FlintyMcJ

So… lots of people will no doubt find this fragrance not to their liking. It is very synthetic/floral, and frankly, is a bit of a departure from every other Amouage I’ve sampled. On the other hand, I don’t like those nearly as much as I like this. I tend to like synthetics in general, and while this isn’t even my favorite synthetic, I find that when I wear this I frequently stop and ask myself “hmm..do I like this?” And the answer is “yes I do.” So in that way it works for me.

It does have some sillage, as this is the only fragrance my husband has noticed me wearing without being right up next to him. It lasts about 10-12 hours on my skin to the faintest traces. I actually prefer it after a few hours once it isn’t quite so aggressively rose-y. I got a manufacture’s sample of it and didn’t like at first because I thought it was too heavy and loud. It was only later I noticed that I liked the way my wrist smelled.

I don’t think it is worth the price of a full bottle, if only because the bottles are really expensive. I did buy a decant after I used up my sample though.

So, I have tried this twice now, once on paper once on skin. I don’t know why I did this to myself, as the first paper sample was so awful I had to empty the trash to get it away from me. But… in the name of science… I decided I should try it on my skin.

This fragrance is actually not entirely bad. At first it is actually rather nice. Aquatic, musky… a bit sweet. And then…. Disaster. The first sign of trouble is the metallic note, which is slightly off putting. Not offensive, but confusing. Like, why is it there? This perfume was smelling so nice. And then, what I can only assume is the adrenaline. All I can say is, it makes me want to vomit. It is a visceral reaction. Before I could even decide what I was smelling I was dousing it with almond oil and soap. Which did the trick.

Anyway. Yeah. Didn’t really get to any secretions other than the metallic note. I think this would be a rather nice fragrance if it were reconfigured without the horror. But then I suppose it would be boring.

Firstly, soft woods is an apt description of the effect of this fragrance. It opens with a very spicy, peppery note and settles with an evolution of rose. The rose is not a powerful rose to me, but it adds just the right amount of sweetness to temper all the spiciness. It fades to a musky vanilla, but I could still detect hints of rose, fir, and juniper. The whole time I was wearing it, I kept being reminded of something I couldn’t quite put my finger on, and then I had it: camping! It really reminds me of peacefully napping in a hammock at a campsite in a state park. Very soft, very comforting. It lasted a decently long time on my skin. I will definitely wear it again.

Scent: This perfume definitely is one of those YMMV scents. I mean, it’s kind of their whole gimmick, right? A fragrance that’s personalized to you? But here’s the thing: I really like it. I didn’t expect to. When I first sprayed it it didn’t smell like much. But I found I kept coming back to the sample and the bit I accidentally sprayed on my hand. It’s just a perfect scent for me. It is heavy on Ambroxan, and if that’s something you like, you’ll probably like this. I am utterly enchanted by ambroxan and generally love iris so this is kind of perfect for me. It has a very cozy, creamy feel on my skin which makes it highly comforting…to me. On someone else, I could easily see this coming off as too powdery and uninteresting. Of all the ambroxan heavy fragrances, this is one of my favorites after Molecule 2. 9/10

Longevity: Don’t expect this to hang around long. It has a lifetime of maybe 4 hours if I’m lucky, and that’s with several spritzes. You will go through a lot of fragrance. 5/10

Sillage: This is also called You because this fragrance is for you. It is very much a skin scent so unless you do a lot of snuggling you’ll be the main one appreciating it. 5/10

Bottle: I like the indentation on the bottle. But why the plastic cap? Boo. 4/10

Value: Worth giving it a whirl. I keep a small bottle of it mostly for when I go to bed. It’s might not be worth it if you use it frequently. 6/10

Scent: There are only four notes in this creation, but they work together so well. It opens with a powdery iris. As it dries I can detect the orange. It is a sweet, juicy orange, and a scent that is guaranteed to bring me happiness. It settles into a muted, musky sandalwood with hints of sweetness and powder. It does not have a lot of notes, and isn’t particularly challenging, but it is so perfectly elegant and comforting. I reach for this frequently when I just want to smell subtly good. 10/10

Sillage: always kind of difficult for me to measure. I would say it is moderate. It’s noticeable, but not overpowering. 6/10.

Longevity: as it wears it retreats to a skin scent, but it was still faintly detectable on me after 4-5 hours. 8/10

Overall impression: I would sum this fragrance up with three words: soft, elegant, comforting.