Amber, my love.

I thought, because of a brief and disappointing interest in fragrance oils from Black Phoenix Alchemy (BPAL), that "amber" in a fragrance made it smell like crap on me. Turns out it was just BPAL. Fun, creative perfume business with a big following, but mostly doesn't work for me.

Since setting out in the world (mall) to experience many fragrances for and on myself, I have discovered that I actually love the smell of amber. Which begged the question: What the hell is amber? That yellowy fossil-sap-rock thing in jewelry and paperweights?

It took a while but here is the answer, as I currently understand it, pulling from numerous sources. Many perfumes claim to have an amber note in them or to smell entirely of amber. This seems to imply that amber is a particular thing-- like roses. It's not. Amber is more like a general scent concept. It is a warm, sweet, woody, resinous scent that is created with natural and/or synthetic ingredients. Even if you buy something advertised as all natural amber oil, it is still a mixture of different plant substances blended to achieve the scent concept called "amber". And, of course, the exact smell of a particular company's version of amber is particularly apt to smell different than that put out by another company because it's a mixture, an interpretation of a concept anyway.

Okay, so I really like amber. I want to be able to put amber in hot chocolate and coffee and cookies. I want amber hard candy. I want to stick cotton balls soaked in amber fragrance into my nostrils so I can smell it constantly. To this end, I have tried two "pure" amber fragrances and purchased one.

Annick Goutal - Ambre Fetiche: I tried this EdP at Dillards. It was my first experience of something that was just amber. It was sweet, spicy and dark, but not harsh or skanky. It was also unbelievably strong. And I have scent-eating skin. So for about an hour super strong and then suddenly, preciptiously: gone. Still, I learned that Amber had potential. Notes include: frankincense, labdanum, styrax, benzoin, iris

Kuumba Made - Amber Paste: This is a natural, dark brown goo in a 1/8th ounce glass bottle. It cost $9 at Whole Foods. People on the Internet say it is too strong. I say it is heavenly and just right. It is a combination of sunny warmth on pine boughs and rich earth and curling up with a good book in a brown leather armchair and sweet incense on a home altar, with a pinch of long, black eyelashes knowingly cast downward for good measure. It is dark and rich and although it is sweet, the sweetness is nothing at all like those weird, fruity body sprays that were all the rage in high school. It is dark, spicy sweet. Also, I find that the goo doesn't fling the scent into the air as much as an alcohol-based spray does. So, even though amber itself is a pretty heavy fragrance, this rich goo isn't going to bowl folks over as I walk past.

Oh, and I learned that trail of scent when you walk past-- it has a name: sillage.