A fruity Oud crafted with Love, Light and Darkness

Light and dark in art, primarily known through the Italian term Chiaroscuro, uses strong contrasts between light and shadow to create drama, define form, volume and depth. There to evoke a mood, and is seen famously in Renaissance masters like Da Vinci and Caravaggio, extending to Baroque artists like Rembrandt and Rubens. In modern cinema, it came to prevalence in the Noir films initially from Europe and then from North America. This use of light and dark as an art form can also be ‘felt’, say in music or dance, and even smelled in perfume. Yes its a more cerebral process may be but a great ‘perfumer painter’ can create this level of drama and beauty. The latest perfume from Les Eaux Premodiales,  Arnaud Poulain, alongside nose  Julien Rasquinet, brings this artistic form alive in the new fragrance. Meet Oud Supermassive Extrait de Parfum, find out more in A fruity Oud crafted with Love, Light and Dark. Image Lucy Beynsberger

New Perfume release 2025

Artists have used tonal shifts in their creations to symbolise emotions like tension or calm, moving beyond mere realism to a powerful atmosphere. The darkness in an image holds more power when offset with light. Like the eternal battle between good and evil, despair and hope, love and loss, it is a perfect analogy for human devotion. But it goes deeper than just the visual, we can hear it in music and feel it in the weather and smell it also in a great perfume. One that can take us from one deep smell profile to one that is light.

Chiaroscuro explored

In perfumery terms, lightness would be bright citrus or juicy fruit, think Bergamot, Mandarin or something like Passion fruit. For darkness, it would be earthy, rooty, and woody notes, think Patchouli, animalic Leather and deep Oud.

Oud for men and women

Oud has certainly been one of the perfume ingredients of the last decade. Making its way across deserts and wild waters, it arrived in European perfume hands only to be explored in a new facet away from its deeply Arabic roots. It is a very potent, animalic and deeply smoky, earthy note, and not for the faint-hearted. Used badly, it is horrific; used beautifully, it is majestic. It adds depth, sensuality, and longevity to scents.

What is Oud?

Oud, known also as Agarwood, has a millennia-old history in perfumery, originating in Southeast Asia and the Middle East as a sacred incense, medicine, and symbol of wealth, used in religious rituals from the Bible, Sanskrit and the sacred texts of Hinduism, the Vedas.

How Oud is Made

When described, it sounds rather ugly; it is, after all, the matter created when the tree gets sick, and if you like, the production from the illness is like the tree’s immune system fighting back, and that is the Oud.

Many have tried to blend this majestic oil, and many have failed. Also, it’s worth knowing that most don’t even use the real thing; it is, after all, very rare and very expensive.

For his latest opus, Arnaud Poulain took on the mantle of creating an Oud for a modern world. Alongside genius perfume nose Julien Rasquinet, they have brought about a stunning, intelligent and modern Oud perfume. Meet Oud Supermassive.

It is the lightness and darkness of Yin-Yang notes that meld perfectly to balance out the opposition of the notes, which allows this elixir to literally be magnificence, bottled.

It opens with fresh, bright citrus, fruit and soft spice with uplifting citrus and soft floral undertones from Mandarin, brightness from Bergamot and soft hints of warm spice, gentle woody and soft camphoraceous undertones and a sliver of powder from Cardamom. This is quite the balancing act for top notes, bringing a sophisticated, unique start to the fragrance’s journey, which works to bring light, yet at the same time, a balance to the notes that follow.

Next up comes a juicy, fruity heart with velvety, sweet, juicy sunwashed facets via Peach, which is echoed somewhat by Osmanthus with its powdery fruit skin like milky yet leathery undertones. Passion fruit brings the trio together with its fruity tartness, adding to the brightness and lusciousness of the somewhat tropical fruits.

And then comes the darkness. But his is not deep, dark, scary darkness. This is the soft night sky gently making its way across the sky until it has embraced the landscape. Smokey tobacco meets a gentle animalic-suede-like leather with the depth of Olibanum.

The finale to this Oud scent culminates in a joyous, juicy fruit, yet soft, earthy, animalic and smoky blend. It is an intelligent take on this deep and dark ingreidient on that has been misunderstood and often been badly aligned. Here it is at its peak perfection, blended with passion, invention and skill.

One of the most unusual facets of the scent is that initially spraying it’s almost as if the darkness comes first and the light gently reveals itself. It is layered subtly and beautiful revealing its multiple elements gently. This composition marks the first collaboration between the brand’s founder, Arnaud Poulain, and perfumer Julien Rasquinet.

Ultimately, this is a balancing act supreme from gentlemen who truly understand not just the unique notes and ingredients in perfumery but what happens when they meld and how to achieve a perfect balance. Because after all, what is light without darkness and darkness without light.

Find out all you wish ot know about lesEauxPrimodiales.com and this scent in particular here

If you enjoyed reading A fruity Oud crafted with Love, Light and Darkness, then why not read Tis the season to Sparkle and Shine here

.Cent Magazine, London. Luxury Mindset