Monday 7 February 2011

Amouage Reflection Woman and Man

I've tried a lot of Amouage perfumes over the last few years and while Reflection Man was one of the first I sampled, I have never tried the Woman's version. Reflection Man is one of those in the line that seldom seems to garner much attention, yet I actually enjoy it a lot. It's a bit of a slow burner, without that signature frankincense, but it dries down to a lovely combination of cedar, vetiver, patchouli and sandalwood. The notes include red pepper berries,  rosemary, bitter orange leaves, orris, jasmine, neroli, cedarwood, sandalwood, patchouli and vetiver. The opening borders on being an aquatic, which is not appealing, but just as you think this is going to be run-of-the-mill, the heart reveals an interesting combination of iris and jasmine and then the lovely dry down. Amouage is not afraid of using florals in its men's perfumes, but the effect is quite restrained here. I wouldn't say that Reflection Man is my favourite in the line, but it is very decent and worth sampling for a different take on Amouage. 

I have mentioned it before, that is that I quite often enjoy the Woman's 'version' of an Amouage fragrance more than the Men's. Case in point being Lyric in particular, and to a lesser extent Epic. Although I am slowly changing my mind about Epic. It is growing on me with each wearing. Reflection Woman's notes include water violet, freesia, tropical green leaves, magnolia, ylang-ylang, jasmine, amber, musk, cedarwood and sandalwood. You might notice the heavy presence of florals here, and this is possibly the most floral Amouage I have tried. I know Gold is quite heavy on the florals too, but I find the combination in Reflection Woman quite off-putting. This is definitely a case of my preferring the men's version to the woman's, without a doubt. I hate to say this, and it is a matter of opinion of course, but Reflection Woman is the least enjoyable Amouage fragrance I have tried, and this is coming from a fully-annointed acolyte of the line. It does strike me as far more marine-like than the men's version, and stays that way. Whereas Reflection Man moves away from this feel into a more appealing iris-and-woods with a light floral touch, Reflection Woman never quite achieves this, preferring to stay near whatever grows and flowers at or near the pond, dam, lake or whatever it is in this case. Incidentally, I do love the bottle, pictured top left. It is gorgeous.

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