Answers

Natural or synthetic oud: what is the difference?

Short answer

Natural oud oil is distilled from the resin-rich wood of Aquilaria and Gyrinops trees. Synthetic oud is a fragrance accord built from aroma chemicals to evoke that scent. On a label, the word oud alone does not tell you which one you are buying: read the ingredients and the price per millilitre.

What each one is

Agarwood carries more than 250 identified compounds, mostly sesquiterpenoids and 2-(2-phenylethyl)chromones. A distilled oil keeps part of that mixture. 1 2

A synthetic accord reproduces an impression of oud with a much shorter list of materials, usually in alcohol or a carrier oil.

What to check before paying

The ingredients: a pure oil has one, with no alcohol, carrier oil or fragrance. Fragrance or parfum on the list means a composition.

The price per millilitre: distilled agarwood yields very little oil for a large mass of wood, so a large bottle of pure oud at the price of a mass-market perfume does not add up.

Only a laboratory analysis settles the composition of a batch. Ask the seller whether one exists.

What Woudya sells

Woudya's Origins, Heritage and Reserve oils are sold as pure and undiluted, with no alcohol or carrier oil, from €45 per millilitre. Its Oud Signature and Oud Intérieur sprays are fragrances in an alcohol base, for ambient and textile use, not intended as a cosmetic product.

Origins, pure oud oil from Lombok, from €45 for 1 ml →

Other questions

Sources

  1. Kalra R., Kaushik N. (2017). A review of chemistry, quality and analysis of infected agarwood tree (Aquilaria sp.). Phytochemistry Reviews 16, 1045–1079. doi:10.1007/s11101-017-9518-0
  2. Naef R. (2011). The volatile and semi-volatile constituents of agarwood, the infected heartwood of Aquilaria species: a review. Flavour and Fragrance Journal 26(2), 73–87.

Updated 29 September 2026.