Amber Aftelier

Anyone expecting a vanilla-resinous, cozy winter scent based on the name will be disappointed.
Mandy Aftel's Amber is rather cool, bitter, and deep dark green, not only visually in the bottle but also olfactorily. A vibrant coniferous forest with trees dripping with resin, small islands of herbs and sweet grass in between. There are no enchanting fairies or elves with shimmering wings like in the enchanted forest of Ormonde Jayne's Woman. In the Amber forest, the elves carry bows and arrows and remain silently hidden in the deep shadows of the woods because they do not want to be disturbed.

Lavender Absolute, as used here, bears little resemblance to the overkill of blooming, blue-violet lavender fields or ethereal lavender oil. The absolute is green, smells gently herbal and slightly sweet like coumarin (the typical scent in dried sweet grass and woodruff), and hardly at all like lavender flowers. In combination with the heavy, strongly resinous yet soft scent of labdanum, which justifies the name "Amber," and balsamic fir green, the perfect illusion of a forest walk on a sunny late summer day is created. Cool, invigorating, bitter, and dark, yet also soft and sensual.

Certainly not for everyday wear and probably not for everyone, but definitely worth a test for lovers of absolutely unsynthetic natural scents.
Mandy Aftel exclusively uses natural raw materials, in my opinion in a very ingenious way, clearly standing out from often rather trivial and fleeting other scents made from purely natural substances. For a natural perfume, "Amber" is very long-lasting - easily lasting through a 10-hour workday on me.