Skip to main content

Black Amber Eau de Parfum by Agonist

Image
By
Incense, Prune, Red Algae, Labdanum, Vetiver, Tobacco, Incense, Cedarwood, Patchouli, Amber, Vanilla, Sandalwood.

Black Amber is akin to something Serge Lutens would collaborate with Amouage. It is weird but compelling, yet I'm still undecided due to the price point of this house. At $195.00 for a 50ml. bottle, most of us working stiffs have no choice but to be astute in our choices.

The smoke in Black Aber's opening  is camphorous and the incense provides a mentholated quality at the core of the fragrance. It is evident upon initial application and on me, it is the spirit the remainder of the composition is built upon.

I recently acquired the Agonist line in sample form and decided to begin with Black Amber. I suppose I'm a fan of quite a few orientals, but Black Amber doesn't fit into this genre neatly.

The top accord of Black Amber sets the stage with soft smoke, camphor and subtle earth tones. It's full bodied and wears like a substantial scent. Black Amber may be a misnomer since the gist is mentholated incense morphing into woods, mild patchouli and vanilla.

The extended drydown provides me with a mellow labdanum, but I can't say I'm disappointed in any way that the amber note isn't showcased. My wearings of Black Amber give me the expectation that the rest of the line should be as rich and well executed as this.

My one reservation is the price point, but I have that same concern with any house charging these prices. I can't say I like Black Amber enough to dig into my pocket, but that aside, on its own merit it is a good fragrance.

To sum it up, I can surmise that Black Amber would perform well for all those who gravitate towards smoke and incense dominant fragrances. It does have a twist however, due to the implementation of menthol.

Sillage is acceptable with longevity being approximately 6 hours on my skin. The amber quality does finally emerge, but long into the life of the scent. Thumbs up from Aromi for Agonist's Black Amber. The recommendation to sample first is strong.
Labels:

Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 1, 2012 at 12:52 PM

    This sounds wonderful!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. UndinaNovember 2, 2012 at 1:06 AM

    I will definitely give it a try if I come across it (well, it would be nice to test the whole line) but I'm not sure if I want to like it or not: it is an expensive perfume and do I really need another amber which isn't amber...

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Black Suede by Avon

By
Nutmeg, Clove, Amber, Musk, Moss, Wood Notes. Yes.........I am reviewing one of the Rodney Dangerfield's of fragrance. Black Suede has been gracing medicine cabinets, for better or worse, since 1980 my friends. If you're expecting me to inform you ( like others may have already ) that Black Suede is a nasty scrubber, you will be disappointed. On the other hand, if you're expecting a glowing review claiming it's a diamond in the rough, you won't hear that from me either. I will say though that Black Suede doesn't deserve the hate it's received and most of that is due to snobbery aimed at Avon products in general. I kid you not when I state that a close relative to this fragrance is Cacharel Pour L'Homme. The array of spice in both ensure comparison, but the "smoother" of the two is Black Suede due to its implementation of Amber. While wearing Black Suede, one can detect a hint of "drugstore". That quality doesn't manife...
1 comment
Read more

La Chasse Aux Papillons Extreme by L'Artisan Parfumeur

By
I read many reviews before or after I do my own and I seem to be at complete odds with the house of L'Artisan. I have previously said on basenotes that for me, L'Artisan Parfumeur is the most over-rated house I have come across. La Chasse Aux Papillons Extreme does nothing to sway that opinion. Yet another linear, floral dominant scent that does nothing to stir me up or inspire me in any way. This house has "pleasant" nailed down to an art form......but damn...can't we go beyond that? The only attempt at polarization so far has been Dzongkha ....and I found it a jumbled mess. At these prices, move me, anger me, hate me.......but please don't bore me. Extreme in a nutshell is a toned down tuberose with assorted "blossom" thrown in the mix. Is it bad? No, it's an acceptable floral scent that's very timid and just lays on my skin smelling like....well....a toned down version of tuberose with blossom this or that added to it. I'm almost a...
6 comments
Read more

Chanel copying Guerlain. Why?

By
                      Last month, I had the pleasure of trying Comète by Chanel, the latest addition to their prestigious Les Exclusifs line. This fragrance follows the release of Le Lion in 2020, another standout in the same collection. Like Le Lion , Comète is a beautiful perfume that captures the essence of Chanel’s refined elegance. However, both fragrances bear a striking resemblance to classic creations by Guerlain, leading me to ponder the direction Chanel is taking. Chanel has a great fragrance history. Not as hallowed and old as Guerlain but for past three decades it has far outshone Guerlain. In my view, no other perfume house has come close to Chanel’s excellence in this century. This makes their recent approach of echoing Guerlain classics somewhat perplexing. Have they run out of fresh ideas? Is Roger Dove at the helm of their fragrance division, or have they perhaps...
Post a Comment
Read more