Madame X
Ava Luxe

Elegant Skank. Strongly skanky, but not offensive, quite. My husband smelled only over-the-counter perfume top notes.

I was extremely fortunate to be sent a sample of the extrait version of this discontinued gem by a generous basenoter; you know who you are, & thank you!
First off, this is a rich, complex, proper "grown up" perfume of the old school variety. I don't detect all of the listed notes, but the initial phase is dark & spicy, with patchouli & the animalic notes of civet & castoreum apparent straightaway. It's salty, fleshy & unapologetically carnal. This phase lasts a good two hours before settling to a soft purr of labdanum & animal fur, & once again I am reminded of L'Ombre Fauve. From here it slowly recedes to a powdery, ambery base, & then later when I think it's gone, I smell a delightfully buttery sandalwood wafting from my arm. Twenty four hours after application, there's a lingering trace of it left. Outstanding performance for an outstanding scent.

And if you lament missing out on the opportunity to try this, I recommend trying Kama from the same house. It's not exactly the same, but the similarities are striking.

Way late to the game, here. I got a sample of this gorgeous fragrance...fell in love, decided to buy...and BAM! Alas, it is gone, and never coming back. I wrote Ava Luxe to ask about it, and Serena wrote back that due to the unavailability of some of the ingredients, and new rules regarding some others, Madame X is not going to be available. I am absolutely heartbroken. This is going to haunt me.

Yes, this fragrance says sex. That kind of morning after, roll out of bed and put on last nights clothes before leaving, kind of sex. But the animalistic notes settle down as the day wears on. I find great longevity with this scent. And if I want to wear it in the daytime I pair it with Ava Luxe's Love's True Bluish Light....bit of a lion tamer.

Some of the previous reviews got me wondering whether I was wearing the same fragrance yesterday. Anyway, this is my take:I have very high respect for Ingmar Bergman's movies and therefore, one of my most favorite is "Hour of the Wolf", which is also one of his most challenging and disturbing ones. It kept me busy thinking for at least two weeks. It features a very prominent scene - a party at the castle of this deserted island. Wearing and sniffing Madame X I figure being impressed by the appearance of Madame X at this party, beautiful and classy wearing a red robe. I turn around to get her a glass of champagne and turn back to see her in the red dress, but a wolf's head :) The fragrance Madame X starts off with style, a burst of opulence and class (read the note list above!) just to very soon transform into something deeply and smokily animalic and only hints of the initial beauty left. In the drydown, which stays very close to the skin, the initial complex smelling beauty, is gradually coming back to the foreground a bit, but never to make a full appearance again. This is a surreal fragrance like the movie I am referring to. What an experience! This is fabulous and I'm so happy I dared to buy it blind. On the more "technical" side it wears very close to my skin with moderate longevity, which I don't fault it for. This is more of an experiment and experience than a fragrance I would ware every day. For comparison reasons I had Rose de Nuit on the other wrist, Muscs Koublai Khan on the inside of my arm and further up both of them layered. All three variations share a certain vibe. Unfortunately, I am not experienced enough to distinguish castoreum or civet as individual notes, but maybe these added to a layered RdN and MKK would make a very close scent...

I tried Madame x because I was looking for a new ambergris fragrance, and after reading the reviews here, I was impressed.Its everything everyone here says: ambergris, moss, animal, hot sex.I LOVE it.If you like the majority of the fragrance notes listed, you'll love it too.When I wear it, I dont douse myself in it, just dab on my neck and wrists - so I dont know if its just me or if it isnt long lasting at all.