Perfumes of the Night

The absolutely wonderful, efficient and amazing Vijay at Suravi Online included lots of great samples in my last order of Montale, and two of them were Dia and Gold from Amouage.

This is a line I had heard about for a long time and had wanted to try since I first saw that bottle. To…die…for.  Dia is billed as a day perfume, where its sister, Gold, is definitely an evening perfume. Trying ever so gently NOT to be biased by that gorgeous bottle, Dia has notes of Aldehydes, Cyclamen, Bergamot Calabria, Violet leaves, Fig, Sage, Tarragon. Heart Notes: Bush Peach Blossoms, Rose Oil Turkey, Orange Flower, Peony, Orris. Base: Gaiac Wood, Cedarwood, Sandalwood, Incense, Vanilla, Heliotrope, White Musk. That’s a lotta ingredients, y’all.

When it first goes on, it is way too big on me, too rich, too — just too.  One commenter said that this smelled like a trophy wife perfume.   Ayup, that’s my first impression as well.   As it dried down, the big floral part of it gives way to the base of gaiac wood, cedarwood, sandalwood, incense and musk. The drydown is very much more to my liking, woody and incensey, with the floral bouquet providing a thin gossamer cover to it. It isn’t heavy at all, and I revised my opinion on it being too much — it’s pretty much just right. This can be worn during the day, but give it about an hour or two to settle in before you head out the door. Now, it is uber-expensive, and this constrains me from getting a full bottle at present, but if you love stunning perfume bottles and care not how much you spend on perfume, this is a terrific perfume in the drydown, and I’d buy it in a second if cost were of no concern.

Gold by Amouage, on the other hand, is a Perfume of the Night. One little tiny spritz on my shoulder, and this perfume blooms big and gloriously rich.  Not a trophy wife, this is the real deal — old money, boarding schools in Switzerland, furs, diamond cocktail rings, organizing sales of artwork for the Museum and Bentleys lined up in the driveway.  Top notes of rock rose, lily of the valley, silver frankincense.  Heart notes of myrrh, orris, jasmine. Base notes of ambergris, civet, musk, cedarwood and sandalwood.  The civet, musk and woods keep this thing from being too garish — it is earthy and rich and suitable only for night and your best dress, and get a fur or a fake fur to go with it and white gloves, for pete’s sake, but the garters or a lacy thong will feel right at home in Gold’s company.

Given that my idea of an evening out is a new rental from Netflix, I think I’d never have anywhere to wear this, but for those that have lots of ritzy evenings and need a perfume that smells like Old Money, this is it. In your high end perfume, it’s a better bargain than most. One spritz will take you through an entire night and keep you company at a late brunch.

Now y’all can start throwing stones. Yes, they are high priced, but I’ve never been averse to paying a stupid amount of money for a perfume that I want and love. Nothing can replace the experience of opening a package all the way from Guerlain in Paris, pulling out the samples, the pretty bee bottle, or opening that gorgeous and simple crystal Caron bottle with the stopper.

The Amouages are high octane like Patou 1000 is high octane.  They also fit what they are designed to be quite well — a perfume experience in an exquisite bottle that smells rich and luxurious.