Amber fragrances

They refer to the same fragrance family. Oriental was the term used throughout most of the twentieth century to describe warm, deep, resinous fragrances. In recent years the fragrance industry has moved to amber as the preferred descriptor, recognising that oriental is a broad and reductive term that groups together enormously diverse cultures and geographies under a single label. Amber is more accurate: it describes the sensory character of the fragrance rather than an attitude toward the world.

It is both, depending on context, and the distinction matters. Amber the fragrance family is a broad category of warm, deep, resinous scents. Amber as a note in a fragrance list is usually an accord rather than a single material, built from labdanum, benzoin and vanilla, which is where the warm, skin-close quality comes from. Ambergris is a separate thing and is listed under its own name, or as ambrox, the synthetic that has largely replaced it. The fossilised tree resin also called amber is a third thing again, with its own scent and occasional use in perfumery.

Warm, deep and enveloping. There is usually a resinous quality, a sense of sweetness that does not tip into cloying, and a particular closeness to skin that other fragrance families do not have in quite the same way. Amber fragrances tend to linger and deepen over time rather than fading quickly. They feel, more than almost anything else, like comfort.

Two: Highland Retreat, Scotland and Night Blooms, India. They are very different expressions of the family. Highland Retreat is warm, smoky and deeply enveloping: wool and firelight. Night Blooms is heady, spiced and glamorous: the splendour of an Indian night rather than the hills. Island Breeze, Seychelles sits with the florals, though the patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla and amber underneath it give a warmth that amber lovers recognise at once.

Ambergris is a rare substance produced in the digestive systems of sperm whales. It has a warm, marine, almost ethereal quality and was one of the most prized ingredients in perfumery for centuries. It is now almost entirely replaced by synthetic alternatives that replicate its warmth and skin-close quality. Where a perfume wants that effect today, it almost always uses these synthetics, ambrox the best known, rather than the original material.

Yes. Each fragrance is built like a fine perfume, with top notes that open it, a heart that develops over the first hour, and a base that stays in the room. Highland Retreat, Scotland, for example, opens on cognac and smoke, moves into smoked cinnamon, clove and leather, and settles into sandalwood, vetiver and amber. Our journal piece on top, heart and base notes explains how to read a fragrance this way.

Night Blooms, India. Opulent jasmine sambac, clove and vanilla make it warm and sensual, and it fills a room without crowding it. It is the one to light before people arrive.