Amarige is the floral Dominique Ropion created for Givenchy in 1991, and its name is an anagram of “mariage,” the French word for marriage. Today the house describes it through three materials, gardenia, mimosa and precious woods, and links it to the shores of the Mediterranean. Its bottle, designed by Pierre Dinand, draws on the ruffled sleeves of a blouse created by Hubert de Givenchy.
Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez file it among the “killer” tuberoses without denying it an unforgettable character; Anne-Marie (Australian Perfume Junkies, 2015) and Portia (Perfume Posse, 2018) come to its defense.
Olfastory’s review
The Turin and Sanchez guide: a killer tuberose
In their 2008 guide, Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez classify Amarige among the “killer” tuberoses and give it just one star. They admit, however, that they nearly gave it four, so impossible to miss or forget is the green, soapy, tobacco-tinged tuberose accord Ropion designed.
Australian Perfume Junkies: Anne-Marie’s defense
On December 27, 2015, Anne-Marie owned up to loving one of the most reviled fragrances on the counter. She compares it to the era’s other scoundrels, in Luca Turin’s word, Giorgio Beverly Hills and Elizabeth Arden’s Red Door, whose tuberose strikes her as harsh and synthetic.
In Amarige, by contrast, the tuberose seems balanced to her and blended with the other notes, especially a joyful peach. To those who find it too strong, she simply replies that it is enough to wear less, and that no one is forced to spray it sixteen times.
Perfume Posse: bolder than before
In June 2018, Portia found it more daring, more alluring and more outrageous than she remembered, with far less screech than when she used to wear it. The whole seemed to her to have deepened and burnished with time, in a small bottle bought on sale.
She describes a fruity opening carried by the creamy yellow richness of ylang, radiant in a different way from today’s luminous florals. In the heart, mimosa, ylang and white flowers come together harmoniously.