The Library Collection Opus VIII

Managed to get a sniff, skin sample and a 'dunked & doused' green ribbon from the exclusive launch in a famous London department store that just launched this 8th addition to the Library range. My first reaction was: WOW! What a milky floral monster! Absolutely magnificent! The bottle is opaque, pearlesque and "milky" with some golden glitter particles; so the exterior is already giving away some clues to the interior juice. And WHAT A JUICE IT IS! AN OPPULENT EXPLOSION! Those of you who love jasmine and neroli will love this fragrance for this is one heck of a floral potent blast. The obvious first impression from the opening is the "Sambac" jasmine of extremely dense and milky quality, together with he heaviest and richest neroli possible and I believe it is the oilbanum that gives it such a milky, ambery, vanillic quality. As an analogy, I would call it the "Milky Cousin" of REFLECTION (Reflection is a very wet, spicy and waxy composition of the same house). Saffron and Ylan-Ylang support the already strong and 'floral-peppery' nature of the potent neroli (orange blossom) and the ginger, gaiac wood, vetiver amplify this spiciness even further. The final dry-down is a close milky skin scent of benzoin and those recent memories of those floral explosions now slowly fading (very slowly and linear that is!). If there was anything negative to mention: the base notes only comprises of 2 notes (the lowest level of any Library range for they all have at least 3) and the West Indian Bay is hardly there. Having said that, the first two stages are so incredibly intense that they continue to linger on and on. It feels like you were cooking all ingredients in a big pot of fatty milk that starts to turn into a thick condensed milk, completely consuming all the ingredients and turning it into a beautiful tamer skin scent that almost feels like a body butter (in fact they should do one as well with this scent!) Final Verdict: 9.5 out of 10 only because there is not more base note development. A TRUE FLORAL MONSTER FOR A TRUE NEROLI/ JASMINE LOVER. THICK MILKY PEPPERY VIBRANCY. NOTHING SHORT OF SENSATIONAL.

Opus VIII is a beautifully balanced floriental made with high-quality ingredients as befits Amouage. Surprisingly more yellow floral than white, this is lush and heady, quite sweet up top and slightly indolic. Some soft spice and a prominent incense note add depth, and it is grounded by a woody-amber base. It is one of the more wearable Library scents, and feels like an elevated Alien flanker (while I dislike Alien, it shares a main woody-jasmine accord with OVIII). OVIII opens with slightly indolic jasmine, rounded out by sweet orange blossom. Ylang ylang follows, adding tropical creamy sweetness. A hint of spice adds a nice edge. It is deeply pleasant - sophisticated yet unchallenging. As it develops, churchy incense adds a lovely balsamic, smoky undertone, enhancing the florals beautifully and paving the way to the amber drydown. A rich, balsamic amber accord develops as it dries down, with soft woody notes emerging, complementing the aromatic spices that remain to perfection. It becomes slightly musky as it fades, with spices and incense remaining until it disappears. Sillage is strong and longevity is long-lasting. A simple composition by Amouage standards, OVIII is a beautiful amber-floral scent, classic yet modern in equal measure. Feminine-leaning in my opinion, it is boldly elegant, and is a rare year-round scent. One of my favourites from The Library Collection. 4.5/5.

I can smell here _maybe_ orange blossom and ylang-ylang but no other of those mentioned notes. If only there was jasmine! Or saffron, ginger, vetiver, benzoin! Well, maybe they all constitute to the outcome but are not distinguishable anymore. Benzoin possibly saves the whole thing for me for it not being too much floral-only (and giving it the Amouage signature), I really like this component everywhere, it can turn every scent perfect for me, similar with oud. Maybe olibanum also served the same purpose but I don't really know how that thing smells specifically. Still, I can smell orchid here, similar to one in Black and Velvet Orchid by TF, unless I mix this up with ylang-ylang, I'm not sure. Anyway, this is a nice and enjoyable slightly bitterish floral bouquet by Amouage and it is good! Better and more smell on hand than on shirt but it's good on both places. I have smelt ylang-ylang on some other perfumes and if it is too strong, I can't stand it but here it is in the background rather, nicely done.

Wow, I like this!! I bought myself a few niche samples, and this is probably the most expensive perfume I will ever wear! ;) I dabbed this on today (literally blind--it was dark so I didn't know what I grabbed) from a sample. My first thought was "oooooooh, it's like a lux version of" Whispers in the Library " [the only fragrance in the "reminds me of" that I have smelled]! I definitely had spice and benzoin coming up, right from the start. Fascinatingly, by the time I reached work, jasmine and orange blossom had come to say hello. Then the frankincense, guiac wood and ginger came for a visit. I have genuinely never experienced a perfume that took on so many different expressions throughout its life. IMHO, this is definitely worthy of the title "niche", and (unfortunately?!) is now something I will have to start saving for! I adore it! If you enjoy benzoin (because it's there throughout the life of the fragrance), I definitely recommend you purchase a sample of this, and try it for yourself! :)

Holy mother of all florals...THIS is a heavy duty floral fragrance. It's strong on the ylang ylang most on my skin. The initial spray isn't my favorite. But after about 15 minutes this fragrance blooms into the most gorgeous mix of heady slightly indolic spicy white and yellow florals. 2 sprays on the arm and it was still radiating after an hour. This shit is STRONG. Definitely don't overspray this one. If you're a fan of florals and want BOLD, this is worth a try! Edit: I just took a shower and sprayed this again on my arm and now I'm getting an aquatic vibe! This fragrance is so transformative and takes you on a journey. Amouage fragrances never cease to amaze me! Edit 2: Woke up and it was still on my skin! Mostly just benzoin, which isn't my favorite on it's own, but still. Great longevity!

Opus VIII has a lovely white floral opening. The top notes lead with jasmine but the ylang ylang is in there. The floral notes do not totally blend together. Instead, they are detectable in a way that has them dancing around playing nicely together versus becoming one. Sometimes this one opens with the woody notes in the opening. No idea why it changes each time I wear it, but that is just fine by me. The middle notes are softer, add vetiver and smell a bit minty in a good way. This is the part of the perfume that I enjoy the most. The sillage is medium to heavy, and the longevity is more than 10 hours. I have worn this four times now. I like it even more each wearing.

This is my ultimate happiness scent. It literally gives me good mood almost instantly. From moment I tried it first time over 2 years ago it evokes image of sunflower field and bright blue sky on sunny early Autumn day. Have no idea why. It is not my favorite Amouage perfume to wear it on myself, although I do like it a lot for this purpose too, but I'm carrying 2 ml decant of it in my bag all the time just to open cup and smell it. I cannot even (nor want!) to analyze it, just enjoying it. I will only say that longevity and projection is above Amouage average, and their average is enormous!

An enchanting Floriental centered around a lovely jasmine note, this is a beautiful tropical offering from Amouage. The perfume opens with the powerful indolic jasmine surrounded by hints of ylang ylang and orange flower. It starts transitioning to an incensy olibanum surrounded by hints of saffron, ginger, guaiac and vetiver. It finally settles into powdery benzoin with a slight bay leaf. The perfume radiates a bright tropical happy radiance. Unisex slight feminine leaning with moderate to strong sillage and very good longevity. Best suited for warmer sunny weather. Enjoy!

so far with amouage, they never fail on floral notes with a touch of wood...like a flower tree of course with trees that is wood...in all the history be it soap, perfume, incense etc will all has flowers smell in all the ranges of the product, thus it is a good smell, so far i have not come across a soap that smell exactly like amouage perfume( except for amouage soap ), i would love to try it though if there is one. so far amouage has been producing great products, with great products comes great price...

اپس هشت عطر راحت الهضم و بی دردسری هست خط و نشان و شلوغی که در سایر عطرهای صمغی امواج هست اینجا خبری نیست ترکیب گل یاس و سایر گلها با صمغها که خصلت وحشی صمغا را گرفته است و به یه کار ارام و بی دردسر تبدیل کرده که استفاده اش برای تمامی مناسبها و لحظات مناسب است ترکیبات ادویه و گرمی هم وجود دارند که درحد بالانس عطر هستند اپس هشت شاید کمی یاداور عطرای قدیمی باشد ولی با این حال بدیع و بی شباهت هست همیشه فکر میکنید شبیه یه عطری بوده است ولی چیزی به ذهنتان نمی اید نافذ ، اندکی صابونی و خوشبو 5/5

I have 6 x 2ml samples which I've dusted off and started to wear. Firstly, the colour of this juice is insane, like as bad as Des Clous Pour Une Pelure or The Lover's Tale. It stains skin for more than 24h. Secondly, it smells divine. Thirdly, I don't have nuclear performance, but maybe it's the age of the samples I'm using. I'm not complaining though, as it's the perfect strength for out and about, work or play. I wore it around Paris today in 29 degree heat and it was perfect.

It wouldn't be possible to wear this and not feel elegant. It is working great with my jeans but it would be fabulous for a special occasion. Major league gorgeous, compelling - as in I can't stop huffing my wrist, and very unique. The combination of florals with some edible spices - ginger, saffron, orange, has been done but none I've sampled were of this quality and done with such talent. FB on wishlist.

Jasmined floral compostion with splash of Saphron. Strange that the notes have many flowers yet all in all, the composition is not leaning toward masculine. I love this mixed wth other parfumes ..and alone. Can be worn by woman but would seem strongly suited mainly for men. This is a new scent. Composition 9/10

She has arrived. My little bit of luxury. Deep, sensual. Reminds a little bit of Alien. I can't comment on sillage etc as I've only just sprayed. Just I can tell she's going to be long-lasting with good sillage. I love her already. Worth the price as I'm worth it.

White floral and resin. This is some powerful stuff that can fill a room. The floral is very feminine and the spice really makes it unisex. My friends told me I smelled like the middle east. I guess that is the general consensus from other people.

Another analogy: OPUS VII is the dark haunted soul of the moon, whereas OPUS VIII is the dancing, rejoicing, gleaming soul of the sun. These 2 behave like day and night.

This stuff is just gorgeous drop dead gorgeous I’m not even going to elaborate nothing but excellence went into this bottle . Bravo

The most best from library collection well done amouage..nice white flower.Just another number in the Opus Series..

I receaved this fine work of art today . I have to commend Amouage for another Masterpiece. 10/10

I'm really on the fence with Opus VIII. It's quite a bit different from what most - not all - of the Library Collection try to do in terms of style and creative direction. This is not a bad thing, and if it's a well-executed concept a change of direction can be a very welcome thing, but it's this last part that I'm not so sure about. For one, it seems a bit disjointed, like it might be a mash-up of separate perfumes or ideas that never really find cohesion. For two, speaking of perfume mash-ups, for quite a bit of my time with Opus VIII I was very much smelling Opus V's rooty iris (orris) and musk combination; I've never been a fan of Opus V, so there's a problem for me, and for an expensive exclusive line like the Library Collection recycling old ideas and/or getting heavy-handed with the same materials more than once feels like I, the wearer and consumer, am being cheated a bit. In more detail, the way the perfume opens is fantastic, what helps me place one foot over the line into 'love' territory. The indolic jasmine and orange blossom top release themselves like a cloud into the air to quickly give way to an incense, saffron, ginger, and woody heart that shape-shifts between a vaguely-oud-type accord and a vaguely-leather-type accord. It's breathtaking and stunning. I was head-over-heels bowled-over in love with what was going on. Then after about an hour, reality and the letdown: the woods string their way down to mingle with a very big benzoin note that comes across rooty/woody iris (orris) and musk that is almost exactly the same as Opus V. But here's the ruse: it's all jasmine. Opus VIII is all jasmine. Every material and note/accord are meant to display some facet of jasmine; it's the theme connecting all parts of this mélange of questionably juxtaposed notes. Jasmine is a shape-shifter, a chameleon full of different colors that can easily trick you into disguising itself as something else and hiding about the foreground or the background. Sometimes it's citrusy and fruity, sometimes dry and bitter, sometimes extraordinarily indolic and musky, sometimes very white floral and pretty, sometimes wet and sweet, sometimes green and sometimes rich and bronzed. This flower is an incredible marvel of nature, and Christopher Chong wanted Pierre Negrin and Richard Herpin to capture it. I think that's the problem: jasmine has too many characteristics to squeeze them all into one perfume in a cohesive and legible manner. Maybe the team at Amouage came to the same conclusion after they felt Opus VIII was done (or as close to it as they could get it), because they made another attempt at exploding jasmine with Opus IX - though the inspiration for IX was the scentless camelia flower - and they succeeded a lot more with IX, in my opinion. Each moment when you think you know what Opus VIII is doing - in one moment floral, in another moment woody, in another moment indolic and musky, in another dry and in another sweet - like a chameleon it changes colors on you so fast your get momentarily confused while your senses and brain recalibrate to the shape and reset the foreground and background contrasts. One note remains throughout most of the life of the perfume though, and that is a very pleasant olibanum. Are we surprised? I'm not. Amouage is a house you study when needing a master class in incense and they have some of the best incense materials in the world, so, of course, they are going to want to use it whenever they can. Once the olibanum finally makes itself known, and keeps its voice sustained through the rest of the perfume's life, does it all seem to come together. Olibanum is the glue, the tether keeping the shapeshifting and color-changing jasmine in check. It's a difficult perfume to read, but one thing that most certainly needs to be said about it is that it is gorgeous. At no point is any note or material less than beautiful and of superb quality. The final skin scent is basically an amber, full of balsams and benzoin, but you occasionally get a whiff of bay leaf to keep things springy, fresh, and to add a touch of green color. It doesn't really keep with the theme, but technically it works well. So, yeah, I'm on the fence with VIII. I do honestly like it, but I have no idea if I want to wear it again, or how and when I would wear it. Its refusal to maintain any semblance of consistent character by constantly changing shape and color makes it feel disjointed, not to mention confusing and challenging. However, I think that is what will, to the last point of consideration, push it from neutral to thumbs-up territory: Opus VIII does what the Library Collection Opuses are supposed to do, which is to give you something of superb quality that is different, makes you think, and keeps you on your toes.