Perfume Review: Amoureuse by Parfums DelRae
Amoureuse by Parfums DelRae is another one of those erroneously dismissed fragrances in my baby stage of olfactory development. I first discovered the line about 3 years ago and immediately gave preference to Bois des Paradis. The other two at the time, Amoureuse and Eau Illuminee, were promptly banished for their lack of immediate appeal (which was what I was mostly after back then), and various associations of indecent character. I was put to shame, once again, several months ago when a sample of Amoureuse came my way. I was so enraptured I felt like skipping through the streets exclaiming, “Amoureuse! Amoureuse! I’m enamored with the amorous Amoureuse!” But the reasonable part of my brain won, and instead I promised myself to wear it as often as possible and acquire a bottle, eventually.
Amoureuse is created by a San Francisco designer DelRae Roth in collaboration with the renowned French perfumer Michel Roudnitska. It features the notes of tangerine, cardamom, French tuberose, French jasmine, Tahitian ginger lily, cedar moss, sandalwood, honey. What’s shocking is that I don’t really smell any of these notes distinctly (I can detect some if I sniff it real close). Instead, what I smell is linden tree in blossom. I spent my childhood around linden trees pretty much everywhere I lived. The scent is engraved in my memory. That’s the overall impression. If I do examine its notes and their development, I detect a sumptuous mix of tangerine and cardamom, a hint of jasmine, and a zing of ginger that seems to give the scent some skank (March, you must love Amoureuse, right?) that’s not really that unpleasant. It’s almost the smell of rotting flowers (here I come with my rotting images again). However, as it develops, it’s nothing but a softly spicy, honeyed, nectareous floral that eventually turns into linden on my skin or linden/jasmine tea with honey. Utterly fascinating! It reminds me a little of Parfum de Therese (created by Edmond Roudnitska) minus the leather note. Amoureuse has been in my top 5 in the past couple weeks, and it didn’t even rival Bois de Paradis which I wore yesterday.
Amoureuse is available at Aedes and Beautyhabit. For more retailers, please check Parfums DelRae site.
Image source: www.aedes.com
34 comments August 8th, 2006