Private Collection Amber Ylang-Ylang (2008)
by Estée Lauder

Amber: Yes. Ylang Ylang: Barely.
On first spraying the notes come on strong. Then, quickly tempered, they enter a sort of abstractness of neutrality. If this was the intent of the perfumer, no wonder the ylang ylang flower was neutered: Ylang ylang makes a statement… this is no fragrance of or for statements. After the first three minutes, nothing in this fragrance is allowed to speak of itself: no individual voice… only a quietly mingled chorus of muted vibrations… very pretty, very nice, but still muted. Its lack of voice might be taken for subtlety, but I don't think so because it isn’t a subtle fragrance. Though the ylang ylang flower is not a wallflower, that’s its assigned position here in Amber Ylang Ylang. I would like to see some of the notes given their freedom here.

This is one of those perfumes in my collection that honestly, I like it more each time I wear it. It's comforting, elegant and sensual and stays close to the skin. This must not be a typical amber scent, because all the scents I've tried after this with "amber" in the name - I have not liked. But this, this is delicious. No other perfume comes to mind for a reference point, this is unlike any other I've smelled. I did get the playdoh note at first, but that dissipates and the most lovely, creamy scent develops that is neither too sweet, spicy, woody or incensy. I feel like I own one of the world's most unique and divine scents - it's hard to believe that this is not niche.

There's a way of making a beautiful perfume that sits on the line between "pretty, accessible" and "boring". Estee Lauder is very good at this and AYY is right on that line; though for me one foot is on the boring side. They have taken absolutely no risks with this perfume, which I find so disappointing that I had to try this scent three times just to be sure.

Some Lauder scents are truly interesting (Beyond Paradise is a bizarre beastie, Youth Dew is a potent brew that has stood the test of time - for example), but some of their recent offerings - this, Sensuous - seem to not be a product of creative perfumery, but of focus groups and corporate calculations on a spreadsheet (I have no way of knowing of course, this is just my impression).

The opening is a sterilised ylang; the banana-skin note is missing, the jasmine-like sweetness is not there. It does smell somewhat synthetic - not in a jarring way, not at all (very pretty) - but it's just boring. The heart does not beat any faster, the nose doesn't try to work out what's there. It's an "oh?" and then you forget it's there.

Some hours in, a pretty, but thin amber base warms on your skin and at this point I get a slight hint of cookie-dough and vanilla. If there is real wood here, I don't detect it. This scent would be stunning in another context: in a rich body cream.

Elegant, comforting, and sensual at the same time. Doesn't smell like Gaultier2 per se, but has the same effect: warm, sweet, skin scent. Loving it this winter!

I don't smell a lot of ylang ylang here, which is all the better for me. Two hours after trying this at the EL counter I absolutely had to go buy a bottle. This opens pretty strong and heady, but the beauty of this perfume is in the dry down. It goes through a very brief baby powder phase, but eventually warms into a soft, cozy, amber-vanilla-sandalwood skin scent. I think that this fragrance is extremely well done and while it may be on the polite side, what it lacks in personality it makes up for in polish.

Absolutely Cedric on that play-doh note and a very beautiful version. I was not expecting to love this as I thought the Ylang note would make it a second-rate Samsara, but eventhough I smell more Ylang than you do, I agree that this AYY is more a woody oriental than the expected floral. I am a sandalwood freak and EL has made a beauty here.

If you expect either of the new PCs to be like the mother scent, you will be in for a letdown. Neither reminds me of the original Private Collection in any way. It's not even as linear as most ELs, the bergamot and geranium fly away pretty quickly and it does not settle on my skin for a good 30 minutes.

FBW if I can find "a deal"