Kenzo Amour
Kenzo (2006)

On me, this is a scrubber. Plastic, chemical, horrid. There's a weird chemical/medical smell that is tickling something in my memory bank that I can't quite pull into conscious recall but I've smelled this before, one of those "I opened a box from _____ and smelled THIS smell." I get no florals, no spice, and nothing edible (referencing the rice notes in the pyramid) just something that reminds me of a manufacturing process.

Sweet vanilla blended with cherry blossom that reminds me of soda pop. Then, creamy rice, milky tea. Oriental to nearly tropical frangipani flower. Sweet, dry heliotrope with an almond-y, marzipan feel. Boozy wood smell.

Later it settles into a cashmere wood accord, with the mash-up of wood and incense, vanilla and musk. It's somewhat linear, overall. I wear this any time of the year. Some days I love it more than other days. It can be cloying if sprayed too liberally.

The opening of Kenzo Amour is almost creamy vanilla and rice. Yes, like everyone's already pointed out, rice pudding! There is also a slight spiciness bringing an exotic vibe.

Amour evolves smoothly. The floral notes sneak out discretly and blend so well in the vanilla. Frangipani turns a little sour on me, which also happens with some other white flowers, and I'm ok with it. Heliotrope adds a powdery aspects to the fragrance and cherry blossom revives the smooth composition.

The flowers mellow after about 7 hours and it turns into a vanilla skin scent and lingers around for another 3 or 4 hours.

This is not the sparkling love at first sight, but a love that lasts for a lifetime, comforts and supports you, makes you feel home. And the ad campaign illustrates it so well : comforting, but with an exotic vibe. The bottle is lovely. I adore the curved figure. However, once I removed the cap to spray, the elegant crane turns into a chubby hen. = =+ lol.

Though many describe it comforting and relatively safe, which I agree, it is indeed sweet. I like sweet vanilla, so it's not a problem. But I can imagine this might already be too sweet for some people. I suggest testing, especially if you usually don't have a sweet nose. Though the scent has a soft caracter, it is intense while remaining close to skin. You may not want to overapply.

I love the sweetness in this. The vanilla and almond make me think of a lighter version of hypnotic poison. So good.

Vanilla heaven or hell … depends on how much you love/hate vanilla!
This is a simple but at the same time very sensual and yummy fragrance based and mostly dominated by vanilla so if you don't like vanilla, stay away!

Right off the bat and after spraying it on your skin you will get hit by strong and at the same time smooth blast of vanilla with some green and slightly peppery notes. vanilla here is warm and sweet but in creamy way and that green and slightly bitter smell in the background helps to balance the sweetness of vanilla perfectly. best thing to describe vanilla smell in this fragrance would be vanilla ice-cream. It's a little sweeter than vanilla ice-cream but it has a mellow and smooth vanilla which isn't potent and overly sweet.

After a few minutes and when things starting to smooth down a beautiful and mellow white floral kind of smell shows up that beside vanilla and that green smell adds more character and beauty to the scent. as time passes by more that bitter green and slightly bitter feeling at the opening starts to get bolder and stronger and creates a strong bitter green and kind of an aromatic scent with some peppery aura that pushes vanilla in the background for couple of hours. the mid is a bitter, aromatic and green smell mixed with creamy sweet vanilla and some floral notes that they also have mellow powdery feel as well but not too much.

In the base again vanilla comes in front while it gets sweeter from previous parts and that bitter feeling goes in the background. it's a lovely vanilla based fragrance but since it's a linear and long lasting fragrance you may get bored! be aware of that! projection is very good but not in your face and very harsh and longevity is around 10-12 hours on the skin. it's a cold weather fragrance so don't even think of using it in spring and summer or even warm fall days!

Genre: Oriental Floral

With a Base Note of Vanilla and the added warmth of heliotrope, I can see how this fragrance is categorized as a gourmand by some people's nose.

On my body chemistry this fragrance has an encompassing tropical assault quality to it. It is primarily a floral, but with a heady, hedonistic, drugged emotional effect. Frangipani envelopes all levels of this fragrance to the point where the resultant blend would be best described as very ripe banana cocktail on a wood lounger surrounded with dewy flower petals.

I do not pick up any of the white tea in Amour. It could be that to my nose, it is drowned out by the florals. To me, this is not your typical Vanilla fragrance. If it were, I would not have picked it up. Nor would I call it creamy or milky. It does possess a deep warmth that builds and expands, Perhaps the rice steam contributes to this effect. Starchy, perhaps could describe it. Rice is not a note I have experienced in other fragrances.

This is not an easy fragrance to wear. I am still on the fence about it four years after buying it at Cancun airport during a vacation in the Mayan Riviera. My main genre is florals as that is the fragrance family that works best with my chemistry. Out of Kenzo's line, I chose this one. Kenzo Amour is not sweet, as in sugary or candy, what I would call Carnival smells. Nor does it bring up marzipan, in my opinion. I am not much of a fan of gourmands as a rule, so any obvious hit of vanilla or bakery is a no thanks.

My husband does enjoy an interesting gourmand fragrance. This was a spur of the moment, "maybe something for each of us" purchase. It is that, in a rather complicated way. I think it calls for a very specific personality or mood to carry it. I would call it, ripe and humid. Perhaps not an overly sophisticated fragrance, Amour is not an easy or simple one, either. That is where the charm and allure lies. It makes me think of a 1950s Hawaiian themed cocktail party around a pool in heels and sundress and a Mai Tai in my hand. On me it has a killer longevity 24+ hours. The sillage is influential.