Lost Tribe
Dubai
The Story
Dubai is Lost Tribe's fruit-over-oud composition, made in New York by the house Mathew Schmuelian founded. The maker states that each bottle carries 1.5 grams of aged Chiang Mai oud, set beneath a purple heart of grape accord and a high-irone iris that the opening's black currant runs down into.
Fruity
Ripe orchard flush of juice
The succulent sweetness of peach, pear, apple, or berry, soft and dewy with a nectar-like ripeness distinct from sharp citrus. It brings a playful, mouthwatering roundness that feels youthful, juicy, and lighthearted.
Oud
Dark resinous wood with depth
A dense, resinous wood that smells warm and slightly medicinal, with a leathery, animal-tinged smokiness and a sweet, almost barnyard funk underneath. It feels ancient and brooding, wrapping the skin in something thick and quietly powerful.
Sweet
Edible warmth on the skin
A rounded, sugary character that suggests caramel, honey, or spun candy without any single one dominating. It reads as comforting and indulgent, the gourmand pull that makes a fragrance feel soft, inviting, and almost good enough to taste.
Woody
Dry grain of cut timber
The smell of cedar shavings, sandalwood, and dry vetiver roots, a sanded, resinous warmth with a faint pencil-box rasp. It feels grounded and composed, the quiet backbone that makes a scent read as serious and lasting.
Iris
cool powder over damp earth
A cool, silvery powderiness with a buttery, slightly carroty rootiness and a whisper of damp soil. It feels elegant and restrained, almost melancholic, like fine face powder and suede laid over something quietly earthy.
Citrus
First bright zest of morning
The juicy, rind-snapping brightness of lemon, bergamot, and orange peel, tart and effervescent with a clean bitter edge. It opens a scent with instant lift and sparkle, fresh and energizing, evaporating quickly like sunlight on water.
Amber
Golden resin glowing warm
A soft, resinous glow built from labdanum, benzoin, and vanilla, sweet but dusky, like sun-warmed tree sap with a hint of incense smoke. It radiates a cozy, golden heat that wraps close to the skin and lingers.
Japanese Yuzu
Tart Japanese citrus, crisp as winter air
What it is
Yuzu is the fruit of Citrus junos, a knobbly, thick-skinned citrus cultivated in Japan, Korea and China and long used in Japanese cooking and bathing. The fragrant oil is held in the bumpy rind, recovered mainly by cold-pressing the peel, with smaller steam-distilled grades also produced.
How it smells
Sharp and mouth-watering, like grapefruit crossed with mandarin and a squeeze of lime. A green, faintly herbal bitterness sits under the brightness, with cool floral and balsamic facets traced to yuzu-specific compounds like yuzunone. It opens crisp and tangy, then thins to clean zest.
In perfumery
A top note used for a vivid, slightly austere citrus snap that feels fresher and more savory than orange. It pairs with shiso, tea, vetiver and clean musks in modern fresh compositions, and headlines scents built around its distinctive sour-green character.
Good to know
Yuzu trees are notoriously slow, often taking many years to fruit, which fed a proverb about waiting eighteen years for the harvest. At the winter solstice, whole yuzu are floated in a hot Japanese bath, the yuzuyu, to scent the water and warm the body.
Honeysuckle
Sun-warmed hedgerow nectar dripping golden evening sweetness
What it is
Honeysuckle is a climbing vine of the genus Lonicera, common in temperate hedgerows, bearing tubular cream-and-yellow flowers. The blossoms hold fragrant nectar but yield almost no extractable oil, so nearly all perfumery honeysuckle is a synthetic reconstruction of the living flower's scent.
How it smells
Sweet, honeyed and nectarous, with green dewy freshness and a soft fruity-floral lift recalling jasmine and orange blossom. It opens bright and luminous, like a warm hedge blooming at dusk, then softens into a clinging honey-and-petal sweetness over a faint waxy depth.
In perfumery
A heart note bringing radiant honeyed nectar and dewy transparency to floral bouquets. It rarely stands alone, instead enriching lily-of-the-valley, jasmine, tuberose and neroli accords. It glows in the heart of honeysuckle soliflores and the floral-fruity center of honeyed bouquets.
Good to know
Children have long pinched the base of a honeysuckle flower to draw out a bead of sweet nectar, the habit behind the plant's folk name. Because enfleurage and distillation of the bloom proved commercially unviable, the modern note exists almost entirely through aroma chemistry.
Black Currant
Tart purple berries with a sly catty growl
What it is
Black currant is the small dark berry of Ribes nigrum, a shrub native to northern Europe and Asia. Both berries and aromatic buds (cassis) carry the scent; an absolute is solvent-extracted from the buds, while the fruit facet in perfumery is usually rebuilt with aroma-chemicals.
How it smells
Sharp, juicy and tart, a burst of purple-red berry with green leafy edges and a wine-like depth. Its hallmark is a sulphurous, faintly sweaty, animalic catty undertone that keeps it from reading as merely fruity. It opens fresh and biting, then sweetens into jammy darkness.
In perfumery
A top-note material adding fruity sparkle, tartness and a mischievous edge to florals and chypres. The bud absolute deepens rose and lends a green-fruity lift. It headlines bright fruity-floral openers and powers the celebrated cassis-rose accord at the heart of dark, velvety chypres.
Good to know
The signature catty smell comes from sulphur-containing thiol molecules, the same family that gives buchu, grapefruit and tomcat spray their pungency. At a few parts per million these thiols read as ripe fruit; concentrated, they turn startlingly skunky and sharp.
Pineapple Myrtle
Sharp medicinal vapor that clears the head
What it is
An evergreen tree of the genus Eucalyptus, native to Australia and now grown across the Mediterranean, China, India and South America. The tough, oil-rich leaves are steam-distilled, with Eucalyptus globulus the main commercial source. The oil's backbone is the molecule eucalyptol, also called 1,8-cineole.
How it smells
Penetrating, cool and camphoraceous, with a sharp medicinal bite that seems to open the sinuses. Green, faintly woody and herbal facets sit beneath the icy top. It reads clean and clinical, recalling chest rubs and cough drops, fading to a dry leafiness.
In perfumery
A top note prized for an immediate cooling rush in aromatic, fougere and sport fragrances. It lifts lavender, rosemary and mint and sharpens green or marine accords. It supplies the bracing herbal edge behind many spa and gym-locker style colognes.
Good to know
Eucalyptol is potent enough that a single drop can dominate a blend, so perfumers dose it sparingly. The trees grow remarkably fast and are highly flammable; their volatile oils can help bushfires spread, the same compounds that scent the air on hot days.
Grapefruit
Bitter-bright citrus burst with a sulfurous tang
What it is
Grapefruit oil is cold-pressed from the peel of Citrus paradisi, a large subtropical citrus that arose as a natural hybrid of pomelo and sweet orange in the Caribbean. Mechanical expression ruptures oil glands in the rind, releasing a fragrant oil rich in limonene with trace nootkatone and sulfur compounds.
How it smells
Sharp, juicy and effervescent: tart citrus with a distinctive bitter rind edge and a faintly sweaty, sulfurous tang that reads as true grapefruit. It opens with a fizzy, mouth-watering brightness, then fades quickly, leaving a clean, slightly soapy and bitter-green impression behind.
In perfumery
A top note delivering an instant burst of freshness and a modern, slightly bitter sparkle, pairing with neroli, mint, vetiver and woody-amber bases. It is the bright opening of countless citrus-forward colognes, pomelo-themed eaux and many contemporary sport and unisex scents.
Good to know
Grapefruit's signature smell comes mostly from trace molecules: nootkatone and grapefruit mercaptan (1-p-menthene-8-thiol), the latter detectable at a fraction of a part per trillion. The oil is phototoxic from furocoumarins, so it is often used in furocoumarin-free form or capped under fragrance-safety guidelines.
White Ambergris
Sun-cured sea treasure, the palest rarest grade
What it is
The highest grade of ambergris, a waxy mass formed in the gut of the sperm whale and expelled to drift at sea. Years of sun and saltwater bleach the lump from black toward dusty white and oxidize its near-odorless triterpene ambrein into the fragrant ambroxide and ambrinol.
How it smells
Soft, sweet and marine, the most refined and well-rounded of the ambergris grades. It evokes clean skin, warm musk, tobacco and seaside air over a velvety mineral sweetness. Pale and faintly powdery, it has shed the fecal animalic edge of fresher, darker pieces.
In perfumery
A radiant base note and fixative, used as a tincture that lends warmth, diffusion and a skin-like glow while extending other materials. It pairs with rose, citrus and labdanum; vintage classics and old-school orientals leaned on it before Ambroxan reproduced its core character synthetically.
Good to know
Aged white ambergris is the rarest and dearest grade, fetching tens of thousands of dollars per kilogram. It is gathered by beachcombing rather than from any whale, but that does not change its legal status: in the United States the sperm whale is protected, so ambergris cannot lawfully be sold, imported or held there, and Australia and India restrict it too. It trades legally in the United Kingdom and much of the European Union.
Iris 20% Irones
Golden lactonic warmth, soft as melting cream
What it is
Butter is churned milk fat, but its perfume note is an accord rather than an extract. Perfumers build it from lactones, the creamy molecules naturally present in dairy, plus diacetyl-type compounds that give cultured butter its rich, fatty smell, sometimes warmed with vanilla and caramel facets.
How it smells
Soft, fatty and milky, with a yellow, creamy warmth and a faint cultured tang. It reads rich and smooth rather than sweet, like butter melting in a warm pan, edging toward toffee and pastry. Lactones give a coconut-adjacent, custardy roundness underneath the fat.
In perfumery
A heart-to-base note adding creamy, rounded texture and a comforting bakery feel. It softens sharp edges and enriches gourmands, pairing with caramel, vanilla, pastry, praline and almond. Lactonic butter facets underpin brioche and croissant accords and lend body to many modern dessert fragrances.
Good to know
The buttery smell of cultured butter comes largely from diacetyl, a molecule so potent it flavors microwave popcorn and at high doses caused the 'popcorn lung' worker illness. Lactones, the other half of the note, also explain why ripe peaches, coconut and osmanthus share that creamy roundness.
Nightbloom Jasmine
The heady white flower at perfumery's beating heart
What it is
Jasmine is the blossom of climbing shrubs in the olive family, chiefly Jasminum grandiflorum, grown in Egypt, India and Morocco, plus Jasminum sambac from India. The fragile flowers are picked by hand from before first light into the morning, solvent-extracted with hexane into a waxy concrete, then washed with ethanol to yield the absolute.
How it smells
A warm, lush white floral, sweet and honeyed with an animalic underside. Sambac leans green, tea-like and luminous; grandiflorum reads fruitier and creamier, with more weight. Both carry a heady, narcotic richness over a green-fruity opening, drying to a soft, skin-warm, faintly mushroomy-musky base.
In perfumery
A heart-note cornerstone, bridging citrus tops and woody bases while lending volume, sensuality and rounded floral body. It pairs with rose, tuberose, ylang-ylang, sandalwood and musk. Jasmine anchors many of the great classic florals and can stand alone as a radiant soliflore.
Good to know
Roughly five thousand hand-picked flowers yield a single gram of absolute, ranking natural jasmine among the costliest perfume materials. Part of its depth comes from indole, a molecule that smells frankly animalic, close to decay, when concentrated, yet reads radiant and living at the small percentage the flower naturally holds.
Port Oxford Cedar
A cold forest breathed in at first light
What it is
Fir scents come from true firs of the genus Abies, especially balsam fir (Abies balsamea) of eastern Canada and silver fir of Europe. Needles and young twigs are steam-distilled into a clear needle oil, or twigs are solvent-extracted into a thick, dark fir balsam absolute.
How it smells
The distilled oil is bright, green and resinous, sappy and almost fruity, with a clean coniferous coolness recalling crushed Christmas-tree needles. The absolute runs deeper and sweeter, jam-like and intensely balsamic, with a coumarin-tinged, slightly smoky warmth that lingers far longer.
In perfumery
A top-to-heart note in the distilled form and a tenacious base in the absolute, fir builds forest, fougere and aromatic-woody accords. It pairs with cedar, lavender, oakmoss and incense, and anchors dense coniferous compositions such as Slumberhouse Norne and many cool-weather woody fragrances.
Good to know
Fir balsam, the sticky oleoresin tapped from blisters on balsam fir bark, was historically prized as Canada balsam, a glass-clear cement for microscope slides and lenses thanks to its refractive index matching crown glass. The same forests supplied resin for both science and scent.
Grape Accord
Concord character, built rather than pressed from fruit
What it is
Black grape gives no usable extract, so the note is always constructed. The purple character belongs chiefly to methyl anthranilate, the compound behind the foxy scent of Concord and other Vitis labrusca grapes rather than of wine grapes. Aroma-chemical builds use it directly. Naturals-only builds reach for mandarin petitgrain, an oil roughly half methyl N-methylanthranilate.
How it smells
Deep and sweet, close to grape soda and dark skins, with a faint tannic green edge underneath. A lab build is brighter and more linear, holding one shape from spray through dry down. A naturals-only reconstruction is hazier and more floral, since the oil carrying the grape also carries orange flower and citrus leaf, and it drifts as it wears.
In perfumery
The note sits in the top and heart, lending a wine-dark juiciness to rose, violet and berry accords. It is dosed carefully by either route, because the grape effect turns candied and sharp quickly. Grape-derived materials such as cognac oil, distilled from wine lees, smell of the barrel and the ferment rather than the fresh fruit.
Good to know
Concord-type grapes carry this scent and most black table and wine grapes do not, which is why the note reads more like juice or soda than like fruit off the vine. Neroli and orange blossom hold the same compound in traces, too little to build a grape on, though enough to explain why the note keeps pulling floral.
Gypsy Rose Accord
The queen of flowers, fresh and endlessly deep
What it is
Perfumery rose comes mainly from two species: Rosa damascena, grown in Bulgaria's Valley of Roses and in Turkey, and Rosa centifolia from Grasse. Whole blossoms are picked by hand from before sunrise into the morning, then either water-distilled and cohobated into rose otto or solvent-extracted into a deeper, redder absolute via a waxy concrete.
How it smells
Rich, fresh and unmistakably floral, with honeyed sweetness and a green, dewy lift. Beneath sit spicy, fruity and faintly tea-like facets, and in the absolute a darker, jammy depth. Rose otto opens crisp and bright; the absolute reads warmer, smokier and more sensual.
In perfumery
A heart note of extraordinary range, rose adds body, freshness and natural floral richness, blending with almost anything. It anchors the chypre and floral families and pairs with oud, patchouli and violet. It is the showpiece of countless classic floral and chypre compositions.
Good to know
It takes roughly three to four thousand kilograms of hand-picked blossoms to distill a single kilogram of rose otto, which helps explain why the oil can rival precious metals in price. Picking begins before sunrise and runs into the morning, while the flower still holds its oil.
Chiang Mai Oud
Smoky leather and embered medicinal woods
What it is
Thai oud is distilled from Aquilaria crassna grown in eastern Thailand, with Trat province on the Cambodian border its most celebrated source, the same Cardamom Mountains range that yields Khmer oud. Wood is often aged for years before distillation, building the depth that defines the region's character.
How it smells
Leathery, smoky and medicinal, opening with a plush full-bodied smokiness like smouldering embers. A distinctive fruity sweetness threads through tannic leather, warm spice and honeyed tobacco, with camphorous, almost antiseptic facets that give Thai oud its bracing, resinous edge and a faint animalic warmth.
In perfumery
Thai oud bridges the sweet Cambodian and animalic Hindi styles, offering smoky leather depth without overwhelming funk, which makes it valued by artisanal distillers and blenders alike. Trat oils in particular are sought for a balanced, full-bodied profile that wears richly on skin.
Good to know
Sharing the Cardamom range with Cambodian crassna, Thai border ouds can echo Khmer sweetness while carrying more leather and smoke. Long pre-distillation ageing rounds the medicinal sharpness, and the best sustainably sourced Trat oil rivals far costlier origins for complexity.
Red Meat Sandalwood
The creamy gold standard of fragrant wood
What it is
Heartwood of Santalum album, a slow-growing semi-parasitic tree historically prized from the Mysore region of Karnataka, India. The dense inner wood and roots are chipped and steam-distilled. Fragrant oil concentrates in the heartwood, which begins to scent the wood at around ten years and deepens with age; a tree is seldom worth taking before fifteen or twenty.
How it smells
Soft, creamy and milky, with a rounded woody-sweet body and a faint sour-buttery edge that turns almost lactic. Warm rosy and balsamic facets sit underneath. It opens smooth and unfolds slowly, drying into a quiet, skin-like, persistent woodiness without sharpness or smoke.
In perfumery
A base note valued for long, smooth tenacity and its power to fix and round other materials. It pairs with rose, jasmine, violet and oud. Mysore-rich sandalwood defines the great vintage milky-woody orientals and lends a creamy woody heart to countless smooth, skin-like compositions.
Good to know
Indian sandalwood was over-harvested nearly to collapse; standing trees and trade fall under strict Indian government license and auction control. Genuine aged Mysore oil has grown rare and costly, pushing perfumers toward plantation-grown Australian Santalum album and synthetics like Javanol.
Cedar Atlas
Dry mountain wood, sweet balsam and pencil shavings
What it is
A true conifer wood from Cedrus atlantica, native to the Atlas and Rif Mountains of Morocco and Algeria at high altitude. The essential oil is steam-distilled from chipped wood, sawdust and shavings, much of it upcycled from the lumber trade rather than from freshly felled trees.
How it smells
Warm, dry and woody with a sweet balsamic core, often likened to sharpened pencils and freshly cut timber. A camphoraceous, faintly smoky-resinous lift sits over an earthy base. Drier and more austere than soft, creamy Virginian cedar, it dries down clean and tenacious.
In perfumery
A workhorse base note giving structure, dryness and lasting woody warmth, also valued as a fixative. It pairs with rose, vetiver, patchouli, oakmoss and labdanum, underpinning chypre and woody-oriental builds. It contributes to many classic masculine and ambery wood compositions.
Good to know
The oil is rich in himachalene sesquiterpenes, with beta-himachalene the dominant component at roughly a third of the oil. Cedrus atlantica was listed Endangered by the IUCN in 2013, so distilling oil from sawmill offcuts has become the more responsible feedstock.
Amber Accord
A warm resinous glow built, not harvested
What it is
Amber is not one ingredient but a perfumer's accord, most often blending labdanum (a sticky resin from the Mediterranean rockrose shrub Cistus ladanifer), benzoin and vanilla, sometimes with tonka or Peru balsam. Despite the name, it has no link to fossilized tree amber, which stays odorless on skin.
How it smells
Warm, soft and balsamic, a powdery sweetness sitting over dry resin. It opens honeyed and faintly animalic from labdanum, then settles into rounded golden warmth recalling beeswax, tobacco and worn leather, threaded with a quiet smoky, incense-like undertone that lingers close to the skin.
In perfumery
A base note prized for warmth, depth and long persistence, anchoring oriental and amber compositions. It pairs naturally with vanilla, patchouli, sandalwood and spices. The sweet vanilla-amber template is a perfumery classic, while drier, resin-forward and herbal readings show its other face.
Good to know
The word once meant ambergris, the waxy intestinal secretion of sperm whales, fueling centuries of confusion among three unrelated things: fossil tree amber, whale ambergris and the resin accord. Modern amber bases are wholly plant and synthetic, leaning on molecules like Ambroxan rather than any animal source.
Fragrance Character
It opens loud: yuzu and grapefruit sharp on top of black currant, with honeysuckle and pineapple myrtle making the fruit read candied rather than fresh. The iris then thickens the middle into something powdery and slightly rooty while the grape accord keeps it purple. In the drydown the fruit thins and dark oud, creamy sandalwood and heavy amber take over.
Longevity
how long it stays on skin
This gauge reads the expected wear time, how many hours the fragrance keeps speaking on skin before it fades. A marker near the low end means a few fleeting hours, while a marker pushed to the far end promises a scent still present from morning into night.
Sillage
the size of its scent trail
This reads how far the fragrance reaches beyond you and the trail it leaves behind. Low sits soft against the skin, an intimate whisper noticed only up close; high climbs through moderate and strong toward enormous, filling a room and lingering in the air after you have left it.
Experimental
For the bold and curious
Unconventional, boundary-pushing scents for someone who wants to provoke a reaction and stand apart. Suited to artistic, challenging compositions: inky tar, rubber, fermented fruit, metallic or animalic facets that defy easy liking. On this wheel a glowing coin means it rewards the adventurous nose, a dim one means it plays things safe.
Office
Polished but never overpowering
Close-quarters professional settings where a scent should be noticed only by those near you. Suited to restrained, clean compositions with modest projection: tidy citrus, soft musk, pale woods that read competent and considerate. On this wheel a glowing coin means it works in shared workspaces, a dim one means it carries too far.
Evening
After dark, turned up
Dinners, drinks, and nights out when a fragrance can deepen and project with confidence. Suited to richer, warmer compositions: ambers, resins, smoky woods, or plush florals that bloom under low light. On this wheel a glowing coin means the scent comes alive after sundown, a dim one means it stays better suited to daytime.
Romantic
Close enough to be felt
Intimate moments and date nights meant to draw someone nearer. Suited to warm, sensual compositions that hum against skin: creamy florals, vanilla, soft musk, a touch of spice or amber that invites closeness. On this wheel a glowing coin means it sets an alluring mood, a dim one means it leans more practical than seductive.
Formal
Refined for the occasion that matters
Weddings, ceremonies, galas, and dressed-up affairs that call for composure and elegance. Suited to polished, structured scents with quiet authority: smooth woods, refined florals, soft leather, nothing loud or playful. On this wheel a glowing coin means it carries the right gravitas, a dim one means it feels too casual for the room.
Casual
Easy comfort for unhurried days
Everyday wear with no agenda: errands, coffee, friends, a slow weekend. Suited to soft, approachable scents that feel clean and natural, like fresh citrus, light woods, or a gentle skin warmth. On this wheel a glowing coin means the fragrance fits these laid-back moments, a dim one means it asks for more.
Day to Night
where its mood naturally falls
This slider reads the hour the fragrance was made for. A marker to the left leans luminous and bright, easy in daylight and open air; slide it right and the character turns deeper and warmer, the kind of presence that belongs to evening and candlelit rooms.
Winter
Warmth that carries through cold air
Cold air mutes and slows a fragrance, so winter rewards the dense and the warm: resins, smoke, vanilla, leather, and ambered spice that radiate heat against the chill. The bar shows how strongly this particular scent holds up and glows in cold weather.
Spring
Fresh blooms in mild, rising warmth
Mild, humid air lifts lighter compositions beautifully, so spring favors dewy florals, green stems, soft powder, and transparent citrus that feel alive rather than heavy. The bar shows how well this particular scent matches that fresh, gently warming season.
Summer
Bright and airy in real heat
Heat amplifies and projects scent hard, so summer calls for cool, crisp, breathable things: sharp citrus, salty marine air, aromatic herbs, and watery freshness that refresh instead of cloy. The bar shows how comfortably this particular scent wears in real warmth.
Fall
Spiced warmth for cooling days
As temperatures drop, richer materials read clearly without smothering, so autumn suits dry woods, warm spice, tobacco, amber, and golden fruit that feel cozy and contemplative. The bar shows how naturally this particular scent settles into crisp, cooling days.
Best Worn
Evenings and cool nights, on skin rather than cloth and sprayed sparingly; the fruit opening carries across a room and the oud and amber base is the part that lingers.
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The Vibe
The Nose
Mathew Schmuelian
In-house perfumer
Self-taught founder and perfumer of Lost Tribe, who moved from collecting artisanal naturals to macerating his own musks in 2022; his first release, Hope You Like It, ran to about sixteen bottles. He composed Lost Tribe Sultry Sambac, Lost Tribe Smoky Bear and Lost Tribe Prince of Persia.
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The Maison
Lost Tribe
Small tribe, real musk, no compromises, poured while stock of the originals lasts.
Lost Tribe makes fragrance that feels lived in and loud, the kind that arrives before you do and lingers after you leave. There is a maximalist streak running through the whole house, from sun drunk tropical fruit to resin thick vanilla to rare oud built on aged Kinam.
- Known for
- Maximalist naturals, aged Kinam
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