NaughtyKitty

Before dabbling in Fate (no pun intended), my two favorite Amouage perfumes were the women's versions of Memoir and Sunshine. Fate is uniquely different from both of these fragrances.

Amouage Fate starts off with a sweet spicy note, bergamot, a tinge of powder. While many powdery perfumes exude a strong bitter scent, this note is different. It is a sweet vanillin powder, nothing overwhelming and no hints of violet or iris. This powder note is often present in perfumes that contain a combination of labdanum and vanilla. It stays persistently throughout the life of the scent, on my skin at least.

Next, we have the incense notes which skillfully adorn the aforementioned spice and vanilla. This prevents the perfume from being a traditional gourmand while still maintaining the sweet aspects of the fragrance. Although I don't get the same obvious leather here that I detect in leather-dominant scents, it appears at the base of Amouage and gives it a very slight animalistic nature. Do not fear my use of the word animalistic here, for Fate is very far from being overwhelming or off-putting. I was actually afraid to blind buy Fate because the notes suggest a style of traditional fragrance I wouldn't normally be able to pull off, but alas Fate has found me and I couldn't be happier.

Amouage Fate is a very different experience for everyone, and like with most perfumes you cannot truly know whether or not it will suit your tastes until you test it. I am partial to woody, spicy, and sweet perfumes myself, and for me it is one of my favorite scents to date. I can wear it in any weather without feeling suffocated or overwhelmed. Fate manages to find the balance between presence of scent and projection without sacrificing one aspect for the other. The quality of this perfume is superb, and the scent lasts all day albeit going through variations and changes in notes (I.e. Fading of the bergamot and dominance of incense). I don't find this perfume to be very floral, but this might be because of how floral perfumes interact on my skin.

Lastly, I find Fate to be what Amouage does best: Incense and complexity. While the fragrance maintains the individuality of notes, the blending is so refined that it takes you some time to figure out exactly what you are smelling. Some people fear that Fate may be too old-fashioned for them. I think that Fate is more of a modern take on classic fragrances than anything else.

This opens up with the infamous sweet pink pepper note, but is unlike most fragrances containing it. I get light sweet spices, strong resins, and something a bit sweaty/animalic (perhaps that's the ambergris?)

If you like spicy animalic sweet and salty scents, then you may appreciate this scent. Personally, I like it but it can get a bit overwhelming sometimes. You probably need 3 sprays at the most, if not two. Not many perfumes have great longevity on me, but this lasts 10+ hours depending on the weather. The projection is strong at first, but fades to half strength within the first 5 hours (but make no mistake, it is still very noticeable despite this change).

On my skin, this is nearly identical from beginning to end. The only difference is that the pink pepper note fades and the spices get softer. I like this scent and will always have it in my collection because it is so unique and somehow pleasant, but I cannot find too many occasions to wear it. It is best suitable for cooler weather. If you wear it in warmer weather, it tends to cling a bit and feels too strong. Worn under proper conditions, however, this is a pleasant slightly sweet spicy oriental. The animalic element may vary depending on skin chemistry, but to me it is definitely a big part of the scent. Once again, this animalic note is not fecal or urinal in any way. If anything, it resembles clean sweat.

My overall rating of this perfume:

Scent: 7/10
Projection: 10/10
Longevity: 10/10

I bought this perfume because I found it at a great price online, without knowing what it smelled like. It was my first introduction into the Micallef house.

Micallef No 11 opens on me with a huge blast of green notes. At this point, it is somewhat reminiscent of chypre perfumes like Silences and Niki de Saint Phalle, which share an initial powdery greenness and woodiness. There is NO sweetness whatsoever in this perfume on my skin. The first two hours of Micallef No 11 are a cool, as opposed to warm scent. But give it time, and soon you will realize that Floral No. 11 is actually chameleon which transforms into a powerful warm scent; one that shows her true beauty in cool winter weather.

After the "cool" green stage, Micallef's complex creation becomes a warm resinous woody musk. I find this to be the most complex and intriguing stage of the perfume. I could not stop smelling myself when I wore it simply because it had a certain richness and eccentricity to it. The musk was strong on my skin. In fact, I doubted I could even smell musk in perfumes until I smelled this one. Musk is very prominent throughout, but at the perfume's "warm" stage it acquires a rather animalic quality to it. This animalic quality is light and inoffensive in cooler weather, but becomes overpowering and rather vulgar when attempting to wear on hotter days. This is why I only recommend No. 11 for cooler weather (think below 70 degrees Fahrenheit). And what a beauty it was when I wore it on a cold rainy day! It's richness and greenness combine with the scent of petrichor and cool ozonic air ever so harmoniously.

The strength of No 11 is moderate on my skin, but I suspect it may be have much bigger projection on others (I have perfume-eating skin). The longevity is great, and the dry-down is long with an ever present animalic touch.

I think that fans of classic chypres and floral woody musks should definitely give this a go. I am amazed at the ambiguity of this scent and it's relatively low price point. For a scent of its quality and classic style, one would think more people would appreciate its uniqueness and complexity.

A warning to those who love their perfumes very sweet: this is probably not for you unless you also love powdery woody classics. It is also not a very modern scent and is more reminiscent of perfumes created during the 80's and prior eras. But if you are a perfume collector and interested in exploring different notes or owning an interesting and beautiful perfume, then you aren't really losing much by dishing out the $17 that this is currently worth on most online sites. To my nose, this is truly a masterpiece worth more than its asking price, and a severely underrated classic style perfume.

After wearing and appreciating Memoir enough times that it has actually become as close to a "signature fragrance" for me as possible, I feel that it is my rightful duty as a perfume lover to give it a proper review.

Up until my encounter with Memoir, a majority of my perfume collection consisted mainly of blind buys from discount stores such as Ross. At the time, I did not understand why someone would pay over $100 for a fragrance. I knew nothing about the house of Amouage, but when a fellow perfume hobbyist recommended Memoir to me based on my love of incense and enigmatic orientals, I took the gamble and bought it.

When I received my Memoir in the mail, I was stunned. I had not smelled anything like this fragrance before. It was intoxicating yet strange and new to my nose, and I did not know what to think of it. Smokey notes, a strong tangerine, and warm spices....I was confused because this was not a scent I was used to. It was simply too wierd for my untrained nose but somehow I still liked it (not loved it). I was astounded by how long Memoir seemed to last on my skin. I could still smell it a day later (to this day, Amouage remains the only house which makes fragrances that last this long on my skin).

So I put Memoir away for a while, thinking of it as a special ocassion fragrance. However, something kept calling me back to that strange alluring scent. I began wearing Memoir more often just because I wanted to smell that smoky tangerine incense. It became a fragrance so distinct that even in a purse which mingled with the scents of 10 other perfumes, I could still overwhelmingly smell Memoir while failing to identify everything else.

Memoir is a special scent if you allow it to be. I didn't appreciate it much when I first bought it, but now it is a perfume which I feel is *my* scent. It is one of those perfumes no one has mistaken for another perfume. Something about this scent is very personal. It doesn't scream at you with its scent. It's not an Angel or an Alien. It is a silent yet persistent seductress. Never have I felt like Memoir projected too strongly or offended those around me, yet it projected just enough to draw attention, and the longevity (as mentioned previously) is superb; the best on the market.

Memoir can be strange and tempermental. It is beautiful but because of its unique composition (which defies the mainstream perfume trends) and heavy smoky notes it is not suitable for everyone, so please sample before buying. You may either appreciate it, grow to appreciate it, or simply find it impossible to enjoy such a fragrance. Memoir can be grand and luxurious or dark and mysterious. It has many different facets and personalities.

I enjoy my fun gourmand scents, but Memoir is a different creature altogether. I must be in a contemplative mood to wear it. Despite it's slight tangerine fruitiness, it is a rather serious scent.

People often wonder whether Amouage fragrances are worth their price tag. This is up to the individual to decide for themselves. As for me, when my bottle of Memoir runs out, it will undoubtedly be replaced. And because of the unique quality of their fragrances, I certainly intend to buy more perfumes from this wonderful house.

This is chocolate. This is patchouli. Yet, instead taking the route of the overwhelming sickeningly sweet choco-patchouli scents of this genre, this is earthy, inoffensive, and completely wearable.

This is 70% dark chocolate with just a hint of sweetness beneath its aromatic bitter core. It is interesting and sophisticated. For a chocolate lover who likes their chocolate dark, this is the pefect choice. I do not feel any chemical overtones in this perfume. The patchouli smells fresh and natural. It is not completely dirty, but there is definitely a tinge of earth in there.

The bottle is a gorgeous opaque art deco style flacon. The scent is well blended and divine. Molinard has once again impressed me with its perfumery. My only regret is waiting so long to actually try this. I bought it for $18, but would pay three times that price if I had to.

If you want to add depth and even increase the longevity of your scents, layering them with Patchouli Intense can create beautiful combinations. This works best if you layer it with other sweet scents. Patchouli Intense is not strictly for women and could work very well on a man without making him smell like a sweet dessert.

I have looked for years for a chocolate patchouli that hasn't overwhelmed me and caused a headache, and in Patchouli Intense I finally found it.