Amber

The notion of amber is quite complex, let's lift the veil on this appellation.

 

Amber in perfumery - Ambergris

Amber is not very beautiful, it looks like a grey, blackish stone, rather light, reminiscent of pumice, but to the nose, it is exquisite. Amber is very rare and very expensive, it is one of the most expensive raw materials in perfumery.
Amber is also the only animal raw material that is allowed in perfumery, as the animal doesn't suffer or being killed to obtain it.

Ambergris is a kind of stone that sperm whales produce when they are overfed with octopus or squid, whose beaks injure the walls of their digestive tract, causing lesions. To heal them, the sperm whale secretes a substance that looks like pebbles expelled through the natural channels. These substances are carried by the currents, tossed by the waves, they float for years and the longer they float, the better the amber scent. Then they wash up on a deserted beach in New Zealand or Madagascar where they will be fished out by a harvester one happy morning.
Ambergris is expelled naturally by the sperm whale. The combined oxidation of the sea water and the sun transform this material into a raw material for perfumery.

Some blocks of amber can be huge, reaching over 100 kg, but this is rare. In January 2013 a 3kg block of ambergris was found in England, its value was estimated at over 100,000 euros. For each purchase, a meticulous selection of blocks is made by the raw material company that still sells amber. The specialist takes care of this selection. Either they sell the blocks of raw amber or they carry out a communal dyeing of amber. The communal process ensures that the quality of the amber note is as consistent as the communal process for rose or jasmine.

 

 

Each block of amber is smelled individually and is chosen according to its scent, sometimes more iodized, sometimes more marine, sometimes warmer, sometimes more animal. The amber scent also has slightly tobacco, curry, woody, camphoraceous facets but unlike civet which is almost unbreathable the ambergris scent is pleasant when dried, its fragrance becomes almost creamy. A visual check upon receipt of the amber will determine if the block has been oxidised. The oxidation transforms the amber block from a dark blackish colour, with a soft consistency and a very unpleasant and unbearable odour, to a dark grey to light grey colour with a harder consistency and a scent that has become pleasant.

Sperm whales are not killed to recover this material. Ambergris that is not oxidised does not have the desired odour and therefore has no commercial value. Moreover, few sperm whales contain amber, barely 5% of the population. Some say that the scent of fresh amber from a sperm whale that has been killed is of no interest because it is not formed and therefore smells very bad. Perfumers are keen to preserve this animal, because without a living sperm whale, there is no amber. Ambergris is not considered as an animal product and as such, it is not listed in CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).

Ambergris was used in the 18th century in chocolate for its invigorating and aphrodisiac properties. Casanova is said to have used it a lot, perhaps he had a bottle containing these rare essences that were used at the time for their stimulating properties. Ambergris was also used to perfume gloves.

Some perfumes with generous scents contain natural ambergris, some old perfumes like Mitsouko by Guerlain (rather in the perfume extract than in the eau de toilette) and some more recent ones like Ambre nuit by Dior or Ambre Sultan by Lutens. One of the only synthetic raw materials that has an olfactory note close to the real ambergris are Firmenich's ketalox or ambroxan. When the sperm whale was still being exploited, it also produced whiting, also known as spermaceti or ketine, which was the basis of certain soaps, including Guerlain's sapocetis.

 

Ornamental Amber

Amber is a fossilized resin from a coniferous tree, it has no scent and is used for jewellery and ornaments, some people believe it has protective powers and is a good luck charm.
It is said that a necklace of amber would reduce dental pain.

 

Amber accord or oriental accord

This accord originated in Coty's Ambre Antique perfume, then in Jicky, sublimated in the Eau de Parfum Shalimar, and is also the basis of De Laire's amber accord, Ambre 83. It is composed of tonka bean, coumarin, vanillin, labdanum, patchouli and resins such as benzoin or incense, all of which are base notes. Amber can have many facets, such as floral or aromatic. A perfumer can add citrus fruits such as bergamot as top notes, powdery notes such as iris or jasmine as heart notes to bring femininity, to accentuate the sensuality of base notes such as musk. These amber accords with their present and powerful trail are suitable for both women's and men's perfumes.

You can smell the solid base in the wooden, pomander, chiselled ball from L'Artisan Parfumeur, its scent is characteristic of the raw amber base and to get this paste formula, the liquid form is mixed with a dry solvent to transform it into a solid form. This scent can also be found in a less qualitative form in the souks in Marrakech in the form of white stone.

 

Amber woods

Perfumers have also called these synthetic woody notes amber woods, such as cedarmber or boisambréne, which can be found in many women's and men's perfumes. Molecules with more vibrant, almost aggressive scents, such as karanal, which is now found in many men's fragrances as a base note, or ambertketal, ambrocenid, Z11. In the softer and more expensive notes, there are the famous ambroxan and ambrox. The molecule is synthesised in a laboratory from sclareol, a natural compound extracted from clary sage.

 

The amber note in Sylvaine Delacourte perfumes

Find the amber note in the perfumes Valkyrie and Vangelis of the Vanilla Collection by Sylvaine Delacourte.

Discover Sylvaine Delacourte's brand with her Orange Blossom, Musk and Vanilla Collections. You can try them thanks to the Discovery Boxes (5 Eaux de Parfum x 2 ml) and rediscover these raw materials as you have never smelled them before.