Fpih
Reviews
Fpih
Sounds perfect but surprisingly leaves me wanting more...
Ambre Sultan is the first fragrance that anyone will recommend to a lover of amber fragrances as a must. It's described as spicy, resinous, dark, heady and rich and all that with amber's underlying warmth binding every note together. Considering the fact that I like warm, oriental, spicy ambers, this sounded like HG to my ears. Surprisingly though, after testing it a couple of times at the store, I always left with something else by monsieur Lutens as Ambre Sultan failed to woo me. And then I went through a spending & hoarding phase last spring/summer and finally bought it.
So here I am, almost a year later, with no more than 15ml missing from my bottle. Why am I not loving the stuff? This is a question that plagues me often when I run into raving reviews and recommendations of the fragrance. The description sounds definitely up my alley and I can't honestly say that it doesn't fit the real juice (I'm being sceptical about the spicy characterization though, as personally I don't find it especially spicy). It's not that I actually dislike Ambre Sultan, I like it a lot. But I SHOULD love it based on my favorite notes and instead, I find myself rarely using it.
I recently came to a theory that it's way too rounded and smooth for me. There are no sharp edges in Ambre Sultan, no roughness, no smokiness, no overt sweetness. It's so well crafted and balanced that nothing stands out in the end; it's neither too sweet, nor too dry, not too spicy, nor too bland, not too resinous, nor too light. I understand why most people consider this a good thing, but to me this seems more like a reluctance to offend anyone which translates to a lack of character and boldness (please don't get mad at me! That's my personal opinion and an amateur's one I'll admit).
I have actually gotten compliments on Ambre Sultan and had people asking me what I wear, so it does indeed appeal to most people. But somehow, this never feels like me, it stays foreign on my skin and thus could never be a comfort scent as the rest of my ambers are. It also can't be a fashion statement since it misses the edge that I actually like in my perfumes. However, it's nice to wear when I go out clubbing or for a drink since the sillage is quite good and it seems to be a crowd pleaser.
For reference, my favorite perfumes are Idole by Lubin, Ambre Fetiche by Annique Gutal, L'Ombre Fauve by Parfumerie Generale, Dark Amber & Ginger Lily by Jo Malone, Aoud Meloki by Montale and Cadjmere by Parfumerie Generale.
So here I am, almost a year later, with no more than 15ml missing from my bottle. Why am I not loving the stuff? This is a question that plagues me often when I run into raving reviews and recommendations of the fragrance. The description sounds definitely up my alley and I can't honestly say that it doesn't fit the real juice (I'm being sceptical about the spicy characterization though, as personally I don't find it especially spicy). It's not that I actually dislike Ambre Sultan, I like it a lot. But I SHOULD love it based on my favorite notes and instead, I find myself rarely using it.
I recently came to a theory that it's way too rounded and smooth for me. There are no sharp edges in Ambre Sultan, no roughness, no smokiness, no overt sweetness. It's so well crafted and balanced that nothing stands out in the end; it's neither too sweet, nor too dry, not too spicy, nor too bland, not too resinous, nor too light. I understand why most people consider this a good thing, but to me this seems more like a reluctance to offend anyone which translates to a lack of character and boldness (please don't get mad at me! That's my personal opinion and an amateur's one I'll admit).
I have actually gotten compliments on Ambre Sultan and had people asking me what I wear, so it does indeed appeal to most people. But somehow, this never feels like me, it stays foreign on my skin and thus could never be a comfort scent as the rest of my ambers are. It also can't be a fashion statement since it misses the edge that I actually like in my perfumes. However, it's nice to wear when I go out clubbing or for a drink since the sillage is quite good and it seems to be a crowd pleaser.
For reference, my favorite perfumes are Idole by Lubin, Ambre Fetiche by Annique Gutal, L'Ombre Fauve by Parfumerie Generale, Dark Amber & Ginger Lily by Jo Malone, Aoud Meloki by Montale and Cadjmere by Parfumerie Generale.
