Basenote Bitch
Amber

Amber

Do I love the note of amber, or all that gets wrapped up with her? Like many other bb fragheads, before smelling this note I didn’t have any sense of what it would be like based on the physical material made famous by Jurassic Park. I also didn’t realize that it is an entirely made up note rather than one extracted from actual amber which doesn’t produce a lot of natural fragrance. Amber is what we make it to be, and it typically is created from combinations of vanilla, benzoin, tonka beans, labdanum, sandalwood, patchouli, and so on. Some of the best stories are the work of pure fiction, and I can’t get enough of people’s different accord interpretations. It can be sticky, burnt, powdery, vanillic, clean, animalic, dry and woody–but something all amber fragrances have in common is my addiction to them. They are warm, last forever, and make me feel like Winnie-the-Pooh wrapped in Angora huffing lines of powdered vanilla bean pods.

Some of my favorites are the classic Ambre Precieux from Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier which adds a lot of lavender up front to making it fresh before it descends into velvety madness. I would say the a close cousin to this is Ambre 114 from Histoires de Parfums which doesn’t have that same freshness but still outside of being a true, warm amber also becomes clean, slightly soapy, and dry on my skin. I like to spray this one out of the shower before bed because I’m that person. Last but not least is probably my favorite (and many others) amber fragrance of all time Ambre Sultan by Serge Lutens. If you want to smell all at once herbal, spicy, warm, and truly lush this is for you.