Imitation Woman
Eau de Parfum, Amouage (2018)

Imitation woman is a really aldehydic floral and sweet dive bomb like a Chanel from the '70, truly unisex with beastly performance, on the right person it can sparkle possibilities!

Bold and brassy, Imitation Woman wears fluorescent pvc trousers and carries an exotic bouquet complete with fruit-laden sprigs of blackcurrant. I love that Amouage still takes these risks – there's nothing run of the mill about Imitation (one wonders if there will be sincere forms of flattery in years to come) and thus it is bound to be for unfocused groups, ie individuals.
My first encounter with it was in a store and it immediately turned everything else I had been sniffing grey. When a perfume can do that, it's leading not following.
In combining a cool, super-buffed aldehydic sheen that seems almost an olfactory counterpart to neon lights, vinyl, and sheer cellophane, with gutsy, juicy, flavoursome floral and fruity notes, Imitation presents a vortex of attraction, artifice and nature electrically conjoined.
I tend to overspray this one because I love the vibrant blackcurrant top so much – I keep returning at intervals for more. It pops like you expect blackcurrants to and is cleverly accented by a touch of sweet postbox red roses. Then the florals start to kick in, the classic white flowers and rose combo, but with that almost citric aldehydic rush that seems to spin them around and present then in bright white light. This is so in the spirit of 1970s scents like Charlie, but only in the confidence of its mood – the execution is much more sophisticated. Part of that sophistication is the subtle use of smoke (incense) and a light powdery wood backing.
It's autumn turning to winter as I write this, and Imitation Woman has brought a burst of colour to the season. It's the promise of fun times bottled.

The opening notes are very loud. Orange and aldehydes, it smells medicinal to me. It reminds me of an ambient scent in a London department store. The drydown gets a bit quieter and more floral. There's no way I would wear it but my wife and daughter seem to like it. It's a feminine after all. They find it elegant. A special scent for a very sophisticated woman.

GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN?

Referencing an 80s pop song to describe a 70s-inspired perfume, but if you try it, I think you will see what I mean.

Comes out of the bottle screaming Crazy! Wild! Let's Party! Nothing subtle going on here.

Very few feminine perfumes convey "dangerous woman" in the way this one does. Not so much mysterious, noir femme fatale; but more "I'm loud, reckless and irresponsible" and "I may lead you astray but it's gonna be fun while we do it."

The opening phase smells like muscat grape energy-drink soda and booze spilled across a nightclub dance-floor shrouded in hazy clouds of luminous green dry ice, hairspray and cigarette smoke. Then it calms down over time and becomes more restrained (but never entirely respectable).

Would be absolutely laughable to wear in formal or professional environments. Would certainly get people thinking "where is she at?" So not very versatile then. Almost exclusively a "going out" or nightclubbing perfume.

But nothing wrong with having one of those in one's wardrobe, surely?

Rollercoaster Jasmine. The opening is spectacular and it shifts from note to note and back. Top notes very clearly evoke Jasmine & Ylang. It almost feels like a crazy sugared jasmine. Then the ylang comes in, and adds warmth. Then that fades to bring back the jasmine.

It settles down in a more tamed incense affair which makes me miss the earlier phases so much. It doesnt last long enough for me.