Voluptuous Nostalgia

Oh, I love this scent so much! I got a sample in the Tigerlily gift-with-purchase promo and have been wanting it ever since. It's super feminine and luxurious, sexy and soft at the same time. There is a waxy lipstick smell that I love so much I could just bite right through it. It's not the usual rose/violet that is associated with lipstick, but a gardenia/violet. Voluptuous, indeed! There's also a wisp of incense or beeswax spicing it up just enough to make it smolder. I'm guessing this is the amber & ambergris. It's warm and inviting, yet airy and maybe a little powdery. Cosmetics and church. For the nostalgia part, I do think this has a retro feel, but in a fresh, not dated, way. The mental image I get when smelling this is a beautiful perfectly coiffed woman in the 1960s with dark red lipstick. Sophia Loren, perhaps. At Midnight Mass. Lasting power isn't great, maybe 5 hours. It's also super pricey, much to my dismay ($225.00 for 1.7oz!). But it's true love, so maybe someday....

I've been haunting every Ambergris fragrance I can find lately and I really have to hand it to Maria McElroy, she seems to have a knack for making Ambergris identifiable in the most stunning fashion. For the record, you can't test this fragrance alongside of others as it will defer to those. I don't mean it is a wall flower, but this is no powerhouse. The opening is distinctly floral with the Lily of the Valley being the most prominent to my nose. In my three tests, I've not yet met the gardenia or violet, but I don't lose hope, sometimes flowers are shy. But the creamy ambergris alone would do it for me. It shines in the softest most comforting manner. There is absolutely a vintage vibe happening here. Finally, I'll say that like most of McElroy's creations, it takes a few tries to understand this. This might not sell well at a fragrance counter because it's a fragrance whose depths the wearer must mine a bit to find it's secrets. But in the end, it's captivating.