Reviews of Amouage Homage (2008)
by Amouage

Regardless of the note pyramid, when I put Homage on my skin, it turns into citrus, mangoes and roses over an ethereal and clean (white) musk. I get barely any frankincense - I seriously get *just enough to keep the whole thing grounded. I'm really surprised to read others reviews here mentioning oud too, as I'm not getting any of it upfront either. The incense and woods here are very muted and very distant to my nose for some reason. Perhaps it's the blending.

Either way, as different as my experience is from others, I still rank this as one of the most beautiful fragrances I've ever smelled. Homage easily fits into my list of favorites. Homage is quite exotic smelling, to the point that I used to think I just couldn't find the right occasion to wear it. I figured it was just too majestic, too mysterious and too beautiful. Well, so much for that. I now realize that you can wear this any time, as long as you're prepared to match it with a confident attitude. In other words, you wouldn't want to drive around in a Bentley while looking all nervous and self conscious now would you?

Anyway, as it stands, I do love Homage very much. But there are faults even in the most beautiful flowers. For example, the opening of Homage is quite sharp, and the base of white musk is a little generic. And so, I can't see myself purchasing a bottle at full retail price any time soon. 350$ is just too much for a bottle of perfume that isn't perfect in every way. I do, however, like Homage enough to have purchased a decant for those days when I really want to shine.

9.25/10

Note: There are some Middle Eastern attars out there that are similar to Homage and cost only a small fraction of what they are asking for Homage. While they may be hard to find here in North America, I've tried a few that are almost as good as Homage, if not on par. Sadly, the names of them escape me. Perhaps that's a reason to purchase Homage - it'll save you hassle of trying everything else out there.

An attar of rose, orange and silver frankincense. There are bound to be other ingredients but these are the stars of this show and they each have about equal weight in the overall results. A single dot of a drop of Homage will fill your personal space with this uplifting radiance. A couple drops and it will last most of the day. The frankincense is the most unusual part of the fragrance as it is a very shimmering pure frankincense with little heaviness. I receive a healing balm type of effect from this fragrance when I wear it. Unlike many other attars and oils this is very bright and radiant avoiding darkness altogether. It is simply a wonderful blend of three very vibrant essences: rose - orange - frankincense.

I like!

Aw crap! It’s about as good as everyone says it is. Now I’m liable to have to spend a gazillion bucks to get myself some.

The formula as advertized for Homage sounds simple: rose, oudh, frankincense, and citrus. Yet two of those ingredients, rose and oudh, are at their best so intricately nuanced and profound that they defy analytical description. That Pierre Montale has built an entire line of (mostly) distinct scents around these same two notes hints at the vast scope the rose-oudh pairing offers. Homage does indeed present rose and oudh at their complex and inscrutable best, and the addition of Amouage’s justly touted frankincense secrets them off into a realm of olfactory fantasy inhabited exclusively by djinns and ifrits.

Comparison with Montale’s oudh-and-rose scents is inevitable, but nothing that I’ve smelled from Montale comes close to Homage in style. The rose used in Homage is at once spicier and sweeter than Montale’s, with echoes of nutmeg, cardamom, and raspberry liqueur. Amouage’s oudh is more rounded and yielding, softer and less medicinal than Montale’s, yet still in possession of that deliciously bitter, saffron-like edge that makes the resin so irresistible to my nose. Homage is heady and enveloping and persistently claims your attention. You don’t just wear this fragrance – you wallow in it. Such an unapologetically dense, heavy fragrance is not for everyone, nor every occasion, yet there is a certain clarity in Homage’s structure that may actually render it more wearable for some than the more powdery and animalic Gold (both men’s and women’s). At $350 US or so for a 12ml bottle of perfume oil, this isn’t going to be a lemming, but I can understand the critical enthusiasm: Homage is worth smelling just for the experience.

I have recently received my sample package via luckyscent containg among others the vial with Homage Attar.
Having read some reviews, I was very sceptical about my liking it... That was totally unnecessary, since this is a really beautiful fragrance!
I cannot detect every single note of this, but what I can say is, that it is remarkably lush and well-rounded. It smells quite fresh, but it is not the usual lemon scent. The blend is just very dense and the citrus, the rose and the silver frankinsence appear for my nose at the same time. I was happy to note that the lasting power is sufficient. 4 hours after applying a tiny little dab is perfect and - unless I didn't reapply - it would have lasted longer! The drydown smells clean. Read my Chanel No. 5 review to get what I mean.
This is my first impression on Homage and I will try to enrich my essay on describing it!

This is wonderful!
Almost as good as (or maybe better) than jubilation for men.
You really need to like Oud to get on with this, but if you do then you are in for a real treat.
I'm not sure how practical it is to wear, I love everthing about it....but I think it would be difficult to wear in most social situations simply because oud is an acquired taste. I think most people could grow to love oud, but there initial reaction may be negative.

Still this is definetly worth trying on your skin. Price wise it is out of my league...but I can dream :-)

This is an absolutely beautiful rose fragrance. The best I've ever had the pleasure of inhaling. Even now as I'm typing I'm straining my neck as I keep my nose to the part of my arm I dabbed from the sample. I must get this fragrance, I MUST!!!

It's not a "masculine" fragrance AT ALL, but who cares when it's this beautiful. This type of beauty knows no bounds, especially not gender boundaries.

I want future wife (whoever she may be) to smell like this on our wedding day. Heck, I'll be wearing this to my wedding day!

I can't add much more than what's already been said. It's really incredible - a few dabs lasts and lasts. It's a rich, deep, luscious attar that's just wonderfully made.

I almost burst with curiosity when I finally received my attar.
The bottle was so tiny, I was almost afraid to open it.
Also I had ordered it blindly and was full of expectation.
So I bent down carfully and lifted up the minuscule glass ball that clothes the bottle.
I stepped back and prepared for bending over the bottle in order to take the first sniff when it already hit me.
That tiny little thing in a distance of about 60cm was emanating a fragranced aura - so proud, strong and fierce that I stood back amazed.It was like the dschinn coming out of aladdins lamp.
Such a small thing and so much glorious power in it.
It was as if a cristal clear steal blue sky unfolded in front of my eye.And it was just us wide as the open sky.
What makes this breathtaking is actually the overwhelming strength it generates.Nothing for someone who wants to pass unobserved.
It is a king/queen fragrance. I agree with what some said- its beauty is gender-passing. But it is not one of those horrid unisex nose-insults. It is just a gem, a jewel incarnated in fragrance.

The citrus notes are uplifting the whole construction without making a sad toilet water out of it.
The rose is dewy ,yet strong.
The francinsense lies as balsam under the crisp roseleaves and the oud gives it the radiance a king would wish for his arrival.
It is a fragrance which makes me think of an open desert sky, and it also is a fragrance I cannot imagine on a person with an anxious heart or shut thinking horizon.
It is as free and fierce as the tuareg.Son's of desert, courageous, proud, beautiful minds. Noble and uncompromising.
No double tongued, vague thing.
Though it is composed with just a few exquisit ingredients, it is everything else but simple.
Its depth derives from the faceted beauty natural ingredients usually posses. This is also why they tend to overwhelm us.
If this was a person, not a fragrance, it would be one of those rare people possessing inborn grace,charisma and authority.
So there I was standing in front of my royal little treasure.
I tried a teeny drop on each side of my neck and found myself wrapped into an olfacitve coat, one side icy light blue silk of sky, the other side the darkest blue velvet of desert night, over and over covered with stars....
I am grateful for such a beauty, it is very rare we can still get in touch with such genuine fragrance crowns

Homage is a luscious bouquet of the most ambrosial, luxurious and intoxicating roses one could ever imagine. In the opening, in harmony with the roses, there is a micro burst of refined citrus that lingers just long enough to introduce another pleasing and more dulcet citrus during the drydown. The roses, without relinquishing their preeminence, gently lay down into a magnificent bed of rich, but pleasant and mild, frankincense that has been mingled with sweet citrus, smooth amber, sexy musk and beautifully balanced wood. I fell in love with this attar.

Breathtakingly beautiful. It sings QUALITY with the voice of a thousand angels. Oud, Frankincense, a very expensive rose absolute, neroli. Those are the four notes I smell in perfect harmony. It's listed as unisex, and I totally believe that a thing of beauty transcends gender, but it is hard (for me) not to think of this as quintessentially feminine. It is incredibly potent, leaving a long trail of sillage, and is tenacious on the skin.

Most rose fragrances come away fairly dark and heavy, like C&S's No. 88 or most of Amouage's other offerings. Other times, the inclusion of Damascone causes what Turin describes as a "cooked" smell, like rose jam, found in Killian's Liasons Dangerous.

I am glad to report that Homage is neither. The rose is apparent right from the beginning, but this is a different rose, lighter, clearer, and majestic. It is not quite like a freshly crushed rose, but it lacks the dark intensity of many other rose fragrances, instead a constant clear whistle, perfect in mid-pitch. The frankincense is also apparently from the top notes. It starts a little acrid, a little sharp almost, but quickly mellows to smoothness. There may be some oud or citrus, but if they are there, they are so well blended that I cannot pick them out, instead acting as complements to the rose and frankincense to lift them up and give them lightness and complexity.

As this is a perfume oil, the top and mid notes are virtually nonexistent. You basically hit the dry-down right away, and it is wonderful (no alcohol to burn off, etc etc). Instant gratification.

I will say this much -- this rose is unique. It is sweet, yes, but not syrupy. It is not "butched up" with a whole lot of woods or spices, as with some of amouage's male offerings, but somehow the ingredients feel clear and crisp enough to be unisex. If you stand some amount of sweetness, this is a fantastic fragrance for guys.

The fragrance lasts, I find, reasonably long, but have not tested this aspect significantly. Siliage is pretty good. I wouldn't call it "godzilla" siliage, but it's nothing to scoff at either. An easy foot-long "aura" is projected with a couple dabs (which is all you really need).

That said, it is costly. Sample before you buy, because a mistake is going to hurt your wallet a lot.

5 Stars