From the looks of so many celebrity fragrances, it must be easy to turn out a tropical, fruity floral fragrance. It's almost become a cliché. Not that there's anything wrong with a jumble of white flowers, roses, and grape juice, it's just that it gets boring. In Penhaligon's Amaranthine Eau de Parfum, perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour shakes up the tropical fragrance game by adding a distinctly sweet, milky note; a kick of spice; and a healthy portion of naughtiness to the fruity, banana-inflected flowers most people associate with tropical fragrances. The result is a sort of tropical-oriental, like Jayne Mansfield Jane Russell in Macao.
According to Wikipedia, amaranthine either relates to amaranth, a gorgeous plant with dripping reddish-purple stalks from which you can harvest grain; or an imaginary flower that never fades. Another online definition said amaranthine stands for "eternal beauty". Penhaligon's website lists Amaranthine's top notes as green tea, white freesia, banana tree leaf, coriander seed oil, and cardamom absolute; its heart notes as rose, carnation, clove oil, orange blossom, ylang ylang oil, and Egyptian jasmine absolute; and its base as musk, vanilla, sandalwood, condensed milk, and tonka bean absolute. (Props to Penhaligon's for listing perfumers on their website.)
When first on my skin, Amaranthine smells like green tea and kiwi with a trace of cumin. If it weren't for the cumin, at this point Amaranthine might smell dangerously close to shampoo. In just a few minutes, the fragrance's spicy-floral heart kicks in. Full blown rose and indolic jasmine are most prominent to me, but coriander and cardamom, with the cumin still playing in the background, take these flowers out of Patou Joy's drawing room and into Dorothy Lamour's boudoir. Within a quarter of an hour, cream, vanilla, and sandalwood have arrived. Instead of smelling maternal or gourmand, they pump up Amaranthine's intimacy.
Amaranthine is less fruity than it is exotic. You won't be tempted to add vodka and a paper umbrella garnish and take it out on the deck to watch the sunset. As for Amaranthine's naughtiness, I would rate it a PG-13. Unlike, say, Rochas Femme and Amouage Jubilation 25, both of which I'd give an R for their dose of body odor-like cumin, Amaranthine has only a passing whiff of cumin and just a hint of the dirty panty effect of The Different Company Rose Poivrée (rate that one an X). Really, Amaranthine smells less like sex than like it's been slept in — warm, personal, and unwrapped.
Hours later, all that is left of Amaranthine is a sweet, almost smoky scent. I don't see incense listed in Amaranthine's notes, but I swear I smell a tickle of it just before the fragrance disappears completely. Dabbed from my sample tube, Amaranthine has medium sillage — you'd have to be standing within arm's length to smell it — and lasts about four hours. I'd love to smell Amaranthine sprayed, and if you've tried it both ways, please comment.
Penhaligon's Amaranthine is available in 50 or 100 ml Eau de Parfum (shown above left), or as a limited edition Parfum in a 30 ml bottle (above right). For information on where to buy Amaranthine, see Penhaligon's under Perfume Houses.
How timely — I’m sampling Amaranthine for the first time today and up pops this review! I am not nearly as perceptive and eloquent as you, but I agree with the “warm, personal, and unwrapped” appraisal. I don’t get anything overly naughty from it (which I suppose is good since I applied without caution and wore it to work :)), but I’m enjoying the sandalwood and sweet creaminess that are left at this point in the day.
Good timing! Isn’t that creamy, sweet dry down nice? It might be too sweet for some people, but I like its slight smokiness.
Ooh that limited edition bottle is too cute, Angela.
This reminded me of DelRae’s Amoureuse, so I sort of dismissed it. However, after reading your great review, further testing is warranted. I really love cardamom, so I should give this another try.
And, I love that little bottle!
Hugs!
Oops. just checked luckyscent.com, and that cute little bottle is $550! Yep, you read it correctly…$550!
Oh-oh. Then I won’t be requesting this for V-Day after all. Wow.
The parfum in the LE bottle is the expensive one – I think the standard bottle (edp?) runs about $100, $120.
Yeah, but I want that PURPLE one! 😉
Requesting it for V Day might not be so great, unless you’ve hooked up with Warren Buffet.
$550! That’s a load of cash. Well, the EdP is pretty nice as it is.
To me, Amoureuse is loaded with a lot more white flowers than Amaranthine is. Try it again and let me know what you think!
Your review has me wanting to try this again. I found it interesting, but not something I was dying to wear — I somehow got sort of burnt banana from it, or something, not bad, but not something I wanted to smell like. I love your phrase “warm, personal and unwrapped” — I felt that way about it too (but could not pinpoint it so perfectly!). But didn’t love it. Will try it again!
I can understand how you feel. I liked it a lot, and I can definitely imagine owning a bottle, but I didn’t rush to the computer to order one.
I have a small decant of Amaranthine and wore it (sprayed) several days in December in preparation for reviewing it – I like it very much, but I think it would wear better in warmer weather, so I had put it away for a few months. Maybe I should get it out again!
I don’t smell green tea, but I do get a sort of general “green note” opening, with freesia and something like unripe banana, before it moves on to greenish jasmine* and carnation, and from there to that “warm moist skin” base. I continue to be puzzled by the naughtiness that everybody else seems to be getting, since my experience with Amaranthine was more like yours: personal, not raunchy. *i.e. not reminiscent of Joy, in my opinion!
Which is all to the good. I’d wear this to work. I think I’d want some temps in the 50’s or higher, which we haven’t had for quite some time, but when the weather’s suitable, I’ll be getting it out. If I had to use just one word to describe Amaranthine, it would be “pretty.”
Oh Mals – I just realized you have a blog of your own! That’s very cool. 😉
Come by, say hi, kick a tire or two!
Will do Mals! 🙂
Hey, I just read through your blog, but can`t leave a comment there, SO – if those group bottle photos are your own collection, then there really is someone ELSE who is as into the display factor as much as the perfumes, like it`s no one`s business 🙂 Don`t you wish for a home filter system that would make your room dust-free forever!!??!! 🙂
No comments? That stinks…. if you don’t mind saying, what happens that you can’t leave a comment? Is it that you get no comment box to write in, or does it say something like “your comment cannot be posted”? I’ve run into both those problems recently with other Blogger sites. The “can’t be posted” thing can be resolved by continuing to click on “post comment” – eventually it will happen. If there’s no comment box, though, I don’t know what to do. (You can email me, though! 🙂 )
Hi! As far as posting comments on your blog, yt is not a member of the networks used for posting! ( unless there is an Anonymous box to chose from, I`m stuck! 🙂 ) Now to locate the e-mail!
I have to check out the blog!
I can completely see Amaranthine being a wonderful summer night scent. A wispy sundress, cool glass of wine, Amaranthine.
Hi Angela. I hosted a split of this a couple months back and thus can spray to my heart’s content. I find it seriously sexy, almost embarrassingly so. Definitely rated R, heading toward X. I’m thinking it must be the jasmine indoles along with something else… but I really don’t get cumin from it. Maybe it’s the milky lactones that add sensuousness to me? And I think the lasting power is really good.
About the cumin thing: I know perfumes don’t always list every note, but I really have to wonder if this has a cumin note in it, or it’s just something you’re perceiving as “cumin-ey”? I mean, I definitely get a sensual odor from this, but not the same “dirtyish” base as Jubilation 25. (As for cumin, I just sampled that new L’Artisan Al Oudh and, wowza, that is pure BO to me… but I don’t necessarily mean that in a bad way. 🙂 )
In any case, I think Amaranthine is a very interesting and unusual floral, and I get no fruit at all (nor is any fruit listed). I’d recommend sampling to anyone. Also, for what it’s worth, the box is amazingly lovely:
http://www.beautyandthedirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/penhaligone28099s-amaranthine.jpg
I know what you mean about Al-Oudh! A lot of B.O. going on in that one.
It could very well be that there’s not a speck of cumin in Amaranthine, and that I’m getting the “personal” feel of the scent and attributing it to cumin. Just like there’s probably no incense in it, yet I feel like there’s some smokiness there.
This was the (pleasant) surprise of last year. Penhaligon’s traditional offerings are not very me but I found this one very enjoyable to wear. I’m not desperate for a full bottle but I wouldn’t rule it out in the future and I’d definitely use it if I were given one.
Nice to see Penhaligon’s trying something a little different. They also kindly sent me a sample when I emailed enquiring about stockist and I always appreciate ant company that does that.
That is nice customer service! I really like it that they list perfumers on their site, even for their older offerings.
My dear Robin, it was Jane Russell and not Jayne Mansfield in Macao. A Jane Russell and a Jayne Mansfield would be very different fragrances indeed 🙂
Amaranthine sounds very nice, although I am generally not that into tropical scents. Is the Penhaligon’s line available in the US? For some reason I always thought they were based in the UK.
You are right! So embarrassing. I should know better, too, since Jayne Mansfield and I share both our sun and rising signs (don’t know why I remember that). Jane Russell is a whole different creature.
Penhaligon’s is based in the U.K., but you can get their scents here, too. I know I saw them on Luckyscent, for example.
Don’t worry Angela, I made an even bigger error by calling you Robin! One of these days, God willing, I will learn to read. I have never seen a Jayne Mansfield movie, but I still can’t get over the fact that she’s Mariska Hargitay’s (from Law and Order SVU) mother- too bizarre.
Have you tried Penhaligon’s Violetta? That’s the one I’m dying to try.
I find that really bizarre, too. I’ve seen Mansfield in The Sweet Smell of Success and in another fabulous movie with cameos by Little Richard and Julie London, but its name escapes me.
I still want to see “Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?” which I heard is very good. It’s hard for me to separate Jayne Mansfield from Loni Anderson’s portrayal of her in a cheesy 80s television movie (with Arnold Schwarzenegger as her husband, if you can believe it).
I guess I don’t think of Jane Russell as exactly the zenith of talent either, considering her (and her brassiere’s) start in Howard Hughes’s infamous “The Outlaw.” She lives not far from here and apparently used to or still does occasionally sing 40s tunes at a local Radisson Hotel.
Is that the one where she’s in a bath tub surrounded by giant bottles of Arpege? If so, I’ve seen it.
It would be fabulous to see Russell singing! You should go! Bring her a bottle of Jungle Gardenia. I bet she’d love it.
The Girl Can’t Help It!
She’s the Devil with a blue dress (blue dress, blue dress) devil with a blue dress on! (Yeaowh!)
Yes! Yes! Thank you! I remember a scene where she leaves a building and Little Richard (??) says or maybe sings something about meat sizzling in her wake.
What I wouldn’t do to see Jane Russell sing at the Radisson! Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is the movie equivalent of comfort food for me, and she has such a lovely voice in it. It is true that she did not have a particularly illustrious start, lol.
I just received a sample of this today from Aedes – sounds great to me so I can’t wait to try it out tomorrow! A few people have mentioned it smelling a bit banana-ish which would be a big no-no for me, so I hope I don’t get that from it.
I did make the review rounds last month – some people don’t seem to smell any banana at all. I get GREEN banana, very woody – nothing squishy and overripe. (Ever since making that banana-smelling ester in college chem lab, I’ve been wary of banana-flavored anything. But I really like Amaranthine.)
“Green banana” is a great way to describe it.
I think it smells banana in the tropical way, and not in the banana cream pie way, if that makes any sense. When you try it, let me know what you think about its banana.
I didn’t get really any banana – something vaguely green at first – maybe leaf, maybe tea, maybe banana, but it was very nice. but then i got cumin, which to me isn’t BO, but food. and not the kind of food i want to smell like. i’ll try it a few more times because other than that, i really enjoy it.
For me, it can be hard to get over a note once I smell it in something. I’m always looking for it, then. If I didn’t like cumin and noticed it, it would plague me, no matter how subtle it was. (Fortunately, a little cumin is welcome for me!)
I think I’m the only one who didn’t like this. (I’m sure it’s the cumin, but I won’t go on my Cumin Is a Jerk rant again.) Oh, well… saves me money!
With that ‘green banana’ thing going on – I thought this would appeal to you. But then again – cumin. I know, cumin hasn’t treated you very well. Shame on cumin!
Of course, some of the my favorite scents are ones I *hated* to begin with. So maybe I need to give this another try. Maybe cumin and I can work out a truce. (Then again, I didn’t hate this… it just didn’t really move me. I don’t know know. I’ll try it again and see.)
If it didn’t move you, so much the better. Dollars saved.
Green banana and cumin sounds pretty disgusting, really. But Amaranthine smells like so much more than that!
I tried it again, and did like it a lot better. It helps to put more of it on–I get more of the cumin if I just dab it. But still can’t say I like it enough to want it. But it is pretty, and it does sort of remind me of Amoureuse.
It seems like a few people here have had the same reaction to it.
i’ll have to try it with one of my little spray bottles. i think this is the first cumin-y fragrance i’ve sampled and i love the fragrance other than that.
I bet the spray will make a difference.
It sounds like there are lots of people who liked it all right but weren’t wild about it. Cumin can be tough to stomach.
As usual, after your descriptions, I wonder which of us has got her sample mixed up! 🙂
I don’t get any kiwi, indolic jasmine or incense… what I get is a HUGE green banana, some vibrant flowers in the heart, a lot of milk and vanilla and some nice spice… But for once the end result (I think) is the same: “warm, personal and unwrapped”… and FBW!!
I’m glad you like it!
Hi Zazie – I get exactly the same impression as you. I got a small decant from Joe’s split last month and I was hoping to love it after reading some rave reviews. It’s very pretty, but too much banana and not enough skank for me – this is clean underwear straight out of the drawer after being washed with a tropical fabric softner…
We’re getting such a range here–some people find it borderline obscene, and others are finding it laundry clean!
“Smells like it’s been slept in” – what a beatutiful phrasing.
Thank you!
On that “slept in” note – did you all hear about the Holiday Inn decision to offer a “human bed-warmer service?” They say the bed-warmers will wear head covers, etc. BO and other factors aside, what if the bedwarmer had been wearing a scrubber?
That’s disgusting! Are you sure you didn’t accidentally read about it in The Onion? When I go to a hotel, the last thing I want to know is that a stranger was recently in my bed, no matter what his/her perfume!
I blind sampled this today and I had the same experience as you, Angela. Soft green opening, plenty of cumin, and lots of head scratching because I can’t find the skank everyone else is finding. The more reviews I read, the more confused I get. Maybe I just have a really high tolerance for skank.
My tolerance for skank has become almost iron clad at this point. I remember once not being able to bear SL Borneo because it smelled so much of dirty socks, and now I could swim in it with a happy smile.
I do smell a little warmth, a slight, personal dirtiness, but maybe my skin doesn’t play it up much compared to other people’s skin.
Speaking of really big skank: I tried a tiny dab of MKK again after receiving a swap this weekend and I really cannot get over the pure STINK of that thing! (Yet I love Musc Ravageur and animalic things like ELdO Vierges et Toreros). I feel like I really want to discuss it with someone who’s in the MKK fanclub because I can’t imagine it being something someone wants to wear. It’s like dabbing Pont Leveque cheese behind the ears. I’ve heard of musk anosmia, but maybe there’s something like musk hyperosmia!
I think MKK is the skankiest perfume on the market. Bar none. That said, maybe you have a great nose and are particularly good at picking out musk. That might explain why Amaranthine is especially “intimate” on you.
Joe, there is such a thing as musk hyperosmia, and you’d be in good company: Edmond Roudnitska had it (his son told me).
You may be reacting to the cumin/civet combination though.
Skank has to be really really big for me to pick it up too. Maybe it’s all these years with my husbands smelly socks that have sensitized my nose, lol! Most standard “dirty” fragrances hardly smell like that to me at all. I may enjoy them very much, but then I wonder what others around me are thinking!!
They’re thinking you smell great, I bet.
Yeah, or I need to take a shower!
Same here, Ann! I hate the word skanky, actually, and don’t quite “get” the concept. True confession: I wear Rose Poivree to work. No comments yet. 🙂
Wonderful review, Angela! I do find Amaranthine to be sexy and smart at the same time. It’s such a curious fragrance, it gets the brain whirring away even as the body swoons.
BTW, I really love it and want a bottle. (Joe, my decant is almost gone from using and sharing, boo hoo.)
It’s so great to find a fragrance you love! Brains and beauty is a heck of a combo. Plus, the fact that you’ve used up a decant and still lust for more says you won’t regret buying a bottle.
You’re right. Sounds like a Valentine to myself just waiting to happen. 🙂
Exactly! Brains and beauty for brains and beauty, eh?
So great to hear you loved it, H. I also would wear Rose Poivree to work, even though I probably have the less-civety, reformulated version.
Right, same here. I guess the real test would have been the original RP!
Amaranthine was the my favourite release of last year, and I have yet to come down from my cloud after meeting BD and being sniffed by him whilst wearing the edp and the parfum on different arms at the London launch. I feel positively evangelical about this scent, and have swapped and given away half my bottle in a bid to get the word out.
Violetnoir, this is nothing like Amoureuse, which is a sticky, spicy indolic mess on me, where this is lush in a sheer, green, milky way.
I do get just enough “dirtiness” for me, but I am sensitive to heavy spice and animalic notes, and I find the likes of Femme and Amouage overwhelming. : – )
I love both Jubilation 25 and Femme (vintage especially) but Amaranthine has my heart for other reasons. The development is so complex and compelling that I find different facets in it each time I wear it. Sheer, green and milky, as you mentioned, but also indolic, overripe, oddly fruity, leafy, powdery, slightly spicy and creamy, depending on when I put nose to wrist. And yes, Angela, I think that a decent spray, rather than a dab makes a big difference in bringing out all of these elements.
I thought that might be the case–spray v. dab, that is. I could tell by how dense it smelled that it would show itself better in a spray. I’ll have to hunt down a tester bottle with an atomizer.
How amazing to meet Duchafour! I would be over the moon, too. Wow! I bet Amaranthine is even more wonderful when the weather warms up.
I’m so glad that you had this opportunity, V! I’m sure this fragrance will always be extra-special to you. I love it, too!
How wonderful to have met AND been sniffed by one of the greatest noses! I love BD’s work and will definitely sample this one, thanks to your enthusiasm and Angela’s discerning review.
BTW, how about a Lazy Poll someday on the Desert Island Nose (if it hasn’t been done already) – namely, if you were to be shipwrecked with the perfumes from only one Nose, who would it be? 😉
I think that would be a fun poll – a lot of people have leanings towards several perfumers, if not necessarily a single one. I know I do. But just as we often get asked that tricky question: “If you could only wear one scent”, or perfumes from one house, perfumes from one perfumer might be tough too but interesting to consider!
I agree!
That would be a fun poll! I suppose I wouldn’t care who my desert perfumer was as long as he/she brought adequate provisions and a seafaring yacht, but once that was taken care of I’d go for E Roundnitska.
You crack me up, Angela! I can see a lot I’d have to do a lot more research than I had thought to get ready for a poll on this scenario! 🙂
I agree with the more “personal” type of sexiness. It makes me think of the smell of being warm in your own bed, maybe with another person. So perhaps it is more intimate than XX. It is almost a skin scent, but I get a bit more projection from it with a spray. I enjoy it very much, and though I agree that it’s mostly PG13, I do think there is a hint of things to come that is what makes it smell sexy. I dare say aside from the cumin and cardomum notes in it, it smells VERY similar to Kenzo Flower Essentielle. I get just a hint of tropical fruit, mostly just the overwhelming “green” in the opening, which is why I think it smells similar to Flower Essentielle, but the spices, rose and jasmine and milk pudding – total yum. But Amaranthine definitely has more “pudding” going on.
Nice perception that an intimate smell could be racier than an overtly sexual smell. All your talk of milk pudding has me hungry!
Apart from the opening, which scares me a little, this sounds darn nice. That LE purple bottle sure is divine. I may have to rethink my V-Day request. Hmmm…
Aw, heck, that crazy opening only lasts for about 3 minutes! At least go for a sample! The progression through the heart notes is really wonderful.
I appreciate the advice Ann – I’ll definitely sample this. Some day. Added to the list. 😉
If I give it another shot and still don’t love it, you can have mine.
You guys are all such nice perfume buddies!
Aww Miss Kitty – I really don’t mean to be opportunistic, as that’s rather ugly, but…I sure wouldn’t mind that sample coming my way. Which reminds me – I already ‘owe’ you some samples, or feel that I do after that OJW you sent my way. Let me see – what do I have here that may be your cup of tea…? 😉
It sounds like you need a sample of it!
I know! I wasn’t really that excited about this until reading your review. Thank you?
And maybe you won’t be that excited about when you smell it, but you never know…
Your review makes me want to try this! And that parfum bottle is stunning! How I want it, and with that cute butterfly!
That parfum bottle is 550 clams, apparently. Whew! It sure is darling, though.
You know, I sort of have trouble with the purple bottle. It’s gorgeous, but I strongly associate this fragrance with a very specific color – a soft, milky green. Sort of like lima beans or pistachios, maybe. It’s not purple to me at all!
I can see that. I love it that you associate perfume with color.
I haven’t even smelled it, and I had the same reaction to the color, just based on the description. And frankly, I think the bottle would be even more lovely in celadon anyway.
Ooh, a celadon bottle! That would be wonderful!
Everything is lovelier in celadon! O.K., maybe not leftovers in the fridge.
you know, i think what has kept me from trying this line are the stupid bowties on the bottles. its too cute for a man. i suppose i can always cut it off. Im going to order that little hat basket set one of these days.
The bows are kind of out of control, I agree. Maybe a plain decant would be better.
I received this among a few other samples, and when I opened the vial, it was instant love. I’d already dabbed a couple other samples by the time I got to Amaranthine, but it truly took me aback with all the complexity and seamless blending it possesses. It was all green banana and a hint of florals with an underlying sexiness, and made me think of swinging in a hammock near flowering shrubs with a lover whose skin scent is just detectable amid a warm, tree-shaded and lush tropical island background. I can almost hear birds singing in the branches and the distant yet gentle song of the waves against the shore.
Of course I had to check the price and have decided that while I adore it, my desire to own it will have to wait since there’s other things I need to pick up first. But Amaranthine calls to me like the soft whispers of fragrant petals and vines on a tropical breeze and I think it will be lush and sultry in the warmer weather… And definitely a fragrance I’ll reach for again and again.
What a marvelous mini-review! It sounds like love at first sniff. (Also sounds like a heavenly vacation: tropics, hammocks, lovers.) Clearly you need to save up and get yourself a bottle. Surely there’s somewhere you can skimp for a few months to make up the difference.
Sigh… That is lovely!
OK, I read your review, dashed off to find my decant so I could give it another chance, and I STILL don’t get it! It’s not bad — I only detect the faintest hint of cumin, which doesn’t really bother me in any case — but nothing to write home about. And perhaps I’m nuts, but after about the first minute, it’s a dead ringer for Black Cashmere, Ava Luxe 23, and a few other scents that escape my memory. Anyone need a thrice-sprayed decant?!
Well, you’re not the only one here who finds it o.k. but not compelling. It’s fascinating how much people’s opinions of this one vary! I can understand the comparison with the fragrances you mention, it does have that sweet-musky-woody drydown, but it still smells more tropical–and a little more naughty–to me.
I love that you reviewed this as I was just thinking about it. 🙂 I’m considering studying at Oxford summer of 2011, and I wanted a fragrance to associate with that point in my life, should I be able to go. Penhaligon seems almost too perfect as it seems to very British and one of my favorite British actors & Oxford grad (Michael Palin) is a fan of their aftershaves. The price tag is kind of appalling for a poor college student, and I have absolutely no idea how I would get said perfume back to the States after my five weeks in Oxford, but this sounds like it would be perfect. I’ll have to sample it. 🙂
Don’t forget to try some of the Ormonde Jaynes, too. Besides being based in the U.K., you can’t get them in the United States without ordering them from her. And they’re marvelous perfumes.
Rachel, as an Oxford alumna, I’d be happy to help make your studies there more fragrant! I mentioned above that I have a decant (10ml) of this that’s just going to gather dust, so if you’d like it, it’s all yours (no pretty bottle, but if you end up loving it you can save up your pence for one). I’m on MUA as “Zanfirico” or you can e-mail me at c o e . n a t @ g m a i l . c o m (without the spaces).
Thanks so much! I’m almost as excited for the fragrance as I am for Oxford. 🙂
i need to try this….if it gets here…penhalogins seems to have moved out of HK
They seem to be really hard to find these days, and yet they seem like they *shouldn’t* be hard to find. Maybe Penhaligon’s is undergoing some sort of change.
Angela, though it would be expected of both of us vintage lovers, I’m still amused to find you evoke old-time movie stars to speak of Amaranthine. My own take was Bette Davis in that Somerset Maugham adaptation where she’s suspected of having killed her lover…
I would describe Amaranthine as carnal. It’s a “crème de fleurs”, a flower cream, which Bertrand Duchaufour intended as a new take on ylang-ylang — he’d been toying with it when Penhaligon’s asked him for a big floral. He’ll be doing another one for them later this year, a masculine inspired by Savile Row. Penhaligon’s is definitely mutating!
Creme de fleur is such a perfect description! The ylang ylang makes sense, too, both with the cream and all the tingly jasmine (which I also associate with ylang ylang).
I know just the Bette Davis movie you’re talking about. I feel like it’s called Shanghai something. When I last watched it it was an August night and I doused myself in Baiser du Dragon for the movie. Haven’t been able to wear it since.
You must be thinking of “The Letter”. I only saw it once, years ago, but I still remember the look of its fabulous b&w cinematography.
That sounds right to me. What a great movie.
I’m always fascinated to read other’s perception of a scent and almost always people seem to draw out different aspects – this one seeming to be no exception! People say skin chemistry, the weather, etc. can affect a fragrance but sometimes when I do my morning spray certain components that were there previously are missing or suddenly appear when they weren’t there before. Ok, I’m probably rambling here but sometimes, for example, Lubin Idole goes on rich, rummy and incensy and sometimes it seems like it goes straight to the base. C&S Cuba can be a really fantastic scent from the citrus to the spicy to the incredible dry down and other days it’s all umm.. “poo” until it finally gets to the base. Same experience with Amouage Jubilation – first 5 tries all base with the BO factor thought I’d give it one more try and got this amazing berry like (almost grape bubblegum type smell) in the opening.
To cut an incredibly long and boring story short, could these different aspects that people experience relate to the actual juice and not just psychological or skin chemistry? Or should I just shut the hell up? LOL
I know what you mean–for me the variables in how something smells have a lot to do with temperature, too. The same fragrance smells so different in the dead of winter compared to a moist, hot night. It would be interesting to really explore why scents can smell so different on different people, or on the same people at different times.
Temperature and humidity have strong effects on the aromachemicals themselves and on one’s ability to detect them. Also the state of one’s health influences the sensitivity of one’s nose and one’s reaction to different scents.
Very good points, and proven time and time again on my own skin.
Oh, this is mean, I cannot afford it right now. I surely remember that I loved the incense (and tehre is not any?!) and the vanilla mix in the base.
Well, probably it has to wait another half a year.
So you smelled that smokiness, too! Good, I’m glad I wasn’t imagining it. I bet Amaranthine will be around for a while, and it seems like a summer scent, anyway.
Hello, everyone! I just received a sample of Amaranthine yesterday and OMG!!! I thought I was going to like it, based on the notes listed… I do not just like it… I ADORE it! I love it! Let me just say that all my respect goes to the House of Penhaligon’s/ Dont You sometimes have the feeling, that all of our niche houses, just dont suprise/shock us anymore? I will be honest, Amaranthine suprised me so much, that I am just so excited even writing this! It starts with that green tea note and some flowers on me. I definitely smell some banana/banana leaf in it. But I love anything banana! (hello CsP Vanille Banane). The flowers smell, I would say, more exotic than tropical. I am kind of tired of typical, tropical fragrances with an overdose on tuberose and monoi oil. Not to mention how much I love the creamy note in it – it’s almost sour, heavy, creamy note of condensed milk. It just smells so unconventional on me. This is just so gorgeous I have no words to actually describe it!!! But if You’re tired of all the releases this year, please try this. I guarantee You, there is something about this fragrance that just smells different” and “weird” in it’s own, beautiful way. I read somewhere on the internet. that “amaranth” also refers to a “corrupted flower”. I think this is the most accurate description of amaranthine… it’s sweet but very different, and corrupted…
Sounds like true love! That’s great!
very belated thank you for this review. i am in LOVE with this fragrance. got a sample from lucky scent and just now bought the 100ml size from ebay. it’s lucious without being heavy or cloying.
thank you!
I’m so glad you like it! Now I’m hankering to wear it again, too. It’s just starting to feel like spring out. Perhaps I’ll get out that bottle…
What will I wear when my bottle runs out? I was heartbroken when Amaranthine was discontinued. I’ve been looking for something to replace it for the dreadful day when my bottle is gone. I’ve tried Annick Goutal Songes (too sweet), Vero Profumo Rubj (love it but it’s not quite right), Frederic Malle Scent of a Woman (whoa, too much, stays on for weeks). Help!
It’s too bad Amaranthine is being discontinued, but, on the other hand, you’re going to have a great time finding a replacement fragrance! Keep sniffing, and you’ll find some good ones, I know it.