Amber Aquilaria

This is my second review on Amber Aquilaria, in my first one I went on rant on the house being over-priced and pompous in presentation but truth be told in time and with experience I have changed my perspective. Electimuss seem to genuinely want to make good products and the quality is here with all of the fragrances that I sampled. Are they over-priced? Are some of them derivative? I don't know, maybe, depends on your perspective on the perfume market as it is now. As I see it, these days in fragcom we seem to have a version of what is happening in crypto today, an abundance of scammers making companies over-night with cheap wordpress websites looking for a quick n' easy cash-out usually with the help of greedy/misguided influencers and (lets face it) gullible and compulsive buyers. Viewing it in that context Electimuss is ok, they are not great, but they ain't terrible - they invest in their product, they seem to be serious about making fragrances which might sound silly but it's pretty rare these days. That said you can vibe with them or not but it's an honest brand with a honest product. Anyway these are just my two scents about this brand and about the state of affairs in the fragrance-sphere. Now for the fragrance: Amber Aquilaria is a masculine leaning amber fragrance with a cognac accord present throughout. There are zero rough edges, this is rounded and smooth. The smell is velvety amber and cognac that is similar to the cognac accord in Roja's Enigma (just that accord, no similarity between the two fragrances). It is linear and mostly you will get amber/booze that is sweet, but not too sweet and elegant. It is different in the opening 5 to 15 minutes when it has a animalic feel, it's rougher, sexy and you also get the bergamot swirling with the cognac, but it does not last. Through most of the life you get smooth, velvety, airy amber/cognac mix with no rough edges that remains fairly linear. The performance is good for my standards, decent projection in the first 1-2 hours, total longevity about 9 hours, by no means beast mode. Worth it at this price? Well no, like most fragrances at retail, but let's face it, if you are reading this far in this long-ass rant you are probably in the game and get your fragrances discounted, grey marker or from a plug so it depends on your perspective of what that value is worth to you. At the end of the day what you spend your money on is a decision you make, I am happy with mine and this has a cozy place in my collection.

Amber Aquilaria smells great, but I have to say a few things about it. It is boozy, woody, smoky, a bit spicy, and a bit fresh (but not "that" type of fresh). It is great, but I expected Amber Aquilaria to be even more complex (less linear) with more sweetness and warmth instead of just those booziness and smokiness dominating the scent from top to bottom. I do get that booziness, probably from that cognac accord. The ambergris is also very prominent here. The oud is there, but not really noticeable. The vanilla and sandalwood are starting to appear when the scent dries down (much more obvious on my skin rather than on paper/shirt). Deep down, that over-the-top expectation probably makes me kinda disappointed but overall, it is still a very nice fragrance. But, I do have to give it an extra point for being unique. I don't think it smells like any of the Enigma variants or other fragrances out there. It lasts long, projects very well, and honestly, you don't have to worry about its performance. Not safe for blind buy, so sample first.

Wow. On the paper stick, I hated this. The bergamot, maybe the cognac, maybe both, was trending sickly synthetic spearmint cleaner. But I am trying new things and I took a chance after today’s shower and spritzed it on. What a revelation on my skin. Deep, rich, smokey, (I have an unsophisticated nose, probably have no idea how to articulate what I'm smelling). I could see a woman wearing this. Joan Jett x high femme dom. Age matters not, attitude is everything. She’d keep her skin just out of reach so you couldn’t bury your nose in her addictively spiced skin. Not sure I will commit to it for me, but I sure would date it. —————— Drydown is vanilla without being too sweet. That minty-ish top note is what lingered on my clothes. I want to try this again on cold weather days. I see getting this in a travel or mini (if ever offered that way) and devoting a weekend each year to it. Definitely one of the best olfactory journeys I’ve ever taken in that I recognized the development of the scent.

Awe man I’ve fallen really in love with this one . Right from first sample I went back for more. Yes it’s crazy expensive but come on now if you still don’t know how to get your Niche for 30-50% off then you don’t know what you’re doing. Nobody should ever pay retail. Well unless u really can’t find the fragrance anywhere else but on the brands website. So yes I paid full price for Ciel de Gum but it’s now discontinued and my bottle would now sell for 3-4 times what I paid. But I’m not selling it, I too love it. As for Amber Aquilaria, it really is one of the BEST boozy ambers I’ve ever smelt and I’ve smelt many thousands of fragrances in my life. And even if I had no choice but to pay full price, THIS one is so worth it. For those of you that don’t want the full bottle, buy a couple of 8ml decants from Max Aroma. That’s what I did when I don’t want to touch my full bottle. I’m ocd I don’t like to see a used up perfume bottle. I panic when I see it less than half full.

I do not get the cough syrup vibe from this. Dark boozy, sweet resins, dark fruits of the more sweet less tart variety, an oud that starts fecal and accents of woody tannins in the beginning, but fades into a lovely softer woody backdrop, mixed with vanilla that is neither powdery nor overly creamy; just right. Strange that it has a watery/low-viscosity quality combined with all these dark attributes. Do not expect a heavy, thick, powdery, claustrophobia-inducing, busy scent. This one floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee. It pours like water, not like motor oil. Imagine melting a tootsie roll and pouring coffee into a glass of warm brandy and mixing the concoction with a wooden spoon. Sprinkle some vanilla seeds in there. Enjoy with some dark fruits and assorted nuts haha. Sexy vibes. Unisex straight down the middle. Stunning longevity and sillage. FBW when a great deal comes around; the pricing is outrageous on this one.