Discussion of all things Amber

[zankoku_zen]

I have come to realize that I love the antiqued amber note that the Lab uses.

[Foodie]

 

When first got into BPAL in 2012 I was only into foodie and rose LE scents. I literally never even tried Snake Oil. I've been gone for a couple years and feel like a total newbie all over again, trying all of these GC scents. I realized that my favorite scent ever in the world is The Lion. Words can't express how much I love it! I ordered a bottle and also a bottle of O, they're currently on their way to me!

I considered purchasing Jacobs Ladder from Etsy, but reading the reviews it seemed a bunch of people said it was masculine. Masculine is not my thing. Just wondering if there any LE's I might want to be on the lookout for that are warm ambery goodness like The Lion. Would love some good recs! Thanks!

Coyote is a great amber scent which is what I think makes the Lion so lovely. Lion is amber with a hint of Cinnamon. Coyote is amber with sweetgrass and a hint of soft, brown suede.

Is recommend Bastet as well. LEO is still available, I'd recommend you snag it quickly and thank me later. If you can find it, Sportive Sun is a wonderful, very leonine amber.

Jacob's Ladder is beautiful, I am betting you love it and I don't find it masculine, it's quite gender neutral to my nose.

Aureus is an imp I'd recommend trying, in the vein of the Lion, sunny amber.

I'm getting quite excited thinking about all this amber!

So I ended up buying a bottle of Jacob's Ladder... And you were right, I love it! I don't find it masculine. Very gender neutral. Very warm and cozy and beautiful. LOVE IT. Thank you!

[Foodie]

Now all I have to do is find a bottle of L'Estate!!! (Good luck to me, right?)

[k22]

I want to try new amber perfumes -- autumn type ones. Has anyone tried the amber scent Autumnalis by Alkemia and knows of ambers that are similar to it?

[Elspethdixon]

I want to try new amber perfumes -- autumn type ones. Has anyone tried the amber scent Autumnalis by Alkemia and knows of ambers that are similar to it?

I haven't smelled Autumnalis, so I don't really have a basis of comparison, but The Lion is a warm, slightly spicy amber, and Coyote is amber with soft leather and sweet grass. Both of those might be autumn-like.

[k22]

 

I want to try new amber perfumes -- autumn type ones. Has anyone tried the amber scent Autumnalis by Alkemia and knows of ambers that are similar to it?

I haven't smelled Autumnalis, so I don't really have a basis of comparison, but The Lion is a warm, slightly spicy amber, and Coyote is amber with soft leather and sweet grass. Both of those might be autumn-like.

 

 

 

Thank you!! I will look into them! : )

[Foodie]

I second The Lion. I will always recommend it to anyone ever because I adore it but really it is a wonderful Autumn scent. It's warm and cozy amber with just a hint of cinnamon... can't get much more "fallish" than that!

[Fish That Swims]

Has anyone tried Haus Amber from Haus of Gloi? It works wonderfully on me and I would love to find any BPAL's with a similar amber.

[lizabelle]

So, here's a bit of a puzzle--my skin chemistry and amber. For the most part I've just started avoiding it because when it's bad it's really overpowering and makes me feel ill. I think I must amp it but not in a good way.

 

However, several of my favorites/almost favorites have a prominent amber note. There doesn't seem to be much pattern to it, either; excluding grey amber(/ambergris, which isn't real amber) there's not a color of amber that I can consistently wear. Four Seasons: Winter and Mouse's Long and Sad Tale are both delightful, and O isn't bad, but Road to Versailles at Louveciennes, Black Rider, and Coyote are all awful on me (Anubis is also on this list, but amber isn't listed as a note so I'm not sure).

 

Does anyone have advice/suggestions for what I should try or avoid, or is it going to continue to be hit and miss?

[roseus]

So, here's a bit of a puzzle--my skin chemistry and amber. For the most part I've just started avoiding it because when it's bad it's really overpowering and makes me feel ill. I think I must amp it but not in a good way.

 

However, several of my favorites/almost favorites have a prominent amber note. There doesn't seem to be much pattern to it, either; excluding grey amber(/ambergris, which isn't real amber) there's not a color of amber that I can consistently wear. Four Seasons: Winter and Mouse's Long and Sad Tale are both delightful, and O isn't bad, but Road to Versailles at Louveciennes, Black Rider, and Coyote are all awful on me (Anubis is also on this list, but amber isn't listed as a note so I'm not sure).

 

Does anyone have advice/suggestions for what I should try or avoid, or is it going to continue to be hit and miss?

Unfortunately I don't know what it could be except for maybe the other notes its paired with? I don't see any obvious patterns in the scents listed, but who knows maybe someone has a similar issue with amber. I have a similar story with honey, except it was the first five or so blends I tried were awful and I thought I had to avoid it. But then I started finding more and more that work. Now honey amping horribly is the exception, but I still can't pin down a pattern.

[Elspethdixon]

So, here's a bit of a puzzle--my skin chemistry and amber. For the most part I've just started avoiding it because when it's bad it's really overpowering and makes me feel ill. I think I must amp it but not in a good way.

 

However, several of my favorites/almost favorites have a prominent amber note. There doesn't seem to be much pattern to it, either; excluding grey amber(/ambergris, which isn't real amber) there's not a color of amber that I can consistently wear. Four Seasons: Winter and Mouse's Long and Sad Tale are both delightful, and O isn't bad, but Road to Versailles at Louveciennes, Black Rider, and Coyote are all awful on me (Anubis is also on this list, but amber isn't listed as a note so I'm not sure).

 

Does anyone have advice/suggestions for what I should try or avoid, or is it going to continue to be hit and miss?

 

IIRC "amber" is more of a scent category than a specific note/accord, so golden amber, black amber, etc. could all be made from totally different components, and one kind of amber note working well or amping/going funky/turning into powder doesn't guarantee that another kind will. Four Season: Winter is "gilded amber," Mouse's Long and Sad Tale is "two ambers," Black Rider is "black amber," O and Coyote are just "amber" with no further description, and Road to Versailles doesn't actually list amber as a note, though vanilla + labdanum is a common amber base, so vanilla + frank & sandalwood might be pretty amber-ish (and ditto on the balsam in Anubis).

 

Do the blends that work on you (or the blends that fail) share other notes in common? I know O and Mouse's Long and Sad Tale both have vanilla notes, but so does Road to Versailles, so that's probably not it. Anubis, Coyote, and Road to Versailles all share herbal/aromatic notes ("embalming herbs," "sage and sweetgrass," and "coriander, pettigrain, and thyme"), so maybe that has something to do with it.

Do the blends that work on you (or the blends that fail) share other notes in common? I know O and Mouse's Long and Sad Tale both have vanilla notes, but so does Road to Versailles, so that's probably not it.

[lizabelle]

Unfortunately I don't know what it could be except for maybe the other notes its paired with? I don't see any obvious patterns in the scents listed, but who knows maybe someone has a similar issue with amber. I have a similar story with honey, except it was the first five or so blends I tried were awful and I thought I had to avoid it. But then I started finding more and more that work. Now honey amping horribly is the exception, but I still can't pin down a pattern.

 

IIRC "amber" is more of a scent category than a specific note/accord, so golden amber, black amber, etc. could all be made from totally different components, and one kind of amber note working well or amping/going funky/turning into powder doesn't guarantee that another kind will. Four Season: Winter is "gilded amber," Mouse's Long and Sad Tale is "two ambers," Black Rider is "black amber," O and Coyote are just "amber" with no further description, and Road to Versailles doesn't actually list amber as a note, though vanilla + labdanum is a common amber base, so vanilla + frank & sandalwood might be pretty amber-ish (and ditto on the balsam in Anubis).

 

Do the blends that work on you (or the blends that fail) share other notes in common? I know O and Mouse's Long and Sad Tale both have vanilla notes, but so does Road to Versailles, so that's probably not it. Anubis, Coyote, and Road to Versailles all share herbal/aromatic notes ("embalming herbs," "sage and sweetgrass," and "coriander, pettigrain, and thyme"), so maybe that has something to do with it.

Do the blends that work on you (or the blends that fail) share other notes in common? I know O and Mouse's Long and Sad Tale both have vanilla notes, but so does Road to Versailles, so that's probably not it.

 

This is what I've been wondering! After thinking about it I made a little spreadsheet for this, and I found some interesting things. First, of 9 amber scents that I like or love, 6 are favorites. Of particular note is that the only two that actually smell like amber on me are Mouse's Long and Sad Tale and Palmyra--the others smell like it's not there at all.

 

Of the 9 amber scents that went foul on me, seven have other "powdery" notes (orris, saffron, musk). In fact all the worst offenders have "soft" or its synonyms in their descriptions! I think I've found the culprit.

Edited February 23, 2017 by lizabelle

[BetteNoire]

Brisingamen is back in stock! If you haven't tried it, you are missing out. :-)

[sprout]

So, here's a bit of a puzzle--my skin chemistry and amber. For the most part I've just started avoiding it because when it's bad it's really overpowering and makes me feel ill. I think I must amp it but not in a good way.

 

However, several of my favorites/almost favorites have a prominent amber note. There doesn't seem to be much pattern to it, either; excluding grey amber(/ambergris, which isn't real amber) there's not a color of amber that I can consistently wear. Four Seasons: Winter and Mouse's Long and Sad Tale are both delightful, and O isn't bad, but Road to Versailles at Louveciennes, Black Rider, and Coyote are all awful on me (Anubis is also on this list, but amber isn't listed as a note so I'm not sure).

 

Does anyone have advice/suggestions for what I should try or avoid, or is it going to continue to be hit and miss?

It's possible that aging process is making some Amber wearable for you. I usually love White, grey (ambergris), and pale amber fresh or aged. Nonspecific Amber, usually doesn't smell good for me until it hits 18 to 24 months.

 

I figured this out by comparison of fresh versus aged Mouse's Long and Sad Tale.

 

I also don't enjoy Amber during Shark week (menses). After that, it goes back to smell good again. Unaged or on Shark week, it smells musty and powdery.

 

TMI probably, but may be my over sharing will help you figure it out. Because Amber is beautiful. If the right kind, good age, right time of the month. Notice I didn't mention Black Amber because I'm still trying to figure it out. Pink and Green Amber, I like. White and Grey, I love. Tunisian, Egyptian, Golden, I love with aging.

 

Some notes, for example, rose, I've learned that I have to try a decant each and every unique blend because I can never predict if it will work on my skin chemistry. And, I have to test at different times of my cycle just to be sure I'm not missing anything.