Amouage
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The first spray delivers an arrestingly vegetal blast—carrot seed's earthy greenness collides with both peppers and bright, lemonic frankincense, creating an almost savoury sharpness that clears the sinuses. There's an herbal quality here that borders on medicinal, like crushing celery leaves between your fingers whilst standing in a spice souk. The composition feels intentionally challenging, refusing easy categorisation or immediate comfort.
As the volatiles dissipate, a powdery creaminess emerges from the orris-sandalwood marriage, softening the edges without dulling the character. Jonquil's honeyed, narcotic floralcy weaves through the cypriol's woody dryness, whilst rose absolute adds a classical touch that feels almost Victorian against the earthier elements. The frankincense deepens into its resinous form, providing continuity from opening to base whilst allowing the florals their moment of prominence.
What remains is a close-to-skin murmur of sandalwood cream and vetiver's smoked-earth quality, with frankincense resin casting an amber-like warmth over proceedings. The powder persists as a gentle haze, never cloying, whilst Java vetiver's distinctive rootiness ensures this never becomes generically woody. It's the ghost of the original composition—quieter, more contemplative, asking you to lean in rather than announcing itself.
Meander is a study in contradictions, where earth meets sky through the unlikely alliance of carrot seed and frankincense. The opening bristles with the peppered green of carrot—not sweet, not gourmand, but distinctly vegetal and soil-rich, as though Mackenzie Reilly has captured the moment a root vegetable is pulled from damp ground. This verdant strangeness is quickly tempered by the dual presence of frankincense in both its bright top-note form and deeper resinous base iteration, creating an aromatic through-line that smells of cathedral stone and desert meditation in equal measure.
The heart reveals where this composition truly earns its keep. Orris root lends an almost face-powder delicacy that shouldn't work alongside cypriol's medicinal woodiness, yet they form a peculiar symbiosis—aristocratic yet ascetic. Jonquil absolute adds an unexpected honeyed floralcy that prevents the whole affair from becoming too austere, whilst rose absolute provides just enough familiarity to anchor the more challenging elements. This is where the cream comes in, not from lactonic notes but from the buttery intersection of orris and sandalwood building slowly beneath.
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4.0/5 (390)