Amsterdam

The fragrance of Amsterdam depicts, through its creative concept, the change of seasons in the most populous city of Holland, when autumn turns into winter. The freedom of cycling through the famous canals, flowers in the windows, the smell of warm cake and furniture made of wood make up this scenario. Just like the dark tones inside the houses, imagining the smell of a black tulip was the starting point for the creation of this fragrance, which is classified as floral, spicy and woody. Amsterdam has notes of elemi, pink pepper, Sichuan pepper, and saffron on the top of the composition. Then, tulip and rose notes were combined, creating a floral heart. The base brings notes of cedar, amber, musk, and sandalwood. On my skin, Amsterdam’s fragrance reveals itself as a floral-musky with a huge personality, which presents a new approach to the term genderless. This is because, in general, it is much easier to create a unisex fragrance of citric or aromatic style. But when it comes to florals, the boundary between the shareable and the true unisex (for both genders) will depend, directly, on the taste of the wearer. And here, the fragrance shows up much more unlabeled than anything else. It plays between femininity and masculinity, that is, it is almost genderfluid. It is difficult to recognize the presence of rose or saffron in this perfume. The floral aspect gained a more resinous tone, because of the elemi and the extraction of the pink pepper that, in this fragrance, was through the CO2 (called soft extraction). Apart from that, there is much presence of the musk - with its sensual facets - and of the sandalwood - extremely creamy at the base. And the final result ends up being a milky floral and slightly woody, that claims for the touch of the skin, behaving of linear and very comfortable form. Amsterdam is a perfume that symbolizes coziness on colder days but has a certain versatility in its use. It is that type of fragrance with body moisturizer's feeling, which does not bother third parties and makes the person enjoy wearing more and more. It combines with formal environments and even with the most relaxed, exuding significantly in the first hour, and becoming more subtle with the passage of time, remaining for about five hours on the skin. Gallivant Lesson: If you thought that Amsterdam only smelled of marijuana, you made a mistake!

I'm reviewing this on a cold, dry winter day. This fragrance starts out with an addictive burst of bright rose, saffron, and pink pepper (the S. molle in Gallivant's notes, not yet listed in Fragrantica's voting scheme), all grounded by the very well-blended base notes. About an hour in, that floral effervescence gives way to a powdery sandalwood, sharpened by a touch of cedar and pepper; at this point the balsamic warmth becomes elusive and, to be honest, the composition feels unbalanced and reminds me of a less spicy Ormonde Jayne Orris Noir (about which my main complaint is that it's aggressively dry and spicy). But four hours in, the sandalwood loses some of its dryness and the composition starts to warm up again as a vanillic amber really takes over. On me this really is a skin scent after the first hour, and five hours in it's mostly faded away, although wisps of woodsy sweetness still remain. I tend to prefer frags with greater projection and staying power, but this is pretty average, and at $95 for 30ml it's really not a bad bargain.

Opens up peppery and floral, I get carnation then a some oriental spiciness that pricks my nose a little. Finally a mellowing out of various woods and musks, which creates a beautiful base for the other notes. I think this is a relatively wearable perfume. Easy to imagine it transitioning from day to night. I tend to think of spicy perfumes as wintery but there are no rules. And I think this would be wearable most of the year really. Not a ton of projection but it LASTS. Overall would recommend for anyone over the age of 30. Younger than that I think it depends on the personality donning it.

Reviewing without first checking the perfume pyramid. My first thought is the scent of the pollen stamens in Madonna lilies. Heady but not sweet. As the perfume is called Amsterdam I am reminded of flower markets. Then I catch a smokier aroma. Reminds me of pipe tobacco before it is burnt. But spicier. The overall effect is green, fresh and also spicy, smoky which is unusual. I really like it. My daughter who is into white floral scents does not. I will happily wear this scent but as it is not sweet I think it would work on a man too. I feel it is a daytime scent.

I love this fragrance so much. And it embraces well the multiple facets of this city. A sweet smell of freedom on a classic background, portable in all circumstances and yet original. The dominant smell of the tulip gives it a unique color, but these spices also evoke the cozy side of Dutch houses as well as the audacity and sensuality when the smell and the evening arise. Very nice tribute to this very special city!