Amber Perfumes and Fragrance Notes

A woody, oriental fragrance

A fossilised soft, sticky tree resin, Amber, has been loved for its natural beauty since the New Stone Age. The scent, whilst a ‘fantasy’ note, is sweet, warm and resinous with a hint of powder. Amber perfumes can also be described as musky and rich with earthy undertones.

Appearance

The most well known version is yellow-orange-brown, which has been found along the shore of the Baltic Sea and has even been traded to the Middle East and Western Europe.

It can be found in a range of other colours, including off-white, pale yellow, brown or a dark grey, almost black colour. Unusually there is also a ‘Cherry Amber’ and a green.

The rarest form is blue amber where only 220lb (approximately) is found each year, making it highly expensive and sought after. The resin changes colour to blue when exposed to natural sunlight or ultraviolet light sources. If exposed to long wave UV light, it has a very strong reflection that is almost white.

Decorations

A popular product in the creation of decorative items and ornaments as it can be easily cut and easily polished. Ornaments have been distributed across Europe and can also be found in the manufacture of smoking and glass blowing mouthpieces.

Jewellery

A popular product in the use of jewellery making, it has been used since the Stone Age.

Medicinal Uses

For centuries it has been used in alternative medicines as it is said to have healing properties for a variety of ailments. It has also been used in traditional Chinese medicines to ‘tranquilize the mind’.

Even in the current time period, it is used, sometimes controversially, in baby necklaces to help with the ease of teething pain. It is important to state there is no medical evidence to prove its effectiveness.

Amber Perfumes

If we look back to the Ancient Chinese festivals, amber was burnt to create a musky, pinewood fragrance. In today’s perfumery creation, natural amber is not used, primarily as it takes millions of years to evolve, but also when fossilised it does not produce much scent. When quoted in lists of ingredients any reference usually refers to a synthetic version which simulates golden warmth. Ingredients used to create the scent are usually Benzoin, vanilla, cloves, labdanum and Dammara resin.

Men’s Fragrances containing Amber