Easily the weirdest perfume I own. Not sure why I got this. It's strangely addictive, in a varnish kind of way.
Sniffing my skin up close, it smells like either a varnish, or gasoline, or a new leather shoe with rubber soles - something that would come out of oil refinery, you know. I have no idea what it is, but I wonder if it's birch tar.
[I am describing the middle stage of the perfume here. The opening is so weird, I cannot quite put my paw on it] When I don't sniff it close to my skin, and just smell sort of the cloud that this perfume envelopes me with, this very powdery (not Guerlain Insolence level of powdery, but somewhere in the vicinity), sweet with honey and something vaguely fruity (could be apricot jam too, yes), and then there is saffron. Not the medicinal iodine type of saffron you'd find in something like Baccarat Rouge, as well as miriad of modern Middle-Eastern-ish perfumes. No, this smells like literal spice, if you ever cooked with it. I actually don't find this type of saffron in many perfumes - the only two that have this literal saffron smell in them are this one and another Amouage scent, Figment W. Because of this note, I cannot wear Figment - I just feel like a vegetable soup in that perfume. In this one, although discernible, it's actually less prominent, and together with the strong honey-fruity sweetness and the powder creates this really weird effect. (I hate saffron, so for me this note seems to be more prominent than for other people, but I also have to wonder how many people ever cooked with saffron - it is expensive and not easy to find). There's also the leather shoe smell somewhere in the far background. There is a certain creaminess to the scent as well. The perfume definitely is richer than what I can discern, but it's just all so very densely together, it just creates this very weird, complex in a true Amouage fashion, but also very festive smell.
Yes, a thing about this - this is very elegant and festive. Very appropriate for a night at the opera or something like that. In fact, the powder in this does conjure up an image of a theater, velvet curtains, dressing rooms, mirrors with the light bulbs. The gold-and-red bottle is very fitting. Although I can definitely see this on somebody wearing jeans and flip flops - it would make a statement. This definitely has a unique character and is distinct.
