Amber fragrances can pose a conundrum. On one hand, amber is warm, easy, and seductive — a crowd pleaser. When it’s cold out, a spritz of an amber-based perfume or burning an amber-scented candle are almost as good as pulling up a thickly knit blanket. When I wear amber, I get compliments. Everyone should have an amber in his fragrance collection.

On the other hand, amber is sweet and can cloy, making for suffocating, cilia-searing juice. After a few hours of wearing some ambers I feel like I’m clamped in a trap in a cheap candle shop and the ventilation has shut down. I have to gnaw off my arm to escape. Plus, amber can be boring. (Vanilla fragrances can have these same advantages and drawbacks.)

In my opinion, with Ambre Passion Velvet Eau de Parfum (shown above right) and Ambre Passion Elixir (shown above left), Laura Mercier does a great job highlighting the best parts of an amber-based perfume while minimizing potential shortcomings…

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