Figment Woman
Amouage (2017)

Figment Woman

This is spicy, mildly anisic tuberose. It's hard to define as a tuberose at first because of the significant role played by jasmine and ylang. The pepper nicely balanced out the creaminess of the white florals so that they do not come across as cloying. But there is really probably too much pepper and saffron at first for my tastes here. The opening really couldn't be further from my tastes in perfume, other than my preference for saffron. However, it does eventually calm down. I do think someone whose skin amplifies white floral notes might do well with this.

A lot of flowers - mainly gardenia and tuberose - and a mild spice mix - saffron and white pepper - voila here is the opening blast. Soon a strong indolic components arises, adding a scratchy and chemical character, but the latter weakens with time - fortunately!

The drydown fortifies the core of white florals with the advent of jasmine - green - orange blossom, a touch of iris and ylang-ylang. The latter is light and neither rich nor creamy: an ylang lite so to speak.

The base starts with a cinnamon-like cassia impression, with a weak incense and and very soft, nigh toothless patchouli. I don't really get any convincing papyrus that it is proclaimed to have.

I get moderate sillage l, very good projection and five hours of longevity on my skin, with the last couple of hours being very close to my skin.

A nice opening in this spring scent that later on is marred by too much of a synthetic tone as well by a lack of intensity of some of the later notes. The performance is nothing to write home about. Overall 2.75/5.

For the pepper, saffron, and gardenia notes I got a spicy sweetness. The middle became interesting with an earthy, floral, slightly metallic smell. The base is kind of starchy, with an almost minty vibe. Figment woman is decidedly different. Wearable but more artistic a perfume, in my mind.

You've just arrived in Chinatown for a secret wedding, and you're helping the florist unload a truckload of lilies and gardenias. You carry them with her through a smoky Asian restaurant where they're cooking peppery beef and sweet & sour chicken, and you go downstairs to the wedding hall. Figment Woman by Amouage.

Gimmegreen accurately describes the development of this perfume, and some of its failings. I was considering a neutral rating myself; but have narrowly decided on a "thumbs up" after testing this a few times.

If Figment Woman fails, then it only fails by the standards set by Amouage - primarily in terms of strength, longevity, and complexity of development. The drama is all over well within three hours; and its a faint skin-scent by the five-hour mark.

But judged against its OWN standards, and the original creative brief, I think Figment Woman succeeds. Above all, it's simply beautiful - especially the opening hour. Those luscious, tropical, fleshy white flowers feel almost good enough to eat.... creating an illusion of corporeality. Then one is reminded of the essential ethereality of this perfume, when the flowers start fading - fast - like mist in the mountains...

Figment Woman's first half captures the humid nocturnal tropicality of the traditional heavy hitters of white florals – tuberose, gardenia, jasmine, lily. Lactonic tones overlap, though the indoles are kept in check, and a mood of sultry languor pervades it. There's no escaping a certain foghorn quality about it, and the blurring of the notes doesn't help. But if being suspended in a pool of white floral unguent is your thing, then Figment is for you. Although the floral elements are rounded and feel natural to the nose, the almost complete lack of definition in this perfume is like being fed a diet of pap.
In the late stages, this is mainly about the, sadly unexceptional, tuberose which drones on and on like a party bore.