Amber
Perfumery’s most common misunderstanding: “amber” is neither fossil amber nor whale ambergris. It is an accord – a warm blend of resins and vanilla.
The note’s label
- Family
- amber / resinous note; among fragrance families, amber (oriental)
- Position
- base note
- Impression
- Pairs with
- Evokes
- candlelight · resin · warm skin
- Raw material
- an accord – a blend of resins, balsams and vanilla
- Natural or synthetic
- Amber in a perfume is not a single material. The amber accord is made mainly from labdanum, benzoin and vanillin. Ambergris from the sperm whale is a different substance, and in practice it has been almost entirely replaced by synthetic ambroxide.
Three different “ambers”
The amber accord: a blend of labdanum resin (from cistus), benzoin balsam, vanilla or vanillin and other warm materials. This is what “amber” most often means in a fragrance pyramid.
Ambergris: a waxy substance from the digestive tract of the sperm whale that served as a fixative for centuries. Its main odorant, ambroxide, is now made synthetically and has almost entirely replaced it in perfumery.
Amber: fossilised tree resin. Despite the shared name, it is not the source of the “amber” scent.
In perfume
Amber is the base note of amber (oriental) fragrances. When a pyramid lists “white amber” or “ambroxan”, it usually means dry, mineral woody-amber molecules rather than a sweet resinous accord.
On the label
You will not see the accord itself on a label – only its components. Vanillin and benzyl benzoate (common in balsams) are allergens that must be listed; sclareol, used in making amber materials, was added to the list in 2023.
In the fragrance archive
- Calvin Klein Euphoria Men (2006)
- Mugler (Thierry Mugler) Alien (2005)
- Calvin Klein CK One (1994)
The archive is for reading only. Nothing in it is for sale.