What would Valentine’s Day be without the obligatory review of a rose perfume? I aim to please, so let’s see what Amouage has in store for us on this special day dedicated to love…
WHAT I SMELL: Rose Incense opens with a lightly warmed incensed rose that quickly starts to bloom with a metallic edge. It’s as if a full bodied red rose has been sliced with an ancient sword and with such deft and swift action it has left remnants of the metal infused with the rapturous rose. The perfume is full of depth and mystery as it continues to enfold itself in an aura of light incense. The rose, metal and smoke seem to smolder with an ambery warmth, but I feel at this time as if it is a prelude of what is to come. But that transition is slow to come, or should I say that the journey is a thoughtful and meditative one. The perfume does sweeten just a little with hints of vanilla weaving in and out, but that seems to evade me because it feels as if sometimes it’s there and other times it doesn’t reveal itself. However, what does happen in the end is that the vanilla begins to meld into the perfume to make for the most delicious creamy rose and incense forcefield. The vanilla, along with a beautiful sandalwood help to escort out the metallic note which to me makes for a much more soft and welcoming wear.
Notes from the Amouage website:
ODE TO CHILDHOOD INNOCENSE
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- Top Notes: Elemi, Olibanum (Frankincense) Hyper Absolute, Black Ink Accord.
- Heart Notes: Damascena Rose Water Essential, Suederal, Frankincense Absolute.
- Base Notes: Myrrh, Vanilla, Sandalwood, Cedarwood.
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: The perfumer’s Citizen Kane inspiration is perfect with a beautiful rose, the metallic blades from the sled and the incense to magnify the sled’s destruction…ROSEBUD.
THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE ROSE INCENSE: calm, serious, mysterious
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT INCENSE: The Velvet Life
BOTTOM LINE: As part of the Library Collection, Rose Incense is a perfume that may not be incredibly unique. However, like most Amouage perfumes it is a rose cut above the rest with quality and an execution that far surpasses many of the other rose/incense combinations that you will find on the market. Any Valentine would be so lucky to be wearing this today.
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- Bone Rating: 4 out of possible 5 bones
- Scent: Floral Amber
- Nose: Bruno Jovanovic
- Classification: Unisex
- Expense: $360 for 100 ml eau de parfum
Winter here in the Yucatan of Mexico is heaven. Low humidity, moderate temperatures and lots of sun make for perfect indoor/outdoor living. For some reason, this year, the weather is acting a bit strange just as it seems to be for others around the world. Today, albeit cool, it’s rainy and overcast and just a bit gloomy. So I thought why not “think spring” and review a perfume that sounds perfect for the upcoming season. Let’s see if it does the trick to lighten the mood of the day…
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: 
WHAT I SMELL: Purple Suede opens with a dry and warm sweet and smoky leathered lavender that is soon met with a pronounced suede. It’s inviting and wonderfully soft in tone and texture. The perfume moderates the leather with the lavender as if the leather contains a powder from a lavender sachet. This powdery mixture is muted and surprisingly dreamlike like for a leather perfume. But of course as soon as I write about how soft and muted it is, Purple Suede begins to turn to the more robust with an undercurrent of peppered oud that begins to push itself in from beneath. The leather begins to sharpen, and to me, turns from the unisex to the more masculine with a deep and increasingly heavy presence with a nod to the funky with the addition of civet. Thankfully after awhile the leather comes back into play, but it never returns to the soft and muted suede that I liked at the beginning of the journey.
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Little John, played by Alan Hale Sr. in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). A nice enough fella with a good demeanor, but who might need to clean up just a bit.
The Scented Hound 