Gold Spot by Sarah Baker

 This New Release by Sarah Baker is Dripping in Gold

Gold Spot, the latest release from Sarah Baker and the third in her oud trilogy, drips with the glitz and glamour of the Golden Age of Cinema. The trilogy, all signed by nose Chris Maurice, uses a series of constant materials throughout - including natural oud, cypriol, and orange blossom - allowing a thread to run through all three fragrances. The decision to work this way came about following the release of Symmetry in 2020, a fresh, modern cologne that showcases a beautifully balanced duality when set against the darker materials.

At the time, there weren’t any solid plans to create a trilogy, but a desire to explore the base structure of Symmetry led to further releases. Sarah said “At first we didn’t realise that the oud compositions were going to become a trilogy but we loved what Chris did with Symmetry, with its beautiful fresh aromatic materials contrasted with the deep funky roots of oud and cypriol, we felt it was very well balanced and I loved the dry, crisp freshness of it.” 

What followed was a logical next step and a decision to add to the brand’s extrait collection, exploring this same compositional base but making it more intense and giving it a higher concentration. 

Sarah continued, “To me Symmetry felt like a contemporary interpretation of an oud and really deserved further investigation into the basic compositional foundation, which is to combine Chris’s oud tinctures with orange blossom, bergamot, neroli, and cypriol.  All three in the trilogy are related to each other, using the same foundation, however completely different fragrances and have different characters to them and different atmospheres.” 

The next release was Loudo, a playful twist on Symmetry, with lashings of white chocolate bisected with a ripple of cherry, a gourmand dream. With Gold Spot, the exploration has delivered a more nighttime fragrance, the material adjuncts taking us in a wholly more glamorous, yet still gourmand, direction. Here we find notes of sweet myrrh, butterscotch and dark chocolate plus two natural oud tinctures, resulting in a decadent confection of warm golden, orangey chocolateyness.

Sarah goes on to say, “For Gold Spot we asked Chris to dip Loudo in gold and he understood the assignment.” Assignment complete then, because if Loudo is a white chocolate and cherry cupcake, Gold Spot is an after dinner treat, like some hedonistic orange chocolate wrapped in the fine, glamorous golden foil of a Fererro Rocher and piled high on a golden tray at some schmoozy Oscars afterparty. You can just about make out Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe hiding in a dark corner of the ballroom using a silken handkerchief to surreptitiously remove the chocolate stains that betray their sinful gluttony from around their mouths. Who am I to judge?

Gold Spot opens with the intoxicating, seratonin-boosting accords of butterscotch, caramel, milk chocolate and orange. Yes the oud is noticeably present, yet it offers only its more palatable facets, adding body to the unctuous chocolate accord. As the perfume oils dry down, the oud becomes a little woodier, helping to dial down the gourmand, and at this point, Sarah’s brief to Chris comes back into my thoughts and the fragrance begins to feel glamorous, chic, elegant, as if it really is dripping in gold. Sarah commented, “We loved what Chris did with Loudo and the intention there was an everyday signature perfume, so with Gold Spot we wanted something a little more bling, more glamorous. The result wasn’t exactly like a dripping sticky golden caramel but rather a sheer butterscotch hard candy so we changed the name from Gilt to Gold Spot, which is the perfect golden spotlight used in stage and Hollywood films to make stars really glow.”

Despite all its delicious notes, and I definitely get the sheer butterscotch vibe, it’s the type of fragrance I’d pair with a tuxedo to instantly feel more glitzy, more ‘Golden age of Hollywood’ or simply to glam up a more casual outfit.

Gold Spot retails for £145 (~€165) which to me seems like extremely good value for a perfume containing such expensive raw materials. Sarah maintains “we have a collection of fragrances that are under £100, Symmetry is sold at £95 and uses real oud that Chris tinctured himself.” I’d argue most niche fragrances sold at this price point use a synthesised oud and generally smell fairly one-dimensional as a result. Here the house of Sarah Baker is delivering a range of high quality oud fragrances that feel alive, and for a snip.

Asked if she commonly reaches for oud perfumes, Sarah told me “I’ll definitely rock a decadent perfume like Gold Spot. For me it's an occasion perfume, for when I go out. Or if I want to dress up my t-shirt and jeans with a glam fantasy, Gold Spot is the one I'll reach for.”

The bottle, with its large orange cap, comes boxed in fully recyclable materials, containing a small screenplay titled Gold Spot, and is wrapped in a beautifully illustrated surround, and with so much extra detail. It’s so well done and to such a high standard both in its art and craft that I start to wonder if Sarah ever gets any sleep? 

Gold Spot is a perfume you’ll want to peel open and devour, whether dressed in a tux, a ball gown, or if you’re anything like me, a dressing gown too.

Featured Notes: bergamot, petitgrain, cypriol, orange blossom, butterscotch, Laos oud, Suyufi agarwood, dark chocolate, sweet myrrh, musk, amber, vanilla.

Purchase Gold Spot by visiting the Sarah Baker website here - where you will find a fantastic Trilogy offer including travel size Loudo and Symmetry with any purchase of a 50ml Gold Spot (at time of writing 11/22).