Amara

Something in Amara smells like chocolate-dipped jasmine flowers. But it's also green and lush, reminding me of hanging plants when they grow shoots and begin to climb walls or twist around beams. This quality prevents it from creeping (pun intended) over the line into the gourmand category. I don't recognize oud because it's not medicinal or rubbery, but there is definitely a woodiness, a masculinity, about it as it drifts past your nose throughout the day. Sillage is great. I expected Amara to be even woodier and darker, perhaps a bit smoky too. While it doesn't perfectly match my expectations, it still accomplishes what it set out to do. It's beautifully ethereal, reminding me of a temple in the tropics with incense burning inside. The jasmine is so fresh and exotic when combined with the slightest hint of cinnamon. The only thing I would change is the bottle. This light blue bottle makes me think it's an aquatic, but it's far from being so; it is rich with depth. Amara will transport you to another place and time.

Unlike another reviewer, I get nothing gourmand here. It's definitely got a "dirty" and smoky incense element, but there's something else that is sort of like flowers in the sand. It's also rather dry - I don't get any sweetness here. I've had it on less than an hour so I'll update if anything changes, but it's certainly unique and interesting. UPDATE: After a couple of hours it became less discordant, but the incense element continued, and lasted a long time. This is an excellent scent for those who are seeking this kind of thing, and I'm glad I have a partial bottle of it.

Two words: dirty and sexy. Amara is a smolder that builds into a fire, rather than the other way around. The depth emerges after an hour of wear by which point, one must either go to bed and dream or throw on some heels and go out.