Myths Woman
Amouage (2016)

Brutal opening of Narcissus and Galbanum. Carnation is totally obscured by a particularly dirty, overwhelming dusty Patchouli.Perhaps musk offers a small reprieve of softness, however the moss intertwines
to accentuate the grit in the Patch.
Much later in drydown, the scent is saved by it's remarkable beauty of the feathering of the Patch.
My objection is that I have to wade through a very dense thicket of nettles to reach that sublime moment.
Seems a little masochistic.

This fragrance is like a walk in the rain.

What is it about ones like this that's so appealing - the smell of violets in the rain, sweet watercolor melancholy, exuding moist, loamy earth? These draw me in because they invoke reminiscence. Myths Woman belongs to a family - Djedi, Apres L'Ondee, perhaps Dryad - that gives value to the bittersweet experiences of life, and embraces them; ones that are beautifully evocative, not of our gay, carefree moments, but of our deeper ones. Myths isn't an abstracted fragrance, it's an evocative one.

Although I haven't tried the entire line, this one was different for me than the usual Amouage style. I have problems with this house, because of a note that's present in many of them, a sort of Amouage ‘accord' that turns artificial on my skin. So far only Interlude Woman, Musk Abyadh Attar, and this haven't turned on my skin.

I tried it on a day this fragrance is made for - cool and rainy - that gave me a beautiful experience of Myths. Indoors it was a diffused musty, loamy green violet/narcissus, chypre-ish fragrance. When I stepped outside, wow... the must cleared off, and the plaintive sweetness of woodland flowers shone through, like the orb of the sun glowing through the mist. This one is poignant outside on a rainy day. It felt like liquid clarity. Buy some just for those days. It evokes autumn and earliest spring.

It has an intense bittersweet floral heartnote, but this isn't a floral fragrance. With the floral is a subtle leatheriness (the carnation note, like here, in old-style chypres was really about the clove, which was often brought in when making leathers. Clove essential oil has a pronounced leathery or animalic component which works well to create leathers). But it is all still entirely wrapped by the smell of moist earth in the rain.

I think pocketvenus got it - Myths is best after you've had a few love affairs gone wrong, some bittersweet experiences. Then this fragrance will really speak to you. I don't believe it will have much to say to teenagers (yet) and can't recommend it to that age category. It has a certain old-soul quality.

Long-lasting, about 8 hours, or most of a day; until the next morning as a skin scent.

(Edit: I like Myths when it's lightly sprayed. The evocative quality I mentioned can be too intense when over-applied.)

Soily and slightly herbal fragrance that can be worn by man or woman. It actually smells more masculine than feminine. A light violet and patchouli note gives it the herbal accord. The leather and musk give this one the earthiness. Not bad, just not for me. 6.5/10

Edith Piaf having a solo smoke backstage after performing La Foule.

The opening is earthy and damp, if not chilly. The galbanum is not as ferocious and vegetal as Opus VII but it has some bite. The opening rapidly segues into the scent's floral notes with the galbanum providing a subtle edge. It evokes the sense of flowers after it's rained – there's something cool and almost stony about them. It remains somewhat aloof, even as the scent then takes a turn into more musky, intimate territory. This more challenging stage eventually fades into a supple, floral leather.

Faded glamour is a great description. There is something sombre and guarded about it emotionally.

Outstanding longevity - the quality is fantastic. The majority of fragrances I've tried dry down to something very blurred and abstract, but after 9+ hours, even as a skin scent, Myths Woman's complexity holds. It still has a structure to it on my skin.

Myths Woman is stunningly beautiful and I love smelling it but ultimately, I must concede that I feel too young to wear it - for now.

The florals in the opening are very evidently what it is all about in the top notes, with a pleasant narcissus exuding floral beauty, with a lilac counterpoint that veers towards the somber and slightly vegetal realm. Humid earth, a well-integrated galbanum, compost and herbal moments present themselves fleetingly at this stage. Carnation and whiffs of geraniums further strengthen the floral tones, but transforming the niceness of the blossoms into a darker and shadowy mix.

Then things get grittier, with the rather attenuated harshness of ambergris and a dark patchouli leads to the base, where a somewhat flat mossy undercurrent combines with a soft leather impression. A dark musky sideline combines with the ambergris to form a dark and morbid counterpoint to the pretty floral origins.

I get moderate sillage, adequate projection and six hours of longevity on my skin.

An interesting autumnal creation, with notions of contradiction, beauty and decay, complex but well blended, yet losing structure at times. Overall a positive experience. 3.25/5.

The opening of this is interesting, a very nice green scent with violets and the smell of cut flower stems. However, it wore off into a musty scent of decomposition. This was good for a bit but ultimately, I did not enjoy this perfume.