Yazhini ManimudiOpulence, grandeur, tradition, everything I want in a perfume brand. If there’s one brand that embodies it perfectly, it’s Guerlain. They have once again impressed with a beautiful fragrance in Guerlain Ambre Samar, the new addition to the Absolu Allegoria line.
The Allegoria collection is the natural beauty of the world reimagined through fragrance. The Absolus Allegoria captures the magnificence of our natural world at night. Guerlain’s Perfume Creation Director and perfumer Delphine Jelk took inspiration from the red moon phenomenon that occurs during lunar eclipses. The inspiration is clear in the fragrance, representing the interplay of light and darkness on the night of a red moon.
The bottle is a deep jewel red with a monochromatic label to match. A gorgeous golden beehive adorns the bottle, brought to life so much better by the dark bottle than the lighter Aqua Allegoria EDTs.
At once, you get the richness of almonds and cardamom, enriched with benzoin that brings a vanillic deliciousness of dessert. The nuttiness of almonds is enhanced by the green, warm facets of cardamom, giving an altogether rich, creamy, warm feeling. It’s very strong at first, projecting the fragrance very well. It reminds me a lot of Guerlain’s own Tobacco Honey and Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille.
But the projection goes down drastically in about half an hour, making it less potent and easier to wear in comparison. It’s not listed in the notes, but there’s a boozy accord that brings a sweet, spicy depth to the fragrance. It feels like clove heavy mulled wine with a good quantity of cinnamon and cardamom balanced by sweet honey. Like having Glühwein in a German Christmas market.
The dry down is soft and gorgeous. Guerlain’s vanilla has always been unlike any other, part of what makes up Guerlinade, the thread that connects all their creations. Tonka bean is warm and soft, benzoin is balsamic, bringing different facets of sweetness to complement vanilla.
That being said, Guerlain Ambre Samar is nothing new. It’s the typical well blended, deep, dark, fragrance you expect from a brand like Guerlain. If you smelled Tobacco Honey (another Delphine Jelk creation) and fell in love with it, there is nothing drastically different to discover here. But if the Tobacco Honey price is too steep at AED 1,490 for a 100ml bottle, the less powerful Ambre Honey is much more accessible at AED 845 for a 125ml bottle. If you must have the Tobacco Honey richness all throughout the day, but can’t because of how incredibly potent it is, Ambre Samar is a lighter version of the same variety of richness.
Getting deep into the perfume world, we have a tendency to hunt for unicorns, a drive to find the best, most unique fragrance that has never been made before and will revolutionize the industry. There is merit in simply appreciating a high quality, well blended fragrance simply because it’s undeniably good.
Sowmya Gibish
