The Library Collection Opus I Amouage for women and men

Opus I starts out with a blast of cardamom followed by a hint of jasmine, that trough time, gets higher and higher, leaving us in the heart, with a fragrance totally devoted to the floral aspect, where jasmine is mixed with other floral notes.

At the base, we then have the appearance of woody notes and a hint of incense, serving as a balance between the intense feminine aspect at the top and heart, and this masculine aspect at the base.

This is way too much. Opulence and richness are very dengerous territories in perfumeyr as they can easily cross the border of excess and vulgarity. Opus I may not result vulgar but it's surely excessive. Way too sweet, way too strong, totally unbalanced. An overwhelming white floral potpourri/tuberose combo that's absolutely devastating. I can't smell anything else, sorry.

Rating: 4/10

I am a (gay) flamboyant man that loves floral but even this is too floral and too flat for me. I like the somewhat piney, citrussy opening with a short burst of plum. Then the roses take over and I mean the TUBEROSES, lol. I am not a big fan of tuberose to begin with and with the support of jasmine, ylang-ylang and Lilley-of-valley, the tuberose gets another extra boost. Somewhat reminiscent of "Amarige" by GIVENCHY with those musky heavy white flowers, just a bit lighter in this concotion.
Definitely a nice fit for a blonde woman on a summer's day but sadly not for me.
I cannot day I love this one. Not the most memorable of scents either.
NEXT!

For my nose this is the least favorite from the Opus Line, much too flat for the price tag for sure..too many different notes, nothing distinguishable at first but later I got some vanille or tonka been note that I could not wear on my skin. Not even exciting enough for a decant for me..

Opus I is not chypre for me. It`s more like a oriental floral i think. It seems like a cross of Kingdom, Dune, Dolce & Gabbana Pour Femme and the original giorgio. They kind of condensed some aspects of each composition and created a huge, spicy floral. There`s something that smells very cummin on me on this one, which reminds me of an indian store. It`s a cummin-curry accord, in the way of Kingdom, but with a more pronounced rose a la Dune, a soapy, carnal rose. The other flowers seems to be more in the background for me, and there`s a kind of fruity-flower accord that starts on the top notes and seems to goes and disappears. It`s kind of the combination of plum, tuberose and ylang-ylang, camphoraceous, fruity, indolic and loud. It seems like the flower aromas of Giorgio and the original dolce & gabbana, but less loud and without the aldeihidic aspect.

This is so thoroughly blended that even in the opening it was hard for me to make out individual notes. It’s a unique and original smell all its own, but it reminds me of something I can’t quite put my finger on, possibly a perfume that my mother had when I was a child. I suppose the emergence of a unique scent is the mark of a good perfume.

If I were hard pressed to say what it smells like, I would describe it as a gourmand floral, or a slightly spicy plum scented with old-fashioned violets, tuberose, camphor, and tonka. It’s not what I would call a chypre. OK. I’ll narrow it down primarily to a tonka-violet combo. Odd, because violet isn’t listed in the notes. This must be one of those chameleon perfumes that behaves very differently on different people, because I don’t get much of the white floral and LOTV that others here complain about. Believe me, if I did I would scrub.

As the heart develops, there’s a key-lime-pie note that creeps in, boosting the gourmand aspect. There’s plenty of sillage, but it’s enjoyable, never crossing the line into excess. To me, the key-lime-pie note persists into the drydown, dominating any resins and woods that might be there.

The fragrance is still going strong at the end of the day, so I would say that its longevity on skin is about 24 hours. It sticks around for days on clothing. I actually like Opus I very much and, while I wouldn’t rush out and buy it even if I could afford to, if someone wanted to give me a bottle as a gift I certainly wouldn’t complain.

This has a wonderful opening but too quickly the white floral heart takes over. Now, these are NOT "old lady" white flowers, but what they are is rich and opulent and sheer and airy.

Yes, that may sound like a contradiction, rich and sheer? Opulent and airy? But it's true. They are rich but diaphonous, but the problem is that there is no counterpoint to them for hours. What starts out as a beautiful heart becomes a bit ugly and then even annoying as the hours go by. Finally the woods of the base begin to peak through and again some balance is restored, but it's already too late.

It may work on others' skin better than my own, so it's worth a sniff. I think this scent is the most feminine of the Opus trio (with III being almost right in the middle of the masculine/feminine divide, and II leaning slightly masculine). Longevity and sillage are excellent, as is usual with Amouage.

What I can smell on the first place is lily of the valley. For me it is a bad news.....
With the plum and cardamom it goes really weird.
A bit later maybe tubarose is more emphatic, but I am not sure. I wouldn't say it is a chypre scent.It has an almost sweet, woody, bit fruity(how can it be?) smell, notes can hardly be found inside the frag, it is complex, rich, and queer. Really-really interesting. But I could not wear this.
The price? Well, I wouldn't pay $325 for this stuff.

I'm a beginner, so I got a sample of several classic/must smell decants... this is the first I received.

If they are all as good as this, I may have to retire and spend the rest of my life sniffing my wrists.

LOL

The opening of Opus I is very complex and promising. But as Kterhark mentioned, the heart of the perfume isn't very special. But the drydown is very vanilla/benzion which I like but don't want to wait several hours for.
However I wouldn't say that the difference between Opus I and a $50 bottle goes unnoticed.

This opens with a pine note, which I like. It's very refreshing. Unfortunately after the opening it takes a turn for the litter box and stays there.

This was a scrubber on me. I'm now trying it again just to make sure, and nope, the kitty is still sitting on the box with this one.

I'm baffled how this could have gone so wrong. A Chypre? With plum, ylang ylang, rose and incense? This required an effort to bomb. I'd be willing to place hard earned cash on the table that if you blindfolded someone and stuck this under their nose, followed by a similar ingredient fragrance that was less than $50, the sniffer wouldn't be able to pick the $325 bottle.

Sorry to be catty, but i was expecting more from this price tag.