Black Amber by Black Gardenia - Michele Bergman

l'm with Lupa on this one; it does smell very like a head-shop patchouli oil for the first hour. Except the patchouli in this is sharp & quite weak, with little sillage & no richness or complexity. After an hour or so it sweetens a little, & then finally there's a quite nice amber-vanilla drydown, which disappears in a puff of powder. On subsequent wearings l didn't notice the patchouli as much, & thought at times that this was quite a pleasant scent, but compared to other ambers l've tried it's still pretty unremarkable.

Well-named. This is a resinous, rich amber scent. It does have a dark, mysterious quality. The vanilla blends in a silky smooth creaminess, and a hint of patchouli adds just the right subtle touch of dark, peppery earthiness. Lasts a very long time.

while at first, this amber seems sweet and rich, after a few minutes it starts to morph quickly into a thick, vanilla-based, Spiritual Sky-style scent, like their amber or opium. if this juice was less expensive, i'd think it was fine - as it stands, there are other ambers which are far more complex than this one, and i'd rather spend the money on those.