Ambre Gris

I have a full 75ml bottle for sale, DM me for more info if you're interested (FYI, I'm in Europe)

Honesty time. This scent starts pissy. I spray it on my wrists but avoid getting to close to my neck and face. I have to let it simmer for about an hour. After an hour, it is sublime. Like the most delicious, softest amber with a hint of salt. I wish I could better tolerate the first hour. The pink pepper and sage are a little discordant for me. But afterwards? It's heaven.

Mesmerizing. Enchanting. Intriguing. I’m lost for words on describing this gorgeous complexity of a scent. It envelops the air around you with magic; a dignified sensuality. It is the perfect oriental for me. A mix of warm cozy resins, soft spices, salty skin, a hint of smokiness blended exquisitely. The main according is the balsamic resins but every other not is there to nuance it beautifully and cut any sharp edges so it comes out as a very smooth and bewitching oriental. I’m usually not one to reminisce on discontinued scents; I believe there is so much beauty out there to explore. But AG will be sorely missed when I run out of my bottle. I’ll cherish it but will definitely wear and enjoy it to the max. I could die tomorrow. Note: although the name and color may lead you to believe it’s mainly an ambergris perfume (the salty oceanic slightly animalistic accord), it is mainly an amber perfume. Ambergris is still there you occasionally get a whiff of a salty note in the background but it is mainly resinous. The benzoin is the the main component of the amber accord. They gave a subtle hint in the name by adding a space between Ambre and Gris which now translates as grey amber. It is warm amber with hints of salty grey ambergris.

This was amazing - discontinuing their whole lineup was heartbreaking. Smells like you had slow, meaningful....'relations' by the fire. Smokey, musky, it's gentle - slight bit of creaminess hides behind everything else. Insanely good on bare skin. Nape of neck under your hair, another spray on your back and one on your stomache/down your front - people will follow you just to catch the scent, but it doesn't smell like perfume, it smells like pheromones and gentle lust.

Absolutely a stunner of a fragrance. Very rich and warm. Long lasting as well (at least 10 hours). Such a disappointment that is has been discontinued. Amber gris is such a stand out fragrance. One of my favorites

I think this one, Perris Monte Carlos' Ambre Gris and Miller Harris' L'air de Rien are closely related, in fact they're siblings. This one is the cozy snuggly one, PMC is the gorgeous one, LAdR is the sexy one and all three are freaks in bed.

Iets in dit parfum voert me ver terug naar zomers, het opblazen van plastic luchtbedden en zwembandjes. Iets wat Rabanne 1 Million ook doet, terwijl het een heel andere geur is, maar wel verschenen in hetzelfde jaar !

It smells like vanilla, benzoin, and tonka bean mixture. It instantly reminds me of Fourreau Noir by Serge Lutens from the first spray but has more balsamic (resionid, or cinnamic) nuance.

Incense and amber resins done in a very light-handed manner, as if diluted, adorned with hints of heady floral notes (I smell tuberose and frangipani, maybe ylang ylang). There's a crispy, almost aldehydic vanillic layer in the background which grows with time, turning eventually into a budget Disney Princess fragrance. Nice, but pale and quite insecure about what it wants to be.

Still smells like the aftermath of slow lovemaking on a warm autumn day, as you stand to put on your partner's discarded flannel shirt, scented with his personal cinnamon tinged musk. Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful. It still boggles the mind that Balmain discontinued their perfumes, and makes me grateful that my immediate lust for more demanded I hoard a few bottles.

I’m lucky enough to get one of this masterpiece after it discontinued. Yes it not real ambergris but ambroxan, it synthetic and chemical, but in a kind of beautiful way. This fragrance is mixed of powdery, clean, sweet-salty vanilla and smooth fluffy musky. 100% unisex and performance close to skin, its kind of skin scent. Versatile enough for all seasons. I like it.

I will come back to this review when the weather warms up a bit. As for now - not at all what I was expecting from the notes and descriptions. Smells very much like a toned down version of Dali Laguna (which would be lovely if it wasn’t so overbearingly sweet). Ambre Gris comes out a tad too sweet also, lots of benzoin, but more manageable and this seems like a very living scent so curious to see what other facets could come out in different weather (I am hoping for frangipani..)

I still hope they bring it back one day. One of the most exquisite scents I've ever smelled, I cherish my big bottle. Who was stupid enough to discontinue this gem...

Leather?, musk, pepper, very faint cinnamon?something smooth, maybe the ambergris? Nothing ambery, I don't get the benzoin or tonka, frangipani, incense or even the cedar. After a while there's an interesting salty, bare skin note, but it's still weirdly cold. Dissapointing. Maybe it's better in hot weather?

TL;DR: if someone could bottle the joy and comfort of the holidays, this would be it. Ambre Gris has been in my collection for a long time, closing in on ten years, and it's a scent I almost exclusively wear around Christmas time. Now that it's been discontinued, I'm going to treasure this bottle even more. I honestly couldn't imagine my collection without it. Ambre Gris opens with a dry, spicy blast of cinnamon that's reminiscent of opening a tin of spiced tea. There's a hint of pink pepper (which I don't normally love, but do enjoy here) and a faint whiff of smoke. After the dry opening, it warms on the skin expanding with cozy resinous notes and the lovely sweet, smoky quality of incense. It's golden and comforting and reminds me of coming in from the cold to a house with a warm open fire and freshly baked cinnamon loaf. There's the barest hint of a floral lurking underneath, almost like you've been hugged by someone wearing a floral perfume and there's a whisper of it lingering on your sweater. Over time Ambre Gris develops a slight creamy quality, while still retaining the rich warmth of the middle. I get hints of smoke, wood, rich vanilla and dark chocolate. It lingers on the skin and clothes for hours, and I love every stage of this magnificent perfume. It's such a shame that it's no longer available, so if you happen across a bottle or a sample I definitely recommend giving it a test.

When you first put this on you get a strong cinnamon spicy smell with pink pepper. On the initial dry down the cinnamon sticks around but the resins make up the foundation of the scent. The myrrh is prominent and you can smell the incense and benzoin. You get a whiff of a salty animalic scent from the ambergris but it's not overwhelming. It's been over 8 hours now and the main accords are still the resins and the cedar plus tonka bean. It's a rich oriental woodsy smell. I definitely enjoy it and will continue wearing it. Sadly it's discontinued, otherwise I'd buy a full bottle.

I have a tiny little decant with a drop or so. --- Thick delicious resins, incense, spices and something vaguely reminiscent of human live bodies, that sort of volatile sharp note that isn't very deeply fragrant but lets you know that a warm living human is beside you? I do smell the tuberose, but here the resins take main stage, and I love it for that! I wish I had it.

Subtly rich and hints of depth. The cinnamon is very soft and lightly sweet - sometimes I'm not even sure cinnamon is in here. Waivers between being a cuddly scent vs the salt tinged feeling of two bodies recently having had sex. Shame it was disco'd.

I blind bought this for a ridiculously small sum many years ago and wasn't keen. At the time I disliked any trace of powder in perfumes and this has a spoonful or two. Over the past year I've 'trained' my nose to appreciate powder, so decided to come back to this. It's delicious. It goes on a bit like a spicy incense mallet to the face, but the dry down is a resinous, gently spiced, gently sweet delight. A bazaar on the spice trail. It has a touch of saltiness that mingles with my natural skin salts really nicely, but I don't get the aquatic metal of ambergris like the notes suggests. At all. I can't believe I didn't love it and nestle it amongst my favourite amber frags. I was going to sell it, knowing it's rare and sought after - not any more!

Every picture I have seen of this makes the juice look grayish. The bottle I have, the juice is an amberish color and the aroma is not strong at all, though I can smell almost all the notes listed. Curious if this is back in production with a new color juice.

mysteriously sexy 💋 love love love 😍 unisex imo staying power is eternaaaal on me.... what an underrated gem!

It smells like pure sadness, I love it!

Very Beautiful! If you're into the Resin-y ones, try to find it before it completely vanishes. It's a Resiny, Spicy, Smoky and Herbal goodness. I wish I could single out the Tuberose, but I don't. Mildly sweet, so perfectly Unisex. It stays close to the skin, doesn't really project much, but I'm not too upset as it really smells divine..

In my earlier review I stated I was either I'm anosmic to this or it was just incredibly weak. The answer came some months later - Covid19. I didn't get my sense of smell back for some months. A the time I bought it, 12 sprays and I could barely smell it and I described it as 'the far drydown of an amber fragrance'. Now, I can smell its real character as a soft, salty amber with a seaside air like bleached duckboards. I tend to wear this fragrance in spring and early summer, with Ambre Sultan kept for the cooler months.

ANYONE HAVE THIS FOR UK SWAP? :'(

The first and only time I tried this, I dabbed on my wrist, sniffed recklessly, screamed "darn!" and dropped the sample in utmost terror. It disappeared mysteriously and thankfully for good. I don't even want to recall how it smelled like. Thanks!

went on amber/vanilla but masculine; dries down warm and spicy a bit sweet incense; light and soft then down to a musky incense; really like it

This is heavenly! Lots of spicy cinnamon and benzoin on top, creamy tuberose in the middle, and smoky myrrh and salty ambergris in the base. It's crazy that this beauty has been discontinued. I love it!

I bought this during summer and I wasn't impressed at all but, oh my! When I tried later in October it was an undeniable love! It was like a huge cashmere shawl over me, so familiar and yet so sophisticated. When giving a perfume review I think it's important to say something about you that might help in choosing wisely a fragrance so I would start: I'm brunette with a fair skin and brown eyes, over 50 y/o, I'm smoking about 5-6 cigarettes per day (which I would say influence whatever fragrance I wear), I'm not fond of sweet fragrances unless is something exquisite. For example, Twilly from Hermes does not match with me at all, makes me truly sick. As for Balmain Ambre Gris: I do not detect tuberoses, but it's a balanced mixture of myhrr, benzoin, pepper and musk and a splash of cinnamon in an amazing combination! I truly hope that others will find it as sophisticated and intriguing as I do.

too late already went up.Too bad noone will pay those prices when there are nicer ones for less out. At the old price it was an ok buy and fair but at 50+ dollars its just not worth it