Black Amethyst

Such a complex, original and suprisingly sultry fragrance this is! Classified as an oriental floral, it also fits into the vein of chypre or floral woody fragrance.Young and fresh, it is extremely wearable from the first few moments, which opens with an intense, sweet citrusy blast that is sparkling and soon deepens, losing part of its sweetness and becoming dryer. I love the dusty dryness of the opening, which seems to act as a guard, suppressing a far juicier, pulsating heart. This lovely, dry, dusty overtone pleasantly remains a constant throughout the development of this scent. Even though the opening is quite interesting as is, it doesn’t give an indication of the complexity that is to follow. Ten to fifteen minutes after application, the scent goes through a beautiful transformation: it feels almost as though a bud unfurls to reveal deep violet colors and a glowing heart previously unseen. A mélange of velvety and at once peppery floral notes which feels seductive and alluring. The floral heart notes stretch, becoming sheerer and lighter as time goes by, to reveal caramelized, vanilla tinged woods in the base notes. The patchouli note is quite innocent and joined beautifully by hints of sandalwood and deep musk. The waterfruit notes that were presenting a rather guarded sensuality having died down, the drydown is very sexy indeed, perfect for autumn. It is refinement in a bottle! I feel confident and empowered while wearing this fragrance. It stands out in a crowd, so different from the many fruity sweet fragrances that are flooding the markets and streets... I am completely taken in by Black Amethyst, captured by its rich tones.

After receiving the body lotion for x-mas from my bf's grandma I gave it a quick whiff, wrote it off as another boring B&BW fruity/floral, and almost re-gifted it at a white elephant gift exchange. In the end I decided to keep it but ironically received a second bottle as my white elephant gift! I thought..ok, this is obviously some divine message! Still wary over sampling a possible scrubber I read reviews about it being similar to Coco Mademoiselle which I've been wanting to try after hearing many comparisons to my prized possession Miss Dior Cherie 2011. So I finally gave a slather on my skin and was pleasantly surprised; it does smell expensive! It starts off with citrus, green apple and powdery white flowers (think D&G Light Blue) but then dries down to a deeper chypre. I love it and find it a lighter alternative to my much stronger fav Miss D. I may be even willing to purchase the parfum.. that is if I don't purchase Coco Mlle by then! I do agree the name and design of the bottle is misleading.. I don't think of black or purple at all when smelling this scent... Update: I finally made the decision to purchase the eau de toilette! Every time I put on my robe I smell remnants of my lotion and go... "MMMmmm!!!! Oh yeah...Black Amethyst!"

I think this is one of Bath & Body Works' most mature, unique, and lovely scents to date. Once again, it's a shame to say that they've discontinued this fragrance in stores, which means the EDT is no longer available (you can only get the body care stuff online). I guess Bath & Body Works has to keep making room for the abundance of berry-candy-vanilla scents they won't stop releasing over and over again ... Typically, fragrances that have a dominant patchouli note tend to smell awful on me; there's a staleness that comes out on my skin, which is not appealing at all. Luckily with Black Amethyst, the vetiver and the sandalwood are dominant on my skin, which smells wonderful. The vanilla in this perfume isn't a sweet vanilla at all; I think it just makes the harsher notes (such as the sandalwood) smell smoother, softer, and almost creamier. The sillage and the duration of this perfume is quite strong. When I had the eau de toilette, I was impressed with how long it lasted on my skin. The body spray lasted a longer time than expected as well. Overall, I think this scent is wonderful. This isn't a "girly" scent at all; it's a womanly scent, especially by Bath & Body Works standards. The stuff smells more expensive than it actually is.

I have the lotion, shower gel, and body spray that I layer on together and I get surprisingly good lasting power that way. Black Amethyst is one of my faves. It's most unique among typical BBW scents. Don't get me wrong, I am obsessed with BBW but they are not exactly known for having sophisticated crags. This one is. Right away I get the citrus notes especially the bergamot. I get almost no sweetness but an effervescent quality that elevates the other notes and keeps things from getting too heavy. Next come the white florals that I find quite understated. The stars of the show, IMO are the patchouli and vetiver. Done wrong and this could have turned into a "earthy" frag. Not here. The patch is on the tamer side, no dirty hippie in sight! I will say though that this could just be because my chemistry really works with patchouli. I have been known to wear straight up patchouli oil and my patch hating husband practically breathes down my neck when I wear it. Anyway.........This one's a keeper :-)

What a gorgeous fragrance! Being a long time Bath and Body Works fan, if I smelled this without knowing it was from BBW, I would not have thought it was from them at all. It's very classy, mature, deep and intimate. I can definitely smell the vetiver and musk, but the vanilla balances it out. I initially bought this because I read how it's a dupe to Coco Mademoiselle and this is what I can say: The first spray is more white floral compared to CM's more citrusy opening. However, once it settles on your skin the powdery classic signature scent of CM comes through. It's definitely sweeter than CM though, or perhaps creamier is the word? All in all, I absolutely adore this fragrance. This is now one of my top BBW mists next to Coconut Cream Pie and In The Stars!