The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Pastel Oud belongs to The Merchant of Venice's MURANO ART collection, where Venetian glass artistry meets perfumery. The black and white murrine pattern on the bottle, those tiny colored glass rods fused into the surface, references the centuries-old technique developed on Murano Island, just across the lagoon from the city proper. It is a visual contradiction made physical: the murrine is intricate, layered, almost chaotic in its detail, yet contained within a single glossy black vessel. The fragrance takes its cue from that same tension between complexity and restraint, offering the richness of oud in a form that feels surprisingly accessible. Those drawn to the material find it present and authentic, while those approaching oud for the first time discover it never overwhelms.
What makes Pastel Oud unusual is the way it handles oud as a clean material rather than a wild one. In perfumery, oud carries baggage, the expectation of animalic depth, the skatole edge that divides wearers into believers and non-believers. Fernández sidesteps that entirely. The opening plum gives the composition a fruity brightness that reads almost effortless. Rosemary keeps it herbal, keeps it green. Then the leather arrives, not harsh, not tobacco-dark, but the soft kind, like well-worn gloves. The ylang-ylang adds a creamy yellow floral warmth that bridges the heart into the base. By the time the oud arrives, it has somewhere to land: clean, woody, present without overwhelming.
The evolution
Pastel Oud opens bright. Plum arrives first, sweet, slightly tart, softened immediately by rosemary's herbal lift. The artemisia adds a faintly bitter green quality that keeps the opening from feeling sugary. Soon the leather begins to assert itself, shifting the composition from fruity-fresh to something warmer and more material. The freesia emerges as the heart develops, bringing a translucent floral note that sits between the plum's sweetness and the leather's weight. It is the quietest element of the pyramid but arguably the most important, preventing the heart from becoming heavy. The leather and ylang-ylang hold the middle ground for a substantial stretch of time, their interplay creating depth without heaviness. Then the base takes over. Oud, guaiac wood, vetiver. The oud here is not the barnyard variety.
Cultural impact
The oud category has matured toward cleaner expressions, moving beyond the skatole-heavy, animalic compositions that once defined the genre. Pastel Oud sits squarely in this refined camp, present enough to satisfy oud seekers, approachable enough to invite those who have been hesitant. It occupies a unique position that feels both authentic to the material and accessible to a broader audience. The MURANO ART collection's emphasis on visual sophistication gives the fragrance a luxury positioning that feels earned rather than announced.
