By Thomas
Aficionados of tailored clothing tend to hate all things Armani. Leaving aside issues of marketing and construction, I can understand why: Armani’s offerings cover a rather dazzling spectrum of grey and beige, with the occasional sage thrown in to lend a tiny, grey-tinted exclamation point. A sort of exquisite blandness, if you will.
Armani has made quite a few fragrances (oh, let’s be honest…he’s put his name to a bunch of fragrances) which seem to get duller and duller…I mean more exquisite…as the price goes up. Take, for instance, Cuir Amethyste. I don’t know why he bothered.
Leather occupies a weird mind-space for us: it has a dual image between the tactile warm and welcoming handbag/sofa/Bentley seat image, and the standoff-ish biker/tough guy connotation. Both are valid, and which one you get depends on the perfumer. Cuir Amethyste has peeks and glimpses of leather, here and there, and it is the coldest, least inviting leather scent I could imagine.
Upon application, there are dry violets and roses, and a flinty, slate-colored coldness under the surface that’s intended to pass for leather. On an intellectual level, this is an interesting exercise in showing something but revealing nothing. Sweet, but not so much to register as ‘sweet’. Colorful in a pale grey-violet way. A flinty tough guy leather carrying violets and roses. I’m wearing scent but don’t want you to notice me. In that case…why bother?
Development doesn’t really happen here, other than a few glimpses of black, hard leather after hours have passed. The bad news: good longevity. Not much throw but…you can catch traces of yourself when you return to your office. But the bottom line is: If you have zero personality and don’t want your scent to overshadow you, buy this.
Year: 2005
Perfumer: Michel Almairac
Notes: Coriander, Bergamot, Rose, Patchouli, Violet, Birch, Labdanum, Benzoin, Vanilla
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