A little while ago I placed an online order and received a sample of the Ouai North Bondi perfume, it was one of the first perfumes in quite a while that made me feel a little giddy and I decided to pick up Ouai Melrose Place and Ouai North Bondi to try out in some 10ml sizes to give them a more thorough test.
These are the first products I’ve purchased from Ouai, I’ve had samples of haircare in beauty boxes and as gift with purchases in the past – but it’s a little odd I’m delving into the fragrance side of the brand rather than haircare, where of course they are more well known. Most of the samples I’ve had have been things that are “quick to finish” and I’ve never felt convinced to go ahead and purchase, usually as my haircare drawer is overflowing.
The packaging of this does feel consistent with what I’ve seen and experienced from the brand, the outer packaging of the 10mls is a lovely thick cardboard tube in a simple and clean white. The bottles themselves do come with a mister rather than a rollerball, these 10mls have been a handy thing to keep in my handbags and for nights and weekends away when I’ve wanted to make sure to pack light. The quality of the little bottles is love – a little heavier than the average rollerball but with a magnetic lid.
Let’s move onto talking about each of these Ouai fragrances individually.
Ouai North Bondi Perfume
Ouai North Bondi perfume really hooked me in in the sample, only giving me a few uses – an interesting blend of notes from floral and musk but still this almost gourmand-like fruit sweetness that made it feel quite unique in my collection. With top fruity notes of raspberry, bergamot, apple blossom and lemon which quickly balance with with the mid notes of rose, violet and jasmine layered over the warm base notes of musk and patchouli.
Because I’ve had limited experience with Ouai’s haircare, I was unaware that this is the signature scent in a lot of their products – and as a result, I definitely want to get more of their haircare into my collection.
On first spritz, this smells really strong and amazing, I really enjoy fragrances that have different layers of notes in and this one has a lot of variety. Within the first hour of wearing it, I’ve had lots of compliments on it if I’ve been out and about, comments from my partner – but after a few hours it fades into subtlety far too quickly for a fragrance in it’s price bracket. I wish I’d done a little more research as it’s a general comment that it’s lasting power is less than great.
Ouai Melrose Place Perfume
Unlike North Bondi which I enjoyed my tiny sample of – Melrose Place was bought on a whim – liking the sound of the description of the notes. On paper this has similar layers of different types of notes – but for me, I find the only notes that my nose really detects are the ones in the middle – floral. On rereading the official top notes of champagne, pink pepper and litchi – I took close inspection of the perfume on my skin freshly applied and couldn’t detect anything other than the mid airy floral notes of peony, rose, freesia and jasmine.
Out of the two, it’s definitely the one which feels less unique within my collection – giving me very reminiscent vibes of the longest standing / most repurchased perfume in my collection – Calvin Klein Eternity Moment, with soft floral heavy on the rose notes but not in the overly sickly way. I do find this lasts better on me, however it’s not top tier and given I get very similar vibes from my trusted old floral fave from CK which whilst not identical, for me is used interchangeably – if I’m after a floral vibe I wouldn’t be bothered which I reached for.
Whilst I’ve enjoyed using both of these fragrances up, they haven’t tempted me to add the full sizes in my collection due to the longevity. However, I could see myself tempted to pick up another small 10ml for keeping in my handbag as rollerballs and small fragrances are harder to get hold of in the UK.
Have you tried Ouai’s Fragrances?
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