Estee Lauder Private Collection Amber Ylang Ylang: A Review

Estee Lauder’s newest addition to its Private Collection is Amber Ylang Ylang. On Estee Lauder’s website the fragrance is touted as an “oriental amber” and, in spite of myself, I’ve been really excited for it. I’m a huge fan of comfort scents and anything that focuses on amber is usually the epitome of a comfort scent.

I purchased the eau de parfum, not the pure parfum, which means I didn’t get a bottle with the handsome stones; the edp bottle has a hammered gold colored cap as shown in the above pic. It’s still a nice looking bottle, simple, classic and somewhat masculine.

There’s not so very much to say about Amber Ylang Ylang itself. It smells like a straightforward amber & vanilla fragrance with a pronounced play-doh note for about the first hour. Don’t get me wrong, Amber Ylang Ylang smells good, I’d go so far as to say it smells really good, but it’s just too simple to garner much more praise than that. Given that it’s Estee Lauder’s Private Collection I did expect something more sophisticated. Truth be told, Amber Ylang Ylang basically smells like something you could purchase from Bath & Body Works. If someone gave me Amber Ylang Ylang as a gift, I’d be perfectly happy with it. But since I shelled out $120 I’m a bit miffed that it’s not a step above what it is.

Amber Ylang Ylang notes: ylang absolute, Italian bergamot, geranium oil, Bulgarian rose absolute, cinnamon Ceylon, incense, vanilla bean, sandalwood, and amber.

Amber Ylang Ylang, as part of Estee Lauder’s Private Collection, is only available at select department stores.