Amber Mystique Estēe Lauder 2013

Amber Mystique is nothing like it's more synthetic cousin Wood Mystique, and it's a good thing too. Having read many negative reviews, I was wary of blind buying this one, but when I got an excellent price, and saw that I don't really have a proper amber fragrance in my wardrobe anymore, I had to buy it. Well, it's a good thing I did because I love this perfume. First of all, the sillage is incredible. The lasting power is fair to good. It wafts around you like a magical cloud without being so heavy that it chokes everyone. The scent itself is easy to love: all I get are sweet spices and more spices. I would not say this is an amber fragrance but it is quite lovely. There is nothing harsh or artificial here and it stays pretty linear throughout. The drydown has just a hint of oud. I would recommend this for spice lovers as it is an uncomplicated perfume that smells just right.

I would have called this Oriental Mystique instead of Amber Mystique as the amber, powdery here, plays a supporting role with other equally vocal cast members. It's balmy, deep, slightly dark and mildly sweet. I am irritated that I cannot find more to say about a limited edition scent that I paid a dear price for ( it was a blind buy brought back from London for me). Yes it's well done. Yes it's Estee Lauder. This would be a great introduction to orientals and if one hasn't smelt many others. If you have a more jaded nose, this will not satisfy urges for individual or unique. Apart from that, the sillage and longevity are disappointing on me.

This is a sweet, soft oriental blend of rose, amber, incense, honey, some fruit, and a touch of (non-rubbery, non-medicinal) oud. It is not synthetically-extended in the rear with potent woody ambers. In fact, the sillage is polite and sweetly diaphanous rather than bullying or insistent.

It would make a great starter oriental for those looking to dip their toe into the water, and for those who do not like the rather over-powered, syrupy, or harsh examples of the Arabian cheapy genre. It opens with a tiny berry and plum note, and what smells to me like a subtle oud wood note, but these get swallowed up pretty quickly into a powdery, sweet amber. It is sweetly balsamic and slightly-honeyed - never throat-catchingly resinous or sharp.

There is, later, an attractively whiskey-ish tone to the amber that develops, giving it some dimension. I also smell a buttery tone that could be a facet of the amber or of the leather - either way, it reminds me of the only part of the amber accord in Opus VI that I really like, which is that buttery, almond-like undertone from the periploca flower. In Amber Mystique, you really feel the presence of the rose, and I would say that overall, this is a rosy amber (or an ambery rose), like Dior Privee's Ambre Nuit, albeit without the salty ambergris tint. If you like Kalemat or Calligraphy Rose, then you'll enjoy this too (although those other two perfumes are better, in my opinion).

If I had to point out a little niggle, I'd say that it lacks the sub-woofer boom that makes ambery orientals so (traditionally) satisfying. Everything unfolds in a little shallow pool of bliss, the ripples spreading out on the skin, but there are no hidden depths here.

As the winter wanes, I am wearing some of my more rich and opulent fragrances while they still seem most appropriate. We've reached the end of February, and the temps are entering the 40s, so I think I can swing Amber Mystique, the best kept 'secret' (or is it?) from Estee Lauder. This one has a potency and quality that matches that of higher end frags with much higher price points: your Tom Ford Private Blends, Frederic Malles, and the like. Curiously enough, both are owned by none other than...Estee Lauder. Well then, the myths melt and the prestige is demystified! Heaven forfend we believe that a fragrance that can be had for under 40 buckaroos could actually be of premium quality...

Amber Mystique is a take-no-prisoners kind of scent, with rich florals and jammy fruits colliding with mildly animalic amber and a Western-nose friendly oud simmering in a cauldron of incense, and it is magnificent. Undulating wafts greet my nose with a turn of my neck or a turn to my step, its as if I am in an olfactory force field, protected in this rosy, woody bubble of bliss. The dry down reveals what seems to be a myrrh note, at once bitter, but also sweet, maybe even umami (is there a smell equivalent to that? savory?), and there is a lingering dry pepperiness. The base, several hours in, is only rivaled by the likes of Annick Goutal Ambre Fetiche in terms of substantivity.

As a fan of the Lauder brand, which has accompanied me throughout my entire adult life in skincare, makeup, and fragrances, I am already tempted to award bonus points for that reason alone. Given the beautiful bottle, my anticipation for the test was also high, as the scent has been on my watchlist for quite a while. Will the wishlist light up?

But it turns out quite differently. I have rarely been so indecisive about a fragrance as I am with Amber Mystique. On one hand, the perfume is truly exquisite, not boringly elegant, but rather elegantly refined. The atmosphere that the scent exudes is dark, sensual, and elegant, yet it feels alien to me. It feels like a foreign body on my skin, and I can't find a real connection to Ambre Mystique.

Like many amber fragrances, the perfume is initially a tad too sweet for me. However, for my nose, patchouli, dry leather, oud, and labdanum dominate, and once again, this accord makes me want to clear my throat, even though the floral notes, especially a dark rose, smooth out the roughness a bit, calming the turmoil. Still, I can't really join in the enthusiasm. Not because the perfume isn't precious, elegant, and surely wonderful for many, but solely because it is not at all my scent direction. Amber Mystique is too opulent for me, and I feel like everything good and expensive has been thrown into the mix here. It's too much for me, and the scent weighs heavily on my chest.

Amber Mystique is indeed precious, harmonious, and has a concept that I can understand, but it simply doesn't suit me, or rather, I don't suit this fragrance, which is why the perfume will not be added to the wishlist but only to the tested list.