Marc Briant Terlet, Horace cofounder, and Caroline Dumur sit down to talk about how they created Oud Rose together.
Oud Rose was launched on October 9th, 2024, 5 years after Horace 1st fragrance, &Horace. &Horace was about a white t-shirt, a piece you can dress up, dress down, always easy-to-wear. When Marc thought about Oud Rose, the idea was to go in a totally different direction. And it all started with a rose.
Marc Briant Terlet : Hello Caroline!
Caroline Dumur : Hello Marc! It’s great to be here.
Marc : So today, we’re going to talk about Oud Rose. When we explain it to people by saying, "Look, the idea behind this fragrance is that it's like wearing a leopard-print tuxedo to an evening at the opera," people immediately get it.
Caroline : I was really inspired by the leopard-print tuxedo at the opera idea. I could easily imagine this man walking through the opera, wearing a very opulent, very sensual fragrance.
Marc : Because you can feel it. You feel the formal aspect, you feel the very traditional side in the tuxedo, and at the same time, there's this desire to go for something surprising.
Caroline : Yes, there's a very sensual, very chic side, but at the same time, a little bit offbeat.
Marc : It's something you notice. If you're wearing a leopard-print tuxedo, it's because you want people to look at you. And the balance is fantastic. I wanted the idea of a rose because it's a flower I find incredibly beautiful, and it's not often used as the heart of men's fragrances. So we started there, saying, "This is going to be our brief." And we sent it to you!
Caroline : And the idea of the rose is a lovely one because there's this very classic aspect to it. The idea was to play around with it a bit, to work with this rose in a very distinct way.
Marc : When we smelled that first version you made, we said, "Okay, for sure, it's that rose note."
Caroline : It's complemented with geranium, something fresher, more aromatic, a bit more masculine. This rose also has some fruity notes. I worked with blackcurrant buds to give it something colorful, a bit red because there was something visual about this leopard idea. I wanted the rose to be quite intense in terms of color. And then, I added rosemary, which brings a lot of freshness at the start, almost a bit more vibration, which combines really well with the blackcurrant buds too.
Marc : And I remember the feedback we gave was that the opera, it’s very woody, you get this dark thing, the leopard tuxedo side, there’s also a bit of an animalistic side.
Caroline : We had the woody aspect already in the fragrance, but it was creamier, with sandalwood notes. The idea to bring a more animal feeling to the fragrance was to add cypriol with an oud accord to really give it more intensity, sensuality, presence, and also some very vibrant woodiness. There's something very classic about it, but it gives so much power to the fragrance, a lot of sensuality and presence. And I think the idea of presence was important.
Marc : Oud Rose’s opening is very fresh, it’s almost surprising, and it catches you off guard!
Caroline : The notes fit together, actually, like a puzzle with many layers. I mean, even the base notes, you can smell them right from the start. And that’s what’s interesting. It’s about playing with these woody notes that give more vibration, which we can smell right from the start, but without covering too much of the rose and blackcurrant parts.
Marc : How do you do that?
Caroline : In perfumery, it’s all about balance. There have to be things that stand out to create something beautiful.
Marc : It’s also what you remember, and it makes you feel like you’re smelling something you haven’t smelled before, just because, as you said, it stands out. I really like the openness and the accessibility it gives, so that even for someone who doesn’t know a lot about perfume, they can identify the rose. And at the same time, all the woody, oud, sandalwood, and patchouli notes are also easy to pick out, actually. It’s so rose that we had to put it in the name. In the end, what summed it up best was bringing it back to the nature of oud.
Caroline : For me, it’s also already synonymous with power and sensuality. So there’s something that really sums up the fragrance well.
Marc : Oud, because of its evocative side, it’s both a dark wood and something powerful. It was more about using the word "oud" as an adjective rather than a noun.
Marc : Thanks for creating Oud Rose.
Caroline : It was my pleasure!
You can watch the video of this conversation :