It seems fitting to wear Cuir Amethyste by Armani Prive the on the day after summer officially ended, even if I'm not happy about the coming cold months. There's something to be said for saturated colors, rich materials and the elegance of wearing jackets and tall boots. Cuir Amethyste plays right into this image with notes that evoke deep purple and butter-soft leather.
The official notes from the giorgioarmanibeauty-usa.com website are leather, birch, patchouli and violet. It's more complex than that, though, and the list on The Perfumed Court captures it better: bergamot, coriander, crystalline rose, violet, silver birch, patchouli, benzoin, labdanum, and French vanilla. I also get a pulpy fruit somewhere around the scent's heart. Maybe it's my imagination because of all the purple imagery (the bottle has a pretty purple pebble on top), but some days I could swear I'm smelling plums and grapes, other days it's more like a dried fruit note.
But this is only a small part of the picture. It's mostly a leather scent with lots and lots of powdery violets. When violets get too ethereal they usually don't work on my skin (Apres L'Ondee smells tragic whenever I make an attempt to wear it), but if they get bold and sweet I can usually pull them off. Cuir Amethyste is probably my best violet. The leather makes it interesting and sexy, the sweetness and powder keep it soft and warm. My husband has never tried it, but I have a feeling that a man's skin would bring out more of the birch and labdanum.
Armani Prive perfumes ($185, 1.7 oz) are available from Saks, Barneys and the Giorgio Armani Beauty website. This price is for the refillable bottle with the pebble top. There are also plain refill bottles that can be found for a lot less, especially if you happen upon them at stores like TJ Maxx.
Photos of Giorgio Armani accessories from glamourvanity.com (August 2008)
The official notes from the giorgioarmanibeauty-usa.com website are leather, birch, patchouli and violet. It's more complex than that, though, and the list on The Perfumed Court captures it better: bergamot, coriander, crystalline rose, violet, silver birch, patchouli, benzoin, labdanum, and French vanilla. I also get a pulpy fruit somewhere around the scent's heart. Maybe it's my imagination because of all the purple imagery (the bottle has a pretty purple pebble on top), but some days I could swear I'm smelling plums and grapes, other days it's more like a dried fruit note.
But this is only a small part of the picture. It's mostly a leather scent with lots and lots of powdery violets. When violets get too ethereal they usually don't work on my skin (Apres L'Ondee smells tragic whenever I make an attempt to wear it), but if they get bold and sweet I can usually pull them off. Cuir Amethyste is probably my best violet. The leather makes it interesting and sexy, the sweetness and powder keep it soft and warm. My husband has never tried it, but I have a feeling that a man's skin would bring out more of the birch and labdanum.
Armani Prive perfumes ($185, 1.7 oz) are available from Saks, Barneys and the Giorgio Armani Beauty website. This price is for the refillable bottle with the pebble top. There are also plain refill bottles that can be found for a lot less, especially if you happen upon them at stores like TJ Maxx.
Photos of Giorgio Armani accessories from glamourvanity.com (August 2008)
I actually like this fragrance - but I forgot all about it when I spied the bag and the necklace - just gimme those and nobody gets hurt. :-D
ReplyDeleteI love this fragrance, I love oriental and didn't have any leather yet in my repertoire! I love the first top-note Leather and then the violet and with the cold weather in the dried down I can smell this subtle sweetness. In a way this is similar to chergui, the same close to the body smell and the oh so subtle dry down. hummm but could you please compare Cuir amethyste with Cuir mauresque from SL???
ReplyDelete