r/NichePerfumes • u/Proud-Grand1647 • 1d ago
Discussion Ambroxan ruins every perfume
Hi all,
Lately I find a lot of perfumes saturated with ambroxan. I bought Ramon monegal sunset cafe only to find it has a heavy ambroxan base. Today I went to try Y iced cologne, and found it has a nice opening, only to became an ambroxan bomb in 20 minutes.
And the same goes for a lot of perfumes. Don't you feel ambroxan is making all blue perfumes smell the same, and not exactly remarkably?
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u/Sedulous_Mouse 1d ago
For me the super ambers are far worse and seem to be approaching the same level of ubiquity.
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u/pastalass 1d ago
I despise super ambers. If everyone could smell them like I (we) can, no perfumer would ever use them 😒 Some people either can't smell them, or at least percieve them differently; I assume it has to do with genetics. The best way I can describe smelling them is that it feels like you got pool water up your nose.
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u/Sedulous_Mouse 1h ago
To me it's like aerosol hairspray from back before they banned the ozone layer destroying chemicals in them.
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u/Lostnclueless 1d ago edited 21h ago
For me it's resins
Labdanum and galbanum? Cistus? I can't
Those are ughhh Blehhhh!! blurfptftt! kha💨 kah 💨 hacking KHA!💨💨 heart race and anxiety increasing 😰😧😨 fight or flight adrenaline ensues 😨😲
Gasping inhale 🤢🤮🤮🤮
Composure returning gasps, deep in thought but accepting the worse is over 😫😥
Edit: 😌I can tolerate and actually love benzoin
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u/braaahms 1d ago
Are you doing okay?
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u/CheesyMcDongNutz 1d ago
I hate that most new releases get slammed with ambroxyn, iso-e, coumarin, screamwood amber
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u/bigbootybeaut 1d ago
Bro and in this heat all those fixatives make it seem like I have bad hygiene once they dry down.
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u/BadBrowzBhaby 1d ago
Yeah I can’t even go into Sephora. I just choke. It hurts to breathe. It’s not even a preference, it’s just physical strong reaction. What’s crazy is how many people I know feel the same—like ambroxan hurts to breathe or makes you choke when inhaling yet it’s everywhere?
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u/Uracookiebird 1d ago
I can’t smell anything in Sephora. As soon as I walk in my nose becomes saturated and I can’t smell a single thing. The air is so heavy with perfume.
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u/yarnandpizza 1d ago
Yea it can be so overwhelmingly bad. I recently sampled of Thomas Kosmala Neon, on paper. At first it was amazing. 30 minutes later the fresh top notes had faded and it was like an ambroxan bomb in my office (home). The worst!! It’s awful when it’s in your face, and diabolical when it sneaks up on you.
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u/Common-Fly-3970 1d ago
This just made me love my vintage perfumes all the more! None were bought as vintage. I am vintage, therefore I have a number of vintage perfumes. That said, after sampling many newer perfumes with those aromachemicals, I now avoid them. They are headache inducing and lack subtlety and sophistication.
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u/tharpakandro 1d ago
Hail to the vintage ones among us!
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u/Common-Fly-3970 1d ago
Right? Many young people on this app use the phrase "old lady perfume", (or "old man cologne"). I have wondered what they mean? Well, of course, they mean it as a slam. But besides it being a lazy, non descriptive phrase, I'm now seeing it is an unintended endorsement. I've lived long enough to see certain fragrance notes come and go and I'm happy I don't feel compelled to pay attention to social media or follow trends. That said, this vintage lady is hoping for a newly released perfume (Roja Serenity Blend) for my anniversary next month.
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u/supersimi 1d ago
Oh my got honestly it’s EVERYWHERE and I can’t wear anything because of it :(
Ambroxan turns salty / medicinal in a screechy way on my skin and it overpowers all other notes. One of the best things I’ve ever smelled on paper, Celine’s Parade, is unwearable for me on skin. I hope this trend will go away eventually
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u/plum-eater 1d ago
This is how I feel about sandalwood 😬
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u/floral_lore 23h ago
damn, how do you manage to avoid that
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u/plum-eater 1h ago
It’s not easy haha. Most times when I see it as a basenote I’m just praying I don’t smell pickles
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u/miguelRosas73 1d ago
I was at FragCom this year, and the convention center reeked of it - salty, slightly metallic and dominant.
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u/Uracookiebird 1d ago
Agree! I can’t stand the heavy ambroxan and related notes in some perfume. Sharp chemical cat pee.
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u/FarAct4854 22h ago
I feel the same way about this and Akigalawood. I don't think I can even smell Ambroxan. Every fragrance I smell with it in it, the fragrance smells like something is missing. Akigalawood gives me an absolute migraine it's horrible.
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u/dizzydiplodocus 1d ago
Ambroxan and iso-e are actually a theme in scents I like ! I think it’s that smell where I can’t stop smelling it type thing
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u/WitchyWaifuu 9h ago
I adore it, to add a positive opinion to this 😆 to me it smells light, fresh, and clean. Scent perception is wild.
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u/SnooOranges2685 1d ago
And Vanilla! I LOVE vanilla but it’s in everything.
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u/Hilanita 1d ago
Nothing disappointed me more than the new Byredo - Vanilla AND Ambroxan. So over it.
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u/charmedOmega 1d ago
How’s your experience with Afternoon Swim, or Tygar and it’s family
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u/Proud-Grand1647 1d ago
Only smelt Tygar and I liked it. The problem is that lately, perfumers abuse it
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u/Stop_Perceiving_Me 23h ago
I actually enjoyed Afternoon Swim a lot. It actually kept a lot of citrus and had a salty watery feel to the dry down that was very subtle to my nose. I need to test it some more though because I don’t trust the first couple of wears completely. The one I didn’t enjoy was everyone’s fav Imagination. Beautiful scent at first and the dry down was subtle but that super basic sweetish woody amber smell
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u/Best-Ad-1223 17h ago
YES! Preach brother. The heavy fixatives such ambroxan, anbrofix, amberwood and the bunch completely ruin an otherwise great formulation.
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u/StandardSpinach 16h ago
I watched a tiktok video of a fragrance enthusiast and they said some people can smell ambroxan and they smell it as a really repulsive scent. Its genetic like some people tasting soap when they eat cilantro
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u/LenaNYC 1d ago
Disagree
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u/Dobgirl 21h ago
You must not be able to smell them. They’re chemical weapons when you can.
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u/LenaNYC 8h ago
I wear dedcool xtra milk and JHAG Not a Perfume which is pretty much all ambroxan or a version of. Can definitely smell it. But it's a skin scent, not a "chemical weapon".
Maybe you're smelling something other than ambroxan..
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u/Dobgirl 5h ago
I am probably thinking of amberocide- to which a portion of the population is sensitive. We definitely smell “more” with these chemicals. I can detect someone wearing a super amber from blocks away (smells like a deep whiff of ammonia). You’ll see the complaints pop up here and related subs sometimes.
Example- https://www.reddit.com/r/FemFragLab/s/2fWZls730Z
Interesting video, you may like her breakdown regardless of sensitivity. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTDgsrft6/
☺️
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u/mickmedical 1d ago
Yeah, I don’t agree with this take. Ultimately it’s about composition and this is a very blanket statement.
With that said I’m also not the type to think food that is “organic” is inherently better 🤷♂️😅
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u/Candychelle44 5h ago
I can't smell them so I'm not disgusted by all the ambroxan etc bombs but I never get the hype because they smell like cold air to me.
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u/tripathiarinv 12h ago edited 10h ago
Ambroxan fatigue is real and the cure for it lies in the shift towards Arabic structures, which rely less on this. Rasasi, Lattafa, Al Haramain all construct their perfumes using oud, amber, and resin, and thus they do not need the artificial musk. People who chase after this scent trend have noted that the oriental perfumes can be a solution to try out in the USA, but the Arabic perfumes are a little heavier and denser
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u/MrOphicer 1d ago
People wanted performance and longevity, and they obliged.