Amyris Homme (2012)
by Maison Francis Kurkdjian

Maison Francis Kurkdjian Amyris Homme (2012) is the nod to the mass-appeal male luxury segment of the niche market that the house needed to make in order to have any success beyond hardcore collectors and "fragrance journey" types. For as cynical as I know that probably sounds, every niche house trading in high-end shopping arcades or luxury department stores needs at least one fragrance like this for men (but oddly not for women) if they want to really "break out", because it seems to be a particular obsession with male buyers of 21st century niche perfumes. In the designer realm, the male-focused market is all but inundated with such compliment-getting fragrances as damn near the only options available, since pulling compliments is almost more important than personal satisfaction with many male buyers in an age of extreme face culture, and as those buyers become affluent enough for niche or luxury perfumes those preferences don't instantly change if they do at all. I see nothing wrong with this if executed with grace, and that's exactly what we have with Amyris Homme. Some may cite Amyris as having DNA shared with many designers and therefore not truly of niche quality; and while I agree that tonka and ambroxan are pretty prevalent in 2010's designers marketed to men, using them in a niche fragrance doesn't automatically render it no longer niche in texture or quality (ask Creed about that one).

What Amyris Homme presents is a shining citrus opening over white florals and laid on a bed of aromatics keyed to the taste of the average joe made luxurious with a blend of gourmand tones and precious woods uncommon to the genre in which it resides. Amyris Homme is a bit of a parlor trick on Francis Kurkdjian's part for doing this, but it works. The opening is mandarin and rosemary, instantly recalling the opening moments of Creed Millésime Impérial (1995) and the roundness from Gucci Guilty pour Homme (2011), but adding a bit of sweetness from coconut that would later be coined "the Invictus DNA" when Paco Rabanne Invictus (2013) would show up a year later to democratize the accord with shampoo-like synthetic notes. Amyris Homme doesn't have the same level of sweentess any of the aforementioned designers have for long thanks to an altogether different dry down experience, but flashes of it do appear. The heart is all about iris and amyris elemifera (elemi) as the name suggests, which is what keeps this from being a niche-priced designer bait-and-switch, but the white floral accord is suffused with coffee which dries out the sweetness into the base. Once in that base, you'll get a skin glow of ambroxan and tonka, not altogether unfamiliar with wearers of designer masculines, but more aromatic than the usual suspects with the use of cedar oil and wood of the amyris plant (amyris balsamifera). An oud accord is listed but I don't get any recognizable oud, so it's probably a molecule.

Wear time on Amyris is substantial but the sillage is notoriously light on this scent, although overspraying is not recommended because that ambroxan, tonka, and woods base becomes unglued from the rest of the scent, pushing this into "cologne bro" territory in exchange for extra projection and sillage (MFK made an extrait to address this). Amyris Homme otherwise feels pretty versatile and generalist for year-round use, which is probably by design since this targets the same kind of guys who wear the aforementioned Creed Millésime Impérial, Creed Aventus (2010), Mancera Cedrat Boise (2011), designers, and possibly MFK's own Aqua Universalis (2009). Amyris Homme succeeds as being that wear-anytime scent that smells like a cut above the din of "designer juice", but it had better for the price. Amyris Homme still has Francis Kurkdjian's personality in it by virtue of the blending and penchant towards florals (especially the iris), but I can also see why advanced fragrance heads might find this a boring wear or resent the agenda it has. All I can say is that's okay, this probably isn't for you if you're one of them, but I still rather like the intelligent take on the "everyday clean masculine" presented here, which deftly avoids the syrupy sandpaper pitfalls of the designers with which it shares olfactive space. Sample and see for yourself. Thumbs up.

This is nothing ground breaking, fairly pleasant.... extremely light and not unique both in the opening and then it just fades after 4ish hours.
Safe to wear anywhere and anytime coz not many people other than yourself will smell this off of you.

Performance 3.5 -10
Scent 4 -10
Longevity 4- 10

Overall I would give this a 4- 10
Below average.

Despite trying quite hard to find research what Amyris actually is (a plant? a herb?) the best information I could find is that it may also be known as American sandalwood. Regardless, the EdT that I’m reviewing here is indeed woody, but has accents of iris and tonka beans (coumarin).

I have read a lot about Amyris Homme and have tried very hard to give an unbiased opinion. There are obvious parallels to other scents but I wouldn’t go as far as to call this a copy of anything. I find Chanel Allure Homme Sport (loaded with tonka bean) in any version and the Dior Homme series (based around iris) hard to wear. However, after a good month of testing Amyris Homme, I already have a bottle which I am really getting along well with.

The scent is light, but it becomes a mess with too many sprays. No more than 2-3 with this one and it lasts all day. The tonka supports the scent throughout but some very aromatic, woody accents interweave the scent throughout its development. The iris is also there, though not as in your face as other iris-heavy scent. I get no coffee note despite the note pyramid, although I can see how some may perceive a coffee note.

All in all, the EdT is a very under-rated scent. I discovered Amyris Homme in the cooler months, but this could easily work in warmer seasons as well.

Having tried the extrait which recently went on sale, I find that too heavy, less balanced than the EdT, even in cooler weather. I will revisit it of course in the warmer months, but for now I think the EdT is quite good that I would number among the ‘Holy Trinity’ from MFK along with Lumiere Noir and APOM Pour Homme.

Sweet, cloying tonka and citrus. I honestly can't tell the difference between this and Armani Code Profumo, and I'm not a fan of that either. There are a lot of notes listed here that I don't get at all because there's just too much sweetness in the way. Gotta say I've been pretty disappointed with my MFK sample set, none have been worth their pricetag.

Masculine top notes, most definitely. Very herbal. Mandarin is tart. The middle, is masculine as well. Balsam is stronger than the other notes. I get a sweet and light milky, coffee note. There is soapiness. The chocolate note is tiny. I can detect it occasionally. The oud from the base, moves in fairly fast. It mixes in, clouds all the other notes.

Chocolate increases. Tonka adds to it. Buzzy, woody thing stays... Oud begins to subside as the Tonka beast tames it. Oud becomes less domineering.

This gets a tad sweeter, with a dryness like powder. Not bad. Not great on me, either.