THIS Glass fragrance edit features an abundance of ambers. Warming, magnetic and mysterious, it is the perfect autumnal accord, and one of my favourites. We also include some intriguing fragrances inspired by some wide-ranging literature and art forms.
Maison Francis Kurkdjian – APOM
£185 for EDP – Available here
A Part of Me (APOM) was launched as a pair of fragrances – one for women, the other for men – by Francis Kurkdjian for his eponymous house back in 2009. These sensuous radiant scents were an instant success.
Now Maison Francis Kurkdjian has synthesised them into one glorious scent. Kurkdjian says, “At my Maison, I have the freedom to revisit my own legacy. With the new APOM, I took the best of both: the feminine version’s sunny sensuality and the masculine version’s elegant addictiveness.”
Kurkdjian is the master of ambers. And it is no surprise that this new APOM features a floral-inflected amber with a lavender and neroli accord that is surrounded by vanilla, ylang-ylang and white musks.
La Collection Privée Christian Dior – Ambre Nuit Esprit de Parfum
£380 for 80ml EDP – Available here
In July, Dior introduced the Esprit de Parfum range into the House’s premium line, La Collection Privée Christian Dior. For the collection, its Perfume Creative Director, Francis Kurkdjian, has revisited the silhouette of five key fragrances from the line to “reveal intense and radical facets. Trails of scent that, through their extreme concentration, approach the limits and embrace all excesses.”
Perfect for autumn, the alluring – almost mystical – Ambre Nuit Esprit de Parfum contains the original profile of musk, spices cinnamon and cardamom with amber accords but heightened and amplified to intoxicating levels.
Neydo – Wood Haze
€86 for 50ml EDP – Available here
A new brand inspired by olfactory dreams, Neydo “reimagines perfumers as dream catchers who mine our subconscious for scents” and asks, “what if dreams became perfumes?” allowing fragrant fantasies to come to life.
Created by noses Julia Rodriguez Pastor, Bertrand Duchaufour and Maud Chabanis, Neydo’s fragrance are ethereal and dreamy. From the six in the first collection, I was most drawn to balmy and beautiful Wood Haze which has hints of coriander, saffron; palo santo, sandalwood, driftwood in its heart, with a base of amyris and crystal moss.
Born To Stand Out – Mary Jane
£150 for 50ml EDP – Available here
Quoting from writers and thinkers like Edna O’Brien, Oscar Wilde and Anna Freud in its brand statement, South Korean fragrance brand Born To Stand Out was always going to appeal to me.
And luckily, its perfumes – each of which includes an unconventional ingredient – stand up to olfactive as well as literary scrutiny.
Its latest, the green and woody Mary Jane – as its name may suggest – has cannabis notes and also rhubarb, grapefruit, cannabis and mint; middle notes of elemi, passionfruit and sage; with cashmere wood, woody notes, caramel and pine in the base.
With a moreish blend of wood and citruses, Mary Jane is an intriguing scent which is very wearable too.
Les Eaux Primordiales – Ambre Supermassive
£220 for 50ml EDP – Available here
From the brand which builds on the traditional French approach to scent making, that of complex formulas and classic floral ingredients, Ambre Supermassive is inspired – unsurprisingly – by the supernatural beauty of amber.
It is also infused with hints of peach, apple, cinnamon, pineapple, sesame; centred around rose, heliotrope, honey, cardamom, rum; and a base of black vanilla, amber, saffron, tobacco and musk.
The captivating Ambre Supermassive is a subtle amber with a low-key sensuality playing up the mysticism of the stone.
Memoize London – Enigma
£177 for 100ml EDP – Available here
Art meets fragrance as the founder of British scent brand Memoize London, Holly Hutchinson, collaborates with sculptor Zoe Wilson to create a collection of four unique perfumes inspired by Wilson’s stone carving.
Wilson specialises in working with British stone, creating and carving the intricate and precise geometric patterns that we can see in the designs of this range – which are then cast in the eco-friendly material Jesmonite.
Enveloped in mystery, Enigma is as unique as the carvings. It opens up with spiced apple, lemon and bergamot, ginger and pepper; rose and jasmine blended with orris and with a warming dry down of patchouli, musk, warm amber and comforting cedarwood.
Amouage – Guidance 45
£425 for 100ml Extrait de parfum – Available here
Launched in 2023 as an eau de parfum, composed by leading perfumer Quentin Bisch under the direction of Amouage Chief Creative Officer Renaud Salmon, Guidance was an instant hit.
Now, the brand has released a new take on the original – Guidance 46 – containing an exceptional 46 per cent of natural perfume oils. This new version enhances the original notes of the EDP – pear, hazelnut and sandalwood blended with the Amouage triad of rose, frankincense and ambergris – with the addition of bitter almond and pink pepper facets to create Guidance 46. This reworking is a perfectly smooth, beautifully nutty, powdery and creamy creation.
BDK Parfums – 312 Saint-Honoré
£175 for 100ml EDP – Available here
Inspired by the elegant home of BDK Parfums at 312 Rue Saint-Honoré, the new fragrance, composed by Alexandra Carlin, is as sophisticated as you can imagine a luxurious Parisian boutique to be.
A grown-up yet delicate skin scent, 12 Saint-Honoré contains refined hints of Brazilian pink peppercorn, pink peppercorn leaf essence, Lautier 1795 essence, angelica root from France; white orange blossom accord, tonka lactone ®, diviniris ® at the heart; supported by a mellow base of ambroxan ®, a warm musc accord and oud wood essence from Thailand.
Jo Loves – Black Cashmeran & Tonka
£150 for 50ml – Available here
Jo Loves is founded by UK perfume legend Jo Malone, best known for her floral and citrus fragrances, so I am loving her recently exploration of the darker richer ingredients.Her latest Black Cashmeran & Tonka is mesmerisingly rich, powerful and slightly boozy. It opens with warm spicy ginger and cardamom; blended with tonka at its heart and rounded off with cedarwood and cashmeran.
Jouissance – La Bague D’O
£180 for 50ml EDP – Available here
New British fragrance company Jouissance creates scents inspired by literature, more specifically erotic texts. Its founder, Cherry Cheng, says, “I’m a firm believer in perfume’s magical power to transport and transform us; to make us feel differently. Whether we’re trying to temporarily escape to somewhere in a fantasy world or to adorn ourselves for a special occasion.” Its recent scent, La Bague D’O, takes its lead from Pauline Réage’s 1954 book, the very transgressive, the Story of O, which scandalised French society.
The very beautiful and even romantic La Bague D’O reminds me of a classically composed perfume with its choice of ingredients and rather formal structure. It doesn’t contain any jarring notes but rather beguiles with its enigmatic hidden charms. La Bague D’O contains hints of steel chains, pink pepper, orange flesh; geranium, jasmine, rose, violet in its heart; with a base of amber, animalic, musk and patchouli.
