I won official Amouage samples of The Library Collection in the draw at Ca Fleure Bon. I was testing them at a leisure pace but since I usually do not do regular reviews and there was no story for me to tell, I didn’t plan on writing anything.
But then several friends from my part of the blogosphere started testing the collection, writing great reviews and discussing their preferences. And we all realized again how different our skin, our noses and our tastes were. So I decided to write some impressions from the volumes I read opuses I tested.
Color me shallow but I like good packaged samples. And The Library Collection samples have a very nice packaging.
Opus I – In this round of testing it became my favorite. I enjoy the opening bitter orange note. As the citrus calms down I get the perfect combination of floral and woodsy notes but I cannot smell any one in particular (and have no complaints about it). I will keep wearing it as long as I have something left in the sample vial. I’ll see if it grows on me.
Opus II – I really enjoy this perfume. On my vSO. I think of it as of a more masculine then feminine scent. Can a woman wear it? Of course! Just not this woman. But I’m going for a secondhand Opus II wearing. Surprisingly this perfume has a much weaker staying power than most creations from Amouage I’ve tried. It lasts just 2-3 hours.
Opus III – for a while I liked this perfume the most from the collection. It wears nicely on all the stages of its development but three-four hours into wearing I like it on my skin most of all. I think it’s slightly heavier than I like for my summer florals but it’s nice. Not love though. I will use up the sample I have but will stop there. I think.
Opus IV – is definitely not my cup of tea. I almost love the citrus grapefruit-lemon-mandarin accord and enjoy it while it lasts, but after it’s gone, on a good day the remaining hours on my skin it smells very earthy and musky and on a bad one all I can smell is urine. All five or six hours. Off it goes on a search for a more appreciating nose (or skin). I hope it will be loved more there.
Opus V – I absolutely love LOVE this perfume’s opening burst of the iris-rum mixture. If only it could stay in that phase for at least half an hour I would have learned to appreciate its further development on my skin. it’s a nice woodsy scent and even agarwood of which I’m not a big fan isn’t too overwhelming. But with 2-3 minutes life of its best stage I just cannot find any reason to wear Opus V when there are so many other perfumes that I enjoy more. But I found already a new loving home for my sample.
When I read criticism of these perfumes (not just likes/dislikes but actually criticism) I always wonder what is the standard with which people compare them. All five perfumes are incredibly complex and regardless of my personal preferences I think they all are worth trying. My heart stays with the “original” Amouage’s line but I will be coming back to several Opuses to see how they feel in different weather, different mood and different circumstances.
Do you have a favorite Opus?
Read mini-reviews for the Collection at beauty on the outside, reviews at From Top to Bottom for Opus II, at eyeliner on a cat for Opus III and Opus V, at Perfume Shrine for Opus I, II & III and Opus V, at the Non-Blonde for Opus II, Opus III and Opus IV and at Eiderdown Press for Opus III.
Image: my own
Undina's Looking Glass 
Very much enjoyed your mini reviews of the Library series, Undina. I’m thinking I really must get a sample of Opus V and give it a whirl; even though you say that you’re only in love with the opening stage of it, your overall description of it sounds like something I’d like. And Carrie’s review has me craving it too. :)
Thanks for the link to my Opus III review. :)
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Thank you, Suzanne.
I think that perfumes that are of such high quality deserve testing. Reading notes tells us something but not much. I hope to read later in your journal how you liked Opus V (BTW, speaking about journals – is there any way to subscribe by e-mail or RSS? I couldn’t find but maybe I wasn’t looking in the right place?
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Hi again, Undina.
Unfortunately I don’t have a way to do an RSS feed with my perfume journal, as it’s not a true blog with blogging software, but rather a page that I created out of my regular website to function as a blog space (long story, which I won’t bore you with). But if you’d like, I can send you an email when I update it.
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Suzanne, if you have a mailing list I’d love to be on it.
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I love Opus IV! There must be two or three of us out there… LOL!
After spending some time with the series, I was increasingly surprised how poorly these seemed to be received in the larger blogosphere—while, as you say, they are incredibly complex, and well worth trying.
Thank you for linking to my mini’s! :)
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Dee, my Opus IV goes to Tarleisio so we’ll see if she joins you in liking it.
I was surprised as well by the reaction to the collection: if none of these – so much different, complex and well made perfumes – is good, which one is?
Thank you for your mini-reviews: you were my Muse :)
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Yuck! Opus IV! That was my third scrubber – forgot to mention it in my last comment :(
However. I have matured, and whatever was in Opus IV was what I did not like in any of the Tauers I tried… Perhaps it is time to revisit? In fact, I’m going to go now to my sample drawer, and spray whatever Tauer you like (based off of you blog posts) on my wrists (it’s 2am).
*goes scouring through your blog*
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Be careful with Tauer’s perfumes! They will stay with you for hours – especially if you do not like them! :)
I absolutely love Une Rose Vermeille, like L’Air du desert marocain, grew to appreciate Zeta and still am thinking on Lonestar Memories and Une Rose Chypree. Carillon pour un ange, Eau d’Epices and Le Maroc pour elle as well as all Pentachords are a definitive NO.
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I tried Incense Rose and reviewed it today; quite proud of myself haha!
Yes, this one is staying, and I’m annoyed because it means no bed-time testing. :(
I coincidentally tried le maroc pour elle last night before bed (before reading your post haha!), and it wasnt bad on me. Just not exactly groundbreaking or “me”. Smelled familiar somehow.
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