Earlier this year, Amouage released its Library Collection, a trio of fragrances designed as a "poetic homage to the art of living." Opus III is a floral oriental developed by perfumer Karine Vinchon; according to Amouage, this fragrance "was inspired by the art and science of the creative process, from the darkest moments of frustration, to the brightness of enlightenment and discovery." It includes top notes of mimosa, broom, carnation, nutmeg, and thyme; a heart of violet, jasmine, ylang-ylang, and orange blossom; and base notes of ambrette, musk, papyrus, cedarwood, sandalwood, guaiac wood, benzoin, and vanilla.
Opus III opens with a distinctive note of broom flowers. If you've ever tried Santa Maria Novella Ginestra, a broom soliflore, you'll recognize this scent, something like cut hay and long grass warmed by the sun. If Opus III were visible as color, the dominant shades of its opening and its heart would be the bright, almost sharp yellow of broom blossoms and the buttery shade of mimosa flowers. The mimosa note is slightly honeyed. It picks up some depth from the jasmine and ylang-ylang and some duskiness from the soft wood notes in the base. The nutmeg and frankincense are only faint hints of spice. The dry down, with its benzoin and vanilla notes, brings a powdery almond effect to the final phase of the mimosa; here, the fragrance's "color" shifts into shades of cream and dusty ochre, shot through with threads of gold. Opus III has excellent staying power, and it lasts through an entire workday on my skin.
This elegant fragrance was a surprise for me on two counts. First, mimosa is not usually one of my favorite notes. The only mimosa fragrance I've ever loved is Caron Farnesiana, a sweeter, fruitier interpretation of mimosa with a pastry-like heliotrope note. Opus III is now the second fragrance with mimosa that I truly enjoy wearing. Second, this is the first Amouage composition that hasn't felt too rich, too dramatic, just too big for my personality. It's not really a strong contrast between "dark" and "bright," as promised in the description; I'd describe it as a subtle layering of "shadowy" and "glowing," which appeals to me even more.
The Library Collection's signature bottle is deceptively simple in appearance. In person, the bottle has a matte finish, a satiny texture and a slightly curved shape that allows you to cradle it in your hand like a small, precious book. Of course, all this understated luxury comes at a price. Otherwise, I would have acquired a full-size Opus III for my own fragrance "library" by now.
Amouage Library Collection Opus III sells for $325 for 100 ml Eau de Parfum. For purchasing information, see Amouage under perfume houses.
Note: top image is Eugène Grasset's advertisement for L. Marquet ink [cropped], via Wikimedia Commons.
Wow, Jessica, do you make this sound attractive! On the expensive new release front, I can be quite resistant, but instant lemming created this time! I personally like mimosa and broom, as well, so I don’t know how I missed those in the note lists for this scent’s release – I was only thinking of trying the chypre one (Opus I?) You’ve made the style/palette sound so inviting, too: yellow and ochre are two of my very favorite colors (I like the warm colors – most variations of yellow, red and orange – as well as forest green.) Thanks for the review…
Erin, I’ve cherished my sample of this one. Glad you enjoyed the review; sorry about the lemming! Opus I seems beautiful to me, too, and very sophisticated; I’m not a chypre-wearer, but I’d love to hear Angela’s thoughts on this one, if she eventually tries it.
Sounds delicious Jessica! Thank god I am unaware of it’s beauty, I am goin’ for broke on other perfumes, somethin’ gotta give! haha 😛
Tamara, I can usually sample something from Amouage and then walk away, thinking, “It’s gorgeous, but it’s not ‘me.'” Alas. 😉
I know what you mean Jess but still- sometimes I like to wear a fragrance that isn’t me you know?
Kinda like a scent dress-up make/believe type thing I guess?
I’m a weirdo!? 😉
Anyway that’s how I feel wearing this vtg. Emeraude that Kitty and Mals got me hooked on.
It’s NOT me but yet I let it “wear me” and am tickled that I love it ,and I better since I got 3 bottles of it! HA.
Vintage Emeraude has been recommended to me by a friend… I do need to try it, one of these days! Playing olfactory dress-up is not a bad thing. 🙂
Jess do want some OH MY GOD I have so much now, would love to share it if you would like-
zebra_cupcakes@yahoo.com
Seriously girl, let’s play dress-up it’s fun! teehee 😛
I have a fake fur jacket in the spare bedroom closet…
… but to me, that goes with naughty chypres, not plushy-velour Emeraude.
MALS!! Yesterday me and Juju went to a new consignment/antique shop down my street and I spied the most gorgeous vintage 1800 velvet burgandy day robe, just like what Scarlett wore in her giant gawdy house in Atlanta, it screamed at me to try it on! It was beyond cool, man I just kept imagining my URC all over it.
Jessica- I like this. When I see carnation in the lineup, I get so excited. I do like a few of Amouage’s scents. Hopefully, they will have some samples coming up on Luckyscent.
Hi, Dolly — I’m a carnation-lover, too, but I didn’t detect any strong carnation note in this one. Still, it’s beautiful!
Dolly, you can get samples at Aedes. Bonus: they have the best sample program I’ve seen (7/$15).
Boo – thanks for the tip!
Thanks for the reminder! I think I had an ongoing list of stuff I wanted to sample from there, and I kept getting to six and stopping because nothing else appealed to me.
This one does. 🙂
Thank you for the reminder! Always sample first, folks! 😉
Jessica, I have to agree with Erin…instant lemming created by this one. I loved the use of color in your review, too. I’ve only tried Opus I, which didn’t do much for me, but I’ll have to grab a sample of this one soon.
Boojum, Color and scent… we are a very synesthetic group! 🙂
Jessica: Thanks for the great review. These Opus were on and fell off my radar. But this III sounds like something I’d really like. I like broom and mimosa. I’ll have to find a decant of this one soon! I like a few of the Amouage and they are so well done. But I will say that two of the fragrances I’ve ever felt were just too big for me to wear, and that takes a lot!, are Ubar and Gold for Women.
WHAT?! Ubar was too big for you? You wear Bal and Coco, woman!
Teasing. I do like Ubar, lots – but one little squidge (not a full spritz, even) out of my decant is enough for alllll day, so I do see what you mean. I thought Gold and Dia were too big for ME.
Coco pales in comparison to Ubar’s magnificent bone structure! And funny, I never think of Bal as a big fragrance – maybe it’s all that lovely skank and patch and jasmine that keeps it friendly, you know? Bal is only one dress change away from being a hippie with a tamborine and bells on her ankles. Dia and Gold are so gorgeous. Now Dia reminds me a lot of Coco in a structural way – cousins perhaps. Gold for Women I’ll wear the next time I’m invited to a royal wedding or coronation. Or my third marriage when I finally do it for money, lol.
Bal really is friendly, but I have to wade through that ginormous floral opening first…
I’m still getting on fine with vtg Emeraude for the “signature scent” challenge courtesy of the Posse. I just have Opportunity Costs, as economists would say – I’d love to be wearing Climat today, but I’m missing out on that.
Have you told your husband you’d marry him again for money? 🙂
Isn’t Dia gorgeous!? I’ve been tempted to purchase as I found a bottle for a song on flea bay…..
I know how you feel, Ann! I can admire something but still not be able to “carry it off.”
As a newbie to perfume, I am happy I had the sense to know when a perfume is simply “too big” for me. I tried Gold for Women and thought, oh my, this is just not right, it’s stunning, but only if you’re attending Lady Di’s wedding, or an inaugural ball. But Homage Attar, for some reason, I can pull off. I rode it out trail riding and the whole gang was in love. Horses, too maybe.
I bet horses have good taste in fragrance!
With Ubar, it is entirely a matter of application, at least for me. I had a sample vial of it from Lucky Scent, and applied it sparingly in order to make it last for several testings. I loved, loved, loved it–I couldn’t stop smelling myself whenever I had it on. I got a mini from eBay, eagerly applied it–and almost asphyxiated myself. I had only used a few small drops, but it was TOO much. I have found that two drops will do–one on the cleavage and neck, another applied to a wrist and then spread around to the other wrist, the elbows, and the hair. You might even want to try just one drop, if you have a really sensitive nose or scent glue skin. My skin tends to eat scent, so I have to use more than some people do.
Very, very nice review, Jessica – I too particularly enjoyed your usage of color in your descriptions of how this smells and feels to you, as well as your phrase “shadowy and glowing.” Thanks!
I had been looking forward to this one of the Opus collection (while everybody else was cooing over the chypre and the leather ones… I tend to be the floriental ho!) but had almost forgotten about it.
My wallet is not going to be happy with me, I can tell. Even about the sampling… no, Wally, it’s FINE. Aedes, 7 for $15! Not pricey at all, so shut up already – mmsphthtsmmm- shut UP, I said…
We do have a lot of chypre and leather fans around here… but I’m a floral/oriental/gourmand lover to the core, I suppose! And yes, our poor wallets…
Goodness. You make this sound extremely appealing and very un-Amouage-like. Will have to keep my eyes open… Lovely review!
Sorry about that… I think! 😉
I have 3 large manufacturer’s samples and I love this. It’s my favorite of the 3 🙂
Lovethescents, It’s my favorite of the trio, too (obviously)… and yes, Amouage goes all out with its samples! Nicely done.
That does it! If you two like this, I have to try it. Like others, the line, “a subtle layering of ‘shadowy’ and ‘glowing'” caught my eye, and like Erin, I’m a fan of all the sunny, warm colors. AND I love broom. I wear Ginestra, and it’s an ingredient in Ta’if and Cote d’Amour, two other of my faves. Thanks, Jessica – I will pursue a sample of this.
I think you’d really like this, Haunani. I warn you, though, a little goes a looooooooong way 🙂
Yes! One spritz, applied to the wrist and then cross-dabbed (know what I mean?) onto the other wrist and the neck, is enough! It’s nicely concentrated.
“Cross-dabbed” absolutely makes sense! Thanks to both of you for the advice. 🙂
I must try this, I love scents with Broom notes (Dune has broom if I remember correctly) and I love chypre and leather perfumes. Don’t know about the Mimosa though, will have to try.
I keep meaning to track down some Dune and sniff it! I can go either way with mimosa. L’Artisan’s Mimosa Pour Moi seems very pretty to me, but I’ve never felt like I needed to own it. On the other hand, I’m hooked on Diptyque’s Mimosa candle.
Opus III is fabulous!!! I have the three manufacturer’s spray samples of the Opus series, thanks to a kind perfumista, and this is by far my favorite. The almond note is really prominent when I wear this…I sort of get a L’Heure Bleue vibe from it, so I wonder if there’s a bit of heliotrope in this, though it’s not listed.
Anyway, you did a righteous review for it, Jessica! Glad you talked about the broom, as I’ve never smelled broom and have always been curious about it.
Thanks, SuzanneK! Glad you enjoyed it. I like that almond-y accord, too. It never goes quite gourmand, and it’s not overly sweet, but it’s definitely almond-ish.
Jessica, you’ve made Opus III sound especially worth sampling. I really love SMN Ginestra and it’s on my list of full bottles to acquire by next summer. I’m also a fan of mimosa accords (in addition to Farnesiana, I also think yet another SMN — Gaggia/Mimosa — is good). Add to that the fact that I enjoy many from the Amouage line, and your beautiful descriptions of the colors III evokes (yellow & ochre are favorites), and I’m practically anxious to order up a vial.
I do have a sample of Opus I that I need to spend more time with, but I do think it lives up to the Amouage standard of quality.
One thing about the “Library Line” bottle: it looks understatedly elegant, perhaps, but to me it appears that it would cost less to produce than the regular Amouage bottles. One hopes the pricey nature of the line is reflected even more, then in the quality of the materials and composition.
Hi, Joe! These “Opuses” (“Opi”?) do smell very high-quality; Amouage never seems to skimp on the ingredients. You have a lot of good reasons to try this one! Oh, and I need to check out SMN’s Gaggia. I don’t think I’ve ever sampled that one… too many good things from SMN!
Opuses is the most commonly used plural in ordinary English, although you can also use the Latin plural, which is opera.
Nice review! Fortunately for my wallet you created more of a lemming for the Ginestra.
Ah! Well, I’m happy to know that, too. I love SMN.
Eek… despite my love for most things Amouage, I have managed to resist trying this one. I have a feeling that my resistance has been futile….
Oh, no, I hope we don’t have another Havana Vanille situation on our hands! Sample first, everyone…! 😉
lol – I’d like to say that I learned my lesson from the HV incident, but I probably haven’t. At least it was just a 10ml decant and not a FB, right?
Yes, thank goodness! 🙂
(Oh, and I didn’t mean *you* personally with the HV… just a coincidence!)
Jessica,
A wonderful decription. Colour descriptions of scent are something I can relate to. Must try a sample to get those same impressions.. In fact I just added one on luckyscent t my basket. Sounds like a fascinating scent.
So glad you enjoyed the review… and so glad that there are good ways to get samples first!
Excellent Review! I liked III the best, and 1 next. Didn’t really care for II.
Same here, Carlos… but Opus II is a fougere, and I’m still struggling to “get” fougees!
Um, fougeRes. 😉
You know, I’m starting to think I shouldn’t try any more of these expensive Amouage things, because I can’t really afford them. Still, my curiosity got the best of me & I got 3 tiny samples of the Opus series.. and I was just smitten, especially with this one (though the first is quite gorgeous, too). It gets to the point with some of these where the narrative and the notes are just irrelevant, and all that matters is that it’s gorgeous! Now, I’m really resisting trying any of their attars, because those are just obscenely expensive, and I’m afraid they might just be heartbreakingly beautiful!
Arch, It’s interesting that you said that, because my first mental draft of this review was just one line: “It’s really, really beautiful.”
as for myself, I think I’m really lucky, I do not like any of the Amouages too much, I only adore Homage, but a few drops last forever so it is not the end of the world and my wallet to buy a few drops of that.
Opus III, I liked even less than others, baroque flowerparade, too much of everything, high quality too much, though : )
no unsniffed full bottles or big decants, please : )))
It was a great and very appealing review of the perfume that I also liked a lot starting the moment I applied a first drop from my small sample vial and all the way through the last memory of the scent on my skin.