Ambre / Amber (2001)
by L'Occitane

Such a wonderful fragrance from L'Occitane! A rich, warm scent that I can't stop whiffing! Ambre / Amber lasts a LONG time on my skin, and its character remains predictable from spray-on to drydown and beyond. A simple, smooth scent that I highly recommend for fans of amber. ;^>

On my skin, instant vanilla. Sweet, rich. I do get some nice spices and the bergamot. It is a cozy, old-school and very feminine sort of scent. Utterly not my style but for those who like this sort of thing it is probably quite attractive.

I tried this on at an airport. I have tried many types of amber and many forms of pure amber. This is a very, very good one. If you want that sweet & warm amber scent without the cloying powdery quality that is common among many brands- go here. I would buy some if I were in a place where I could. I wish I had bought the bottle at the airport.

On me, the first blast of Ambre is very, very cedar-y. but after 20-30 minutes or so, L'Occitane Amber EDT dries down to a fantastic, classic warm, sweet amber. This is a very classic amber scent, it's like what all the more expensive amber perfumes dry down to, and to be honest, that really is what I'm looking for as it is the soft, sweet, warm spicy scent that I love rather than the floral or whatever fancy twiddly bits over the top.

This is a great every day scent for me, it has medium throw and lasts really well (at least 12 hours). It's not a pale amber like IPdF Ambra del Nepal, nor is it a really dark spicy amber like SL Ambre Sultan. It's more in between, like the drydown and lingering base notes of PoTL Luctor et Emergo or Hermes Ambre Narguile. It certainly doesn't have the high end cachet of those two, but does have the same quality and intensity of drydown. Anyway, I love it and will hoard my bottle of this now discontinued beauty.

Ambre is like a good-hearted but not very interesting friend-- so kind, so warm, so eager to please, without a sharp tone or a bitter note in their body, but yet... tiresome? No. Fatiguing? No? Dull? Not exactly. You want to like them more because they're obviously so well-meant, and after all isn't warmth worth something in this cold cruel world?

And like such a friend Ambre is sometimes most delightful in retrospect. The next day and a shower later Ambre finally had the faintness to have a little mystery, a little withholding mixed with all that ambery generosity and it was.. an intriguing memory.