Amber Alert: Ambre Dore by Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier

A few years ago, when I discovered that Bonwit Teller carried the Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier line, I bought a few of my favorites over the phone. At that point, it was hard to find some of the older MPG fragrances - like Eau des Iles, Parfum D'Habit, Camelia Chinois, and Ambre Precieux. Even the stores that did carry the line didn't seem to include such rarities in their inventory, and one day, talking to the sales associate, I discovered there was one so rare I'd never even heard of it. Soir d'Orient had been reviewed three times on Makeupalley.com and averaged a rating of four and a half. It was described at the time (pre oud craze) as a leather amber with smoked vanillic facets. And Bonwit Teller hadn't carried any in quite some time.

Fast forward to 2012, when MPG announced the release of a new fragrance called Ambre Dore. More than a few comments online remarked at the similarity of notes between Dore and D'Orient. Were they the same fragrance? The notes I could find for Soir d'Orient included amber, oud, and leather. The notes for Dore: essence of oud, ambergris, saffron, styrax resin, coriander, myrrh, and vetiver. Fragrantica eventually cleared the air with its listing for Dore. According to them, it was in fact a reissue of that 2006 rarity formerly known as Soir D'Orient. The craze for oud made this once special issue fragrance, exclusive to the Eastern market, now marketable to the rest of us.

My hopes were pretty high for Dore, as Soir D'Orient, its former incarnation, represented that now practically extinct thing in perfumery - something I wanted but couldn't get my hands on. And while almost no fragrance I can think of could possibly fulfill such built up expectations, Dore makes an admirable go of it.

The few reviews I've read commend Ambre Dore for its robust, animalic opening. If you consider oud animalic, they might be right. For me, it's a smooth, ambery melange which smells a little like leather but more like what we've all now pretty much agreed is "oud". Whether this is "oud essence", as MPG says, or good old fashioned cypriol I can't tell you, but it's pretty fantastic either way. I don't know what I would have made of this opening four or five years ago, before oud became so ubiquitous in niche perfumery that it might as well be fig or iris. I might have regarded Soir d'Orient as "slightly medicinal", which is how we were all describing oud back when it made its first, feeble bid for our attention. I wouldn't have helped support its journey West, I suspect.

By the time I finally caved and bought a bottle of Ambre Dore, I'd been searching for the near perfect amber for several months. Ambre Dore comes nearer to that near than anything else I've gotten my hands on. After its wonderfully rich opening, it settles down into a slight variation on the wonderful Ambre Precieux, with touches of resins and vanilla, a fairly old fashioned take on the classic amber fragrance, which is the kind of thing I like. Ambre Russe has this quality, to some degree, though it perks things up with apple. Lutens' Ambre Sultan, despite all the herbs, is pretty old fashioned. Still, Sultan is too much of a skin scent for me; Russe is wonderful in almost every way, and I can't tell you in just which way it isn't quite as wonderful as I'd like it to be. I like some amount of oomph in an amber, and some of my favorites, much as I love them, get a little too powdery a little too quickly. When they don't get powdery, they start to smell less like amber. Even once it mellows considerably, an hour or so in, Ambre Dore has that kind of weird, edgy quality it showed in the opening. It dries down as satisfyingly as it starts out, and for me it's amber bliss.

Even more than the amber, I love the oud, which has surprised me. Oud is so over-exploited now that I cringe at the sound of the word. Everyone has a wonderful new oud, which smells no more or less wonderful than the last. Oud seems to have finally given niche perfumery the excuse it was apparently looking for to boost its prices laughably high. It was a real dilemma: how do you package perfume in the same old bottle but charge more? Oud answered the question, however insipidly. You import "costly" oud "essences" from the East. We are now in the Baroque Oud period, where niche lines release their second, third, and even fourth oud fragrances. Their last oud smelled like every other, but they convince someone (if not me) that they have something new to say with the material, which is invariably synthetically composed, no matter the claims of faraway and hard to reach origins. Nothing is hard to reach anymore, but oud convinces us that state of covet versus lack still thrives, right under our noses.

Ambre Dore is an oud fragrance which doesn't scream oud. No mistake, you smell the oud in it, but it's incorporated as a supporting player - perhaps because Soir d'Orient came out at a time when oud wasn't something to write, let alone leave, home about. Ambre Dore used oud with the kind of subtlety that no modern oud release can really afford to, and wins me over for that. It's a pretty exceptional scent.

If anyone else has favorite ambers I'd love to know.

Annick Goutal Ambre Fetiche: Exceptional Amber

Day 6 of Annick Goutal Week

The Annick Goutal Les Orientalistes Collection is an excellent addition to the Goutal brand. Since the houses' fragrances consist mainly of florals, a quartet of orientals was most welcome. All four of the offerings from Les Orientalistes collection are fantastic with my favorites being Ambre Fetiche (#1) and Encens Flamboyant (#2).

The amber note is a chameleon in perfumery. Amber essential oil doesn’t exist, it’s not a real thing in nature; amber is not strictly ambergris (ambergris may be a component) nor does it have anything to do with fossilized tree sap (i.e., amber stones in jewelry). Amber is, in fact, a man-made accord, which usually consists of varying degrees of labdanum, benzoin, tonka, ambergris and oppoponax. Some amber fragrances are really sweet and blended with heavy doses of foodie vanilla – these are usually cheap smelling Bath & Body Works type stuff and not the amber fragrances I seek. I physically crave deep, incense-y, dry, resinous ambers during the fall and winter. Some pefumes that fall under my favorite amber category are: Parfums d’Empire Ambre Russe and Sonoma Scent Studio Ambre Noire. I like, but don’t love, Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan, because there’s a bit too much cedar in this for me, and I think Ambre Fetiche blows it away, it’s more fierce.

If I’m not feeling like wearing my most outrageously decadent amber, namely PdE Ambre Russe, but still want something deeply rich yet wearable my go-to amber is Annick Goutal Ambre Fetiche. Ambre Fetiche is a phenomenal brew of frankincense, leathery birch tar, dry woods, smoke with a touch of powdery (iris root) amber and vanilla in the dry down. At times, Ambre Fetiche seems less about amber and more about incense and woods. I happen to adore the strident initial blast of frankincense, birch tar-ry leather and smoky dry woods. If you were blind-folded you would never guess Ambre Fetiche is brought to us by Annick Goutal because there is *nothing* demure about it. The reviews on Ambre Fetiche are mixed and I think (once again) this might have to do with sampling practices. Ambre Fetiche must be sprayed and sprayed liberally to get the full effect. This is not to say Ambre Fetiche is fleeting because it’s anything but – it easily lasts 6-8 hours on me and the farrrr dry down is just as breathtaking in it’s own softer way as the start.

Even though there is nothing gourmand about Ambre Fetiche I always have the desire to lick my arm when I wear it. I noticed a review from The Non-Blonde, where she feels the same. There is something deeply carnal and subconscious about Ambre Fetiche. It feels familiar, like a scent I’ve known all my life and perhaps in past lives. I think it’s the resins, incense and dry smoky woods that call to mind a time long ago, when we anointed ourselves with precious salves, ointments and oils in ritualistic ways. I think of Cleopatra. For those who love this sort of fierce amber I’ve described, Ambre Fetiche is an absolute must. But keep in mind there are two sides to Ambre Fetiche, the fierce start and then the gentler dry down where it becomes a dreamy woody-amber.

Notes are listed as: frankincense, labdanum, styrax, benzoin, iris, vanilla and leather

Photos of Ambre Fetiche bottles are the brilliant works of Nathan Branch

PS: Did you notice the guy in the Cleopatra image licking her thigh? Well, the scent of Ambre Fetiche gives him the urge to lick, too.

Sonoma Scent Studio, Fireside Intense & Ambre Noir: Reviews

A few days ago, on MUA, a poster suggested that everyone would have a bottle of CK Obsession if it were under a Lutens of Malle label.

This statement got me thinking about under-appreciated and lesser known perfumers. The perfumer that immediately came to mind is Laurie Erickson of Sonoma Scent Studio. Laurie is brilliant. Every single fragrance I’ve tried from SSS is gorgeous. I’m not exaggerating. A few months ago I fell in love with Champagne de Bois and Wood Violet. This week I tried Fireside, Fireside Intense, Winter Wood and Ambre Noir. All four scents floored me.

Fireside Intense is a smoky woody leathery masterpiece. Here’s the story behind Fireside and Fireside Intense, in the perfumer’s own words:

“Sometimes in the fall and winter when I step outside I'll feel the sudden rush of cold air touched with woodsmoke from a neighbor's fire. I associate the scent of burning woods with the cool season and also with crisp summer nights by the campfire when I was young (our parents treated us to wonderful camping trips each summer). From first sniff, I’ve liked the smoke-tinged, spicy scent of guaiacwood and the outright woodsmoke of diluted birch tar. I wanted Fireside Intense to be a bottled reminder of the scent of an outdoorsy campfire. Fireside is a slightly sweeter version without the leather notes for those who prefer a sweeter smoky scent.”

Fireside Intense is a realistic and linear fragrance. When I put Fireside Intense on my wrists I turn into a freakish huffer. It smells so good. On a chilly autumn or winter day it is the most refreshing, brisk, outdoorsy and natural aroma. The addition of smoke and leather make it nicely butch (or masculine) and dry. I feel like I’m sitting by a smoldering campfire – sifting through the charred wood logs with a stick. I tried both Fireside and Fireside Intense and the leather in Intense makes it kickin’. I love the smell of Fireside for myself but I imagine it would smell amaaaaazing on a guy.

Fireside Intense notes: Indian sandalwood, Himalayan cedar, Texas cedar, guaiacwood, nagarmotha (Cyperus), birch tar, myrrh, leather and agarwood.

~*~

Ambre Noir is a truly dark amber. Ambre Noir focuses on labdanum so this is not a syrupy sweet amber in the least.

Here’s the story behind Ambre Noir, in the perfumer’s own words:

“I love labdanum and wanted Ambre Noir to highlight it. Working with labdanum resin is a delight to the senses: it's a thick golden resin with a wonderful musky, woodsy, amber scent and is beautiful after it is diluted with alcohol and filtered. I held the vanilla in Ambre Noir to a minimum and added interest and complexity to the labdanum with incense, moss, leather, and woods. I wanted the darkest, richest, smoothest woodsy amber with incense and a hint of leather.”

Amber is one of my favorite notes, and I usually like almost all amber perfumes, even the sweet ones, such as Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan. Ambre Noir is a luxurious treat. It is smooth as buttah and the woodsy quality stands out nearly more than the amber itself. For anyone searching for a dry woody amber this is it.

Ambre Noir notes: Labdanum absolute, amber, rose, olibanum, myrrh, vetiver codistilled with mitti, oakmoss absolute, aged Indian patchouli, Texas cedarwood, sandalwood, castoreum.

Bravo, Laurie Erickson, you’re an amazing talent!