Parfums DelRae Amoureuse

It happened again: I planned to write a series of posts on soliflore perfumes that are perfect for Spring, but for the past three days I keep falling in the honey pot. If there is one fragrance I have a serious addiction to, it is Amoureuse by Parfums DelRae, which might better have been named Smack Water, because it is a narcotic nectar that I can’t distance myself from for more than a couple weeks. The notes are tangerine, cardamom, tuberose, jasmine, ginger lily, cedar moss, sandalwood, and honey.

Amoureuse is heady, heady stuff—the first jolt of it, green and tangy and shockingly good. I’m guessing it is the combination of tangerine and cardamom that equals “green” to my nose, since I don’t see any other green notes listed, except cedar moss, which I’m assuming is probably a base note. At any rate, this verdant top provides the perfect foil to the rich, white florals that follow, and in fact, the whole fragrance seems to be a perfect marriage of opposites: the powerhouse combo of tuberose and jasmine could easily become cloyingly sweet if it weren’t for the pungency of the top notes (perhaps I shouldn’t refer to them as top notes because they seem to be present throughout much of the duration of Amoureuse’s long and welcome stay on my skin); and vice versa, the juicy greenness would be to too shrill without the creamy sweetness of the flowers.

Perhaps opposites should marry more often, because on the skin, this scent reads less like a marriage and more like a naughty affair. Thrills await at every stage of its development; there is no sheer-and-quiet drydown on this one. When the honey note kicks in, the scent becomes slightly dirty, a little more sharply sweet, and incredibly sexy. The effects of the honey seem to expand when this scent is worn beneath the covers—body heat, moist breath, and blankets provide the perfect trappings for Amoureuse—and I say that sincerely, not with the intention of getting X-rated here. I know there are lots of other people who like to sleep in their perfumes, and Amoureuse is the perfect kind of scent to wear to bed, whether you’re sleeping with someone or sleeping solo.

But since we’re on the subject, it’s worth mentioning that while I think of Amoureuse as a very sexy fragrance, my husband doesn’t ever comment on this one at all. (Which I find notable, considering that he is a commenter and loves it when I wear Ambre Narguile or Kenzo Jungle or Chergui, for instance.) I’ve found that, fragrance-wise, what I think is sexy and what men think are sexy are two very different things. To me, white flowers are the bomb, and I often get compliments from women when I’m wearing Carnal Flower, for instance. Men, on the other hand, seem to prefer ambery, woody, tobacco-y scents on my skin. So when I say Amoureuse is sexy…well, it very much is to me, but I would warn anyone against buying it if, by that description, they are thinking it is some kind of man-bait. Amoureuse is a fragrance I wear strictly for my own enjoyment.

And enjoy it I do, sometimes to the exclusion of other things. There are days when I envision myself as an insect trapped within a bead of golden plant resin, never to escape, so enslaved am I to the sticky pleasures of this honeyed sweetness. Amoureuse, indeed.

Parfums DelRae Amoureuse can be purchased from a number of fine boutiques, including LuckyScent.com: $135 for 50 ml.

Decants of Amoureuse are available from my website. See Perfume Catalog & Prices.

Bottle image is from LuckyScent.com.

Posted by Suzanne Keller, 3/16/2008.

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