Ambergris
by AbdesSalaam Attar Profumo

Ambergris tincture is a little odd and strikes me as slightly fecal, but it’s pleasant, even addictive. I kept pressing my nose to my wrist to get the sweetness that’s buried inside, because it’s really not that strong of an odor. It has a fluid silkiness. Again, I may be (am) rather suggestible but I also got a salty briny sea vibe from it. Funny thing, but my dog, who HATES perfumes, intelligent creature that she is, kept sniffing me all over when I wore this. Big thumbs up from her because I *might* have smelled like some interesting thing washed up on the beach. And thumbs up from me just for the experience of trying this on its own. I really enjoyed it.

After the alcohol dries, I get a very strong smell of mothballs. I am very surprised because I also smell a similar mothball quality in civet. To my nose, civet is like a combination of mothballs, feces and florals. Ambergris is like mothballs, brine and bile. I can't disagree with other observations on the bile aspect, only my first inclination was to say it smelled of very bad breath (human). Another surprise for me--this is the first animalic that I have not found to be pleasant. Apparently I prefer feces to vomit. Joking aside, I can tell that ambergris could be transformed by blending. I am sure its bitter edge could round out a fragrance, giving it some definition in the same way that bitter herbs and salt make a bland stew come to life. The deep drydown is sweet, not like what is typically considered an amber accord (labdanum, benzoin, vanilla), and it smells quite lovely, a bit like fresh air (but NOT ozonic).

Ambergris is a "single note" of ambergris tincture, and is great for anybody who likes to make their own blends or layer fragrances.