Van Cleef & Arpels is considered one of the greatest jewelers on the planet. Then, one fine day, the house decided to design a new type of adornment for its clients.
Van Cleef & Arpels is an enchanting brand born from a love story, which gave rise to one of the greatest jewelry houses. Then, over time, Van Cleef & Arpels decided to diversify. This is how the house made its entrance into the world of perfume. Drawing on its exceptional expertise and its rigorous selection of the finest raw materials, Van Cleef & Arpels then gave birth to the Collection Extraordinaire. Each of the fragrances making up this assortment is a true masterpiece. This time, drawing inspiration from one of the most precious woods, the perfume Oud Blanc comes to complete this collection. So, does it live up to its predecessors? Here is our review of this fragrance.
Olfastory’s review
Oud Blanc, the art of elevating one of the most luxurious woods in the world
The house Van Cleef & Arpels never has a habit of keeping things simple. Thus, all the fragrances from the Collection Extraordinaire are exceptional, quality statements. They honor emblematic raw materials of perfumery and elevate them. Other ingredients are added to give them their finest expression. The result is highly accomplished fragrances, both rich and refined, endowed with incredible precision while being filled with emotion. And this is precisely what one finds in the perfume Oud Blanc. It draws inspiration from one of the noblest raw materials there is. Indeed, oud wood is unmatched in transporting the senses. A symbol of Asia and the Orient, it gives off a breath rich in multiple facets. Moreover, oud wood has also been used for centuries for its spiritual virtues. It therefore gives this perfume an almost sacred quality. From then on, Oud Blanc plunges us into a world one could not say is real or dreamlike. Van Cleef & Arpels manages to offer us the full splendor of one of the most expensive ingredients in the world. The result is an olfactory gem designed by one of the finest perfumers of her generation: Anne Flipo. From then on, all the ingredients come together to fill us with emotion from the very first whiff.
The streamlined bottle from Van Cleef & Arpels
If Oud Blanc captivates from its first to its last breath, its visual, meanwhile, relies on simplicity and purity. Nevertheless, its bottle remains no less luxurious. Common to all the perfumes in the Collection Extraordinaire, it is devoid of any embellishment and seems ideally designed to withstand generations without ever aging. After all, is this not the secret of longevity? This time, for Oud Blanc, echoing the full luminosity of this perfume, it takes on an entirely white lacquer finish. The weight of its glass and its finely sculpted base bearing the name of Van Cleef & Arpels are the guarantee of all its prestige. With Oud Blanc from Van Cleef & Arpels, elegance is omnipresent, both in terms of design and scent.