Amor Amor by Cacharel

Hey there Posse! Amor Amor was a new pillar scent from Cacharel way back in 2003. Signed off by Laurent Bruyère and Dominique Ropion who also co-signed Mugler’s Alien. It has spawned a thousand flankers, each one more and more desperate sounding, yet some of these also smell good. I’ll be honest, this is about as far as I ever expect to get from what I want to smell like. Still I find it tantalisingly more-ish. Initially a gift from one of my dearest girlfriends and travel buddy Anna Maria. It now works as perfume, memory scent and super sweet fragrant hug all rolled into one. I ask myself, and you, what more could anyone want from a fragrance?

Amor Amor by Cacharel 2003

Amor Amor by Cacharel

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, Grapefruit, Cassia, Mandarin, Orange, Blackcurrant
Heart: Apricot, Jasmine, Lily, Lily-of-the-valley, Rose
Base: Amber, Musk, Tonka bean, Vanilla, Cedar

Super sweet seems to have been expanding and growing to grotesque proportions through much of the designer and celebrity fragrance. Even some of the revered niche houses have had to fall in line and drop a bunch of gooey sugar/saccharine explosions into the mix just to grab the youth market.

If you hate all of this mass tooth ache inducing perfumery then Amor Amor is highly unlikely to change your perspective. It does have a couple of things running in its favour that I think makes it stand head and shoulders above the crowd.

It’s not a fruit-chouli. All the fun of a fair ground fairy floss in terms of sugar. Doesn’t have the usual, spawned from Angel, death defying doses of patchouli. Here the base is far less gluey and cloying, less headache inducing and far more soft focus. Essentially and lightly fruity amber with whispers of woods to hold it earthbound.

Amor Amor feels nicely weighted and blended. It also smells like it was made very inexpensively. Yeah, you get the REALLY good perfumers in to do the job and there’s a chance that your super cheap concrete might smell like it was made for a much higher price point. This is where artistry can really make the difference.

What does it smell like? Initially the grapefruit/blackcurrent/citrus explosion is bright, fun and OTT. Give it at least 20 seconds before you bow in to smell your hand. It’s so high octane your nose will blow out. Once those crazy first moments have passed though you’ll be surprised by how genuinely fruity it smells. The heart gives me almost none of the notes but is something something something fruit and white floral. Calmer by now and a little more reserved. The heart is very nice. So wearable and the sweetness starts to become resinous, rather than sugar. The next couple of hours see a continued diminishing of heft and heading towards a lovely soft amber with still a hint of fruity fun.

Longevity and projection are moderate to low after the first craziness. Definitely leaving towards traditional feminine but perfectly good for the guys. I wear it a lot.

Previously I wrote on Perfume Posse about my love for LouLou by Cacharel too.

Do you have a super sweet fragrance that feels like it fits you?
Portia xx

  • matty1649 says:

    I haven’t got Amor Amor. I do like some sweet perfumes.

    • Portia says:

      Hi Matty,
      This is not the fabulously glam sweet of Guerlain. Quite different, yet still lovely and fun.
      Portia xx

  • Tara C says:

    I used to wear Amor Amor! Cheap and fun. I love sweets, my top sugar bomb is Profumum Vanitas. Marshmallow mushroom cloud!

  • Cassieflower says:

    I had a bottle of this when it was newly released. Sweet but somehow addictive. I didn’t replace it, but later got a bottle of one of the flankers, Forbidden Kiss. It is pooched away somewhere safe.

  • March says:

    What was that other one….. Anais Anais?! I remember when everyone was wearing that! You’re inspiring me to go back and smell some of the others in the line as well.

  • Bee says:

    Love your review of Loulou – wonderful fragrance that I came too very late so missed ‘the wall of Loulou’ experience – lol. On sweetness I think I’m running backwards in my taste – I used to be all about the dry chypres when I was young and have only become more tolerant of sweet in the last few years. Still can’t wear the celeb scent levels of sugar but Lolita Lempicka original and L work for me – as does Flowerbomb.

    • Portia says:

      Hey Bee,
      Yes, I hear you 100%.
      I have also gone from loving the heavy traditional oriental style (which I still adore) and have added sugary fun into the mix.
      HA! LouLou is best smelled in double amounts. It’s freaking amazing. Will literally blow your nose up.
      Portia xx

    • March says:

      Me too! I’ve definitely developed more of a tolerance for sweet.

  • Maya says:

    I’ve never been a big fan of sweet fragrances. Then I tried Viktoria Minya Hedonist. I love the name and the bottle and the fragrance. Top notes of rum and peach. Oh ya, it fits me. 😉