One of the most thought after ingredients for Perfume is Oud. Oud is the scent of a tree known as Agarwood. Its dark resin only occurs in about 7% of the trees which makes Oud a very rare hence expensive substance.

Already in ancient times and in various cultures Oud has been used to cure illnesses and as perfume. In the Arabic world chips of this precious wood can still be bought on the market. They are slowly burned and the fragrant smoke spreads out and serves as a natural room scent.

INNOVATION

Given the high demand for the wood and habitat loss of the trees Agarwood has become very rare which of course skyrockets the price for Oud.

The French House Fragrance Du Bois specializes in exclusive scents based on Oud. They created according to their statement “the world’s largest database” of perfume that use Oud. I have this list in front of me and can tell that it comprises many hundreds names.

But more than that. Fragrance du Bois are aware of the situation and therefore created their own Agarwood plantations. So for every tree they harvest there is at least one replacement.

Of course there is a lot more to say about scents. Nevertheless, I will close the series Cents of a Century and think of something else for the coming weeks.