If you are a fragrance junkie like me, amber will be on your radar. According to perfumers, it’s one of - if not the most - traditional ingredients in nearly every new perfume. Warm and salty, the scent of ‘your skin but better’ amplifies any scent into a statement fragrance. Edtior Trudi Brewer shares its virtues.
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What is amber?
Before unpacking the staying power of this ingredient, it’s important to define what amber is and where it comes from. Contrary to popular belief, amber is not a singular ingredient you can find in an organic natural state. Experts call it an “olfactive construction” made of many natural and synthetic ingredients. These include vanilla, patchouli, labdanum (a resin from the rockrose plant), styrax (a species of tree) and benzoin (sap or resin in the trunk of styrax trees).
So, how does it influence a fragrance? Depending on the blend of ingredients it is added to, it’s as warm and powdery as it is sweet. It can also create spicy, exotic scents. “Amber is an abstract name used in perfumery to describe rich, voluptuous, and vanillic fragrances,” says Olivia Jan, Givudan senior perfumer. “It’s historically built around an accord of bergamot, vanilla, patchouli, tonka, and some resinous notes.” Jan credits the popularity of the amber to the classic Shalimar by Guerlain, which was created in 1925 and, according to Guerlain, it’s famous for being the “first ambery perfume in history.” Fast forward to more recent times with scents like Good Girl by Carolina Herrera, Ellis Brooklyn Super Amber Eau De Parfum and Aerin Lauder Amber Musk Eau De Parfum. This new generation of fragrances has made amber its own. “It gives a lot of texture to fragrances,” says Bérénice Watteau, DSM-Firmenich fine fragrance perfumer. “It brings a creamy, warm, and enveloping comfort. It also evokes sensuality, sophistication and luxury.”
What does amber smell like?
Perfumers love this ingredient because it helps the fragrance to linger on the skin longer. Amber is often paired with warm facets like sandalwood to enhance florals like rose and jasmine. When paired with unexpected notes such as leather, you get that deep, woody vibe which makes for a more intense scent, or it can be used to contrast greener notes and balance out rich gourmands. While there are no strict rules when pairing scents together, Watteau says the only combination that isn’t improved by amber is citrus, such as lemon and orange, which can create a cloying finish. “Everything is a matter of balance,” she says. “I like not having rules and challenging myself while creating fragrances with unexpected combinations.” Amber also proves to be intimate, evoking closeness or skin-to-skin contact.
Amber Perfumes to Try
Defining what amber brings to a scent is difficult, but its versatility and appeal keep us wanting more. Here are the amber fragrances that are hot right now.
AERIN Amber Musk Eau De Parfum Fragrance Spray, $250
The granddaughter of Estée Lauder has created a collection of beautiful scents. One of the most popular is this velvety, sumptuous, amber-loaded perfume. While that skin-to-skin aroma makes this fragrance special, it’s also filled with unexpected notes, like fresh coconut water and rose, and cosy ingredients like lingering benzoin and musk. Like its creator - it’s all class.
Ellis Brooklyn Super Amber Eau De Parfum, from $64 to $213.
I didn’t think I could love another Ellis Brooklyn scent like Salt. But this Bee Shapiro creation strikes again. Unlike most scents, which are structured with ingredients that give off top, middle, or base notes, this one blooms into a unique-to-you aroma once it interacts with your skin's chemistry. The blend of amber, vanilla orchid, Virginia cedarwood, and musk. Her description of this scent as enveloping you in a ‘warm, soft cashmere-like blanket’ is bang on. Ellis Brooklyn founder Bee Shapiro wanted to capture romantic attraction in a bottle. Inspired by my conversations with perfumer Pierre Negrin. It has a pheromone style that evokes that feeling of warmth, cosiness, and sexiness all at once; Shapiro says it’s like ‘a cashmere blanket on sun-warmed skin’.
EILISH BY BILLIE EILISH EDP 100ML, $120.
This scent is so distinctive that our style director can pick it out in a crowd. Inspired by Billie Eilish, she wanted to create a fragrance that became “a warm, caramel, smooth, velvety thing”. It combines juicy red berries and zesty mandarin with creamy vanilla, soft spices, and cocoa. But what amplifies the warmth is amber with musk, tonka bean, and sleek woods. Delicious is the best way to describe this popular celebrity scent.
NARCISO RODRIGUEZ NARCISO AMBREE EDP, 30ml, $118.
Our style director is addicted to this scent. It’s everything you could want in an everyday fragrance. The brand describes this scent as powdery, musky, woody, floral. It has hints of fresh tropical flowers, including frangipani and ylang-ylang, laden with musk. It is the ever-present ingredient in all Narciso Rodriguez scents, followed by amber, cashmeran, vanilla, and cedar.
Michael Kors Sexy Amber EDP, $148.
The clever combination of florals, including jasmine, fruit, patchouli and amber, give this designer scent an elegant edge. It’s been described as rich and woody thanks to the blend of sandalwood and amber.
One scent from the gorgeous Alchemists Garden collection showcases amber beautifully. It has violet, iris, mimosa, rose, and a musky blend of benzoin, vanilla, and tonka. It’s woody and sweet all at once. The name is a nod to the contrasting charcter of a magnificent tiger: dangerous and sensitive, fast and patient.
We covet almost all the Byredo scents; I think the simplicity and the way the brand heroes are an exquisite ingredient that makes them irresistible. Case in point with this warm hug in a bottle. The potent scent of Madagascar vanilla cuts through the earthiness of cashmere wood and musky amber. Meanwhile, the juicy plum and fresh freesia add a delicate feminine touch.
Another designer expression of loving our true selves.