Golden Amber
Becker.eshaya (2007)

Golden Amber is a highly individual take on amber. In fact, it's a highly individual take on fragrance! The scent goes on with an extremely smooth, custard-like fruit and floral accord, which is soon backed by a very light powdery amber note. The floral fruit accord develops an exotic, tropical edge, thanks to a well blended lychee note, but it never becomes harsh or cloying. The barest hint of indolic white flowers and Asian spices wafts in as Golden Amber develops, while the amber continues to glow gently in the background.

The base of powdery soft amber, creamy sandalwood and white musk is indulgent, but not animalic, and persists quietly for several hours. Golden Amber is a far cry from thick dark ambers in the mold of Ambre Sultan, sharp, boozy ambers like Ambre Russe, or the sweet, viscous ambers like Ambre Precieux and Aoud Ambre. It is at once more delicate and complex than L'Artisan Parfumeur's demure amber scents as well. In fact, anyone expecting a typical amber experience with this scent will be sadly disappointed.

While the two do not smell terribly alike, there is some conceptual similarity between Golden Amber and Bond No. 9's Chinatown: both feature a fruity accord (peach/mandarin, lychee/mandarin) with Asian spices over a rich, sweet, and smooth background. What stands out about Golden Amber, besides its creamy, yet delicate texture, is its balance. It somehow manages to be powdery-sweet
but not suffocating, and rich yet also buoyant. This is a lovely scent that I encourage the womenfolk to try.

The first time I sampled this fragrance I thought, "hmmm, I bet Vibert would like this one." Then, lo and behold, I find his review with a thumbs up ~ how funny! The opening for me was kind of medicinal. Looking through the listed notes within this blend, the specific offender eludes me. Well, fortunately those topnotes fade rather quickly, and we are onto better things! The jasmine here is weak. Bummer, because I adore jasmine. The nicest part is the base, which reminds me of Belle en Rykiel by Sonia Rykiel. Rich, but not cloying. Complex yet easy to wear. I'm half & half on this one. Once the first 20 minutes pass, I'm enjoying it, sort of.

I like amber. My favorite ambery scent is Teo Cabanel Alahine. I can't say I was eager to try this because the first becker eshaya was decent but nothing special.Golden Amber is the second fragrance from becker eshaya and I think it's a million times better than their first try.I won't list the notes because others already have before me. It's a nicely blended floral/fruit/amber. It's nowhere near a heavy thick amber - it's light and wearable. It's somewhere in between sweet and dry and it's a little salty. I smell mostly light not-too-sweet amber, musk and sandalwood with a dash of floral/citrus tossed in. The floral/citrus notes are only detected in the beginning and once it's dried down is all smoooth amber, musk and sandalwood.This is a nice little number. You can wear it anywhere at any time of year. The lasting power is excellent - at least 5-6 hoursThe sillage is soft but present, not overpowering by any means.I like it. I'm surprised it doesn't get more attention.

A lovely, light, sparkling amber, with an almost astringent thread (possibly the citrus notes) running through it. This is one amber to love and adore and find its way into many wardrobes because it's so versatile. Great alone or layered, for everyday or special occasions, it's a complex fragrance with more to say than the notes might suggest. Not cloying or too heavy, but it IS substantial and full of life. Very very well done, and I just love the faceted glass bottle.

Bracing myself for an onslaught of viscous golden brown amber, I was happily surprised to find Golden Amber to be such a beguiling fragrance because I generally do not like amber. It has a vaguely medicinal-ish top note with hints of camphor (?) which sounds awful but it isn't. Golden Amber then mellows into a light wearable perfume with wafts of citrus that smell almost buttery at times. The sillage is quite acceptable as is the drydown to a soft, comforting musk scent. It's a good bet that if you like Golden Amber, you will surely like Mona di Orio's Lux. Here are Golden Amber's notes: Amber, citrus fruits, jasmine, warm woods and musk.

I hate amber! I hate amber! I hate...oooh, this is nice! Very smooth...I truly generally don't like ambers, and they don't like me, so I tried this with great trepidation. I kept waiting for the headache and nausea that never came, and I think I could maybe, possibly, hold my breath...wear Golden Amber. The first dab got straight to the point...no citrus for me at all, and only the slightest hint of jasmine which hastily retreated. When I really paid attention next (3 hours later), this was as smooth as caramel (with no vanilla), but really that's too base...maybe more like creme brulee. It's smooth with a touch of sandalwood and musk. Might I rate this as acceptable? Maybe even likable...or for that matter, superb, delectable, and enticing? I'll be back at this one again very soon...it has intrigued me.Notes:Top: Mandarin, BergamotMid: Lychee, JasmineBase: Golden Amber, Sandalwood, Cashmere wood, Musk