i think they are coming up with a rosé version of that champagne fragrance so that's exciting to see and just seeing what other liqueurs are out there on booziness you know we have Mikael is actually supposed to launch or well they just presented it in Cannes it's called Notorious XO it's supposed to be inspired by cognac so it's so much happening in terms of that and I'm not big on drinking I can of course enjoy an occasional martini but I enjoy the boozy fragrances a lot more so I think there's definitely a lot of room to create there.

40:25So yeah, there's a lot of things happening. And I'm just always here to explore and learn because that's an exciting industry to be a part of. And like I said, there's always something coming up that's exciting and truly innovative. So I'm here for every single one of those spritzes of innovation. Absolutely. No, I love following around with following your content because I always find something new. And I always love your takes on everything, whether it's skincare or fragrance, you cover so many beautiful categories in such a unique way. I mean, I'm very excited as well about everything you've mentioned here.