Perfume Review: Cuir Amethyste by Armani Prive
August 20th, 2006
Cuir Amethyste… how I love thee. Yes, I’m going to start this review by instantly revealing how much it has won my heart. It’s not often I get this entranced by a perfume. Sure, I’ve had several olfactory love affairs recently - Orris Noir, Amoureuse, Paestum Rose, to name a few. We’re still seeing each other and are very much committed. However, my use of the word “entranced” wasn’t unintentional for it has caused me to fall into a state of ecstasy, daze, and detachment from my physical environment simultaneously. This is by far my favorite new release.
So, “cuir” and “amethyste” - an unlikely combo. I know something about leather but I must confess my knowledge of precious stones is close to zero (thank goodness for Google). The leather here is achieved by combining birch and patchouli, with a soft resinous effect. The amethyste (if you can assign a scent to a stone) - by violet and coriander. It’s not predominantly a violet scent, however. The flower here is perfectly balanced with woody balsamic notes producing a luminous, velvety effect - luminous purple suede. No, I didn’t just mistype that - it’s both velvet and suede and definitely purple. It’s what I wanted Serge Lutens Bois de Violette to be which ended up being too heavy on cedar for my taste. That’s my impression based on a thorough sniff test. For a more basic, down-to-earth description, I’d liken it to the smell of dried fruits, sort of along the lines of Habanita by Molinard minus the tobacco note and just a tad more spice. I love every single stage here, and I especially love the sillage and the lasting power. It’s just perfect all around.
Cuir Amethyste features the notes of bergamot, coriander, crystalline rose, violet, silver birch, patchouli, benzoin, labdanum, French vanilla. It can be purchased at select Saks stores and Armani boutiques.
Image source: www.osmoz.com
Entry Filed under: New Perfumes, Perfume Reviews
24 Comments Add your own
1. chaya ruchama | August 21st, 2006 at 5:38 am
Yipppee !!! [she shouts, dancing in her lily-of-the-valley nightie, like a possessed fiend…]
YOU LOVE IT !!!
ME TOO!
There isn’t a soul who smells this on me , that doesn’t go wild with delight…
And it’s ravishing to look at as well.
Funny you mention Habanita -I never can have enough of that,either…
Thrilled that you are so pleased-
Big smooch…
2. Elle | August 21st, 2006 at 6:17 am
Oh, no….suede, velvet, woody, balsamic, dried fruits…these are things I can’t resist. Ever. But WHY in a scent that will require me to either turn to a life of crime, donate an extra limb or get pregnant and fork over a first born child?? Wanders off to search web for appealing criminal opportunities…
3. March | August 21st, 2006 at 6:26 am
Hey, I re-smelled it with Sariah this weekend and I can FINALLY smell it!!!!! You’re right, it’s stunning. It floats around me in a wonderful way, I am just happily aware of its presence — and it lasts 24 hrs, easy. Now I just have to get P to buy a bottle so I can get a decant….:-)
4. Judith | August 21st, 2006 at 6:34 am
OMG!! I am running–do you hear me, RUNNING–into town to smell this! I want it!!
5. Marina | August 21st, 2006 at 7:57 am
So I guess they did change it and made it better. I’ve got to re-sniff this one. Thanky ou very much for the lovely review!
6. Christina H. | August 21st, 2006 at 9:02 am
I tried the first “edition” of it and wasn’t overly impressed but now you’ve got me wanting it! I hope this version is better than the original, especially for the price they charge! Thanks for the review.:)
7. Ina | August 21st, 2006 at 9:06 am
Chaya, you’re the one to blame here, by the way. You put that sense of urgency into me to try this as soon as possible, so I did. And now I’m entranced.
8. Ina | August 21st, 2006 at 9:07 am
Elle, I suggest you rob a bank somewhere in Central America. You can always run back to the U.S. and nobody will find out.
9. Ina | August 21st, 2006 at 9:07 am
March, you’re partially to blame here after your post. But do you get the skank? I swear I get some kind of animalic note in top notes.
10. Ina | August 21st, 2006 at 9:08 am
Judith, report back!
11. Ina | August 21st, 2006 at 9:09 am
Marina, it’s not entirely different from the first version (based on your sample) but I think it’s way more appealing.
12. Ina | August 21st, 2006 at 9:09 am
Christina, I think this version is better, from what I can tell. Yes, the price is crazy but what can you do…
13. chaya ruchama | August 21st, 2006 at 9:16 am
Oh, yes…please, blame me!
I hate to disappoint people- it makes me meshuggeh…
But you can’t make everyone happy- or dance at 10 weddings with one tuchus!
[Do you like the paraphrase of the Yiddish? It’s a favorite maxim…]
14. Sara | August 21st, 2006 at 9:28 am
uh oh. I’m doomed…………….when I read “it’s what I wanted Bois de Violette to be…” I knew I was a goner. sigh.
15. Ina | August 21st, 2006 at 10:04 am
Chaya, you crack me up!
16. Ina | August 21st, 2006 at 10:04 am
Sara, hang in there!
17. violetnoir | August 21st, 2006 at 11:30 am
Ooh, this sounds delicious! I wanted SL’s Bois de Violette to be like this one, too. I may have to try it.
Hugs!
18. Ina | August 21st, 2006 at 11:32 am
Robin, try it! Soon!
19. March | August 21st, 2006 at 1:41 pm
Hey, wait — you’re the first person I can ask — can you flesh out the old vs. the new? There’s been some debate whether it was reformulated or if that was just gossip, and I never tried the old. Sounds like they smell different to you? How?
No, I don’t get skank. It’s just really … cool. I mean, the way I experience it, I’ve never felt anything like this before. I think that, clearly, I am partly anosmic to the scent, judging by the strong reactions of some people. But the result to me is a sense of a fragrance hovering around me in the air — an absolutely delightful smell BTW — without the usual overt in-your-nose smell. Not sure if that makes any sense… I get pretty much violet and leather, 50/50 and that’s a winning combo for me.
20. Ina | August 21st, 2006 at 2:03 pm
March, I had a sample but not sure what I did with it. From what I can remember, it’s not much different but this one just seems better balanced, I guess. It sounds like it was created just for you!
It blends in with the rest of you so that you don’t know where it ends, and where you begin…
21. Aromascope » Pierre&hellip | May 6th, 2007 at 11:29 pm
[…] collection which now consists of five scents (Ambre Soie, Bois d’Encens, Eau de Jade, and Cuir Amethyste being the others), and, if memory doesn’t fail me, Armani was the first fashion house that […]
22. Aromascope » Perfum&hellip | August 21st, 2007 at 11:20 pm
[…] and perfume is not a novel concept as it has already been explored in Armani Prive fragrances (Cuir Amethyste, Eau de Jade, Pierre de Lune) as well as the eclectic Stoned. The concept as such might not be […]
23. Aromascope » Perfum&hellip | August 21st, 2007 at 11:30 pm
[…] leave me indifferent. Neither did it put me anywhere close to the state of ecstasy I was in over Cuir Amethyste, for instance (I’m beginning to think nothing will truly measure up to it this season). […]
24. Jenny | July 22nd, 2008 at 1:58 am
Thank you!
You have broadened my horizon with your review of CuirAmethyste. I had never heard about Armanis Prive´series until a couple of days ago. Took a wild guess that Nordiska Kompaniet here in Stockholm might have the line. Haunting! Truly beautiful. It opened up like a lumberjack and became a scent for a classy and handsome Russian Tsar or vampire. This scent is truly poetic and full of fantasy and colour without loosing its cool or fragility.
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