Armani Prive layering

Giorgio Armani | armani / privé

I have all four of the Armani/Prive scents now. Originally I bought Bois d’encens, it was the one I had to have on first sniff and remains the one I like the most, for its deep cedary incense, which I prefer to all the other incense smells out there that I have tried thus far.

As the other three scents, Pierre de Lune and Eau de Jade and Ambre Soie, have come into my collection, I wind up admiring and liking each of them, but not really loving them. They seem lonely somehow.

It occurred to me, thinking of my perfume’s loneliness — which strikes me as odd that I would think about that at all, not to mention it’s disturbing and worrisome as well, thinking about the well-being of my perfumes. Anyway, I have heard they were meant to be layered. To test that theory, I am embarking on the Great Armani Prive Layering Marathon.

It is my intention to layer each one with the other one to find the best combination. I think I can do two combos a day, one on each arm, without scenting the entire household and office out so that they start taking a 10-foot berth. I may have to confine this to my home office, with the doors shut, and poor Buddy will just have to cry as he covers his poor nose. He is such a long-suffering dog. His sense of smell is just warped at this point. Poor Buddy.

Bois D’Encens/Pierre de Lune

For those of you not familiar with the line at all, Bois D’Encens is, as the name implies, their incense/woody scent, cedar, vetiver, incense. Pierre de Lune is violet, cassie flower, green notes, iris, belambre. (Robin at Now Smell This has most of the notes listed in her reviews here and here).

The BdE and PdL combination give a unique green incense kind of smell. It’s not bad actually. It tamps down some of the cedar from BdE, which can be fairly strong, and gives it a little softness. I’ve gotten to the drydown, and they both seem to have canceled each other out and left a very faint smell, which is weird, given how potent the BdE is, though the remainder is not an unpleasant smell at all, just not what I expected. Okay, not a great duo, I had no idea green notes and violet could cover cedar and incense. In the rock/paper/scissors world, I would have bet my life BdE would have smached Pierre de Lune.

UPDATE: As this has dried down, I’ve actually become enamored. It almost seemed to disappear, and then it has come back with this lush green tinged with incense smell. This is not a bad combination at all, but you would have to be patient with it.

Ambre Soie/Bois D’Ences combo.

I know others have done this combo and swear it is wonderful, and given the notes in the two scents, that seems likely to be true. The Ambre Soie on its own is just too much for me, too much amber. This goes on as a very nice combination, each complementing the other — the amber weaving into the cedar so neither is too much. It almost becomes gourmandy, though I don’t know how that is possible, like a bitter chocolate with woody ambery notes. This is a great combination and makes each of them better, though different. Neither of them seem to retain themselves, but together it is a warmer scent.

Update: As this has dried down, the incense has asserted itself more and overpowered most of the amber. I still like the combination since the amber did soften the cedar and made it softer and much more wearable.

Tomorrow — Ambre Soie with Pierre de Lune and Eau de Jade and Ambre Soie.