Amor Amor

Amor Amor was released in 2003, in a decade that produced many fruity florals for young women. Cacharel sought a successor to Anaïs Anaïs and Loulou, and entrusted the formula to two perfumers from the IFF house.

Two IFF perfumers, and a collaboration cut short by death

Dominique Ropion trained at the Roure Bertrand Dupont school, in Grasse, before becoming one of IFF's leading perfumers. His signature covers Amarige, Alien and La Vie est belle: dense constructions, often built on a raw material pushed to an extreme.

Laurent Bruyère, for his part, did not come from the establishment. Self-taught, he joined IFF in 1999 according to the magazine Nez, after starting out at Daniel Harlant and a stint at Charabot. Ropion became his mentor there.

Their collaboration would not last. Bruyère left IFF for Mane in 2008 and died on November 19 of the same year. He was 43 according to Now Smell This and the magazine Nez, 44 according to his publisher: the discrepancy remains unresolved.

A biography was devoted to him in 2013, written by Soraya Bouvier Feder with a preface by perfumer Jean-Michel Duriez. Amor Amor is listed among the formulas that brought him public recognition.

What the house says, and what it does not confirm

The brand narrative fits into one image: a love potion, a declaration, a love that cannot be measured. The brand announces an opening of pink grapefruit, blood orange and mandarin, followed by jasmine and apricot.

It also presents the bottle as a pomegranate. The word recurs in the house's communications, which settles a question that retailer descriptions alone had long left open.

By contrast, the anecdote circulating about an inspiration drawn from the perfumes of the perfumer's teenage daughter appears in none of the sources consulted, neither from the brand nor in the specialized press. It is not repeated here.

A classification on which sources disagree

Olfastory classifies Amor Amor as floral, with fruity and oriental facets. The magazine Nez classifies it outright among ambers, gourmand style. Bois de Jasmin ranks it as the best fruity floral while noting that it leans toward oriental.

The disagreement is not an error on anyone's part. It reflects that the vanilla, amber and sandalwood in the base weigh heavily enough to shift the fragrance from one family to another depending on when it is smelled.

The juice sold today and the one from 2003

Long-time wearers report, both on Nez and on specialized forums, that the recently repurchased bottle no longer has the fruity bite of the original. No communication from the house documents a reformulation.

Caution is warranted on both sides. Regulatory restrictions have changed countless formulas since 2003, and olfactory memory shifts over time. The comparison can no longer be made blind.