Reviews of Amoureuse (2002)
by Delrae

Amoureuse is thick, viscous, and sweet. Of the listed notes, all I get are a thick indolic jasmine, and the honey...no juicy tangerine, no spicy cardamom, no cedar moss or sandalwood. I can't really detect tuberose or ginger lily. I do get an impression of rose. I think. :confused: My nose is not the most informed, but I find this fragrance far too rich and dense to be wearable. It smells great, but I just don't want it on me. Maybe as a candle or something.

I was politely thanked for "coming over to my table to meet me" (at a dinner) which was a way to get rid of me because of me having this perfume on which was a little too much for them during their meal. Oh well, I love this perfume and just have to spray lighter.

When I was a little girl going to Catholic school, I remember climbing up the hill during recess with the other girls where a plethora of honeysuckle bushes grew. We used to put our tongues on the petals, wrap our lips around the pistil and suck out the juice. Astonishingly, this perfume brings back this vivid sensory image. Okay, so honeysuckle, per se is not in the note pyramid, but that flowery, juicy impression certainly is there in all its immediacy. After about twenty minutes, the sharpness of the ginger emerges, giving a skeletal structure to the dreamy opening. I really like this, not sure if I could manage this as an everyday scent, but it could be lovely to have as an escape or for a romantic interlude. To me this is an introspective scent, perfect for solitude or for intimacy, not for running errands, or the workplace. Also good for attending a ball or gala. This is the stuff of sagas, theatre, or a menage a trois with Penelope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson and Javier Bardem.

I think this is an incredible fragrance, even though I'm kind of ambivalent about it's femme-y extravagant white flower heart, which on me last for a very long time. I love white flowers but they aren't me -- the wrong kind of "sultry" I guess. To make matters worse, my husband absolutely loathes this. So I shouldn't be thinking FB, right? But the drydown, which like some unbelievably sexy varietal honey that not only smells -- well, honeyed -- but occasionally vividly plantlike and green, makes a very good case for one. (This is honey without any pee note.) If you love tuberose, jasmine and honey, I don't think it could be easy to top this.

moureuse is incredible. It is radiant upon application, and it's sultry, and extremely sensual as it develops. If you are a fan of Annick Goutal Heure Exquise or Vivienne Westwood Boudoir, you must try Amoureuse, which I think is a sort-of "sister scent" to these two. Amoureuse is a powerful, slightly sweet, very, very sexy fragrance, but it smells "expensive", elegant, and sublime. Lasting power is fabulous. I have a feeling this is going to be one of my all-time favorite fragrances!

Amoureuse is one of four DelRae offerings, all by Michel Roudnitska, the son of Edmond Roudnitska, another nose of some repute. Amoureuse is a kind of chypre, with citrus top and oakmoss base, but it is a little woodier and greener than most floral chypres. Its sojourn on my skin begins with a floral bouquet, slightly sharpened and enlivened by tangerine, and discreetly spiced by cardamom. At the end comes a beautiful accord of cedar, moss, sandalwood, and honey. In the middle of this is a bouquet of white flowers: tuberose, jasmine, and white ginger flower. Apart form the tropical nature of this accord (which reminds me of things I smelled on vacations in the islands of the Pacific), is the unusual blending of white ginger into the mix. This is the beautiful scent of the lily Hedychium coronarium, whose original range is in the Nepalese and Indian Himalayas. How to describe this scent? It's rich, penetrating, with a slightly acerbic edge, and definitely heady. It's not a very common note in perfumery, but it gets some use in "female" scents; however, I think in this accord it can be very sexy on the right man. (Me!)

I sure get the tuberose and jasmine and lily and the honey definitely. For the PurpleBird it comes off green - for me it comes off round and floral and sweet. Ditto on the longevity - this beauty is just plain GAWJUSS - many thanks to the BNer who introduced me to the house and the frag!!

I am going to steal a phrase from my friend, Kumquat, who owns this fragrance and let me try it. She says "It smells like walking into a flower shop." Indeed it does. I am not getting any of the listed notes in particular, except maybe moss and flowers. I compared it to a vial of very beautiful linden blossom essential oil and could see some similarities.
The entire impression is very green, mildly woody, and white floral. It is strong, but soft. It has great lasting power. And it is has distinction--it is different from other perfumes on the market. Excellent composition.