Amouage
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The florals explode immediately—a dense, almost suffocating wall of jasmine and orange blossom that feels almost indecent in its abundance. Within seconds, the aldehydes assert themselves, creating a sharp, detergent-like quality that makes the florals feel somehow defamiliarised, as though you're smelling them through frosted glass rather than experiencing them directly.
The blackcurrant bud emerges with startling clarity, its tart, slightly green character suddenly making sense of the opening's peculiar duality. The liquorice note arrives subtly, wrapping around the fruit and florals with an anisic warmth that softens the aldehydic sharpness whilst introducing unexpected spice; the composition suddenly feels less about innocent beauty and more about calculated seduction.
The florals fade to whispers as frankincense and sandalwood rise, creating a pale, almost ghostly base that recalls incense-laden sanctuaries. The patchouli remains in the background, earthy and grounding, whilst a faint suggestion of liquorice lingers—the fragrance concluding not with resolution but with a gentle, unresolved questioning.
Imitation Woman announces itself as a paradox—a fragrance that explores the tension between authenticity and artifice through an arrestingly floral composition. Pierre Negrin has constructed something that feels deliberately theatrical, a scent that doesn't whisper but rather takes centre stage. The opening quartet of jasmine, orange blossom, rose, and ylang ylang creates a heady, almost operatic sillage, yet the real intrigue emerges in the heart where blackcurrant bud introduces a sharp, almost metallic fruitiness that cuts through the sweetness like a knife through silk. The aldehydes amplify this contradiction—they lend a soapy, powdery shimmer that makes the florals feel simultaneously natural and synthetic, as though you're breathing in both a garden and a perfumery workshop.
What distinguishes Imitation Woman from conventional floral fragrances is how the liquorice note intercepts the composition's trajectory. Rather than settling into creamy sweetness, it redirects towards something more ambiguous—slightly anisic, vaguely spicy, keeping the wearer perpetually off-balance. The base, anchored by frankincense and sandalwood with a subtle patchouli undertone, provides spiritual grounding whilst the fragrance maintains its questioning disposition above it. This is a scent for those who reject straightforward beauty in favour of intellectual engagement; for individuals who wear fragrance as conceptual art rather than olfactory wallpaper. Wear it when you want to provoke conversation, to challenge expectations, to exist in the liminal space between refinement and provocation. It's undeniably niche, perhaps deliberately difficult, yet compulsively wearable for those attuned to its peculiar frequency.
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Robert Piguet
3.9/5 (189)