Evening Rose

I try not to read about the notes. I want to smell it on me to just decide if I like it or not. I will research it later. To me isn't as much a rose scent; I don't find it sweet or fruity - it's just sexy but elegant. I know, I know, that's a useless description! I just know my husband likes it and he rarely likes ones I also like. He likes super heavy like Chanel Coco and Lancome Poeme. This is not a heavy scent but it does wrap itself around you and envelop you in an unusual, expensive smelling scent. I think more little black dress than I do sneakers and cut-off shorts (although you can wear it any darned way you want to). I purchased a sample size (.07 oz, 2ml) after reading about it somewhere. To me, it does smell expensive (probably because it is, smile) but one thing I hate is smelling like everyone else out there so at $110 for 1.7 oz, few people I know will indulge. People also mentioned they didn't believe it lasted long so by having the sample size, I can toss it into my purse and respray anytime I want, too! And, of course, the old die-hard "use unscented lotion first, then spray and the scent will last longer" is a good rule to follow. It really is a lush scent that, to me, will set you apart from the pack!

This fragrance baffles me. When I first spray it on, it's borderline awful. First time I ever sprayed it I went "oh h*ll no", and put it away, not in any way interested in buying this thing. A few minutes went by, I lifted my arm to get something from a cupboard, and my nose caught a whiff of this warm, sweet, beautiful scent and I was utterly confused as to where it originated. Based on my initial reaction to the fragrance it didn't even occur to me in the slightest that this heavenly scent could originate from that. But to my huge surprise, it did! It's kinda like the ugly duckling! Growing to be the most beautiful, elegant, sweet and soft creature. Evening Rose is still like that to me. I spray it on, and it's this awful, sharp, bitter, unappealing scent. But 5 mins later, it is heaven! It makes no sense what so ever. I don't know if it's just that the fragrance and my skin are a match made in heaven or what, but it's so special, and is one of my favorite fragrances, against all odds so to speak :-) In my opinion this is an allround fragrance. All year, day and night, anywhere at anytime. I've received several compliments when wearing this fragrance.

Wearing this today, I caught myself daydreaming about a particular time. I realized my subconscious had connected Evening Rose to Noir de Noir, which I often wore during the time where my mind went. Lauder components are pretty consistent, and the rose is familiar, so that's part of it. But also, this is a fragrance that's radiant and singular, like Noir de Noir is. You may think you know what you're getting from reading the notes, but the way they're blended is so skillful, and with such a strong point of view, that it's likely to not be quite what you expected. Blackberry is there, sure, but its effect is like the peach in Mitsouko, or the fruit in an alcoholic drink - cued up for adult tastes, yet keeping the experience from being too dry and hard-edged in the end. It's sweet in a dusty, ambery way that I don't find cloying, though I am arguably the worst person to draw the line for anyone else on this point! I also love Insolence, Songes, and Fils de Joie, which are all hardcore florientals. I'm pretty sure Evening Rose fits that description, too.

This is so lovely! A very jammy and sweet rose dipped in homemade blackberry syrup and cognac on a base of amber and an unlisted suede note. Evening Rose might not be the most poetic name, but it's so fitting, this is really a great rose for nighttime wear. This is so warm and enveloping, but in a glamorous way. It's a lush and balmy scent without any dry or sharp edges. Especially in the drydown the amber-blackberry blend shines equally bright to the rose, which I appreciate. Some heavier rose scents can be rather one-dimensional, but this is balanced. I find this rather similar to Jusbox Siren and Sailors, which I have also sampled recently and loved. Both are fruity roses with boozy, leathery and balsamic accents. But I think I love Evening Rose even a little bit more. The addition of blackberry instead of the peach in S&S makes it a little darker and less sweet, which I prefer in this case. Just beautiful.

Evening Rose is an alluring, spicy, boozy, incency, sweet, almost jammy dark rose. The going out, seductive, type of rose. It is so smooth, rich, slightly spicy, balanced well with cognac, blackberries, incense and amber. It’s so intense and the cognac is the surprising ingredient in my experience, from the blend, which sets it apart from other rose centred scents I have tested so far. I am not in a rose phase at the moment, but I am seriously contemplating buying a bottle of this underrated gem until it is being discontinued or reformulated. Which happens quite often when a scent is that good. It’s strong from the first spray and it lasts very well. 7-8 hours with moderate projection, on clothing even more. More for fall and winter season and evening wear. This is not a fresh, young, dewy type of rose. So appropriately name...

After smelling 3-4 of the others in this line I was expecting well rendered but simple rose but this has surpassed my expectations. Spicy, velvety, and way bolder than I would’ve expected, this powerful, deep red rose with a burnt sugar alcoholic snap of cognac has me huffing at my chest (where I sprayed it). There’s got to be some salt in this too; its got a sweet and salty vibe. This has more in common with 80s scents than many contemporary perfumes. It conjures up BIG images; opera opening nights, red silk taffeta, flambé desserts, glossy crimson lips, celebrations. If you’re a fan of those dark chocolate cherry boozy candies, red garden roses, and damson preserves go for this.

This definitely is all about the TIME, PLACE, MOOD, & MOMENT. It's strong. Boozy blackberry rose. Fades into a sexy incense smokey rose. Sometimes I like it. Sometimes I love it. Sometimes I don't. This is the little black dress on a fancy date night perfume. Sexy, in an upscale private cafe or restaurant or a fancy cocktail party. It's definitely the perfume for black lingerie with garters. But, to the office, church, or the beach? ...definitely not.This is a very confident, mature, and sophisticated perfume. If you're looking to smell sexy sophisticated, independent woman. This is for you.

This clinches it; I love berry/rose combinations. Evening Rose starts out with a very strong rose scent, which almost turned me off. A few minutes later, a dusty, old scent came through that almost made me scrub it. But then, a cloud of sweet berries enveloped me and made me very happy. The rose softened and blended with the berries and a hint of cognac rounded it all out. The incense came later and deepened the scent. I spritzed it on around bedtime and I could still smell it on my wrist the next morning. Very lovely scent for chilly winter nights.

A wonderfully jammy rose that settles into a smoky, womanly rose that's not too loud, I'm a fan of incense fragrances but it doe's not take over the whole perfume, the rose remains the dominant note.This is not your grandma's rose talc type rose, very modern edge to it.I blind bought this on recommendations from fellow fragrantica members and very glad I did.The bottle is also lovely and I was very impressed with Estee Lauder's service,prompt and samples galore.This has become one of my top rose fragrances.

I could see how people might look past this fragrance. It’s not terribly complex or vocal, but I love it. It smells warm and velvet, sensual and comforting. I think it must suit my chemistry very well. My mum was trying to talk to me as I was sitting, smelling this perfume on my wrist... she couldn’t get through to me, I was lost in it. Aerin fragrances are usually subtle and not long lasting, sadly. I wish this had more lasting power, but compared to most Aerins, it is definitely more robust.

EVENING ROSE is my jammy boozy incense rose holy grail!! For the type of rose scent I like this is out and out perfection! Intoxicating, rich, moist, deep dark fruity boozy incense rose. I am absolutely in love with Evening Rose!!!! One of the best jammy dark rose fragrances I have ever smelled. The ONLY thing is I just wished it lasted a little longer. But that's okay, I love it enough to spray hourly if needed. By FAR, the stand out winner from the Aerin line. Fantastic!!!!

Based on the reviews here (and many thanks to NoireFox, you do a fab, clear, concise review!), I've just ordered this from Nordstrom, and cannot wait to receive it. Should be in my hot little hands on Tues, April 15, '14--so will do an edit then!!!! Feb 14, 2015--Oh, time flies when you're having fun!! I've been wearing this all winter, and absolutely love, love, love it!! This was too overpowering for spring-summer--but autumn/winter, it's mahvelous!!!

I just smelled this for the first time today and it blew me away! I love the combination of roses and cognac! I had a fragrance about 10 years ago that had cognac and rose, Kors by Michael Kors, and I loved it so much! I had been searching the internet recently to see if I could find a bottle, since it’s now discontinued. I didn’t find it, but I found this! This captures the same character of Kors and I will cherish this new addition to my collection.

A rich and succulent rose fragrance by Aerin. This one has a resemblance to Tom Ford's Cafe Rose - probably from the heavy rose and incense notes - but the cognac in Evening Rose gives it a sweet tone. Sadly, the cognac in this is overwhelming and doesn't agree with my head (Champaca Absolute anyone?). My loss since this is a gorgeous rose :( Update: I tried this one again and no headache! Beautiful fragrance! I plan on wearing this one more often.

One of my all time favorites. I am so heartbroken that this was discontinued. I have a full size bottle still filled up that I am using sparingly. On my skin, it dries into the most beautiful dark, smoky amber rose. My skin tends to amplify and sharpen sweet notes. However, the cognac and blackberry in here add richness without turning into anything overly sweet, boozy, or cloying. It stayed smooth, controlled, and so sensual.

Based on my sample decant from a department store, this is a deep, rich, full-bodied rose anchored in sweet patchouli earthiness. There's a little bit of an oud vibe going on as well. Like a good friend, Evening Rose sticks with you but does not overwhelm. It generously offers wafts of deliciousness for several hours. If you want to be overwhelmed, though, spray with abandon! Definitely full-bottle worthy.

On me, this is very similar to Nirvana Rose, but little more complex. It is rosy, woody, and a tad sweet but not sickeningly so. I don't get much incense, which is a good thing for my tastes. It definitely has better projection than several other of the Aerins, which I have primarily found to be very light scents. I really like it in general, and I'm tempted to buy a bottle.

She's a tall dark-eyed stranger walking in from the smoky street late at night. She's mysterious, she's classy and elegant, cognac and roses so dark they look black in this dimly lit bar. The incense gives the rose a dark and brooding quality, and the boozy notes make it feel grown-up without being a musty grandma's bathroom rose. This is by far my favorite in this series.

Really alluring jammy rose! Evening Rose is about having a glass of wine at the table next to a vase with faded roses. It's very soft spoken, feminine and has a nostalgic feeling to it. Unlike Serge Lutens rose perfumes, this one is more complex and has depth. If only it had a better longevity...

IN LOVE WITH THIS FRAGRANCE! WOOOOWZZA! The opening of the bulgarian rose and blackberry is out of this world! Sultry and grown! Lasts ALL Day long and drys down beautifully! Thank you Aerin Lauder this is just fantastic!!

This is a really nice fragrance. I definitely think its suited to being worn in the evenings. There is a sweetness in there that could have been toned down a little. The rose notes are lovely. 8/10 overall

The name is perfect for this lovely fragrance. This isn't a breezy, dewy, daytime rose, this is dark and mysterious and still ultra feminine.

Disliked in winter. Now it's summer, wore her in the pouring rain (I got caught), and Verdict is: EXQUISITE! Such a Stunner.

Late September night eating ripe black berries in a flower garden (that includes rose bushes of course)

When I got a sample of Evening Rose, I mistakenly assumed it was part of Aerin's rose colognes line that I like so much, so on first sniff I was taken aback when what I smelled was something so entirely different to the light, airy, transparent rose I was expecting. The name should have tipped me off: there's nothing airy about this creation that combines the realistic scent of a hothouse where the air is heavy with roses with equally rich cognac, incense and amber - an evening type of rose indeed. It's not overbearing for all that, but it's definitely not a frivolous spring scent! So I needed some mental adjusting to take it on its own terms, but now that I do, I like it very much. It's obviously high quality and very well balanced, especially after it's had some time, making it smell luxurious and elegant, even sophisticated. Not exactly words that fit me or my life, but that can be an advantage, a nice fantasy or contrast. And most importantly there's the constant, simple enjoyment of a really good rose accord at the heart of all of it. So all things considered it's the kind of perfume that I personally could imagine wearing in all kinds of contexts and almost all seasons (except high summer). I don't think I need more of it now that my sample is used up, though, because I have so many rose scents in my (decant) collection already, and this one, however lovely, isn't exactly unique (and on the expensive side, too).

I collect rose scents, and , this is as far as it can be from a fresh rose. It is a Bulgarian rose, mixed with a woody aroma that almost goes into Aoud territory without quite reaching it. It stays sweet from the beginning til the end, without being gourmand, most likely because of the booze . The blackberries aren’t my favourite note here, as ithey give a mild grapey impression. The drydown is less rose and more woods Once again I am reminded of some honeyed Aoud, nothing medicinal. Overall classy, sensual, warm and not too rosey. I actually wish it had more roses. Better for evening , nights, fall and winter. The bottle and packaging are beautiful , although I was expecting a more natural looking stone .... is this supposed to be amethyst? The silage is quite low, lasting power average to good. Price ? Crazy . To be precise, $175+tax on the website. I bought because I own the Chevrefeuille Honeysuckle ( blue stone cap ) which is gorgeous and naturally I wanted the rose too. I would like to have all of them, but most likely I won’t buy them if I don’t find them discounted . They are too expensive and while the quality is obvious, I want more silage for such big money . Try before you buy, this is not a typical rose . And it is too light even for me,

Evening Rose reminds me of my bottle of love Chopard. It might not be something I need to buy. I will have to think about it, I probably don't need it. It is a pretty blackberry rose wine of a perfume. The incense is soft here, soft enough that in my opinion it can be worn in the daytime. I don't find this to be just an evening or special occasion perfume. I would wear it in the daytime more. If you like tart berry roses with touches of incense and a little wine this is a nice one. If I find this at a good price I might pick it up. Edit: I really like this quite a lot. But it still amazes me how people think this is VERY DEEP INCENCY, RICH etc..... it is a medium bodied rose with a lot of berries and slight, slight touches of incense and booziness. I wonder is the d'or version is richer. I imagine it would be. For me this is a nice everyday daytime rose. Year round staple. Could be more of a signature type scent instead of special occasion. It similar in style to Estee Lauder Amber mystique but softer, more daytime IMO. Very pretty.

On skin, the first note was a voluptuous rose, fresh, beautiful, and almost overpowering. What followed was incense note which was a bit sharp. On clothing, the first note I got was cognac and then blackberry and amber, then incense. Despite being Evening Rose, the rose didn’t stay till the last. The dry down is a slightly sweet ambery incense note with almost no rose at all. Saw a Cafe Rose there in the list. To me Cafe Rose’s reminds me of the dried roses I used to hang around the house back in the 90s. This perfume gives a much fresher and more robust kind of rose scent. As for Velvet Rose & Oud, that has a smoother and sweeter roses and an oud note which makes it more on the unisex side. Comparing these two, VR&O lasts longer imo. Edit: okay the rose note does make soft cameo appearances in whiffs every once in a while in dry down. Kinda interesting.

At first, I get a jammy, balsamic rose scent. Then it almost immediately shifts somewhat sour and dirty on me. Fortunately, it doesn't take long for the two sides to balance out into a triad of sharp, grassy wood; sweet-tart rose; and warm resinousness. There's a bit of dry, bohemian woodiness to the rose note that makes Evening Rose reminiscent of Portrait Of A Lady. However, unlike POAL which leans fully classical-antique, here the syrupy liquidity of the cognac and blackberry keeps the composition sweeter and more hydrated, giving it a borderline-jammy element. Evening Rose is also very similar to Cafe Rose, but in a side-by-side comparison Cafe Rose has a darker, warmer, slightly bitter edge to it that evokes coffee, while Evening Rose leans more into tangy fruit nuances.

This is an ok for me. Maybe too much cognac. Somehow all the notes together, I get an olive scent unfortunately. This is not to say it’s bad. It’s kind of a unique rose scent for me. I do like evening rose d’or however. That one is better formulated. Update: 11/29/2023. I sprayed this lavishly. My partner likes perfumes that project, and he really liked this one. Upgrading to like because it does not smell like a typical rose.

This is like walking through a garden full of rosebushes on a cool evening, then you go inside and close the door. The smell of roses and the damp earth stays outside. You pour yourself a glass of cognac and curl up on the sofa with the cognac. From that moment until when the perfume fades completely, all I perceive is cognac.

alcohol in the opening then a green rose that is a little syrupy but not jammy with the hint of cognac that is not boozy and a little pinch of pepper, nothing fruity about this one; I love rose but this is a little weird. I like it but wouldn't want a full bottle.

It's above average, but I don't buy a fragrance unless I put it in the "love" category. I was hoping for more incense, but not as much as Tauer Incense Rose. I barely notice the incense. It is very wearable and not challenging.

At first , I smell the bottle , not too bad, light and flowy, but then I spray it on my hand, and BAM! A whoosh of a wood and "old palace" smell. Then it settles down to a rose. Great perfume. I Recommend

I'm starting to see the purity of the whole Aerin line. This rose is so clean and fresh. It almost doesn't smell like perfume. It reminds me of a stronger version of 100% Bulgarian rose water.

Goes from straight rose water to mature sensual blackberry floral incense! My bf likes it

Very beautiful rose scent. Well balanced and romantic. Only shame it is so hard to find.

I was hoping for a rose and blackberry scent with a little spice. What I got was huge spiced rum incense. I just did one spritz on a wrist and it's strong. Its not bad, but not what I was looking for or hoping for. It also is getting more sour as time passes. It must just be me as other reviewers have a much different and better experience with it. The sprayer on the travel size I got doesn't work very well, putting out a stream rather than a mist qnd maybe that affects the scent I'm not sure Edit: it smells like something I couldn't put my finger on, then I realized, it smells like the Aztec Chocolate Bitters in an Old Fashioned cocktail with a dark cherry. Weird that it smells so chocolatey spiced-boozy dark cherry to me. I'm not getting that sour note this time around. It's a drink I indulge in during cold winter nights by a fire. It's like celestialbleu wrote, it's all about time and place and mood, and now that I have that time and place and mood in mind I like the scent a lot more.

Given the notes, and given the name "Evening Rose", I was expecting a more robust fragrance. Instead, this is light enough for day wear, and a VERY pale shadow of other heavy-hitting rose and incense scents like POAL, Amouage Crimson Rocks, etc. Maybe they need to make this in extrait strength? It's thin. I live in a hot climate, and it's August, so I appreciate the lightness for summer; I get a syrupy sweet rose with touches of amber and fruity wine. Frankly, I'm not getting booziness or a lot of depth here. I'm someone who does like complexity, and I sort of feel this is a bit generic, a bit too sweet, and not structured enough for my taste. However, given my hot climate, that might be okay until I get tired of it and declutter. I have a 10ml sample and that's plenty. There are too many fabulous rose incense scents to linger here long. Random--I think if I'm reaching for a sweet, fall/winter rose, I'm choosing Initio's Atomic Rose, instead.

Aerin Evening Rose...someone directed me to Aerin Fragrances because I recently decided I LOVE rose fragrance when well-blended or grounded with darker scents and notes. Unlike it's relative "Rose De Grasse," which is actually a quite nice, linear rose soliflore, Evening Rose is extremely different from almost anything I've ever tried but a fragrance I do not like at all. Evening Rose opens with a definite blast of discernible jammy blackberry booze...sweet blackberry cognac, as listed in opening notes. Like Rose De Grasse, Evening Rose is not a complex fragrance but a very straightforward EDP with clearly identifiable phases and notes. The mid phase is rose, rose and more rose. The fragrance is not harsh, loud or shrill in any way, as many rose fragrances tend to be. If anything, this fragrance smells "absent" because I can hardly detect I am wearing it and neither can anyone around me. Honestly, I find the mid-notes of Bulgarian rose (or any rose for that matter) hard to detect. And when I do sense wafts of rose, I smell older, weak and rather nondescript blossoms that frankly smell past their prime. And I love incense fragrance when well-blended with other notes. But sadly, I detect no incense or smoke in the dry-down (hours following the initial application). To me, Evening Rose wilts into a barely detectable, powdery & sour floral-musk fragrance of "I cannot tell what it is I am wearing and what I do detect is not pleasant." Close to the skin, the scent is unbearable...a scrubber! While I like Rose De Grasse a lot, Evening Rose is a pass. Evening Rose is totally forgettable and I am extremely disappointed.

Cognac just seems so out of place here. All of the other notes are beautiful. I think that Aerin Lauder (the person) definitely tries to be innovative with some of her fragrances, and sometimes great things can come out of that, but sometimes they fall a little flat or strike the wrong chord. I really like a couple of her scents, and the bottles are gorgeous in general, but I really wanted something like a tentpost rose that could be an easy go-to. I won't get mad if other people like or dislike this, but I do think this one is a bit of a disappointment in the AL line. I think that cognac is supposed to be the thing that sets this apart from the other rose-fruit-pepper combos out there, but those things are so successful because they are combinations that work so well together. If this were in a more affordable price range, perhaps I'd have softer feelings for it, but since it is fairly expensive, I hold it to a higher standard.

This was probably one of the biggest disappointments I have ever had... While I was on the quest to find alternatives and similar scents to BBW's PS I Love You, Aerin's Evening Rose popped up a couple of times with users commenting about its similarities. Because this is so hard to find, I had to wait a good one year to eventually try this out. Throughout this one year I was living in anticipation of how good this will be (due to its similarity with PS ILY). The moment I tried it, I knew that is nothing like I had expected. No smoky rose, no incensed rose, no dusty rose. All I got was a bright fruity rose that could be the product of any bath and soap company. All fruits and a hint of rose, no smoke or incense!

I sense a dirty old-fashioned rose scent. Some incense too. Reminds me of Serge Lutens rose scents, which I also didn't like. I am not a big fan of rose, but sometimes there are good ones. This one is not one of them. The product itself seems to be a good quality, just not the kind I would like. It's too dusty old-fashioned smelling for me to like it.

This is very unappealing to me. A musty, old rose combined with some horrible pairing choices such as cognac and black pepper. It's gross. And it makes me cough on application. There are some great fresh, dewy, sweet roses out there - this isn't one of them.

At first spray it reminded me of chypre sublime, POAL and eau capitale (love them all), but this has a totally different dry down. All i get from this is chocolat and i don’t love it. So this is a pass.

Very pretty! Turns outs I’ve been sleeping on my decant. This rose is rich, and “evening” seems a fitting moniker...it’s perhaps too richly boozy for daytime. And yet it’s rich without the extroverted heaviness of many fruity, spicy roses. It is jammy but translucent, making me think of a rose rendered in a stained glass window. Something about this puts me in mind of La Fille de Berlin, as the rose in both has a distinctly apple-like quality for me. No, not artificial apple, but that fleshy, floral sweetness you get from rolling the real thing around in your hands. Some roses smell inherently soapy, but Evening Rose stays far away from that effect. I can smell the Aerin DNA (faint whispers of Tangier Vanille, which it took me a while to realize is rosy itself). This line has a lot of hits in my book if you like gentle, contemplative, naturalistic fragrances. This is like Portrait of a Lady done Aerin-style, an elegant cameo in a locket versus the full, astonishing portrait in a Baroque frame.

Rose jam anyone? Rather too sweet for my taste but I'm sure its a pleaser for many. Opens with soft Bulgarian rose, sweetened & drowned in boozy, sugary black fruits - I don't get any spice & certainly no smokey incense? The name Evening Rose is a bit misleading however - Day Rose would be more appropriate due to the low sillage (so low that theres no risk of offending sensitive noses). The longevity is quite good & as soft as the scent is, it does linger on the skin for several hrs. I agree with other reviews that this is similar to Yves Rocher Rose Absolue - Evening Rose is much softer & less teeth grindingly sweet but considering that you can pick up Rose Absolue for less than £30 then I would plump for Rose Absolue every time - better sillage & longevity for your money (once you can get over the super sweet jammy opening). I do have to say though, that the bottle & packaging for Evening Rose is delightful - still not enough to make me want to splurge on a full bottle though.....

SPRITZ, SPRITZ. What was that? Oh, that was a bottle of your mother's favourite rose perfume. You don't often wear such bold scents, but tonight's masquerade ball, taking place in the Goblin King's dance scene from 'Labyrinth', is a special occasion. SPRITZ, SPRITZ. Oh, dear. It's a bit more pungent than you were expecting. A little too chemical. But oh, there you go. Given a bit of time to mellow down, AERIN's Evening Rose appears to be in full bloom. Like a fully-furbished victorian dollhouse belonging to a young girl named Emily Swan Pearl Vanderchuck the 3rd, Evening Rose is a carefully constructed, three-dimensional projection of demure, old-world class and just a hint of mischevious fun. Think Julie Andrews from the 'Princess Diaries' series. The ever-enduring familiar scent of Red Velvet Rose holds hands with a velvety dust of sweet incense smoke. Excellent projection; forms an assertive and straightforward aura that says "I know what I'm doing, kindly step out of the way".

'Jammy boozy incense' gone very wrong. I applied a small spritz, and the first impression wasn't unpleasant--rich warm slightly floral berries. However cloying smokey booze quickly took over. I kept this on for about 90 minutes, hoping the incense and cognac would let up a little and let some rose shine through. It just kept getting stonger and stronger. I could tell there was some floral lurking under the other notes but I never got even a glimmer of rose. After I gave up and washed it off, it still was strong. Tried eye-make remover which, weirdly enough, usually gets rid of stubborn fragrances, and suddenly I got eau de ashtray. Luckily the stale smoke smell has abated a bit, but three hours later I can still smell jammy booze and am really looking forward to a shower. Great sillage and longevity. Why can't the fragrances that work for me be this persistent?

Smells exactly like EL Amber Mystique - this one slightly more feminine. Slightly. Amber Mystique has much better sillage and longevity. The cognac note here adds a bit sweetness in the opening, but on me, this ends up becoming a beautiful rose note and opulent amber, tempered w/ a 'clean' sort of incense. Much like Amber Mystique. I quite love it, but definitely the lesser between the two in regards to the similarity between. EL Amber Mystique, whose cheap stripper type of name I truly abhor, would be my choice between the two. EDIT: Amber Mystique is significantly drier through and through. Maybe that's what makes it more gender-neutral. It is marketed as unisex after all. Loud rose, beautiful amber and a drier note of incense. Definitely the better composition, and much more impactful. The Aerin flacons are more elegant though, I'll admit to that.