fume: amouage's library collection opus vii
have resumed perfume journaling after a few years of avoiding scent thanks to weightlifting. going to start posting my public perfume sampling notes here so boychik can read them. (: the first few are cut n' pastes from facebook...
Sunday, April 13 at 11:28pm
i did try a perfume i love today. it's definitely not femmy, especially in the first couple hours, to the point i doubt i could pull it off in public...but oh god, i am wild for it in the privacy of home. amouage's opus vii. at first it opens so green i was wary because it almost veered into that "daytime bright, nearly citrus-like" sort of profile that smells off kilter on my skin (it's the galbanum apparently, which is a note i'm not versed in yet), but almost immediately it then turns into this strange, "masculine" thing full of leather (and i love that someone on fragrantica noted it's not smoky moto jacket/cheesy bachelor pad leather, it's old classic furniture upholstered leather) and smoke and ambroxan (of which i am usually a fan) and ambergris that together give off a sort of modern weird, almost metal vibe, but it's soothed by the peppery green opening (the fenugreek adds a sweet rich warmth that keeps it from being too robotic or cool too, and the cardamom is just the cherry on top for me). the middle is oud, and it's the kind of oud i like--a little funky in a good way, and dry, not _too_ manky. then a fresh sort of sandalwood and some amber, sexy, and many many hours later, it has softened to where it is almost feminine, a bit sweet but still warm. it layers and transitions so wonderfully, more and more atmospheric and floating as the hours go by. that's the other thing--it's crazy long lasting but the sillage isn't totally stinkbomb insane, especially as it goes on--definitely quite noticeable at first if you're sitting next to me at a table (but that's as far as it goes), and then in the middle and after you have to be hugging me or put your nose up to where the perfume was applied (if you do, though, the scent is wonderfully still alive, not at all powdery evaporated like so many quickly become). most perfumes i've tried so far--granted, not as fancy usually--if they have good longevity at all (and most don't; this is my biggest problem with demeter and brosius and many starter/intro niche companies) then it comes with unbearable "oh hi to the whole room" opaque one-note sillage as well, too obvious and showy, not intimate and layered enough. but this is long lasting in an excellent, ever-more-intimate way. love this. it's moody in a good way--it's like first it's chipper and bright for half a second, that bright smile you flash instinctively when meeting someone, then it warms up a little, but thennn quickly it's sort of like back off, i'm a little weird and prickly, you best know what you're getting into if you want to get to know me, and it stays that way intensely for a while, long enough to see if company really means it about wanting to stick around, and only thennn does it slump and become warm and comfy, beautiful and ultimately intimate and a little sweet. balances modern genderbending with natural feeling, old world middle eastern elements so well. as someone on one of the scent review sites said, "it makes me feel like the person i want to be when i wear it." yep.
ETA: reading more reviews now, and it's funny because one says: "I suspect one’s experience of Opus VII will depend on one’s mood – it is not a perfume to be worn lightly. If busy and rushed, it is likely the spices, of which there is a hefty dose, will predominate and raise anxiety levels. If relaxed, this will seem like a summer’s walk through parched greenery that is crying out for rain, the scents of bark and roots and drying leaves mixing with the more herbal and vegetal aspects. Strangely, the mood Opus VII seems to suit best is introspection bordering on melancholy, when all its layers and layers of notes rise and fall in one’s perception offering their own counterpoint to the thought process." and that was pretty much exactly what i was thinking when i was sitting at the table writing in my perfume journal about it this afternoon--today was a rollercoaster of emotions and at one point i cried so damn much i spent an hour after crying with this voice in my head punching out "GODDAMNIT STOP CRYING! STOP! CRYING! (PUNCH, PUNCH)"...this happened after i was writing by hours, before all that i was just in full on brooding greta garbo mode but i knew it was coming like a dry airy premonition of a thunderstorm, the ground crackling so to speak, and in the journal entry i got carried away with details of anxiety and upset because i knew somehow the perfume was suited for it, it could handle it and i wouldn't feel fake, it'd let me fall apart and work with it.
PPS i am fine, i'll be fine, i'm slowly feeling better already thanks to R and everything, don't worry. i just found it interesting i happened to be lucky enough to pick a sample today that was ideal for my very unattractive, messy mood.
Sunday, April 13 at 11:28pm
i did try a perfume i love today. it's definitely not femmy, especially in the first couple hours, to the point i doubt i could pull it off in public...but oh god, i am wild for it in the privacy of home. amouage's opus vii. at first it opens so green i was wary because it almost veered into that "daytime bright, nearly citrus-like" sort of profile that smells off kilter on my skin (it's the galbanum apparently, which is a note i'm not versed in yet), but almost immediately it then turns into this strange, "masculine" thing full of leather (and i love that someone on fragrantica noted it's not smoky moto jacket/cheesy bachelor pad leather, it's old classic furniture upholstered leather) and smoke and ambroxan (of which i am usually a fan) and ambergris that together give off a sort of modern weird, almost metal vibe, but it's soothed by the peppery green opening (the fenugreek adds a sweet rich warmth that keeps it from being too robotic or cool too, and the cardamom is just the cherry on top for me). the middle is oud, and it's the kind of oud i like--a little funky in a good way, and dry, not _too_ manky. then a fresh sort of sandalwood and some amber, sexy, and many many hours later, it has softened to where it is almost feminine, a bit sweet but still warm. it layers and transitions so wonderfully, more and more atmospheric and floating as the hours go by. that's the other thing--it's crazy long lasting but the sillage isn't totally stinkbomb insane, especially as it goes on--definitely quite noticeable at first if you're sitting next to me at a table (but that's as far as it goes), and then in the middle and after you have to be hugging me or put your nose up to where the perfume was applied (if you do, though, the scent is wonderfully still alive, not at all powdery evaporated like so many quickly become). most perfumes i've tried so far--granted, not as fancy usually--if they have good longevity at all (and most don't; this is my biggest problem with demeter and brosius and many starter/intro niche companies) then it comes with unbearable "oh hi to the whole room" opaque one-note sillage as well, too obvious and showy, not intimate and layered enough. but this is long lasting in an excellent, ever-more-intimate way. love this. it's moody in a good way--it's like first it's chipper and bright for half a second, that bright smile you flash instinctively when meeting someone, then it warms up a little, but thennn quickly it's sort of like back off, i'm a little weird and prickly, you best know what you're getting into if you want to get to know me, and it stays that way intensely for a while, long enough to see if company really means it about wanting to stick around, and only thennn does it slump and become warm and comfy, beautiful and ultimately intimate and a little sweet. balances modern genderbending with natural feeling, old world middle eastern elements so well. as someone on one of the scent review sites said, "it makes me feel like the person i want to be when i wear it." yep.
ETA: reading more reviews now, and it's funny because one says: "I suspect one’s experience of Opus VII will depend on one’s mood – it is not a perfume to be worn lightly. If busy and rushed, it is likely the spices, of which there is a hefty dose, will predominate and raise anxiety levels. If relaxed, this will seem like a summer’s walk through parched greenery that is crying out for rain, the scents of bark and roots and drying leaves mixing with the more herbal and vegetal aspects. Strangely, the mood Opus VII seems to suit best is introspection bordering on melancholy, when all its layers and layers of notes rise and fall in one’s perception offering their own counterpoint to the thought process." and that was pretty much exactly what i was thinking when i was sitting at the table writing in my perfume journal about it this afternoon--today was a rollercoaster of emotions and at one point i cried so damn much i spent an hour after crying with this voice in my head punching out "GODDAMNIT STOP CRYING! STOP! CRYING! (PUNCH, PUNCH)"...this happened after i was writing by hours, before all that i was just in full on brooding greta garbo mode but i knew it was coming like a dry airy premonition of a thunderstorm, the ground crackling so to speak, and in the journal entry i got carried away with details of anxiety and upset because i knew somehow the perfume was suited for it, it could handle it and i wouldn't feel fake, it'd let me fall apart and work with it.
PPS i am fine, i'll be fine, i'm slowly feeling better already thanks to R and everything, don't worry. i just found it interesting i happened to be lucky enough to pick a sample today that was ideal for my very unattractive, messy mood.