Amber Queen

I picked this up at TJ Maxx on sale. Evidently the whole A Dozen Roses line is showing up at various TJ Maxxs and Marshalls. I picked Amber Queen due to the notes listed, especially the rose and amber notes. I thought it would be more of a fall scent. It isn't that kind of fragrance despite what the name would leave you to believe. It is more of a summer scent with a hint of amber, rose and (even though it isn't listed) vanilla, after the bright and sweet fruity opener. I dare say, it is a very cheerful scent. It is lovely, but it isn't unique among fruity floral fragrances. Still glad I picked it up as it is hard to be mopey while wearing this scent. The vanilla rose-amber notes remind me of the same notes in Tocade-a light and slightly powdery vanilla rose, only lighter. The rose isn't the dominant initial note. It opens with bright sweet citrus and fruit notes and a hint of ginger. This is more an end of summer fragrance than a fall fragrance. It is lovely (IMHO) and the quality is there, but if you are looking for a strong amber scent for fall or winter, this isn't it. I love it for the light version of Tocade-like amber rose part of the fragrance as well as the bright opening notes and am pleased with my purchase. Potential purchasers should be aware though, that "Amber Queen" is referring to the variety of rose used in this scent and not the components in the perfume. I could also see pairing this with something like Tocade or other amber and rose based scents, if you want to up the amber level. ETA: reportedly the nose behind this perfume is Irina Burlakova if anyone is curious.

I just bought Amber Queen and am OBSESSED with it as is my boyfriend which is saying a lot as he’s very picky about fragrances in general. I’d gone in to NM to try Electron as I’d read a blurb about it in a magazine and was interested in the fascinating packaging and green bottle that the picture of Electron showed. I thought it smelled too much like my Creed “Spring Flowers” so I tested Amber Queen and 3 others, Iced White, Shakespeare in Love and Gold Rush. A couple of hours later, I decided Amber Queen was my absolute standout favorite, followed by Electron, Gold Rush, SIL and then the Iced White which is a very clean scent. My longtime fragrance person told me that the plan for the line is that there will be 12 total. This is my first experience with this line as I’ve usually gone with Annick Goutal, Creed or David Yurman....and I’m hooked on A Dozen Roses. I bought it and have already had several compliments on it, just in two days. Prices are not for the faint of heart....Amber Queen is $110 and the others are $95 but the fragrance is pure, high quality and long lasting. I'm not typically a "rose" fan but this one is divine.

Another beautiful fragrance (and heavenly bottle) from A Dozen Roses. It's lovely zingy fruit, gorgeous. It's delicious. It's such lovely roses (they sure are good at roses!) and a beautiful deep amber. Truly wonderful.

Update: after some research, I think I can point to why this is so weak, especially in the rose. They use natural rose absolu, which is quite expensive. To put it in perspective, a 5% dilution costs the same as or more than 100% lavender essential oil (on Amazon and other consumer sites). So it makes sense they don't hit you in the face with it, they can't afford to. I can guarantee you don't need 20 sprays, lol. I just got this at Marshalls. It's very weak, as others have mentioned. I get mostly a generic floral, with apricot and tangerine sort of mixed together but very prominent immediately after the alcohol goes (floral is heavy at first). It's already gone from my shirt after 5 minutes for 1 spray, but what's on my wrist (1 spray directly on there) is still there. Beautiful bottle, but not the strongest or most interesting scent. To me, it smells like dried apricots and generic (rose-ish) floral. Definitely not worth the full price, but good for those people who work in industries where you shouldn't wear too much fragrance. It's basically a body spray in a gorgeous bottle.

Like many other reviewers a $9.99 score at Marshalls. So my take on it? The fragrance itself is very nice and it's got an amber note as expected. In some regards I might smell a very very very weak version of Valentino Valentina but so weak I cannot even compare the two. Cool looking bottle, nice box. I have no idea how they were being sold for so much however I would not mind at all finding others which unfortunately I only found one bottle at my local Marshalls. This fragrance is an unfortunate fader. You have to apply alot as it is more like a body spray. It does however do something interesting. Even though it's painfully weak and watery after 4 hours it was getting lovely wiff's coming from somewhere and I realized it was me. So it faintly sticks with you for hours but you probably won't know it.