The wonders of amber
Amber is a fit subject to tackle in the colder weather. There are many misunderstandings about amber and hopefully we will dispel some of them here. Amber is a difficult term to describe in perfumery, simply because it has so many meanings. Amber has additionally become a generic term, resulting in us being able to find all types of oils sold as amber oil, when in fact they have no relation to the aroma of amber.
Essentially, there is no such thing as an amber essential oil. Essential oils are oils from plants in their purest form, distilled or otherwise extracted from a single plant species. Fragrant amber is a combination of several different botanical sources (or in ambergris’s case a product of animal origin, more on which later). There is no one plant from which amber comes from, although some claim it comes from a special tree growing in the Himalayas. Fir tree resin, in its regular, non-fossilised form is in fact used in perfumery and offers a rather sweet , warm and deep , sensuous smell that serves as a base to anchor the other ingredients that are placed on top of this less volatile ingredient.
"Amber" is the general term -according to the French system - to describe the perfumes that fall in the oriental group and have a warm , slightly powdery , erotic , animalic tonality in them. This has nothing to do with the actual ingredients, it’s rather a figure of speech, although usually the perfumes of this category do include ambery notes.
Amber oil also comes from the Baltic amber; the fossilized resin from a prehistoric tree called Pinus Succinifera, a pine species. Amber dust is a by-product of the fossil amber industry (which caters for jewels) and the material renders an amber oil through a process called destructive distillation of fossilized amber. The oil yielded contains succinic acid which is useful in health products, however due to its uninviting aroma it’s rather useless in perfumery.
Ambrette seed is another ingredient often mixed up with amber that gives however a musk note in perfumes. Coming from the plant Hibiscus Abelmoschus , the seeds are distilled to give a waxy substance that is then treated with an alkaline medium to give finally the "absolute”. The smell is slightly musky and soft, warm, peachy and snugly; used in many luxury perfumes.
Ambergris is the legendary ingredient often used in relation to amber (as ambra/amber is its short form sometimes, since ambergris in french means “grey amber”). It comes from a cured secretion from sperm whales; the whale secretes a substance to heal its stomach from the scratches of the cuttlefish it swallows when feeding. This gets out much like a cat’s fur ball and is left floating on the ocean for years. The floating part is what gives it its characteristic slightly salty and warm , sensuous smell. It is animalic in a subtle way and retains its scent for centuries, just like musk. The ingredient is rather sticky and gelatinous like, like a fat lump of grey colour at first; while when it dries it becomes harder like a fragile but hard resin. If we are talking about ethically harvested ambergris as opposed to ambergris from slaughtered whales( that goes through a man-made maturing process) it is tremendously rare. It was one of the most prized findings of sailors (there is a mention of it in the seafaring adventure film “Master and Commander: far side of the world”)
Its greatest attribute is its capacity for rendering a composition rounder, especially in oriental perfumes or in floral compositions where it melds the notes into one and brings out their best qualities. It clings on to fabric too, through repeated washings even, becoming ever sweeter with time. Therefore it is prized for its fixative power: the ability to anchor more volatile notes and make them last.
Most commercial perfumes today use a synthetic substitute, because the real thing is so expensive. Dioressence used to use real ambergris back in the day. Eau de Merveilles by Hermes is suppossedly one of the few that contain some raw ambergris , which is usually used in tincture form in perfumery due to its sheer potency. Creed is also insisting that they use real ambergris in their perfumes. Natural perfumers use beach harvested ambergris in some of their more exclusive or bespoke fragrances.
So what actually goes into the production of amber and ambery perfumes, you might ask at this point.
The answer is two-fold.
Natural ingredients are used to create an amber base without actual ambergris, meaning a perfume base that smells warm, erotic and sensual or simply an oil mix.
Usually these are:
1.Labdanum: Cistus labdanum or rockrose is a gum resinoid from the common in the Mediterranean rockrose bush. In the past a long double rake (ladanisterion) was used to comb off the gum from the beards of goats grazing on the bushes, especially in Crete, Greece. It has been used in incense since antiquity. Today the twigs and leaves are boiled to yield the gum. The aroma is the closest thing to real ambergris in the plant kingdom.
2.Benzoin: A secretion of the tree Styrax tonkinense, a tropical asian tree, in the form of tears, which is secreted when the tree is injured. Two varieties exist; Siamese and Sumatran, the former drier and more powdery, the latter sweeter, more caramel like.
Its aroma is sweet and warm and evolves into powdery balsamic.
3.Styrax levant (Liquidamber orientalis): Another resinoid from a tree, it smells a bit like glue with a cinnamon edge. It is important in the creation of amber chords and has a rounding effect.
Mandy Aftel in her book "Essence and Alchemy" suggests a simple amber base made from just three materials for the amateur perfumer: 30 drops of labdanum, 120 drops of benzoin, 6 drops of vanilla.
Usually other accent notes are used in amber chords to differentiate the result and make it unique, ergo the abundance of different amber oils in the market. Some of the usual ingredients to do so are vanilla, tonka bean, Peru balsam (sweet ambers), clove, cinnamon, Tolu balsam, sage, juniper (drier ambers), sandalwood, patchouli, olibanum (mysterious ambers), rose, jasmine or other flower essences in very small amount (more floral ambers).
The big perfume manufacturing companies (not the designers or the cosmetics companies who label their name on them, but those who get the “brief” and go in the lab to create them) have patented their own chemical ambers for use in their perfume creations. It goes without saying that in order to find out what your favourite perfume contains you have to find out which company is responsible for its creation. Those amber bases fall into three categories:
1.True ambers: Those include Ambrarome Absolu by Synarome, Ambrogène by Roure, Ambergrissol by IFF, Ambré B.V. by De Laire and Fixateur 404 added to Grisambrol by Firmenich.
2.Ambers from labdanum: Those include Ambreinol and Ambregris synthetique by Givaudan, Grisambrène by Firmenich, Ambre Synthetique by Naarden.
3.Pseudo amber (which is closer to opopponax really): Those include Ambre 53 by de Laire, Ambreine Samuelsom by Firmenich and Ambrène by R.Sondes.
The issue of amber is a fascinating one and hopefully some of the more obscure aspects of it have thus been lightened. It is important to know what is at the core of a fragrance, however it is our nose and limbic system that finally makes the decision for us. So, wishes for a happy amber hunting!
This article used some data from the archives/catalogues of the perfume companies mentioned, Mandy Aftel’s "Essence and Alchemy", Eden Botanicals and Ayala’s "Smelly blog". Thanks to all.
What an enlightening and though-provoking post. It nicely rounded out what I knew, and what I thought I knew. Thanks Helg.
I have a love hate thing with amber. I can appreciate something pure and direct (l'Artisan) but rarely want to wear it. I admire Ambre Sultan, but find it too heady by itself (and I guess I mean headachy there - I love SLs, but this one does strike me as a base with some strange unrelated stuff going on in the top notes - great with chypre rouge though, as per the delightful Chaya's advice - love you!). I'm really enjoying Ambre Narguile right now - perfect for cold crisp days, and I guess because the amber is part of the medley, rather than the dominant force. This'll strike me as way too sweet at some point though, I don't doubt. I'm also waiting for a sample of Ambre Russe to arrive - this sounds wonderful, although if it dissolves into simply amber, I'll be disappointed.
So, as you can see, I'm hunting an amber love. Any more suggestions?
It's funny that actually labdanum, benzoin and styrax are three of my favourite notes...
Leopoldo - 05 11 06
Thanks for your kind words.
Amber is a weird thing for me too. I appreciate it best blended and not straight up.
I had high expectations of Ambre Sultan myself, but found it too sharp for me. Ambre Narguile is more like a dessert than a perfume to me, which is why, although I love it, haven't purchased it. L'artisan's was too single-minded.
Have you experimented with I profumi di Firenze "Ambra del Nepal"? I find it really smooth and easy to wear, the easiest so far for me.
Also I have a fondness for the original Obsession for men (and the women's Sheer) which is mostly amber anyway. ;-)
I have recently come to appreciate Fifi, but it's also the tobacco there that does it magic. However, do try it. It's not as frilly as it looks!
perfumeshrine - 05 11 06
I've read about ambra del Nepal on MUA - where the hell does one get it in Europe? I'm going to refamiliarise myself with your other suggestions...
Leopoldo - 05 11 06
You could mail parfumania.it (their mail is info at parfumania dot it) and ask if they carry it or if they take orders.
It makes me angry that my local chemist's carries the more obscure Speziali Fiorentini and not this line.
I'd be very interested on your take on Fifi, btw.
perfumeshrine - 05 11 06
Okay... I'll get a sample of fif in my next order... wherever that might be. and thanks for the tip.
Leopoldo - 06 11 06
You're very welcome.
perfumeshrine - 06 11 06
Good evening. Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.
I am from Dominican and learning to write in English, tell me right I wrote the following sentence: "Foam around a go-ahead is of practical way in finishing foam type or project thermal to particulate cooling; the crime-fraud has to be grew with smaller or more other builders."
Thank you so much for your future answers :p. Rex.
Rex () - 27 09 09
No one mentioned Channel No. 5. It has undertones of Amber.
Toni - 14 02 10
Just found your site when googling for latest Calendre info. Hadn't heard of the discontinuation rumor that you negated (thank you) but was just checking as I occassionally do, to see if maybe the perfume had returned.
Actually, after finding your educated site I couldn't help but look around and landed on your ambergris page. Many years ago (early 70s) I fell for an Ambergris Oil in such a visceral way that I still look for it on occassion. I once was able to have it sent to me in Manhattan from the distributor or manufacturer out of Dallas, Texas. The name was Lenel and I believe it said Dallas and maybe London and Paris on the label. I've tried Internet research a time or two but can't seem to get anywhere. Your are so knowledgeable I'm wondering if you might know of this company and/or it's Ambergris Oil.
beverly - 15 07 10
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Good explanation about amber, I like it. Amber could make your senses warm especially when you are at a cold weather.
Most of our product in a winter time, they prefer Amber as there fragrance..
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