Sunday 28 June 2015

Jōvan Intense Oud review: a blingy drugstore steal!

In blogger discussions on fragrance trends, there is much talk of people being heartily 'over' oud, even though oud-forward perfumes continue to be launched at a steady rate. Why, just this year the iconic Ralph Lauren Polo begat a Polo Supreme Oud flanker, for goodness's sake. Me, I am not 'over' oud, having never been remotely 'into', 'onto' - or even 'under' - it in the first place. That said, in my last Top Sniffs and Nasty Niffs round up (of 2013 releases), I did cite Exidolo's Thirty-Three as the best niche oud fragrance of that year, but very much along the lines of 'if you like that sort of thing'.

My issues with oud are partly to do with its austere scent - at its worst tipping over into Band-Aid / Germolene territory, as with some Montales - and partly the fact that oud is integral to that whole Arabian Nights-spice route school of perfumery, of which I am also a little weary, though my attachment to all things Taif rose-related remains as strong as ever. But oud I can take or leave.

Then the other day, completely unprompted, Liz Moores of Papillon Perfumery sent me a full bottle of Coty's Jōvan Intense Oud. I am familiar with Jōvan Musk, bottles of which may be seen languishing in plastic baskets by pharmacy tills up and down the land. Indeed, the forlorn and paltry range of scents in my local chemist prompted a blog post of its own a few years back. I had not come across this oud scent by Jōvan though, which was part of a trio of launches in 2012, along with Silky Rose and Secret Amber. Liz thought Jōvan Intense Oud such a bargain at £15 that she felt I had to try it. She considers me something of a bloggers' champion of budget fragrances, and figured I might be interested in another corner chemist coup from Coty!

Papillon-themed card from Liz on my new pinboard!

Given that I am actively trying to divest myself of perfume at the moment rather than acquire more bottles by any means, I was initially apprehensive about receiving a whole bottle of an oud fragrance, of all things. After all, when Matthew Zhuk of Exidolo offered me one of Thirty-Three on a blind basis I declined, explaining that I might not like it and I hated waste - and I'm pleased to say he did just send me a sample in the end.

But in the case of the Jōvan, my worries were unfounded. Okay, so the gold ribbed top is a trifle gaudy, but what can you expect for £15? Plus the perfume itself is a smooth, classy number all right, to the point where I have taken the trouble to add the horizontal bar accent over the 'o' - and as regular readers know, there are not many perfumes for which I will put myself out in that way, typographically speaking. And I am also embracing this new acquisition despite the bottle being a whopping 88ml! 88ml?? There's another thing to love right there - a blithe disregard for standard pack sizes.



Without further ado, here is the sales blurb about Jōvan Intense Oud, from NST:

"Delight in the darkly enigmatic Intense Oud, a powerfully alluring woody floral. The scent opens with a delicately spiced blend of saffron and lemongrass before building to an addictive heart of cistus labdanum and Turkish rose absolute. Combined with patchouli and sandalwood, Oud wood sensually embraces the whole fragrance, creating an overall experience of distinguished opulence."

So how does it smell to me? Well, in a nutshell - and this may be some reassurance to any other readers who are pretty indifferent to oud - Jōvan Intense Oud isn't particularly dark or powerful, opulent or intense. Rather, it smells like the 'comfy jogging pants' of the oud world, to quote Tara's masterly description of the drydown of Penhaligon's Tralala. Who knew such a thing even existed! Intense Oud is smoothed off and sanitised - that's 'sanitised' in the sense of 'toned down', rather than in the sense of Dettol wipes etc - it's just a gentle hum of oud on your skin. And because Intense Oud isn't intense at all, it needs frequent refreshing, which is no hardship given such a large bottle. Yes, just as Lidl Suddenly Madame Glamour is like a weaker version of Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle, so Jōvan Intense Oud is a watered down take on By Kilian Rose Oud, or something of that ilk.

One of the few reviewers of Intense Oud on Makeupalley exactly sums up my own thoughts on this scent, and its appeal:

"Jovan/Coty have done a very clever thing - they've taken fragrances that are often bagged for being too strong and diluted/twitched notes to make something really wearable. Jovan Intense Oud is a prime example....This is oud, unmistakable as the trendy note going around, but it's friendly, soft, warm. I very much liked this, not least because it makes oud so easy to wear."

They may mean 'oud' the instrument, but never mind ~ Source: Amazon

Now I am not sure I could say a lot more about Intense Oud, as it is well blended and doesn't really progress as such, apart from a fleeting sharpness on first application. I do detect some rose, a whiff of saffron and a generally resinous/woody/oud-y vibe, bolstered by occasional puffs of patchouli, but I wouldn't overegg my perception of the individual notes. And for a formulation that must have cost literally pence, this is not obviously cheap or 'chemically' at all. In a blind test I could well imagine it was at least high end designer, say.

Then I happened to be over at ex-Mr Bonkers' this morning (as in my old house), to pick up a couple of pieces of mail that had washed up there despite my having been gone three years. One was a pouch containing freeze-dried Neapolitan ice cream that you can keep - and eat! - at ambient temperature. Such was our combined curiosity that we ended up polishing most of it off while I was there. If anyone is interested, it had the texture of polystyrene, but if you let it melt in your mouth it tasted just like ice cream - or ice cream that is warmed by a hot sauce, say.

And I also took the opportunity to get ex-Mr B to sniff me wearing the Jōvan perfume, as he really doesn't care for perfume as a category - and has even been known to ask me to leave the room during some of the more febrile testing sessions at the start of my hobby. Intense Oud he described as 'inoffensive' and 'a bit like luxury soap'. Much like Sarah Jessica Parker's Lovely, then, and pretty much any perfume I put before him that doesn't precipitate instant recoil or outright gagging.

So yes, as ex-Mr Bonkers' response attests, this is a smooth, entry level oud, oud with training wheels, office-appropriate oud, jogging bottoms oud - however you want to term it. It won't break the bank and it won't smell of plasters. Nor will its bottle grace your dressing table, it must be said. Not that we should really be keeping our perfume there, as we all know...

As eaten by astronauts! Not bad, but I'll stick with Häagen-Dazs



21 comments:

Asali said...

I like the label 'blingy bottle' :-D Jovan Intense Oud does sound nice, only I do hate re-applying, something I'll only do for my big-love perfumes.
It's funny how having very little access to niche perfumes here, actually there's also only a limited amount of drugstore perfumes available. I don't recall having seen any Jovan for example, and the Dita von Teese are also not available. Ah well, I do have a few jogging-bottoms perfumes, so I'll manage :-)

Vanessa said...

Hi Asali,

I imagine that this could only become big love - and be worthy of reapplying - if you were really into oud, which I don't sense you are. On balance, it is probably no loss that you are equally deprived of drugstore scents. The wall of cheap perfumes and celebuscents that confronts you in a typical drugstore chain in the UK or Germany can be rather overwhelming, and you simply don't know where to start looking for those occasional gems. I am sure I would never have picked this out in store, if it hadn't fallen into my lap, as it were.

Tara said...

Just when I thought this post couldn't get any more entertaining you hit us with the freeze dried ice cream. Now I know what I'll be surviving on come Armageddon :)

So not so much Intense Oud as Inoffensive Oud then. Too funny about the blithe disregard for standard sizing. (Thanks for the "jogging pants" mentions too.)

Sounds like a steel for oud fans at £15. Someone needs to tell Roja he's doing it wrong.

Sarah Waite said...

Hi Vanessa,
I'm not sure that bargain oud (or indeed top notch oud) is my kind of whiff either but I love the bottle. It's pleasing to see something invented in 2012 looking like a prop out of a 1980s sci-fi TV series. I think the same about the recently sacrificed bottle that is Avon's Timeless - hexagonal sci-fi.

Vanessa said...

Hi Tara,

Your jogging pants were truly the thematic lynch pin of this post, when I came to sketch it out! For IP reasons I drew the line at featuring them in the title, but it was a close run thing. ;)

Inoffensive Oud is exactly it. And 'invisibly soft' as Lucy Raubertas so nicely put it.

And yes, there may be scope for Roja to bang his suppliers' heads together and get a keener price on materials. This here is synthetic oud, obviously, but screechy it ain't.

Vanessa said...

Hi Sarah,

My sci-fi frame of reference is sadly too rudimentary to appreciate the comparison, but I am glad that this bottle - and the Avon one you mention - strike timewarp chords for you, in a good way!

Asali said...

I'm not anti-oud, actually I do quite like it in the right formula, even if we're hardly going to find real oud in drugstore or mainstream perfumes. I'd definitely try it if I saw it. And unfortunately most of the celebuscents do seem to find their way here. A fellow perfumista dared me to try the 'One Direction' perfumes last time we went sniffing - they were as instantly forgettable as I assume is appropriate ;-)

Asali said...

As in I'd try Intense Oud if I saw it- man- why does this always happen to me on your site? Hehe.

Unknown said...

I'm not mad about oud but I too like the bottle. And I am totally intrigued by the frozen frosted freezed ice cream. What a bizarre idea! Why did someone sent it to you? Why did someone felt the need to invent it?

Ines said...

Well, it sounds like something worth a try/buy. :)

Vanessa said...

No worries, I got your meaning first time! ;) Thanks for explaining the degree of your attachment to oud the note, and sorry that Denmark is in fact rife with Rhiannon et al, scentwise.

Vanessa said...

It really is a bargain, Ines, if you at least don't dislike oud.

Vanessa said...

Hi Sabine,

Glad you like the bottle - also for its retro qualities? I must say the nozzle also looks like something from the 80s - one of those ones under more pressure than today, if you know what I mean.

The ice cream is a promotional gimmick from the agency I am actually working for - to intrigue potential new customers. I got sent it just because I am on their database as a contact. It's used by astronauts to give them the mouth feel and taste of ice cream in a handy format for space travel. Echt!

Unknown said...

Bonkers in space. :)
Yes, I think I forgive the bottle its bling because it looks so retro.

Undina said...

I think my feelings about both "main attractions" of this post - the perfume and the ice cream - are very similar: it's curious those exist but I'm not sure if even an Armageddon mentioned by Tara would prompt me to use either of those.

BTW, that triple "s" broken by an apostrophe is really bothering me... It can't be right. Was it a joke?

Vanessa said...

Got it. And LOL at 'Bonkers in Space!'

Vanessa said...

Hi Undina,

That's quite fair enough, hehe. I think I do prefer my ice cream cold, to be honest.

You are going to have to help me on the apostrophe business - I'm not sure where I should be looking? ;)

AustralianPerfumeJunkies said...

You are hilarious Vanessa,
I smiled through the whole post. I hope you have some left for when I see you in January. Perfume, not ice cream.
Portia xx

Undina said...

"for goodness's sake" :)

Vanessa said...

Oh, how lax of me! Will edit...;)

Vanessa said...

Hi Portia,

Aw, am glad you enjoyed it. You are welcome to as much as you like. 11ml, 22ml, maybe? ;) x