Les Absolus d'Orient Ambre Eternel

REVIEW - GUERLAIN AMBRE ÉTERNEL PERFUMER - Thierry Wasser (In-house perfumer for Guerlain) Release Year - January 2016 What does it smell like?All thing's posh. A rich and regal smelling concoction,with Iris, Leather and Ambergris,from the perfuming greats of Guerlain. Reminiscent of a much richer and exotic Dior Homme Parfum. TOP - Ambre Éternel starts off with a huge blast of Iris. Almost lipsticky kind of a vibe but toned down by plethora of some beautiful spices and leather. Off the top you get a blanket of Iris covered in Cinnamon, Coriander and some zesty fresh Peach. The opening on this is seductive, sultry and extremely extremely posh. MIDDLE - As the scent starts to develop,and boy does it develop,you start to get a lot more Leather. A concoction that started out with rather a funk to it is eye to eye to you in all its seriousness. The Iris is tones down. So is the fruitiness. All you get is some seriously sexy Leather backed by some woods and some Coriander. All in all the heart of this perfume feels very straight forward, very rich and alluring all the while maintaining the posh nature of this beautiful Theirry Wasser creation. DRYDOWN - Now more often than not these kind of oriental esque creations end up with a woody or rather musky sandalwood base but this one takes a slight turn here. It surely retains the leather which provides a smooth texture to this perfume,but with airy Ambergris and a very soft to Orange Blossom note. The Ambergris no doubt the star of the show at this point. And it gives this creation beautiful richness and depth, adding an airy touch to the whole composition which envelopes the whole story of this perfume into it. And thus a playful tale that started with Iris and a melange of playful feeling fruits,with a serious and straight forward heart,finds its ending in a calming airy Ambergris. In the very deepest drydowns however, I'm talking 6-7 hours after the initial spray, you're left with a beautiful ashy leather and Iris that is in perfect symphony with upcoming Autumn. PERFORMANCE - 8-10 Hours Longevity on skin. Initial Siliage and Projection is very very High. Almost beast mode. Projects heavily for upto 2 hours before resting and maintaining a decent and very noticeable scent cloud around you. Since this is a regal smelling juice one to two sprays before an important event would make you smell posher than everyone else out there! EMOTIONS and USAGE - Unisex. But above 25. Would be too mature for someone below 25. Best for upscale,formal events and parties. This feels dark, mysterious and sexy. Imagine the most mysteriously beautiful man/woman in one of those regal palace halls. This is how this smells like. VERDICT - Another top Guerlain creation. Guerlain is one of those house that means Perfumes from the get go. If you need to connect to the root of perfumery I think this is the house to begin with. And their creations don't dissapoint either. It's hard to find such well rounded,well crafted balanced,complete smelling fragrances without breaking your buck. This one is discontinued so sample it and try to get a bottle of it to rock in upcoming fall and winter.

This was not an instant love.... I blind traded for it based on its crazy popularity and instantly regretted it... Weird and almost kinda.. nauseating. Am I the only one thinking this smells like pure caramel?? Weeks go by and I figured I'd give it another go... It didn't make me sick but couldn't quite wrap my head (or nose) around it either... I did get a nice leather later that I really didn't notice the first time... Still a bit sweet for my taste, but more layers this time around.... TWO months go by and I'm going to an event... Ok I'm going to try this again. Oh...! It's nice... I smell cardamom! I swear I didn't get that before... And ambergris on suede... Wow! Classy.... People commented on my scent and asked what i was wearing.. honestly that RARELY happens to me.. this stuff is still weird but I like it more every time I try it again... It's a work of art. A bit out of place in its own space... Confrontational but in a necessary way... Assertive but still classy.. I TOTALLY get why it's discontinued... There's no way this sold well, especially in the beginning or at point of sale... I suspect the most common reaction in the first seconds after sniffing the blotter was "eww"... Or "oh! Gosh..." And quickly moving on to the tragically boring and synthetic Santal Royal (one of the worst Guerlains in YEARS)... Yet that one is likely LOVED and it's STILL in the lineup... Disheartening really. I can't tell you to run out and get this cuz a) it's $400 a bottle IF you can find it and b) it's... off-putting at first.... But if you can get your nose on it... PLEASE give it a second (or third) chance...

Symptuous leather and ylang ylang. I managed to find a box set with two 15ml bottles, and it's a bittersweet victory, as I immediately love it, and I know I probably won't be able to find any more (for a price I'm willing to pay). The peach and ylang-ylang are very complimentary, and I think this combination, plus the cardamom, prevents the tropical, banana-like side of the ylang from coming through (I like that but there's a time and a place, plus it makes this perfume more unique). The rich warmth of the amber base boosts the fruit into opulence rather than gourmandise, and there's the playful neroli peeping over the top to give it a charming flourish that makes me thing it's gonna be great for spring and possibly even cooler summer days. The ambergris isn't strong but it is there, hinting at the open sea. And, oh!... as it develops, the strong leather comes in. It's almost chocolatey somehow, like maybe a gourmand leather feel, wow. There's a lot to take in here, but it's incredible and inspired. Update: In hot weather, the heady white/yellow florals come to the fore, almost pissy, but compelling and lovely, kind of like Carnal Flower, but with the leather undercurrent. After several wears in various weather conditions, to me this isn't amber, it's leather floral. It's pretty dense and loud, but it's unique and still has the little bit of Guerlain magic. By the way, the mid smells very similar to The Lover's Tale. This is the Francesca Bianchi orris sludge before she did it. So uncanny.

Deep, sensual, exotic, and completely unisex. I wore it for the second time today and just upgraded it to a love. The ambergris adds a slight salty. There is also a bit of an antiseptic vibe, which I am not crazy about, but it's only apparent when I sniff my wrist directly. I don't know what's causing it, but I could swear it's from myrrh, which isn't listed as a note. To my nose, it's such a well blended perfume that I really struggle to identify any notes. It's as if they add qualities rather than individual aromas, if that makes sense. Longevity, projection, and silage are wonderful. For the price, I would expect that to be a given, but it's to often the opposite in many niche and high quality designer lines. I need to see how this works outdoors and in the cold air, and will probably update this review. Let me add that I recently purchased EA's 5th Avenue Royale based off great reviews. It does smell similar to this, but only superficially. The quality and expert blending of Amber Eternel is miles away in superiority, though Royale is certainly worth owning if you enjoy oriental scents as much as I do.

Cuir Intense + Ambre Eternel For people to understand Intensely Animalic fragrances like these two, something must be understood, you have got to wait for at least 2 minutes before even thinking of smelling them if you are testing (assuming of course that you have enough intelligence not to buy them blind). The animalic note is right in front of everything you are going to smell, and I think that was a smart move by Thierry Wasser, instead of ending up smelling like chewed up shoe after 8-9 hours, the animalic note is right at the beginning, intense and unapologetic, naturally as time goes by it starts to fade away slowly and in the process covering everything else in a layer of class and sophistication that stays until everything dries down completely. The fruitiness of Ambre Eternel makes it a bit more tolerable for ladies than Cuir Intense, both perform admirably, smell divine and would challenge even the most seasoned fragrance collectors. Well Done Guerlain, well done.