How to wear oud without wearing too much

The most common thing people get wrong with an extrait is treating it like an eau de parfum. It is not a stronger version of the same thing; it is a different concentration with a different job, and it wants to be applied differently.

Two touches, not six sprays

Twenty-eight percent oil is a lot. Put a touch at the base of each throat and stop. If you can smell yourself clearly after ten minutes, you have used too much — a good extrait should be something other people notice before you do.

Skin, not clothes

Oud needs warmth to open. On skin it moves through its stages over an hour; on a shirt it stays where it started and stays there for a week. If you want it to develop, put it where you have a pulse.

Cool weather, late hours

Heat pushes a resinous fragrance forward faster than most people want in an Egyptian afternoon. Kohl is better after sundown and better in winter. In summer, wear it at night or wear something else.

Give it twenty minutes

The first few minutes of an extrait are the least representative part of it. Saffron and smoked tea arrive sharp and settle within a quarter of an hour. Judge it at the twenty-minute mark, not at the wrist in a shop.