For all that a person craves the light there is an almost unnatural fascination with the dark. In the light you see everything laid out before you. The dark conceals things. You can’t tell where things end. All you can see is the beginning and if you take that first step into the dark you’re never sure if you’ll take the second step.
Easily one of my favorite new lines of fragrance is Atelier Cologne. The original five fragrance collection was all about light. They burst into life and turned the idea of cologne as something light and inconsequential upside down. Like anything I was curious to see whether the line could explore the dark as effectively. Last year Vanille Insensee was the first step into the dark and it was a sure-footed step at that. Even so I wanted more dark. I wanted a set of yang to go with the original five yins. When I met Sylvie Ganter, one half of the team behind Atelier Cologne, I told her just that. She reached into her purse and brought out a lab sample and asked me if this was what I was talking about. From the moment she placed a dab on my skin, I kept sniffing it; and realized this was exactly what I meant. Cologne architecture using bold heady notes. That day back in April this fragrance didn’t have a name. Today it is the brand-new seventh Atelier Cologne release Ambre Nue by perfumer Ralf Schweiger.
One of the things I truly enjoy about the entire Atelier Cologne aesthetic are these little stories they use to accompany each fragrance. Here is the one for Ambre Nue:
“We were staying in the mountains when we met them. She told us about a mysterious flower. He told us where we might find it. The next morning, near the top of the crest, in a moment, a scent seduced us. It was so unexpected and magical: a single flower capturing the wildest ambery bouquet.”
Ralf Schweiger pulls off a neat trick here as a fragrance named Ambre Nue has no amber as a distinct note in it but the notes that are present create an amber accord, an ambery bouquet if you will, and in that construction makes Ambre Nue something to be admired.
The opening of Ambre Nue is like the dying of the light as a very distinct green mandarin mixes with a slightly astringent floral marigold. It is an opening of sharp angles like the last rays of the sun as it slips beneath the horizon. The night begins in the heart with a delicate green orchid which is quickly dominated with hot benzoin and even hotter cinnamon. These are powerhouse notes harnessed expertly by M Schweiger. I think this might be one of the best cinnamon notes I’ve encountered in a fragrance and the benzoin is a near perfect foil for the cinnamon. The heart is a piquant black hole which holds me firm in its event horizon. At that balancing point between heart and base is where the amber accord appears. The base notes are labdanum, patchouli, and tonka and they combine with the heart to make up the components of M Schweiger’s bouquet. The labdanum and the patchouli are the main players but over time the tonka becomes more pronounced as Ambre Nue doesn’t want to leave you alone in the dark at the end.
Ambre Nue has above average longevity and average sillage. This has been the typical experience for me with these Cologne Absolutes from Atelier Cologne. Amber Nue is at an 18% concentration and that is where the longevity and sillage come from, I believe.
Ambre Nue is that second step into the dark I wanted to see from Atelier Cologne as it is definitely yang to the previous yin. Now I think I need to corner Mme Ganter at the upcoming Elements Showcase and ask her what’s in her purse. I think it will be very hard to be better than Ambre Nue, although I am hoping for another yang.
Disclosure: This review was based on samples purchased from Luckyscent.
Thanks to our friends at Atelier Cologne we have a very special draw of one 200mL bottle of Ambre Nue. To be eligible leave a comment telling us what you like about the dark. We will draw one winner using random.org on January 21, 2012.
We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilt perfume
-Mark Behnke, Managing Editor
I love smelling perfume in the dark, so every night before I go to bed I put on “nighttime perfume,” something deep and rich. Then as I fall asleep (and when I wake in the middle of the night), I can inhale a beautiful fragrance as I drift off. (This fragrance sounds dreamy–did you say CINNAMON?)
Darkness = peace and silence.
The dark is clean….no fingerprints or smudges. Just quiet and peaceful…
The darkness force all of my senses to really try harder the result – sensation
darkness = mystery = opportunity for exploration
The dark is mysterious and comforting! I also associate “dark” with Melancholic music. I love minor key pieces,,,and used to listen to dark classical in college when I studied! I like dark roses in perfume, more than light ones. Bring on the dark—and thanks for the draw!!
I love the dark night sky in winter … just past a fiery sunset, the darkness is like velvet-y ink. Stars are the most brilliant diamonds known to man, scattered across the blackness. I could stare at the sight for hours, mesmerized. I do my best thinking then.
There’s something about the dark that seems safe and warm, even in winter. It’s . . . private. As if I’m alone, and everything is mine.
I like how quiet it is at night, late, in the dark. It’s especially nice with a dark beer or deep red wine.
Darkness changes things – it brings depth and mistery to things that are simple and usual at daytime))
My favorite things about the dark are the quiet and the mystery…very intriguing!
I love the dark because it signifies to me the relaxing end to a long stressful day.
Darkness gives my sense of sight a break and allows my other senses a chance to heighten.
I love to walk at night without any artificial light around…just the stars and moon.
Dark can be peaceful, heavy, spooky and confusing. I’m so curious if that’s how this fragrance comes across, like the dark side of the moon?
I like the disorientation and loss of the familiar… Everything seems hyper-real and dreamlike at the same time.
As long as things are in dark they remain mystery and probably that’s the reason that when the element of darkness comes into fragrances, it makes a mysterious statement for the wearer.
Dark allows us to enjoy of some of the most fascinating things in life: fireworks, shooting stars, a quiet movie theater with just the brightness of the screen, beautiful skylines…
And complete darkness is relaxing and we can think clearer, and it is calming when our head aches. Darkness makes us experience the world with the other senses, like smell or touch.
Ambre Nue sounds delectable!
I like the dark…in so many ways, for so many reasons.
I like ‘dark side of the moon’ and so does my mom, whose album I ‘borrowed’ in high school!
Dark and deep colors look a lot better on me than pastels and brights, and I think I enjoy looking at them more generally.
To me, darkness is less about mystery and more about depth.
I like how the absence of light, of visual input, heightens all other senses. For me, esecially sound. I love listening to the rain in bed at night.
I love the night, when the world is quieter, and also the ‘darker’ more melancholy or contemplative kinds of music. I even prefer notes in fragrance that are often considered ‘darker’ (patchouli, woods, resins, spices etc) as opposed to bright, cheerful notes like most florals and many fruits.
I like how darkness has depth that allows one to perceive vastness, distance, as in the night sky, and highlights by contrast: the Milky Way (not visible in the cities, but visible when we go camping, and leave our flashlights off to take walks at night); diamonds, like stars, seem to sparkle more brilliantly on deepest velvet.
I like how in the dark, everyone looks the same…
In the dark one loses one’s self and transcends limitations set upon them by the physical body. The scents of night are smelled by the pores of the skin more than by the nose. They permeate all and awaken the senses. For the true perfume lover entering the night is like a state of lycanthropy. All perfumes have their roots in a night somewhere.
I like how darkness envelops you like a warm blanket. In the winter I like “darker ” fragrances that envelop you as the darkness does. I would love to try this Ambre Nue…thanks.
Sometimes you just want to wear something dark. I used to own a great leather jacket that was like a second skin. When I put it on, it made me feel warm and comfortable, I loved that jacket. The same can be said of a good dark cologne.
At night when everything is quiet and peaceful the darkness wraps around me like a blanket and I can relax.
I used to find my solace under the night’s cloak of darkness- honestly, that’s even how I thought of it in my head! In the past couple of years, especially since my daughter was born, I’ve lightened up a bit. But, I still think one of the coziest times of the year is when we “fall back” and turn the clocks back an hour. I may be one of the few who actually cherish that extra hour of darkness.
I love when it’s dark, son is asleep and I can just relax and think about the day without distraction. Thanks for the draw!
I’m just catching up here. Not sure if I’m in time for the draw, but please enter me if I am! The dark? I’m very drawn to two dark colors: indigo and deep purple, partly because they set off my favorite color of yellow-orange.
When it is darkness, it is when all the magic things happen.
Thanks for the giveaway.
I would like to be a part in the endless darkness of the space and I would like to see how it is to observe the point light, the Earth, from space. That’s what I imagine when the word “dark” appears in my mind. Thanks for the giveaway.