Description
Amaranthine opens with a dramatic flourish of spices and tropical green. This unsettling lick of drama is beautifully ambushed by an unctuous accord of jasmine and ylang-ylang, a heady bloom renowned for its aphrodisiac properties, and clove swathed in spices, tea, musk and the rounded beauty of tonka bean absolute.
Jewellery designer Alex Monroe has created a silver butterfly charm bracelet which sits around the neck of the limited edition bottle as well as a collection of jewellery pieces featuring butterflies and dragonflies which will be on sale at Penhaligon’s boutiques for a limited period.
Amaranthine by Penhaligon`s is a oriental floral fragrance for women. The nose behind this fragrance is Bertrand Duchaufour. Top notes are white freesia, tea, banana tree leaf, coriander and cardamom absolute; middle notes are carnation, Egyptian jasmine absolute, orange flower, ylang-ylang, clove and rose; base notes are musk, sandalwood, tonka bean absolute, vanilla and condensed milk. Amaranthine was launched in 2009.
Danehackblref – :
I am in love with this after buying a sample years ago. Finally caved and spent a bit on the discontinued bottle. There are certain scents in some of my perfumes that make me practically salivate and I want to smell like that all the time. I’m a huge fan of layering and I want to wear a bit of Amaranthine with The Different Company’s Rose Poivree and see how that goes.
I definitely get green banana that really reminds me of something. Maybe it’s those old scratch and sniff banana stickers from the 1980’s that were not very sweet smelling. Definitely a bit of rose that takes awhile for me to identify amongst the white flowers and banana. Like a commenter below I almost smell gardenia, but it’s probably the way the jasmine and freesia mixes. I also feel something odd, like the absence of coconut, probably because of the creamy base with vanilla, tonka and cream. To me it is a very sensual perfume but simultaneously great for day or night wear. The musk is almost perfect.
I love Amaranthine so much and it is discontinued, so I also blind purhased Sira des Indes so I could set up a rotation. I feel almost edible (but sexy edible, not foodie) when I layer the Sira des Indes with some Coty Sand and Sable (gardenia) and maybe some coconut. I’ve got a few things I like to mix together, just a suggestion since Amaranthine is no longer available (whhhhyyyyy???).
I plan to try the PDR Amoureuse eventually if I can, but it is much more pricey than the ones I use more frequently and also TDC Aurore Nomade, but I’m almost afraid to try that one because I’m sure I will love it.
evgenya-kulesy – :
Oh man I wish I hadn’t fallen in love with this discontinued scent!
It is a lush tropical flower fragrance with some unusual facets. I get ylang-ylang and jasmine and a jungly green smell (I’m assuming this is the palm leaf?) with some gentle milky undertones. There is a little tickle of spice from the cardamom, which I think smells so lovely with the milkiness. The combination gives an interesting juxtaposition of freshness and cozy warmth. Amaranthine smells very womanly and seductive to me, perhaps a little sweaty but not skanky, more like moist skin in a humid jungle. The longevity is so-so, granted my skin seems to gobble up fragrances pretty quickly. It did last a long time when sprayed on a lightweight scarf.
I have a 3mL decant that I am hoarding, mainly spraying it on special occasions or when I need a pick-me-up. Someday I will probably fork over the money to get a FB on ebay. If anyone is selling a bottle feel free to hit me up in a PM!
roman9898 – :
So my little (partially used) bottle of Amaranthine just arrived. My first thought is that it must have turned or faded because from the outset it is so so faint. Barely a whisper. It’s a shame because I like what I can smell but my nose has to be touching my skin to sense that I have a wisp of anything on. I can definitely smell some skank though. The rest is hard to pick out. I do feel disappointed but I suspect it is my bottle. It came without a box and the seller said it was gifted without the box. So I have no idea how old it is and how it was stored. I also noticed the cap doesn’t fit properly and I think it’s because the metal neckpiece has somehow come off. Not sure how that would have happened but I hope it is hasn’t been tampered with. Well, I guess I’ll try spraying more but I suspect things won’t change… I was so excited that I’d managed to get hold of this. At least I won’t need to hunt down pricey bottles on Ebay now. I just wish I could have smelt it properly in all its glory, even if I didn’t end up liking it. The good thing I guess is that I bought a scarf at the same time from the same seller, which I love!
P.S. It’s also possible that it’s my nose as I definitely have some issues with anosmia. I’ll try it a few more times but if anyone wants to take a punt and buy my bottle, PM me. You might have a different experience (I’m in the EU at the moment, Australia later in the year).
EDIT: Although this is still very soft, I’ve decided to keep it for now. I like using it as a cosy at-home scent, especially for bedtime to alternate with Amour Nocturne. Its somewhat curious but comforting salty floral notes have grown on me. It’s a personal scent for me. Maybe one day a stronger bottle will cross my path.
EDIT 2, 2 months later: This is still no powerhouse but for some reason it has become stronger to my nose. I’m glad to have it and definitely want to keep it. I’ll miss it when my bottle’s used up and keep an eye out for a good deal or swap but won’t chase an exorbitantly priced bottle.
photoshop4all – :
A beautiful sultry greenery scent with a prominent ylang ylang note. I first tried it from a sample that a member passed down, and albeit its funky smell – I was reminded so much of how “someone else tried this sample on their skin” – I couldn’t get it out of my head. Amaranthine really isn’t the typical type of scent I’m attracted to, but so addictive I jumped on the chance when I could snatch a bottle. This is a sweaty scent done in the best way possible.
If I try to break the notes down there’s definitely the ylang, palm leaves, carnation and cardamom, and maybe some salty notes, but I’d rather comprehend Amaranthine holistically and enjoy its grand beauty.
I’m still trying to figure out the best time and occasion to wear it since I usually gravitate towards something more clean and delicate. Warm spring days seem to have worked out okay – boyfriend hasn’t complained 😉
zzz_560 – :
I’m writing a review because I don’t want to forget that I sampled this masterpiece. When people are looking for a perfume with a banana smell, this is what should be suggested. It’s milky and sweaty and green all at once. I received effusive compliments on it. A quality soft tropical. Very beautiful.
Dmitryi73 – :
Wow! Love it! I get flowers, spices and leaves with some creamy milk. I must be missing something cos it doesn’t smell naughty to me lol
I do agree about the similarity with Aurora Nomade but it’s no where spicey or bananary enough for a similarity with Sira de Indes.
Once settled I do detect something a little skanky and the milk goes off a little but thankfully that doesn’t last. It’s now softly indolic tropical flowers and steamy green leaves. The flowers dont dominate but are balanced with the vegetation and spices.
I lived in the Far East for years and I can never forget the smell of humid jungle. The smell of decomposing vegetation basically. Nobody wants to smell like that lol
It starts off quite potent but recedes to a skin scent quite quickly on my skin.
This is a scent for a lazy summer evening. It will go well with the smell of my roses, ginger lilies and honeysuckle.
Sister Mary x
Juinegesiny – :
This smells like steamed milk with flowers, green leaves and vanilla pods. In a good way! It has a soft milky sweetness and the flowers are creamy. There is a pinch of spice. It’s quite unique but never overbearing.
garison28 – :
Fresh leafy and humid. Definitely banana leafy. It hovers and is not loud nor has extensive sillage. It kind of like a tropical garden in a hot house. I like it A lot but not quite a Love.
It’s a beautiful fragrance and I just can’t decide if I want to keep or get trade off my bottle.
kamillka – :
Tropical milky oriental floral, a tad “milk gone bad” in a good way. Creamy yet fresh, subtle spice. Great refresher in summer heat.
euandrei – :
Gorgeous!!! Delicious concoction!!! I love, love,love it!!! So creamy, sweet; banana dessert, vanilla, beautiful lush flowers, amazing warm spices, rich and potent, dreamy milky sandalwood, oozing with sensuousness and yumminess. Aromatic and calming, musky and evocative, erotic. Very very sensual, exotic, moorish and – yes! – lickable!!!! Very long-lasting and great sillage!!! Load, loads of compliments!!! My husband particularly adores it!!! It’s absolutely heavenly!!!!
marianors – :
the sl*ttiest perfume i have ever put on my skin
can i say that?
i am obsessed with it.
i don’t know much about notes and things, so to me it smells like the thickest part of spring. skin glowing and sensitive, the same temperature inside as outside.
it’s Good Stuff, and i’m sad to hear it’s been discontinued!
n.a.u.m. – :
This is a kinky perfume. Milky, creamy, ripe… lickable. A very very bad bad naughty perfume. This is the fantasi smell of a german milkmaids nipple sweat. I only like to Wear it in the spring, and in the summer, when it is not to hot. An interesting perfume experience. Probably not for Work.
DjZahar – :
I love this fragrance. It is such an interesting combination with the milk, banana and ylang ylang. The scent starts off very green and gradually becomes more musky spicy and milky. Beautiful perfume
billunkill – :
I liked this – I thought it smelled like a ripe horny milkmaid.
But my husband smelled only bananas and decomposing material.
EdgemiChitteE – :
This is hard to describe. The first notes on skin are very blunt. I don’t know how else to describe it. The notes feel stunted, very green, fresh, but blunt. Let it sit though. It is by no means unpleasant (I work in care and deal with some supreme body bodge issues and this does not fall anywhere near the category of b.o.) The bluntness suddenly spices and sweetens up as your body heats and there is a breeze. It is one of those perfumes that morphs with movement and temperature and time. The scent near the skin is blunt, but the fumes that come off are not. I have experienced a few like this, confusing but interesting. Take your nose a way, away from your skin and there it is. Wow! It is a spicy, fresh, green plant scent (there is the sweet and milky banana at some points), this does not remind me of or smell similar to Sira des Indes, totally different scent (the latter being a powerhouse where this is quiet, subdued but still present) I am intrigued and impressed by Penhaligon’s again.
yax394bedyWelty – :
I’m absolutely gutted that Penhaligon’s have chosen to discontinue this fragrance. It’s an absolute gem, and I totally love it. I’m using it sparingly now, as I have only one and a half bottles left. Such a shame.
Payncnarp – :
I love this but its not at all what I was expecting. I was expecting something a little more outrageous / risque but on me this is a simply a lovely floral, milky / musky scent – no more, no less. I can see no resemblance to the inside of a woman’s thigh (bit disappointing actually as I was curious as to how they would interpret THAT particular aroma…..). This one is obviously all down to individual skin chemistry. Lots of narcotic floral in the opening -I detect tuberose with some green notes (most likely banana leaf) and a little spice. As the fragrance develops, this turns to a devine, creamy dream – think sweet carnation milk mingled with some spicy musk and floral blooms. It never turns sour on me – always sweet. I don’t find it too intense and have been wearing it around the office – no-one appears to have been corrupted yet 🙂 Longevity is pretty good (6-7 hrs for me). To me, this is similar to the now discontinued Miller Harris Coeur d’Ete – they both contain a lot of similar ingredients / notes. I would say that Coeur d’Ete is more intense and actually a bit ‘funkier’ (if thats your thing). This is certainly one of Penhaligons better creations – fans of this may well also like Tralala as they have a similar milky vibe.
loi058bedyWelty – :
I’ve been wearing this almost daily for several weeks. Started with a tiny little sample, went off and bought a 3.4oz bottle. But it’s definitely an acquired taste. My first time trying the sample was a disaster. Out of 4 fragrances I tried, it was the only one that made me say, “absolutely not,” and get up to wash my hands. But there is something exotic and seductive about the middle & base of this fragrance. It’s worth a short wade through suffocatingly thick white florals and bitter green banana leaf. Amaranthine is sweet, and could even border on cloying, but those delicious spices and milk turn it into a soft and sexy treat. It comes down and sits close to the skin, but occasionally pulses outward, invitingly. I like the way I smell after an hour of wearing it and I like it all the way to the last traces.
Word of warning, though. For me, spraying is a no no. It gives off the scent of mothballs. Bleck. I recommend decanting some into a dauber or a roll on. It’s the kind of thing you only need a touch of on important places, not something to bathe in.
leha – :
It’s possible that my sample has gone off… but I just don’t get it. It wasn’t dirty. It wasn’t real. It wasn’t much of anything. I wanted to like it so, so much. Mostly, it smelled exactly like Amarige with a slight suggestion of condensed milk. I want to try it again in one of the Penhaligon’s shops, as perhaps I just got a dud.
hryun – :
The first thing i smell is a screeching combination of milk of magnesia and metal. Persistent and annoying, I almost didn’t get to the gorgeous drydown! I was so tempted to scrub but I had hope that there was something beautiful hidden under the harsh opening, that I decided to stick it out. After about 30 agonizing minutes the hypnotic jonquil appears and leaves a bed of heady floral softness. Fantastic drydown, but the fresh hell you have to go through to get to it ain’t worth it IMHO.
tomas2011 – :
meraviglia floreale e verde, con accenti speziati. una vera chicca. bella la presenza di ylang ylang
Emimmeweshown – :
More an olfactory journey than a straightforward perfume. For the briefest moment I smell citronella – and then it opens with green banana leaf and then blooms white and yellow flowers while tonka bean appears. It smells just exactly like breathing in from the centers of flowers – the jasmine, the freesia, the ylang ylang come out. Not just the beautiful sunny bits, but the live roots and life force pushing through. At some point it gets a bit snarly and animalic. Whiffs of ammonia and even rubber. But this phase is passed through as well. As though the perfume then finds religion or learns to meditate. It finally transcends to a sublime spiced creamy milk, cardamom and tonka bean flow. It’s like a socialite with a raunchy little secret.
The dry down is spicy vanilla… Reminding me of a richer creamier Diptyque Eau Duelle.
It has darkness within its flowery billows. Stays close to the skin. I love it.
radyushin6 – :
Amaranthine(everlasting). Bertrand Duchaufour.
Recently I have been interested in narcissus as a note. Narcissus in perfumery seems to have more complex profile than some other “yellow “ flowers, I love to smell most of them in nature anyway.
I was lucky to find the review on the basenotes by kantafox, where the experience of smelling the Jonquil
(a type of Narcissus) oil is being described: the Jonquil oil is very expensive, so the review is precious too.
I will partially quote this review:
“0 min
Dark spicy coupled with green herbaceous notes and crushed peach leaves. Strong aldehydic and raunchy nature. The floral note is very dark & overbearing & slightly animalic.
12 min
Darker floral, almost eugenol note now more prominent, herbaceous crushed leaf note fading, animalic note becoming less intrusive.
1 hr
Floral sustained now with powdery creamy note apparent almost cloying, herbaceous crushed leaf notes almost undetectable, spicy eugenol note softer now.
2 hr
Jonquil now is velvety floral with powdery nuances, the dark characteristics have diminished & have been replaced by lighter notes, a slightly feminine musk with powdery notes. Creamy note still intact, spice note is non discernible & has become significantly cloying to me finish becoming clean.
3 hr
The floral now a bright powdery note the cloying nature is owed to what has become a honeyed nuance. The body still maintains that feminine musk that was identified earlier, the aldehydic nature is still there but so much lighter that it’s more of an afterthought. Powdered doughnut covered in a sweet sticky syrup, they sound good in theory but you really don’t want more than one or two bites…”
I wonder, if kantafox has smelled Jonquil oil or Amaranthine by Bertrand Duchaufour? Or is it too optimistic and flattering in regard to the mass produced fragrances of today(including Penhaligon’s) to believe that such expensive natural ingredients as jonquil oil could be used for their production?
Narcissus odor profile is: heady, narcotic flower with sweet, hypnotic green nuances. Scent of narcissus oil-strong & rich; reminds smell of dark green leaves with traces of hyacinth & jasmine.
½ ton of flowers yields 300 gramm of absolute, sourced from Nether/Grasse.
May influence the nervous system: calms nerves and helps to release stress & tension, but in higher doses -headache and vomiting.
I f Bertrand Duchaufour used all these natural materials from the notes above to mimic so perfectly Narcissus or Jonquil smell, then bravo, bravo.
At the end (third day dry down on paper) I also smell sandalwood and…ginger? Amaranthine never smells synthetic in any familiar or unfamiliar way. I find nothing flirty or pretty or hypocritical here such as powdery vanillic sweetness, for example.
It smells rather sincere, green and fresh with sweetness that comes solely from flowers, tiny honey. It’s a stand alone fragrance, and remarkably stands out among other Penhaligons fragrances, with enough personality to get all my attention. Very lovely, indeed.
raz343 – :
Amaranthine doesn’t smell like the inside of a lady’s leg on me as it was intended to, but like the inside of a banana peel. Lush, a little bitter, milky. I detect freesia most of all, palm leaf, milk, cardamom and clove. It’s a lovely perfume (even though not exactly my cup of tea), but still I am a tiny little bit disappointed. Given the reviews, I was expecting something dirty, but what I got reminded me of baby food rather than a woman’s private parts.
It’s pretty unique, not a safe blind buy. Sillage and longevity are average.
ввс666 – :
Well…I was really looking forward to get acquainted with this scent, as the description and reviews were intriguing to say the least. But when we did finally meet…oh, my!!! Sorry, folks, but the word that jumps to my mind is: disgusting! It rreminded me of a story, that I read quite some time ago when I was writing my final thesis on Napoleon at uni. Supposedly kinky young Bonaparte would send letters to his Josephine well before he was due home from a campaign or other occupation, telling her that he would be back in about two weeks, so Josephine was to stop washing down there. Now, smelling Amaranthine, I kinda got the experience he was looking forward to…unwashed Josephine plus some perfume. It actually made me nauseous. It is like smelling another woman’s undies…and a woman’s whose personal higiene is far from impeccable. I got what previous reviewers described as bum crack…yuck, gross! It does have some nice notes, but the overall experience for me was stomach churning.
Important advice to eveyone: please do NOT blind buy this fragrance! I loved it by the sound of it, but in the end it was a torture to have it on the back of my hand even for a few hours. (Well…at least I gave it a chance.) BTW, I showed it to my husband and he found it smelly, too…
avigen – :
Wonderfully weird concoction that only Bertrand Duchaufour can create.
Sharp and pungent in the beginning, giving way to a milky green note. Ylang-ylang and neroli give it tropical and exotic quality. Floral burst provided by jasmine and freesia (some faint rose) and then there is this musky, ambery, golden pepper (which is actually not there but appears to be).
Apparently the brief for this fragrance was to make something smell like a woman’s inside leg!!! Go figure!
Weirdly compelling and most certainly THE most daring of the otherwise rather conservative Penhaligon’s range.
Great concept perfume!!! 8/10
Owerinvenry – :
The moment I applied this, I was struck by how realistic an impression of a flower in bloom it offered. A warm, summery tropical flower, not so much the clear scent of flowers in spring. But there was an odd note that kept getting in the way of my judgment that this was yet another high-end floral fragrance. It was a sappy note, green but not clean, reminding me somehow of heat, sweat, muck. There was also something that registered to me as the musk of clean skin, with an overlay of dried perspiration from the heat or from labor.
The combination was so disquieting I had to go check the list of notes, which I’m trying not to do nowadays, whenever I review a new perfume. Immediately I reaized it was the scent of banana leaves. Banana trunks, actually, banana flowers, any part of the plant except for the fruit. I grew up in a tropical country and bananas were everywhere, even in suburbian backyards, but this incredible scent was of a young girl’s peramubulations off the beaten track — of endless banana groves and the thatch huts in between, of artesian well water, unpaved mud-slicked paths, of sunlight on a tangle of vines, of Third World poverty.
As for the musky skin note (oh yes, “animalic” — I do get the reference in Scorpiosheep’s review) it may have been the effect of the milk accord in combination with the banana leaf, and my own memory.
The banana vegetation note will mean different things to many people: I can understand how Europeans would equate this with expensive and exotic, as the only banana plants they might encounter would be the disciplined, manicured ones decorating a corner at a tropical resort, and the musky animalic quality the result of their own recreational labors. I see how many would enjoy this perfume based on those images, experienced or imagined.
After I had identified the note, I couldn’t enjoy this fragrance much longer, nor get a good, objective picture of the other elements of the composition. It smelled too realistically of a world infused with frustration, uncertainty and unrealized dreams.
EDIT: The dry-down IS to-die-for, though. Delicate and woody, almost no trace of the earlier accords. Such a strange, disjointed perfume.
Sarawerfehrdj – :
I am quite new to the fragrance world but I’m learning as I go and I’m still learning terminology. What I do know is that I have a very strong sense of smell and a great olfactory memory so once I know a smell, I know it…as I go it will become easier and easier to recognize notes. While I knew that I loved some of the notes in Amaranthine, I didn’t recognize some of the others by name and wasn’t sure how they would smell or which notes would be more prominant on my skin. With that said…without knowing some of these notes by name, what immediately hit me like a giant brick against the side of my head was strong green and it took me a minute but I thought on it and I was like PARSLEY this smells like parsley and I not only have a great distaste for parsley but I am also very sensitive to it…in the way that it gives me headaches. So I went and researched the notes in this fragrance to find that one of the top notes Coriander, is essentially parsley and/or cilantro…lovely. I also smell a strong sweet floral that seems a lot like gardenia to me but I do not see gardenia listed so that one I’ll have to investigate more.
Being that I’ve always been a big fan of heady floral/orientals and orientals with dark fruits/florals/spices I lean more towards the woody/balmy/spicy fragrances, so this green/tropical/spicy one was just a no go for me. I feel sad because I do like the middle and end notes but the top notes are soo strong and last long enough that I feel sick until that phase passes. I couldn’t resist checking out the fragrance that was so notorious so I’ll chalk it up to a beautiful bottle and a learning lesson, maybe one day I’ll pick it up and love it.
Tomorrow my other notorious fragrance will arrive, Tom Ford Black Orchid…I can’t wait!
okc604elipseskism – :
The opening is fresh and green on me and I smell lots of tea and lily, I would have preferred the banana leaf people referred to. It developed into a soft floral but still lots of tea when I was hoping for rich, dense and creamy but unfortunately got watery. It certainly doesn’t smell like any tropical rain forest near where I live, more muted country garden and I don’t get any dirty or unusual smell. Its so close to my skin I have to put my arm under my nose to smell it and silage is zero. Its nice enough but ordinary on me I would prefer a perfume like Do Son or Datura Noir or the Kilian perfumes which linger forever.
CD Australia
eryslan1 – :
Wow, they weren’t joking! I’m definitely getting ‘animal’, but it’s distinctly human – a wee reminder that we are mammals after all. I doubt Penhaligons would let them get away with a title like ‘Mammal’!
I wanted to get a sample of this because it sounded weird. I knew I might not necessarily wear it as it’s a white floral and they don’t seem to suit me (I really envy women who suit the big femme diva perfumes like Fracas)
I do find Amaranthine weird because at first sniff I get all the flowers and it’s super feminine, but it only took about 5 minutes for the animal to emerge. At first it felt like I’d rubbed myself in someone else’s B.O. Have you ever bought vintage clothes, like a fitted velvet jacket, and been a bit frustrated because the previous owner’s body odour lingers forever?
But as this calms down, I get a chocolaty note and definitely the note you get from an old bottle of good quality jasmine essential oil. I think the polite term for this is faecal!
The milky note reminds me of a visit to a recreated English medieval village (think it was Singleton in Sussex) where they’d re-created houses using original materials – weirdly enough they used layers of milk for flooring, which I suppose hardened into solid calcium or magnesium. The smell was slightly sour but comforting, made me yearn for the days before ‘sick building syndrome’.
In the dry down the animal notes calm down, and I’m reminded of ‘beach skin’ – a bit like the slightly cedary smell of sweaty skin at the end of a long hot day in the open air
Later edit: Oh, ouch! Ammonia, serious levels of it. Not for me then..If anyone would like to swap if they have any samples from my ‘I want it’ list please email!
griersops – :
To me, this is all freesia.Fresh, green, creamy and floral – this is a stunner! I’m with Sabel, can’t stop smelling my wrist. Really lovely.
It does remind me a little of Organza, another favourite of mine, that same balance of creamy white florals and fresh greenness – but I think this is a little fresher. For me, this is one to buy – and their bottles are so beautiful, too! Sigh … bliss!
Сергей89 – :
Oh my…this smells like flowery,mossy hay on me. I get a “meatiness” feel to it as well. Like raw seasoned hamburger,milky flowers,and a salty ocean vibe. Feels like being with my Grandmother on vacation. Being familiar with most of the notes, I can sense the beauty in this when I delve deep. Unfortunatly it just smells awful on me.
Ratuyalta – :
Soft, delicately sweet, fresh, clean yet surprisingly sensual. I don’t get the tropical flavours that people have mentioned. For me, this is summer flowers like meadowsweet, heliotrope, or garden pinks (dianthus), warm apricots, balanced by greener notes (the tea is definitely there) and a hint of musk and nutty woods in the drydown, which is smooth and long-lasting.
I’d defy anyone not to like this – deliciously relaxing and harmonious, but with something mysterious that keeps you awake and wanting more.
I want it, but the price is scary.
EDIT: Well, I bought it, and guess what, I realized I had confused Amaranthine with Artemesia (also Penhaligon). So the review above is actually for Artemesia. What an idiot, I’m really sorry if I’ve confused people. No wonder I was puzzled by all the references to tropical banana leaves, etc!
To be honest I’m not keen on Amaranthine, I find it interesting, different, but too disturbing to wear. Artemesia on the other hand is fresh and soothing like a summer meadow .
hjkiol – :
This is a beautiful scent quite unique, with the classiness of Penghalion’s. Opening is big floral, i get some flowers which are not listed above (hyacinth, lily of the valley for instance), ylang ylang and a while later carnation seem dominating. Very fresh and herbal floral opening (banana leaf?) fades and honeyed milk with spices take place. But even in the drydown floral identity is always there. Except the opening, this is very much the same with L’instant de Guerlain with a little more spice. İt is interesting to see such variations about the sillage, as some fragranticans call it “close to skin” and the others “sillage monster”, to me it is somewhere in between.
sirreus – :
Big banana leafiness in this, though it’s not in the notes. This is a super creamy ylang ylang milkshake, with lots of leafy greens and spices thrown in. There is something quite animalic about it. Absolute sillage bomb. But this is far too similar to Jean Patou Sira des Indes for me to bother much with it, and I like Sira des Indes better, it’s a little less full on.
starant – :
I didn’t like it at first, because of a wierd banana tree leaf note but after trying it few more times I have found it interesting: herbal, leafy-green at first, then in the middle notes sort of an interesting combination of green and softer floral-oriental notes and finally in the drydown it developes into a creamy-milky-woody scent, sensual, alluring and kind of addictive.
A bit strange, but nice and interesting fragrance, sort of special and unlike any other. Feminine green-floral-oriental with a twist.
firiyal92 – :
Milky grass is my initial impression of this.
Creamy notes (burnt milk) and lots of greens, grass, leaves, and go figure what else…, possibly baby puke.. disgusting!
Such a strange perfume. It has vomit inducing powers.
I had high hopes for this one. Glad to sample it first. I hope I never encounter this scent near me. I cannot stomach this; it is one of these really bad smells where all the notes are off key.
Bruinueno – :
GLORIOUS!! To me, Amaranthine smells EXACTLY, and I do mean EXACTLY, like the sweet, heady, INTOXICATING smell of freshly bloomed hyacinth. Not sure why because hyacinth isn’t listed here.
One of my favorite times of year is when the hyacinth explodes into spectacular technicolor permeating the air with its DECADENT scent. Looking at the notes here, I now realize why I love that smell. If I had to describe the succulence and deliciousness of hyacinth, then I would say I smell everything listed here, especially the rose, sandalwood, thick, fleshy, luscious green (must be the palm leaf), and honey. Although there is no honey listed here, the milk and tonka bean lend that effect. YUM!
Somehow, mixed together these notes exactly replicate that blissful hyacinth experience without screaming floral at the same time. It’s just that fresh, creamy, edible, kind of sweet, oh so opulent green (not grass green), the kind you just want to bite into! It’s brisk, it’s a little strange, it’s absolutely intoxicating as in ‘What IS that heavenly aroma?!’
Hard to describe, but what is even more incredible is that Penhaligon actually found a way to capture nature so perfectly without resulting in any synthetic or screeching chemical notes. I feel as though I have actually been placed INSIDE the hyacinth a moment just before it bursts into bloom!
Upon drydown, the honey and sandalwood really warm this up to sublime perfection. Sillage is great and longevity is a good five hours, so far, and still going.
I think this one would actually be good on my husband too, because of the green, creamy, slightly powdery, spicy notes underlying that seem to work well in unisex fragrances.
Amaranthine reminds me of my time spent in Paris in the spring with my sweet hubby. It’s funny because I was reviewing WHAT WE DO IN PARIS earlier along with AMARANTHINE, but I think out of the two the only one that really does make me think of Paris is AMARA