The Library Collection Opus IV Amouage for women and men

Opus IV actual pyramid:

Top Notes
Coriander, Lemon, Mandarin, Grapefruit

Middle Notes
Elemi, Cardamom, Cumin, Rose Berries, Rose, Violet Leaves

Base Notes
Peru Balsam, Labdanum, Frankincense, Animalic Notes, Musk

Among the Opus series, IV it's probably the more interesting (still waiting to try VI, though). I would personally classify it as a sweet incense bomb. Spices and light citruses serve as an introduction to a massive smoky woody/incensey base with pronounced animalic undertones, musk and rose patterns. The huge balsamic component and the labdanum provide a consistent dose of sweetness to an otherwise severe concoction of resins and spices leading the fragrance towards opulence and thickness.

Downline: If you're up for a minimalistic incense a-là Cardinal, you should porbably stay carefully away from Opus IV, instead, if opulence, complexity and power is what you're after, this is surely worth checking out. Very good prjection, 10+ hrs lasting power, perfectly unisex.

Rating: 7-7.5/10

Ok really!! This one is a horrible concoction of something bad and terrible. It's lost in between something. I rec'd a sample of it today and my daughter said yuk! What's that mom. I have never smelled anything of the sort. Imagine mixing chanel, tom ford and theirry mugler's angel together. What aroma would you get? A most hated brew! That is what this one smells like. Wow! I"m so glad I aire on the side of caution in regards of clicking my mouse to order things from this line. One must take it slow with this Opus. O'h by the way, Opus V is straight. I mean damn straight. I'm getting that for my hubby.lls

Yes, yes, yes.

This scent is like reading a beautiful, ancient novel that slowly unfolds & unfurls, page by page, on your skin - strange, compelling, addictive, exotic, timeless.

If you like resinous-incense scents, you will love Opus IV.

The opening is citrus & quite bright: green & luminous with a fresh sappy note. The overall colour-feel is a luminescent sunrise glow (Originaldeftom - we are on the same page in this olfactory book). It is deep & yet translucent, rich yet never sickly, incense-smokey without the fire.

The resin-sap note begins to glow in the intense dry heat of the incense. And the incense is the good kind... a little churchy, a little hippy, a little exotic. It is the same that I find in the Chai Chapel Earth incense that you burn on hot coals which gives a slight touch-of-the-sauna to the scent.

Underneath, I am aware of a sharp metallic note - never unpleasant, just intriguing. I burn frankincense & love this tangy aspect it imparts. I do not detect any sweaty notes AT ALL (& I often have trouble with cumin in perfume). The dryness is delightful - I love a parched scent! Sunbaked papyrus pages in a desert where gnarled trees ooze resinous sap & the ground smells of baked clay.

IMO, it is neither masculine nor feminine; not quite eastern, never western...this is one of those rare scents that will transport you away from the hububb of your life. I would enjoy this on any skin as it has an otherwordly quality & a story-telling ability that I admire in perfumery.

Amouage perfumes can sometimes appear to try to hard & be just too, too much but this one is a real understated treat.

Simply put: WANT.

@ Velb95: I could not disagree with your review more. I think this scent is a masterpiece! Every perfume should be tried first on skin and observed in its olfactory and body phermone reaction, before committing to buying a £195 bottle (lol). I appears to me as a "no-braining" exercise (unless you are the winner of the recent £166m jackpot....and even then why would you wanna have a scent that you do not agree with?!?)

I cannot wait to buy the scent for this upcoming autumn/ XMas season.

Just try a different one if you do not like this one. Simplez! (said like Meerkat)

Well crafted!!!
It is very close to the smell of Agarwood as incense, I mean the smell of burnt(at lower temperature) agarwood, Kyara.
Kyara is very much high quality Jin-koh(agarwood incense).
The good point is incense-like smell stays for a while, longer than the incense, of course.
Very Asian type of smell, rather than Arabian.
Touching.
Thank you.

True that cumin note is quite strong in this fragrance, but on me it is the strongest in the base. At the very first spray I get a bright incense note which reminds me a bit of Josef Statkus fragrance. I can also smell something like caramelised sugar note in it which makes me think of SL Arabie. On my skin OPUS IV is not as if I hadn't been to the shower for ages :) It does work with my skin chemistry very well. It is a strong, rich, spicy, smokey fragrance. For me Opus IV is India in the bottle.

That's right cumin (not caraway!!!) here is very strong and when you wear this perfume you feel like you didn't took a shower for a week. Other persons (I mean your friends, that feel free to tell you this) ask you: "didn't you have the time for a shower today?"

I can understand that Amouage intended to add to this perfume some "natural and wild man's smell", but when them realized that the disaster perfumery was created instead, Amouage decided to bring it to "charity" to 50% of the costs, which will be devoted to the fight against HIV in Oman, covering this way at least all the costs of production.

It costs you EUR 290, I've ordered it because of great head notes and because of other 3 great Amouage Opuses I've ordered before, but now I understand that I won't ever use it.

I also told about this problem of cumin hard smell to Amouage administration manager Mr. Joyce Henderson (Amouage UK office). He respond me that he supposes that I have to take a shower more frequently and that me and my skin both are the problem for Amouage Opus IV and not vice versa. So, I think that it was the last time, I've ordered Amouage perfumes.


Il cumino in Opus IV è un vero disastro, perché in questo caso è troppo forte, perciò quando indossi questo profumo, ti senti come se non avessi fatto la doccia per almeno di una settimana. Altre persone (ovviamente, gli amici che si sentono in confidenza da dirtelo) ti chiedono se “non avessi avuto il tempo per la doccia oggi”. E finché non ti lavi, sei condannato a girare tra la gente con una sensazione schifosa di puzzare come un vagabondo.

Posso capire che Amouage intendeva di aggiungere a questo profumo l’odore selvatico “naturale” dell’uomo, ma quando ha capito che avrebbe creato un disastro profumerico, ha deciso di portalo a “beneficenza” a 50% delle spese, che saranno devolute per la lotta contro l’HIV in Oman, coprendo così almeno tutte le spese di produzione.

Vorrei ricordarvi che il costo di Opus IV è di EUR 290 (e non sono pochi!). Io l’ho comprato insieme con altre 3 Opus (che sono delle vere creazioni meravigliose), a causa delle sue note di testa nolto piacevoli, ma ora capisco che non lo potrò indossare mai.

I tested this fragrance from Lucky Scent. It's spicy, but I smelled more incense. I like incense, so that was ok, however, warning to you girls, it has a very strong musky scent also; must be the cumin. In fact the cumin, if that's the note, smells alot like body odor; someone who hasn't showered- and it's strong! Yikes!! It's not terrible, but it wasn't for me.

Have smelled it in Selfridges and tested on my skin.

Absolutely beautiful and a very warm citrussy, spicy, herbaceous concotion full of yellow, orange and marigold tones....like an olfactory sunrise...on your skin.

Not overly heavy or cloying like "Gold" and definitely more European in structure and appearance.

The incense gives it a churchy note that unfolds subtly from underneath all the citrus notes.

All in all a very, very likeable and well rounded Mediterranean citrus with warm undertones.

I'd say an excellent evening summer scent or even a winter daytime. If you like AQUA DI PARMA, you'll love this!!

Expensive but you'll know that some 15% of retail revenues are being given to HIV/AIDS charities in Oman as a symbolic acknowledgement of WOrld Aids Day 2010.

AMEN!

Not a review as I haven't smelled it yet but I thought I should mention that the official Amouage page lists *cumin* and not caraway as a note.