A square pack of HEM Amber. There is no pretence to this - this is intended to be a cheap and cheerful room freshener using a synthetic scent which HEM have developed in their own laboratories. Amber in fragrances is rarely authentic anyway. There's the amber from the sperm whale, which may turn up on beaches, but is illegal to use. And there's tree sap amber, which is used for jewellery, but can also be ground down and burned for its fragrance, though from my research it seems this isn't done any more. The amber scent comes from a blend of benzoin, labdanum, and vanilla. I have burned amber resin, but my understanding is that it more likely to be labdabum, or a flavoured gum resin. The Mount Athos monastery does flavoured resins, such as this Vatopedi Amber.
This amber has a church incense fragrance, inclining - for me - toward frankincense and myrrh. It is woody, sweet, sexy, herbal, calming and yet uplifting at the same time. Not uplifting as in energy, but uplifting as in lifting the spirits, so you feel calm, and confident and somehow refreshed and inspired.
I like it. I like it a lot. The knowledge that it's a chemical is a bit of a downer, for sure, but the scent itself is damn nice. Yes, it's not complex. Yes, it's not deep. There's a lot missing here. But it has a significant appeal for me. I'm not in love with it; though, rather than put it out for the cats, or in the corridor for casual everyday burning, I think I'll put it aside to revisit alongside some other ambers. See how it stands up when matched against what other incenses houses have decided to create to produce their version of an amber aroma.
This amber has a church incense fragrance, inclining - for me - toward frankincense and myrrh. It is woody, sweet, sexy, herbal, calming and yet uplifting at the same time. Not uplifting as in energy, but uplifting as in lifting the spirits, so you feel calm, and confident and somehow refreshed and inspired.
I like it. I like it a lot. The knowledge that it's a chemical is a bit of a downer, for sure, but the scent itself is damn nice. Yes, it's not complex. Yes, it's not deep. There's a lot missing here. But it has a significant appeal for me. I'm not in love with it; though, rather than put it out for the cats, or in the corridor for casual everyday burning, I think I'll put it aside to revisit alongside some other ambers. See how it stands up when matched against what other incenses houses have decided to create to produce their version of an amber aroma.
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