Essence No. 3 Ambre

I came to this one quite late in the day apparently..... but better late than never! Absolute quality here from start to finish; the packaging is incredibly well presented and luxurious, while the bottle is really heavy and the magnetic cap is really strong too. The star though, without question is the juice. A beautiful, rich, warming amber fragrance with a very very slight bitterness at the opening, which is lovely and sets it apart for me. In fact, I find it incredibly reminiscent of Dior Privèe’s Mitzah, which is no bad thing at all! The comparisons do diverge along the life of the fragrance in places but not drastically imo, with the honey accord in Mitzah fundamentally setting the two apart. Ambre No.3 doesn’t drastically evolve and is fairly linear to my nose but again, that’s not a criticism by any means: the quality of the components and the hand (and nose of course!) of Francis Kurkdjian wouldn’t dare allow that to happen. I’m definitely getting vanilla in the dry down, working beautifully well with the patchouli, which is lovely. It’s rich, opulent and simply oozes class...... and at under £60, it really is a no-brainer if you’re looking for a stunning amber frag. If I’m being completely truthful, the only elements that let it down for me are the longevity and sillage. Given the density of the fragrance, I would have expected 8+ hours and a very good sillage but I personally only get 5 or so hours before it becomes a skin scent and the sillage is only moderate after the first 2 hours but as I’d be wearing it as an evening scent, those issues don’t have too much of an impact. Obviously, that’s just on my skin but nonetheless, I’m completely over the moon that I’ve discovered this beauty..... finally! I was so impressed with the overall quality that I’ve also ordered No.6 Vetiver & No.7 Neroli too and can’t wait to give them a try. I’ve got to give it to Elie Saab and Kurkdjian here; they’ve clearly thought about this line long and hard, not skimping or sparing anything at all. BIG round of applause !!!

REVIEW - ELIE SAAB ESSENCE NO.3 AMBRE What does it smell like? It just smells 'right'. Perfect. Smells like nostalgic fondness and good old times. Luminous. Perfumer - Francis Kurkdjian TOP - This has been the most difficult perfume for me to review. For two reasons. One it's blended so craftly that it doesn't anything out easily. You've to wait for each note to blossom and only then you can smell it. Two, because it doesn't change much from top to bottom. You get a initially sweet, caramelized and resinous blast that's kind of warm and smooth and comforting. MID - Again, it's very hard to identify it away from the top. Although you can sense some notes here and there. The thing with this Perfume is, everytime you sniff it you get a different blend. Sometimes you get caramelized amber, sometimes a smooth-sandalwood laden crewmy amber. Sometimes spicy-woody-resinous amber. Drydown - Same as the mid. Although sandalwood gets more prominent and the whole composition gets more richer and smoother overtime. There's some woody dark oomph provided by Patchouli here as well. It makes you curious. The way it leads you on. One note after another. You just want to sniff it again trying to capture the whole essence. Work of art. Feelings - It feels perfect. Imagine your old childhood room being struck by sunlight on cold silent autumn evening. This smells natural and just right. Very luminous and calm at the same time. Slows the time for me to be honest. Performance - 10-12 hours on my skin Good projection all the while. Usage - Men/Women over 25. Compliments - Don't wear it for compliments. Wear it for my personal recollection and mind. Rating - 10/10. Perfection in a bottle for me. Perfect representation of amber. Everything I've been looking out for till now.

I blind bought this based on the reviews here. I have a tester decant of MFK's Grand Soir so was intrigued by his Essence line creations for Elie Saab. I've been following MFK for a while and always wanted to own one of his creations (Aqua Vitae is in my To-Buy list) so when winter started here in Australia, decided to bite the bullet and just buy it. AND I'm glad I did. Been wearing it for some time (today is the 4th wear in the last few weeks) and am enjoying it more and more. WHAT a gorgeous fragrance this is! I will just copy/paste a few words from the previous reviewers who mirror my thoughts exactly as they are: Andy The Frenchy "....divine, like the other fragrances in the Essence collection: no fireworks, just smooth perfection" Sachin "It makes you curious. The way it leads you on. One note after another. You just want to sniff it again trying to capture the whole essence. Work of art. Feelings - It feels perfect. Imagine your old childhood room being struck by sunlight on cold silent autumn evening. This smells natural and just right. Very luminous and calm at the same time. Slows the time for me..." The above comment by Sachin describes my feelings perfectly. On a chilly morning such as today - this fragrance is just PURE perfection! Warm, natural, luminous and calming. On a side note - Aqua Vitae is the Summer version of this one (I have used it a few times from the tester decant), so am aiming to get that in a few months. Also purchased Essence No. 7 Neroli recently in preparation for summer and that is AS good as this one. Will write a proper review for that later.

Undervalued Have you ever met anyone that is clearly delivering below their potential? Does it frustrate you because you can see it but they cannot? You wonder, what would it take for this potential to be expediated? Certainly - confidence, commitment and desire are a must. I feel this Amber is the epitome of this, it could even be the most underrated amber I have come across. It is phenomenal value, mostly all naturals and MFK shines as usual. It resembles Amber Flash(which is also underrated) and Grand Soir (by the same perfumer and possibly the more "beefy" version of this scent[certainly a way more expensive version]) but still unique and subtle in it's own right. Is it too sweet? No. It is smooth and polished and airy and is it worth every penny? Yes. Indeed, it is an amber than can be layered with oud, sandalwood, rose, and musks. It is even designed to be layered but it has one weakness on its own - it is potentially too "light". There is another way to enhance value - scarcity. The more scarce something is the more valuable it becomes, like Saffron or Oud. In this discovery; there is a truth. This scent may be discontinued and then we will likely see the value skyrocket shortly after. So, inevitably true value will be seen by all in due course, but the savvy collector finds it first, before the crowd. All things considered, 4.45/5

I’m selective when it comes to amber scents. After testing two well regarded Amber dominant scents - Voile D’ambre by Yves Rocher and Ambre D'Alexandrie by Boucheron - I was unimpressed. My thinking....maybe there was nothing new to add to my list of favorites by MFK (Grand Soir) Serge Lutens, Annick Goutal, Hermes Elixir. But curiosity compelled me to buy a decant of this Elie Saab. And I’m glad I did because it’s GORGEOUS. I definitely pick up patchouli and sandalwood with an abstract amber. Notes listed above are not complete though. There’s a sweetness to this scent, maybe honey and a very good quality vanilla are in the mix, making this smell smooth and natural. What’s most unusual is that I think of amber as being a cold weather scent, but with Essence No. 3, Francis Kurkdijian has created a masterpiece that can be worn through all seasons. And I was able to find a 100 ml for around $50 U.S., so a total bargain to boot. I love this amber.