Amber is a warm hug
Amber is a veil of fur wrapped around the neck of your coat.
Amber is cinnamon in your tea and whiskey in your coffee
Amber is the opulence of lingering time
Amber like many other perfume notes is a fantasy accord, meaning it is not amber being distilled that creates this material. Instead it is the an accord created by a perfumer to approximate or mimic the idea of what amber might smell like. In essence it is perfumers creating what amber might smell like should it have a scent and not be a petrified rock.
The amber family is huge with a vast number of both synthetic and natural materials that fall within the amber world (and that is without considering ambergris which translates from French as “grey amber” and is very much related to the amber family with many materials available).
A classic golden amber accord however, can be made with just three natural materials, benzoin, labdanum and vanilla. The mixture of sweet, cinnamic benzoin with darker, leathery labdanum make for a sticky, resinous and deep combination. The addition of vanilla gives a powdery richness that transform the resins to something more unified. This style of amber has a rich and deep but distinctly vintage vibe and has been around for a long time being very present in classic scents like Shalimar (1921).
To contrast contemporary amber synthetics (Ex. ambrocenide, norlimbanol, ambermax, etc..) tend to be linear, very powerful, long lasting and smell very textured, sort of scratchy. Because of how powerful they are some think they have been used and abused in modern men’s scents. They can have a raucous, screeching profile that can be very identifiable, strong and not totally pleasant (but perhaps commanding which is maybe what the brands are going for)
The note of amber lives somewhere between a number of other scent families (spices, woods, incense & resins, leather) so amber can be a great bridge to connect and support all type of perfumes.
At their best ambers are cozy and warm, adding a richness but also familiarity to a scent.
In the Paraphrase line try Troubled Spirits for a distinct boozy and incense laden amber.
