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(and they ship free to the uk, takes about a week)

Jessieggesus- I have found you one! City Oud, by Dueto. They are a new quality perfume house. Ignore the tragic product names; the fragrances are top notch, they work out at about £60 for 100ml EDP, and they send you lovely samples and freebies. I just bought their leather perfume Golden Boy, because I saw it reviewed on fragantia.com as an affordable and even nicer version of Tom Ford's Tuscan Leather, and I'm wearing the Oud sample they sent now. It's gorgeous.

thanks jessiegeesusinamanger I'll talk perfume til the cows come home. Love it.

haha coffeeinbed. sums me up (I was reading the Nabokov novella at the time)

the 'h' in oudh isn't pronounced as such but makes the 'd' raspy and softer, or as they say in the trade, its an interdental fricative.

Never heard of this decant thing! Wow. So someone would say tip half a bottle of something into another bottle and then sell it? Wow. The things you learn on here!!

Otchayanie, on a different note, that's a cheerful screen name you have...

A decant is a part-bottle that somebody is selling out of their stash. I got a 30ml decant of Chanel Coromandel from that Crystal Flacon site after DonaAna tipped me off.

Ohhhh thats what it is! I really like the Arabian Oud Femme Sport (not remotely spicy). I thought it meant 'west'. D'oh!

otchayaniye thanks. Do you pronounce the 'h' sound at the end as well. Dona what does a 'decant' mean?

i speak arabic and it's oodh

Kiwi you can stay and debate oud with pleasure

oops wrong thread! thought I was on the Worst Perfume thread. I'll get me coat ...

I've just ordered a Shalimar type oil from Perfume Parlour to see what its like. thank you fridgepants

I've tried on Lolita Lempicka today - its just completely disappeared into my skin and I can't smell anything.
So I put Prada Candy on the other arm. Its nice enough - caramel and musk once the candyfloss top notes dissipate. I'm a bit Meh! about it though.

Cointreau I say it 'oood'. Not sure it's right though! I've sent off for the Body Shop one to start with and will go from there. Am going to google Montale now. Thank you all. You're brilliant.

OK, a question.

How do you pronounce Oud?

"oood"? "owd"?

i got some montale perfumes, including black aoud, the other dayfor not that much (30-50 pounds)

Great decant of LaDDM here.

Thank you SO much everyone. Would never have thought that the Body Shop would do one. And thanks for the link also Queenie". I will try the YSL and Dior out too when I next go into town "DonaAna I'm in awe of your knowledge. Bless you all.

In perfumery, if you go below a certain price threshold, your odds of getting decent juice in return decrease drastically. Good raw materials cost money and if you go for savings, you may end up with something that is essentially a car air freshener.

First, check eBay for perfumes you really love. 2nd hand bottles can be inexpensive. There are some fakes out there, but mostly just genuine ones someone didn't like after all.

If that doesn't work out, see if you can find a few samples or a decant of the original perfume. Decants are an inexpensive way to enjoy good perfumes - google Crystal Flacon.

I'd buy a spray sample or three of L'air du desert marocain from eBay. Tauer perfumes are excellent value for the price. They use wonderful raw materials and are phenomenally longlasting. I get 12-24 hours of wear, and one spray vial will last for a long time. I've used my small spray vial many, many times and there is still a lot left. Also ask the seller whether they would do a 5ml or 10 ml decant for you, you would stay on budget and also get your first choice.

For a budget option, check whether you like YSL M7 Oud Absolu (men's department). Too sweet for me and a bit fleeting, but worth a try.

The other ouds I can recommend are even more expensive (Mona di Orio's Oud is fabulous, and I also like the rosy Oud Ispahan at Dior).

There's a website, PErfume Parlour, that does oils based on fragrances - apparently their oils are very close to the real thing. As their selling point is that they cater to Muslims who don't want alcohol in their perfumes, chances are that they might hace some ouds on there?

here you go

See basenotes website for reviews

Body shop Amber Oud.

You will have to hunt around as it's discontinued but at outlets they sometimes have it. eBay worth a try too.

It's lovely -leathery, smokey and warm spice.

Need the advice of all you perfume supremos. I love tobacco-ey, leathery, oudy, woody perfumes but the ones I've checked out (Pure Oud - Kilian; L'Air du Desert Marocain - Taur and Royal Oud - Creed, are all way over my budget. Can anyone suggest any other possibilities with a limit of £50?