SoOud

SoOud is a French-origin niche perfume house founded in 2010 around oud and other Middle Eastern raw materials, interpreted through French perfumery. It was created by French perfumer Stéphane Humbert Lucas, then the in-house nose of the niche line Nez à Nez, in collaboration with the Italian fragrance wholesaler Intertrade Europe [3]. The name plays on the Arabic name Saoud and foregrounds oud, the resinous wood at the centre of much of the collection.

The brand remains active. Its official site is live with a 2025 copyright notice, and the SoOud trademark is now held by OPERA IP Ltd of London [1]. The fragrances are sold internationally through niche perfume retailers.

SoOud launched in 2010 as a set of eight perfumes. Now Smell This, covering the debut on 17 November 2010, described the line as "the brainchild of Stéphane Humbert Lucas of niche line Nez a Nez, working in collaboration with Intertrade Europe," with the fragrances available at First in Fragrance in Germany [3]. Several fragrance references place the founding in France, with Lucas credited as the creative perfumer [6].

One search snippet dates the brand to 2006, but that figure could not be verified directly and the source returned no retrievable content. The 2010 date is supported by the Now Smell This launch article and by three further fragrance references, and is the date carried here [3].

The concept, as the company frames it, is a meeting of two worlds: the "passionate sensuality of the East, with its prestigious raw materials," set against a "contemporary Western sensibility and refined design." According to the Azerbaijani retailer Larose, the brand also draws on the imagery of the niqab veil as a symbol of mystery and hidden beauty, reflected in bottles that pair opaque glass with a transparent middle [5].

The 2010 debut collection of eight fragrances corresponds to the eight main scents the house still lists. Lucas remained the creative perfumer for only a few years: around 2012–2013 he left to establish his own house, SHL 777. The perfume blog Kafkaesque describes him as having been "the in-house perfumer for SoOud and Nez à Nez" before that departure, underlining that his role was creative rather than that of owner [4]. SoOud continued after his exit under separate corporate stewardship.

Ownership has shifted since launch. At its 2010 debut, SoOud was a collaboration with the wholesaler Intertrade Europe [3]. The corporate footer on the brand's current official site instead lists OPERA IP Ltd of London as the entity behind the project [1][2]. Both are accurate for different periods: Intertrade Europe was the original commercial partner, while OPERA IP Ltd is the present trademark holder, indicating a transfer of the brand's rights at some point between the two.

The house's country of origin and its current corporate base also differ. It was founded in France, where the perfumer worked [6], while its present headquarters, through OPERA IP Ltd, is in London.

SoOud presents itself as a bridge between Eastern and Western perfumery rather than a purely Arabian or purely French house. The company describes its work as "sophisticated scented compositions" that invite "an exclusive sensory journey where tradition and modernity passionately collide," and positions the range as "dedicated to true connoisseurs of rare essences." Its stated tagline is "The magnetic gaze of the Middle Eastern sentiment." The house's cultural framing leans on the idea that, in the Middle East, scent is treated as a sacred and everyday part of life, and that fragrances are expected to last throughout the day.

The collection is built on raw materials associated with oriental perfumery — oud, amber, incense, saffron, rose, musk, patchouli and vanilla among them. Each fragrance carries an Arabic name and a short narrative: Aabir ("good scent"), a peach, saffron and rose composition over patchouli, leather and amber woods; Jazzab ("ravishing"), built on saffron, iris and myrrh with oud and cedarwood; Nùr ("light"), which pairs incense and artemisia with amber, cedar and Russian leather; and Ilham ("inspiration"), a spare saffron-and-nagarmotha study. Hadìs ("change") is a woody, oud-and-saffron scent.

Its main technical distinction is format. Each scent is offered as an Eau Fine at a concentration of up to 25 percent and as a more concentrated Parfum Nektar of up to 40 percent, the latter carrying "d'Or" flanker names. The retailer ParfuMaria repeats the house's description of this Parfum Nectar category as "the first and only existing in the world, clear and precious, noble and sophisticated" [7]. At launch the two formats were priced at roughly €110–148 for the 60 ml Eau Fine and €125–175 for the 30 ml Parfum Nectar [3].

The fragrances are distributed through niche perfume retailers — among them Avery Perfume Gallery, First in Fragrance, ParfuMaria and Luckyscent — as well as the brand's own website.

SoOud is active. Its official site remains live with a 2025 copyright, the brand is currently held by OPERA IP Ltd in London, and the perfumes continue to be sold through several international niche retailers [1]. The founding perfumer, Stéphane Humbert Lucas, has not been associated with the house since roughly 2013, and the brand has carried on under new corporate ownership.