Belly of the Whale Anomalous Parfum 2024

When I did test IV Grigia I was really impressed, and typed down, in the very review, that I was hoping Belly of the Whale had that dark, abysses feeling of that one.
Of course I had to be disappointed, because life works this way apparently.
Where is the heavy ambergris? Where the salt? From the first moment all I got was a lot of benzoin and vanilla, just a bit of ozone and let's call it a day. Sure there's amber, but it's mostly amber and not ambergris which should be, due to the storytelling, the center of this scent.
In the belly of a whale that really, really needs some insulin.

This perfume is very special and immediately transported me to a pier, during the evening when the sun has set, but the sea is still warm and glowing with orange light. The wood of the decades-old pier is wet and polished by the salty sea water and the sea breeze fills the air with ozonic and sparkling notes (a mix of mandarin and ozonic accords was used here).
After a while this hint is initial image settles and fades and more animal and dirty notes emerge. A good dose of natural ambergris is perceptible here. Like a mix of seaweed and mineral notes with a touch of animal part but still of marine origin (The great white whale). All in all, I liked it but would not recommend the Blind buy. Very peculiar.

I was pretty surprised with this fragrance, judging by the notes I was expecting more of a fishy/aquatic smell but to my nose this is an amber/vanilla scent with some aquatic elements. I personally really like it, very wearable. Lasts really long on my skin and projects decently as well (at least 12 hours). The price of the fragrance is great, less than 100 euros for an "artistic niche" brand is pretty rare these days. IMO the bottle looks very nice I personally don't mind the AI art at all.

I really love Anomalous’s storytelling, though it can be a bit misleading at times.
For this one, it pushes the imagination toward something abyssal, oceanic, dark, salt-wet, animalic: “the edge of an abyss”, “the ocean’s first pull”, “briny sea moss”, “the ancient stillness inside the whale’s belly”...

As an ambergris fanboy, the story made me expect the darker side of ambergris — think young ambergris tincture: salty, ozonic, seaweed-like, animalic, rougher, sharper.
But this fragrance is actually very smooth, wearable, sweet, warm, vanillic, even honeyed, I would say.

If ambergris, then imagine a very old, long-aged ambergris tincture that has turned more warm, soft, much less animalic, and round - then add a good amount of sweet notes, vanilla, amber, and wood. Yes, there are some ozonic and slight aquatic touches in the opening, though much less than I expected from the perfume’s story.
In the drydown, it pretty much continues its course: sweet, vanillic, benzoic, and woody.

Still a very nice perfume, but approach it better without its story in mind ;-)
Not for the ambergris addict who is looking for the raw, untamed sea.

This is genuinely my favorite sweet take on an ambergris/oceanic scent that I've tried in a long while. Picture yourself drinking a nice fruity ice water and lying out in the sun. It's a super refreshing citrus and gold ambergis that I could really see anyone enjoying. The name is a bit misleading as I was expecting a dark resinous aggressive take on an ambergris, to say I'm disappointed would be a lie. In fact, I'm glad it's not some dark ambergris, and I'm glad I've finally found a refreshing aquatic ambergris scent.