Ambergris

[antimony]

A quote from the Lab site: However, some fragrances cannot be obtained purely through natural extraction processes, therefore some of the scents that we use are ‘bouquets’ – essentially a combination of natural scents created to imitate a fragrance that is irreproducible by other means.

 

All the fun of ambergris without the dead whale. ;-)

 

I ordered some single notes for my boyfriend, who is a bit of an alchemist scent-wise. When he gets ready to go out, he'll pull out about half a dozen single note oils and start putting them on one on top of the other. Anyway, since I had mentioned this in my order, Elizabeth included a couple of imps of single notes, including this one.

 

Anyway. He put it on today, and I almost jumped him.

 

This is the sexiest smell imaginable. Wow. Warm, enticing, and very male, but not harsh. Almost foody, but not quite.

[ipb]

it's musky and familiar... definitely masculine...

[jj_j]

Ambergris was a more potent, even more masculine version of siberian musk. It has that effervescent, bubbly quality, but greatly magnified, and it does seem almost edible.

 

Another fantastic single note to wear alone on a regular basis.

[Tesseljoan]

Mmmmm, yes, this is precisely the warm, gently, enveloping smell that I love in Black Forest and Masquerade. Unfortunately I don't know what musk smells like (apart from Body Shop's white musk) so I can't really compare. I can imagine that it has a similar feeling.

 

I love it, I personally don't find it masculine. It is a sexy scent, but not overwhelmingly so. One to wear a lot more often.

[Lorencita]

I ordered this based on the reviews... This is the main note in my chaos theory... I love it sooooo much, it hurts! Very warm, and almost powdery, I cant say enough about it! I'm so glad I ordered it!

[shelldoo]

i am another one that doesn't think man that is masculine, it is very sexy, i love this scent it is warm, sensual, and envelopes me.

[fragrantgrasse]

Ambergris is warm and ambery - it reminds me of Haunted. It blends with moderates other single notes such as jasmine, sandalwood and rose - the only three I have tried.

 

Lovely & simple it evolves slowly on my wrist into a soft, powdery & soothing scent to wear daily.

Edited June 13, 2005 by fragrantgrasse

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Hmmm, interesting. Maybe a touch sweet.

 

Just On: It seems a touch like a light musk, but fresher somehow. It's hard to describe.

 

An hour or two later: This very much reminds me of amber, and dries down very similarly on me.

 

Around 6 hours: Oh yes, that nice not quite powder amber thing, but with a musky undertone that's lovely.

 

12 hours: Barely there, and a skin scent.

 

Overall: I really like this. I'd get a bottle if I could.

 

After reading other reviews: I don't think this is masculine at all. It's lovely and fairly sexy.

[Little Bird]

In the bottle, this smells like spicy, musky men's cologne and maybe a bit of powdery amber. On my skin, this instantly starts to turn to baby powder and smells a bit funky (almost like sour body odor). After a half hour, it's intensely baby powdery and dirty smelling, and I had to scrub it off. I like ambergris in a lot of bpal's blends, but the single note does not work for me at all. I'm going to pass on ordering more of this one, now that it's re-released.

Edited March 24, 2013 by Little Bird

[UltraViolet]

4

BPAL Blends which include Ambergris as one of it's ingredients:

Antony, Black Forest, Cathode, Deimos, Hades, Hellfire, Love in the Asylum, Masquerade, The Black Tower, Torture King, Vicomte De Valmont.

 

In the bottle

An almost citrussy musk

On

Lovely. It's brighter and fruitier smelling then I imagined. It doesn't have the smell of the sea that I had imagined. It does have a soft warm musk smell in the background but it's not too anything, it's just right and really pretty.

30 minutes

The bright citrussy quality has toned down, it's more warm and musky now with a subtle sweetness and a slight acidic tang to it.

Throw:

More than average

Scent category:

Animalistic

Summary

Initially bright sweet yet warm and musky in the background.

As it dries it's more of a tangy musk, still pretty.

When dry it's a golden, smokey, sweet, acidic musk.

Lasts a bit longer than average (a couple of hours).

Purchase again?

Yes

1-5 rating (5 being best)

4

Edited November 28, 2005 by UltraViolet

[edenssixthday]

Ambergris - As many single notes as I’ve raved over, this is the one I would choose if I could live with only one single note for the rest of my life. I’m very surprised, as very few of the blends with ambergris in them work on my skin, yet the single note is astonishingly gorgeous. It is a sweet musk that is warm like amber and has just a touch of powder. It lasts on my skin all day long, and at around the 3-hour point, I begin to notice that it’s almost spicy…but not quite. Is there ambergris in Snake Charmer? I ask because this scent reminds me so much of Snake Charmer it’s incredible (and I do like Snake Charmer!) I wouldn’t mind one bit if my skin permanently smelled like ambergris single note. I'd sell a kidney if it meant I could get a bottle of this.

[PurringPulsar]

Ambergris SN

 

In the imp: a slightly amber-resinous, salty, oily, perfumey scent.

Wet on skin: oh yes, this is the ambergris I recognise from other scents. Slightly powdery but golden. It now smells a bit like black musk.

Dry: mmm, I like this a lot. This is one of those complex single notes. It’s very different from amber scents yet has a very slight similarity, it is resinous and golden and a little sweet. It also smells quite powdery. It also reminds me strongly of black musk, but less dark, but with that same musky, oily-slick scent I get from the dark/black musk scents. It’s a little salty-tangy as well, and slightly spicy, and very exotic. It also smells quite ‘perfumey’, maybe leaning towards masculine.

After a while: this smoothes out a lot, turning into an oily musk scent with a warm, almost spicy, resinous golden aspect to it. Somewhere between musk and amber but with a little cologne added. Still slightly salty, it’s a very recognisable note now, it reminds me of Ecstasy of Passion, Cathode and the Wild Men. It gets smoother and softer with time, and more golden, with a ‘beach skin’ scent. At times it reminds me very slightly of baby oil, and also of those dark musk and myrrh scents…and there are times when it smells like a less sweet version of amber, especially when smelt far from the wrist. This scent pulses and morphs softly, changing from musk to resin to amber to salty perfume every now and then, before ending with a sweet dark amber like scent which is almost like vanilla.

Verdict: I’m pretty sure that Beth’s concoction smells much better than most whale puke does…though I’ve heard that aged, well matured, genuine beach-combed ambergris smells gorgeous, but I’d rather wear this non-animal version. And it is really wonderful. This is a very complex note and goes through a lot of changes. It smells amber like, there's a slightly resinous-oily scent to it, a little spicy at times, but also reminds me of salt and musk and above all, has a feel of very sophisticated perfume to it. sort of an expensive cologne scent, but with that clean salty sweat aspect and golden amber to it, and sometimes hints of powder come through. it's quite sexy at times, I think, and seems to change and morph smoothly, a scent with many facets. Whilst I still prefer Beth's Egyptian Amber, this is a gorgeous single note and I'm definitely keeping my imp of it.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? Yup! This is a very interesting note.

[this machine]

There's not much i could add that doesn't echo much of what others have said, but because i love it so much i want to throw out my impressions briefly anyway:

 

It's much softer and warmer than i thought. The softness is aaaalmost powdery, but not quite - it doesn't ever actually reach powder, thankfully. Someone mentioned it's almost spicey too, and i agree. It's not spicey, but it makes you think that for a glimpse here and there. It's not exclusively masculine to me, and i find it very wearable.

[alicia_stardust]

Ambergris is astonishingly gorgeous. It is warm and golden. It has a resinous edge to it, but also a muskiness and and a comforting quality to it. I don't find it masculine, but it is definitely neutral. I have always liked BPAL blends with ambergris in it, and now I know why. =)

[Pookstrell]

Ambergris is such a lovely scent. I've had my pretty, tarted imp since '04 and it is as lovely as it was in the beginning. There's nothing quite like ambergris. It is clean, but not soapy and musky but, um, not musky!

 

Since it is such a delicate note, I have never managed to pick up on it blends.

[ifinena]

Sniffing this out of the imp and wet it's almost a citrus-y musk.

A bit later on the citrusy smell tones down and it is a softer, golden scent, a bit like amber or musk.

It smells more masculine to my nose, I would looove my guy to smell like this, I'd be all over him.

This single note is quite complex I think, when I first sniffed it I thought of Ecstasy-Passion (was it included in there?)

I love love love it a lot, sadly I need to sacrifice it for another very very very hard to find bpal.

[dzurlady]

This was really interesting, and not what I was expecting. I was expecting some kind of animalistic musk and was amazed to find out that it's actually that kind of floaty, cola, almost but not quite sharp kind of note that so intrigues me in Snake Oil. It's pretty hard for me to explain, but if you know the note I'm talking about you'll know how ambergris smells. Really fascinating and I'm so glad I got a chance to try the SN, because otherwise I'd never know what that note was.

[Limelight]

Oily, salty and super sexy. Like I sucked the sex appeal out of somebody and wore it as a coat. Has some golden loveliness about it that reminds me of amber. I haven't tried every blend with ambergris in it, but the ones I have tried don't turn me on the way the SN does.

[devilot]

Like others have mentioned, it's a warm, golden scent. Yes, I get the powdery aspect. But I also get the spiciness someone else mentioned. And it does seem musky. And mebbe allergies have permanently damaged my schnoz, but I swear it's slightly lemony on my skin.

 

(Ooh, just saw that dzurlady mentioned it's a bit like cola, and I get that, too!)

[zankoku_zen]

Warm, golden muskiness. Kinda masculine, but very pretty. Hints of honey on my skin.

 

ETA: So definitely very different from the aquaticness of the most recent ambergris SN. This one is richer, golden, musky.

 

Honestly, the more I wear it, the more I think you can actually wear this SN by itself. HOT DAMN.

Edited August 6, 2015 by zankoku_zen

[ami226]

Huh. Slight aquatic with a little spice. The aquatic is a bit... clean. It is quite golden and not too bad.

[saralaughs]

Slightly amberish/a bit aquatic with a hint of musk and maybe a bit of powder. Very warm and cuddly yet sexy to me.

[CreamyJade]

In the decant: A musky, golden and bright scent with a bit of citrus.

Wet on skin: Sweet, musky, a bit aquatic, a bit animalistic. It's not übermasculine on my skin - in fact, I quite like it!

Dry on skin: It turns almost powdery at the drydown, but it's resinous and ambery and musky at the same time (and quite strong). This is AWESOME.

Final thoughts: My first single note! I'm really happy that I had the chance to come upon this! I really like it, even with the slight "clean" feel that the aquatic notes I detected. The drydown is what I prefer, though: it's deep, golden, resinous, musky. Lovely, lovely scent.

Try if you like: Heavenly Love and Earthly Love

[mymymai]

ITB: Musk, fougere, slight citrus, and something warm and sweet...almost chocolate-y.

 

Wet: Delicious and animalistic. I get more citrus, and almost candied citrus, once on my skin; however, the fougere, chocolate, and musk are still present in the same way.

 

Dry: It 's slightly powdery and floral now that the musky accord has dried. There is a little hint of chocolate that lingers, making me wish I had a vanilla single note with which I could combine the ambergris.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Soapy mens cologne

 

Wet on me - A salty clean aquatic scent

 

Dry on me - A light salted water scent

 

Overall - Pretty enough, but not my cup of tea