Amber
Warm, sweet resin, vanilla-like softness, dry woods and a faint salty skin warmth.
You may know it from The warm scent of amber-scented soap or incense
Where it comes from
A perfume accord blended from aroma chemicals, often with resins, vanilla and woods.
Worth knowing
It is not made from fossilised amber gemstones.
About amber
Amber on a perfume label rarely refers to the gemstone. The fossil resin used in jewellery gives very little scent, and it gives off a pine-like smell only when burned or rubbed. Ambergris is different again, a natural waxy material from sperm whales with a marine, mineral, musky character.
Labdanum is the main ingredient of the amber scent in perfumery, and its smell is often compared to ambergris. It is a sticky resin from Cistus ladanifer and Cistus creticus, once collected from grazing goats and sheep and now obtained by boiling leaves and twigs, or as an absolute or essential oil. Benzoin, a balsamic resin from Styrax trees, belongs to the same resinous family of materials. Siam benzoin (Styrax tonkinensis) is sweet, vanilla, balsamic, woody and powdery, and it works as a fixative.
An accord can be built several ways, so the result varies. One perfumery blog says an amber accord can lean balsamic, sweet, powdery, resinous, spicy or woody, depending on the construction. The same writer says amber gives warmth and continuity through a fragrance, not only in the base, and can soften or enrich florals, woods, spices and musks.
Ambroxan, made synthetically, is used widely in the industry and has largely replaced natural ambergris. Givaudan's version, Ambrofix, is made by fermenting a sugarcane feedstock. It is sold for amber, fougere, musky and woody compositions, with a dry-wood, musky character.
In July 2021, Michael Edwards' Fragrances of the World renamed its Oriental family to Amber. Soft Oriental became Soft Amber, Floral Oriental became Floral Amber, and Woody Oriental became Woody Amber.
Accords it shows up in
How many of the fragrances listing Amber in our catalogue also carry each accord. We counted this ourselves.
Often paired with
The notes that appear next to Amber most often in our catalogue.
Well-known fragrances with Amber
Fragrances that list it in their notes, most-rated first.
Houses that use it most
Ranked by how many of their well-known fragrances list Amber.