All Invited! ♥ ♥ ♥ Sniff 'n' Speak Saturday, Oct 3, 2009 ★★★ AMBER

[Quarry]

For newcomers, here's the lowdown on this monthly online event:

Every member, any gender, novice or veteran sniffer, is invited to apply a fragrance related to the theme of the month (listed below) and share your thoughts on the first Saturday of the month. This isn't a mandatory assignment; it's just for fun. Because not everyone logs in on weekends, you're encouraged to continue to add comments within this themed thread on subsequent days. If you don't join us for this month's discussion, please look ahead at the tentative lineup and join in at a later date.

JANUARY ~ Oriental
(warmth, flowers, spices, woods & vanilla)
FEBRUARY ~ Animalic
(civet-, castoreum-, leather-, or musk-influenced scents)
MARCH ~ Chypre
(used to be defined by oakmoss presence, but ...?)
APRIL ~ Floral
(single solifore or full bouquet of flowers)
MAY~ Fruity
(single sweet fruits or a bowl of fruity-florals)
JUNE ~ Citrus
(hesperidic: bergamot, lemon, orange, grapefruit, tangerine, etc.)
JULY ~ Green
(fresh leaves & grasses)
AUGUST ~ Fresh or aquatic
(cool, dewy notes and seaside scents)
SEPTEMBER ~ Opposite-Gender Fragrance
OCTOBER ~ Ambery
(dark, light or blond amber as feature note)
NOVEMBER ~ Spicy
(warm notes associated with cooking)
DECEMBER ~ Gourmand
(fragrances with a foody note, but not usually fruity--save for May)

Looking for suggestions?
See previous SnS discussions:
Jan. 2007~Oriental • Feb. 2007~Animalic • March 2007~Chypre • April 2007~ Floral • May 2007~Fruity • June 2007~ Citrus • Sept. 2007~Fougere • Oct. 2007~ Amber • Nov. 2007~Spicy • Dec. 2007~ Gourmand • Jan. 2008~Oriental • Feb. 2008~Animalic • March 2008~Chypre • April 2008~Floral • May 2008~Fruity • June 2008~Citrus • July 2008~Green • Aug. 2008~Fresh/Aquatic • Sept. 2008~Opposite Gender or Fougere • Oct. 2008 ~ Amber • Nov. 2008 ~ Spicy • Dec. 2008 ~ Gourmand • Jan. 2009 ~ Oriental • Feb. 2009 ~ Animalic • March 2009 ~ Chypre • April 2009 ~ Floral • May 2009 ~ Fruity • June 2009 ~ Citrus • July 2009 ~ Greens • Aug. 2009 ~ Fresh • Sept. 2009 ~ Opposite Gender

For the months of July and August 2007, regular BN was offline and supporters had access to an abbreviated site. We discussed aquatics and greens, but those posts are no longer accessible.

[Haunani]

Ooh, I am on an amber rampage right now with the season change. I think I will wear my new-found love, Note Ambrée by Martine Micallef. I just have a sample, but my birthday is coming up and my husband simply doesn't know what to get me!

[Mathilde]

Oooo, one of my most-favorite-ests! Yummy yummy, can't wait...

[Asha]

Mmmm, me too! Last year I think I tried 3 or 4 ambers on SnS--what a blast!

[TaoLady]

AMBRE RUSSE here I come.....(don't fret little Voile d'Ambre...you'll have your chance.....:bounce::bounce::bounce:....)

[tigrushka]

Since I've been going through my SL scents lately I'll wear Ambre Sultan...

[tdem1961]

I'm in! I think I'll wear Anne Pliska - it's been a while.

[Wordbird]

Oooooh, so many ambers, so little skin!!!
Nom nom.

[RHM]

Yipee! But how to choose the one to wear???

[heynow]

Fun! Good time for ambers with the cold weather. Some of my options I'm considering:

Prada No.3 Cuir Ambre
Guerlain Oriental Brulent
Montale White Aoud
Le Labo Labdanum 18
Sonoma Scent Studio Ambre Noir or Ambre Nepal
Ava Luxe Loves True Bluish Light
PG L'Oiseau de Nuit

Gee...I've got more to choose from then I thought (many of the above are samples/decants).

[Guest 3]

I'm not much of a solo-amber fan. I have a few things in mind, though.

[warlandsboy]

This sounds awesome! No idea what I'll where yet but that's the fun of it...

[laral28]

Oh goodie..I'm planning a fragrance field trip that day too! I can try something new.

[Guest 3]

This sounds awesome! No idea what I'll where yet but that's the fun of it...

I love your quote from Mother Teresa. I meant to tell you this before when I noticed it. She was/is one of my favorite people on earth.

[mikeperez23]

Oh goodie - I will wear my brand new decant of Amber Absolute by Tom Ford, and burn my amber scented Annick Goutal candle.

If you can believe it, I went through my bottle of Ambre Sultan by SL - and haven't replaced it.

[Novis2007]

I think I will wear Ambre Narguille tomorrow.

[Anthracite]

I love me a bit of amber. It's 1.30 am (so technically Saturday) in UK and I'm finishing/starting the day with the ambery 31 Rue Cambon drydown. A gorgeous, sophisticated, very Chanel take on amber goodness.

Come morning it will be a choice between Hermes Ambre Narguile and SL Ambre Sultan. If I'm feeling indecisive then I could do what I occasionally do and layer the two together for a complete amber knock-out. Did I mention that I like amber?

[Wordbird]

Nom nom nom, Amberama!
We all smell sooooo good!
I've got Molinard's Amber on my left wrist (fresh! very unisex) and MPG Ambre Precieux on my right wrist (ooh, faintly medicinal - very interesting). Many thanks to the kind person who sent me the MPG and my apologies for not remembering which of my kind friends it was.

As ever, I am learning vis SnS. This time it's that Amber can be fresh and herball/medicinal. And there was I thinking it was smoooooooth and mellow (YR Voile d'Ambre stylee). Or rich like the delicious PdE Ambre Russe. But suddently Ambre Sultan makes more sense as a 'classical' amber.

Later today I anticipate a little of that Amber Sultan goodness or maybe some Ambre Narguile. That's if I want to dream of sweets all night. And I'm reserving my cleavage until I can find my little vial of bliss called Ambre Russe. I'm such a greedy gal.
More later.

[TwoRoads]

I hadn't worn this since March and have been looking forward to Sniff'n'Speak day:

Ambre Sultan
by Serge Lutens

Top notes: Oregano, Bay leaf, Coriander, Myrtle,
Middle notes: Angelica, Patchouli
Base notes: Labdanum, Styrax, Tolu balsam, Benzoin, Sandalwood

[jathanas]

Hermessence Ambre Narguile Hermes

This is the ideal SOTE for an intimate dinner!

[TaoLady]

I'm so boring. I'll hunt and hunt within a fragrance category, be knocked out, swoop down and nestle in forEVER. (Well, in this case, for three years) That's what happened with today's SnS amber...the DIVINE...


It's got a fizzy boozy opening and some serious spices together with smoky tea and then settles into the most glorious leathered amber you can imagine that lasts and lasts. The ne plus ultra. (For me.)

A troika commandeered by a fiercely handsome cossack (sorry, my Russian friends...this is just fantasy) speeding over the icy tundra (maybe pursued by wolves) ...me snuggled in sables. I know it's all TERRIBLY PI (politically Incorrect) but MAN is it worth it!

[warlandsboy]

I love your quote from Mother Teresa. I meant to tell you this before when I noticed it. She was/is one of my favorite people on earth.

Thanks! It's a great quote from an even greater person. My older sister actually was going to have the opportunity to go to see her speak in Toronto back in the early 90s at the Skydome for one of those world peace type days, but unfortunately (but fortunately for others) she didn't show up as she was too busy with her work back in India.

Now back to the topic - I was going to participate in this but I forgot and already applied my scent of the day! NOOooooo!

[tdem1961]

I am wearing Anné Pliska today. Amber-centric, to be sure, but a shifting interplay of chilly and warm facets results in a more complex and interesting interpretation. Delicious.

Notes: bergamot, amber, orange, vanilla, musk, geranium, patchouli

[Quarry]

Hey there, Jathanas, I'm wearing Ambre Narguile on one wrist, Sweet Amber Wood on the other.

ABOUT AMBRE NARGUILE
I once thought this could be my holy grail, and I wore it quite a bit. I even layered it with three other frags successfully--DK Black Cashmere, JM Black Vetyver Cafe, and Guerlain With Love. I didn't understand what others were saying in their reviews: good scent, but too much apple pie. Then something happened, I began getting apple pie, and AN fell from grace. Revisiting it today, I'm reminded of its great character, but still getting a little too much sliced, baked apple to want to wear it again soon.

ABOUT AVA LUXE SWEET AMBER WOOD
I thought this scent might be a substitute to the too-fruity AN, but it begins to smell stale (I think it's the sandalwood) by the heart notes, so it doesn't out-rank AN.

DID SOME READING ...
Was perusing reviews here, at MUA and in The Guide, trying to see if there's an amber I haven't tried which might hold promise. Noticed what Luca Turin said of Armani Privé Ambre Soie (given four stars) by Christine Nagel, who composed Theorema: "Nagel is probably the best in the world at this sort of fragrance, and when Theorema was discontinued she did the right thing: She reincarnated that beautiful structure as Ambre Soie, one of the best ambers around, rich but not overly opaque, lush but not too sweet, and with strange anisic notes that keep it interesting ..."

I mention this for two reasons: (1) readers of this thread may find it interesting, (2) Christine Nagel composed Guerlain's limited edition With Love, whose drydown releases my favorite amber to date. The list: pink pepper, quince, wild rose, mandarin flower, wild lily, freesia, blond amber and sandalwood.

I haven't been able to satisfy my curiosity about what qualifies an amber as being "blond" or "white." As best as I can understand, it's just the lightest-colored of ambers, probably blended in some proprietary way. For the record, I found nothing ambery or attractive about the Gap's White Amber fragrance.

Another rose-amber winner at our house is Stella Rose Absolute. (Winks at Ubu ) My dear husband likes the rosey top notes, I struggle with rose in general and try to ignore the top notes in anticipation of the rich amber base that rocks my sensibilities.

From Jan Moran’s book Fabulous Fragrances, I offer her lists (which I find a little hard to defend, but ...) --
Floral-Ambery: Apres L’Ondee, Balahe, Blue Grass, C’est La Vie, Caesars Woman, DNA, L’Heure Bleue, Mlle Ricci, Moment Supreme, Oscar de la Renta, Panthere, Poison, Spellbound, Tiffany.

Oriental-Ambery: Anne Klein II, Chantilly, Ciara, Dionne, Divine Folie, Guess?, Habanita, Must de Cartier, Normandie, Obsession, Roma, Ungaro.

From her lists, Roma stands out to me as a good amber qualifier.

Some of you may remember The Good-Times, No-Wrong-Answers, 153-Frag BNgo Game, wherein we attempted to name at least one frag for each cross-over category.


The answers in the amber bi-category sections were:
(2) Aldehydic-Amber: Shocking
(18) Ambery-Amber: Ambre Extreme, becker eshaya Golden Amber
(19) Ambery-Animalic: JPG Classique
(20) Ambery-Aquatic: Dune
(21) Ambery-Aromatic:
(22) Ambery-Chypre: Patou Mille, Sheherazade, Miss Dior, Deseo
(23) Ambery-Citrus: Anne Pliska
(24) Ambery-Floral: Stella Rose Absolute
(25) Ambery-Fougere: Prada for Men
(26) Ambery-Fresh: Prada Amber Pour Homme
(27) Ambery-Fruity: Delices Eau Fruitee
(28) Ambery-Gourmand: Ambre Narguile, BPAL Coyote
(29) Ambery-Green: EL Private Collection
(30) Ambery-Oriental: Ambre Russe
(31) Ambery-Spicy: Profumum Ambre Aurea
(32) Ambery-Woody: Givenchy Pi
(33) Ambery-Vanilla: Must de Cartier

[Nostalgie]

Oooh.....I've had love affairs with all the ambers, most recently several Ava Luxe Ambers (I love Amber Essence) ,Ambre 114 (Histories de Parfums) and Ambre précieux (MPG)...but I keep coming back to Ambre sultan.

[Guest 3]

Thanks, Quarry, for your thoughtful post this morning. I enjoyed reading it, and it's got me thinking about ambers...all the different types of amber fragrances. I usually find Amber (captial "A") fragrances a bit too much for me, although I like many ambery fragrances. So I'm not sure which ambers those would be. There are a lot of different ambers, I've been reading, mostly synthetics, and natural amber (or ambergris) which is rare and costly, ambrette (seed, is it?) which I assume is a natural thing that amber as a perfume ingredient is derived from. So confusing! Profumo.it's Ambergris was interesting to me, as it did truly have that briny sea odor and a subtle sweetness buried deep inside. I think that one is as close to the real thing as I've ever smelled. My issue with Amber fragrances is that I have to choke my way through at least the first quarter hour, often longer, until they get skin-scenty and delicious. Wish I could just cut straight to the good part!

This morning, I'm wearing Bourbon French Parfums' Kus Kus in eau de cologne strength (which is plenty strong!). It's an old fashioned, sweet, subtly spicy, powdery amber that smells very nice once it settles down. I found some interesting info about it online, an excerpt from A Guide to the Historic Shops & Restaurants of New Orleans:

In 1843, perfumer August Doussan arrived from Paris and established Bourbon French Parfums. He brought along his signature fragrance, “Kus Kus”—a spicy, tropical aroma that became an immediate favorite among the Creole ladies. When it came time to retire, Doussan left New Orleans to live out his years in the Caribbean. Travelers who later sailed to Haiti and Jamaica were surprised to catch the scent of Doussan’s Kus Kus among local women, evidence that Doussan had continued perfuming well into old age.
If you visit Bourbon French Perfumery or look at their website, they don't list ingredients or fragrance notes. This one is just described as a soft, powdery, spicy scent. Which it is. This fragrance really does have me longing to revisit New Orleans today. It's one of my favorite cities.

This evening, we're going to a fundraiser Fish Fry at our church (raising money for new AV equipment), and I may wear Shalimar to that, since the citrus will go well with fish!

Enjoy the day, all.

[Quarry]

skin-scenty

+ +

... surprised to catch the scent of Doussan’s Kus Kus among local women, evidence that Doussan had continued perfuming well into old age.

Trés cool story, ma belle ami.

This fragrance really does have me longing to revisit New Orleans today.

Meetcha at Cafe du Monde!

[Coconut]

Thanks to Twolf who has kindly introduced Voile D'Ambre by Yves Rocher to me. Yves Rocher used to have retail shops in Hong Kong, however they were all closed a few years ago and I totally regret not visiting the stores or tried any of their products in those days.
I read from a few blogs that Voile D'Ambre consists of mandarin leaf and cardamom, opoponax, incense and myrrh; base notes are patchouli, australian sandalwood and madagascar vanilla. I find this a fascinating scent because it has a glaring bright beginning but quickly kicks into the middle notes where I can smell the myrrh and vanilla. Good longevity!

[tang]

I usually find Amber (captial "A") fragrances a bit too much for me, although I like many ambery fragrances....

My issue with Amber fragrances is that I have to choke my way through at least the first quarter hour, often longer, until they get skin-scenty and delicious. Wish I could just cut straight to the good part!

This is my experience with ambers, too. Straight ambers are tricky (as evidenced by the bottle of L'Artisan Ambre Extrême that I bought from and sold to ubu in the span of a few months).

I picked up Gaultier² (amber, musk, vanilla) today but realized it's what I chose for last year's amber thread. My beloved Ambre Narguilé would be too easy of a choice so I'm going to look around for something different.

[heynow]

After much deliberation I went with:

Parfumerie Generale L'Ombre Fauve (of which a TPC decant fortuitously arrived earlier in the week).
notes: Amber, musk, woods, patchouli

The only types of ambers I don't really enjoy are those they get overly sticky-sweet (i.e. Montale Blue Amber). The nice thing about L'Ombre Fauve is that the patchouli and woody notes balance the sweetness of the amber just right for my tastes. It happens to be pouring and very chilly in the NYC area today so a nice warm amber is just perfect.

I'm also sampling a couple ambers, one familiar and one new:

Guerlain Oriental Brulent: I agree with Burr this is the best of the Les Elixirs Charnels. It's a fairly straightforward amber with a hint of incense and vanilla. Long lasting with great sillage... I only problem is that I want to wear it all the time and damn those bottles are pricey.

Sonoma Scent Studio Ambre Noir: I wish I could say I enjoy it but it's simultaneously too sweet and it has a somewhat plastic-y, synthetic note in it that I'm not enjoying. I'll give it some time but I may wash off in exchange for a better amber.