Black Amber ( Perfume Oil ) by Michele Bergman

Dark and Light Tunisian Amber, Vanilla, Patchouli.

This particular fragrance pushes the WOW factor button in me. Marketed as shared, Black Amber leans more feminine due to the powdery quality in this rendition of amber and once merged with vanilla, it seems destined for the feminine arena.

In spite of that and it also being fairly linear, Black Amber is so substantial that there's no doubt I would wear this in the cold months or use it as a base. Sillage and longevity is of absolutely no concern here. This is some concentrated juice and truly a little goes a long way.

Black Amber opens with a dense amber accord that possesses a halo of powder. The amber is sweet, but not overtly so. There's also resin in the mix, but it stays close to the skin while the powdery amber soaks up the spotlight.

During what would normally be the heart accord, a patchouli begins to manifest itself in increments. At first, it adorns itself with woodiness and by the base and drydown, it unveils its earthy nature. I won't go as far as to say it hippie, but it's gritty, slightly dirty and all the while maintaining a cedar-like quality.

The patchouli is tuned to be noticeable, but the sweet amber and oncoming vanilla temper its nature. The woody aspect here reminds me of Bois 1920 Real Patchouly, but the patchouli note isn't as prominent as that. Black Amber is attenuated with amber pitted against patchouli. Sweet versus earth. Powder versus wood. All the while an undercurrent of vanilla has a hand on each.

Once Black Amber settles into the drydown stage, it does become more of an androgynous scent. The patchouli being more prominent at this time is responsible for that. The powdery quality has also subsided enough to allow some resin to bleed through as well. This proves to be my favorite part of the wearings.

Black Amber is expensive and retailing at $120 for half an ounce. That's $8 per ml. but the sillage and longevity for very small amounts makes up for it. This is self indulgence personified and if you're partial to ambery patch with a vanilla base, then you really need to try this.

This happens to be the first Michele Bergman release I have tried and if her others are this rich, I'll make it a point to try them as well. Thumbs up from Aromi for Black Amber with a recommendation to sample.