New Releases: Amouage Journey (Man and Woman)

Amouage has just released information on its new annual duo, which will be called Journey and which will come in the usual Men and Women‘s pairing. I have received samples of both, thanks to the kindness of Amouage’s Creative Director, Christopher Chong, so you can expect reviews as soon as I’ve tested the fragrances properly.

[UPDATE 5/8/14 — my reviews for both fragrances are now posted: Journey Man and Journey Woman.]

Journey Duo. Source: Amouage Facebook.

Journey Duo. Source: Amouage Facebook.

In the meantime, here is the information released by Amouage on its Facebook page this morning concerning each fragrance and its notes:

Amouage Journey WomanJOURNEY WOMAN:

Floral, Fruity, Leather

Top: Apricot, Jasmine Tea, Osmanthus, Nutmeg, Cardamom

Heart: Jasmine Sambac, Mimosa, Honey, Cedarwood

Base: Pipe Tobacco, Saffron, Vanilla, Cypriol, Musk

 

Amouage Journey ManJOURNEY MAN:

 Woody Spicy

Top: Sichuan Pepper, Bergamot, Cardamom, Neroli Bigarade

Heart: Juniper Berries, Incense, Pure Geraniol, Tobacco Leaves

Base: Tonka Beans, Cypriol, Leather, Ambrox

On Twitter, Mr. Chong posted a photo of a magazine article in which he talked very briefly about the new releases.

If you look very closely at the text at the very bottom, he says:

I’m drawing on my Chinese heritage and culture — I’m really inspired by the underground society of Shanghai in the 1920s. I’ve set myself the challenge to create the type of osmanthus that people haven’t smelt before, blended with white florals, vanilla, and leather.

I think that description applies to Journey Woman, as the men’s version doesn’t contain osmanthus.

As a side note, and if you’ll forgive the tangent, I found Mr. Chong’s interview with Glass magazine to be extremely interesting with regard to a very different matter. If you look closely, you’ll see that he talks about changes in perfume culture in Hong Kong and how the typical stereotype image of Asians disliking strong perfumery is untrue in his (recent) experience. I tried to find the full article online to share with you, but failed. So, if you’ll forgive the brief digression away from the new Journey perfumes, this is the text of one portion of his interview, as best as I can make it out from the photo:

It’s a myth that women in Asia want delicate scents. When I was over there, I presented them with some light, citrus options. They said, “that’s nice.” Then I presented them with the stronger ones, and they were transfixed, as if they had been transported to a different world. Chinese people are realistic — if they’re going to spend a lot of money on a perfume, they want something that is going to last. And ours do last.

Returning to the subject of Journey, according to Mr. Chong, the perfumers who worked under his direction were Alberto Morillas and Pierre Negrin. I didn’t ask if both gentlemen worked on each fragrance, because, frankly, I’ve really pestered Mr. Chong enough with questions, he’s been incredibly patient with me, and I hate feeling like a nuisance.

He did say, however, that Journey will be released in most countries in June. If I learn any additional details, I will update this post.

 

17 thoughts on “New Releases: Amouage Journey (Man and Woman)

  1. I am waiting eagerly to hear your thoughts on both of these! I am glad to hear that even if he is going back to his heritage and culture we shouldn’t expect light and fleeting scents. We can’t have that from Amouage! And I am sure Mr. Chong doesn’t think you are pestering him with questions 🙂

    • You don’t know how many questions I ask! Two days worth. I think the notes were released in part this morning to stop all my questions about it. 😉 I kid, I kid. I know everyone has been curious. lol

      Joking aside, the notes sound fantastic, don’t they? If I didn’t have something on my skin already, I would be spraying right now, but the perfumes arrived just 2 hours ago, so it shall have to wait for tonight. I hope to have the reviews up this week, but Amouage fragrances can require a lot of testing, so we’ll see. I suspect I’ll be getting even less sleep than I usually do for the next few days. 🙂

  2. Journey Woman sounds the most interesting as the honeyed fruity and leathery facets of Osmantus will be tempered and accentuated with apricot top notes, honey middle notes and tobacco, saffron+cypriol for a spiced leathery base note…truly interesting.
    I adore Jasmine Sambac out of all the variants of Jasmine due to its musky fruitiness which is be perfect to be synergised with a slightly lactonic apricot note….However Sambac I found to be notoriously fleeting in any concentration, a reason why I’ve seen it to be used as a top note in most compositions, such as the latest Opus release, so I’m rather suprised to see it here to be used as a middle note. Anyway I still have much to learn about perfumes and it is always a pleasure to smell something new and original.

    • I think they both have notes that are completely up my alley, but the Woman version edges out and wins for the reasons you mentioned. Also, Mimosa in a combination with saffron, pipe tobacco, and apricot-y leathery undertones from the osmanthus??! My word. Haven’t seen any combination like that. Mimosa is rare enough in perfumery, so I’m definitely intrigued. But the Men’s version seems like it will have great bite and fiery spiciness, which also sounds really appealing. The only thing that gives me a moment’s pause with the Men’s version is the Ambroxan.

      I will probably test Journey Woman first as a result. Also, I confess to having a slight bias in favour of Amouage’s Women’s line, simply because they’re not as dry on my skin. They’re richer and deeper with my personal skin chemistry.

      As for Jasmine Sambac, have you tried the new Opus VIII? Was the jasmine fleeting on your skin there too? Because Opus VIII is quite a jasmine powerhouse on my skin, largely from start to finish.

      • I got jasmine, jasmine and more jasmine from Opus VIII. I kept looking for the other notes listed with no success.

        • Such a shame. One of the nice things about Opus VIII for me was its morphing complexity and all the layers, from the orange blossom to the dark bits. Are you spraying or dabbing? In large quantities or small ones? I’m sure you’ve done all of that, so it sounds like Opus VIII simply isn’t showing well on your skin.

      • In Opus vIII i sensed that the two main types of Jasmine was used i.e sambac and officinialis….after the initial gorgeous sambac with spicy notes I was left with the standard jasmine officinialis and orange blossom with a lovely peppery spicy woody background. But the sambac’s characteristics disappeared for me after an hour on application.
        I truly commend Mr Chong in bringing this unusual beauty and truly can’t wait to try it! Osmanthus absolute has got to be one of the most strangest floral absolutes I’ve smelt with its lactonic honeyed apricot and leathery nuance with some resinous spices in the background, when I first smelt it I saw it as a middle/basenote as to me it didn’t have the light volatile molecules to be rendered as top notes. So I’m very interested to smell Journey Woman just to understand how this was rendered to be at the top, with Sambac to be in the middle. Perfumery is such a dramatical art where the scent molecules are the dramatical characters and it takes a truly skilled perfumer/director/artist to make sure each molecule with the right characteristics apear at the right time to create a certain effect. Truly amazing

        • Well, the osmanthus turned out to be a base note on my skin, as you will see from the full review of Journey Woman.

  3. Sleep? When you have Amouge to review! Actually, I hope you like them so much, you can relax and enjoy them (and get some sleep). Eager to hear you thoughts before I go to Dubai.

  4. Awesome, can’t wait to read your review. I do love a new Amouage – especially the womens’ versions.

  5. I doubt you can be a nuisance. I am grateful for your inquisitive nature, dear K, and I cannot wait to see what you think about Journey.
    Have a wonderful week!

    • Ditto.
      I can only hope that the people in the perfume business here (in Japan) will start to understand this too, and that we will finally see a wider variety of perfumes on the shelves. I’m a bit (a lot actually) annoyed every time I go to a fragrance counter and ask after such and such perfume, to be told it is not available in Japan. Estée Lauder doesn’t even sell Sensous here. I think the only ones available are Pleasures, and one or two other light florals. The same goes for niche perfumery: citrus, florals, fruity florals, greens galore. If you want a bold perfume that can pack a punch and make a statement, a powerhouse, you need to go online shopping, often blind buying…

Comments are closed.