Ancienne Ambiance is a London-based luxury niche brand which was founded back in 2004 and they specialise in creating fine fragrances, home fragrances, body-care, perfumes and natural hand-poured scented candles. I was lucky enough to gifted a stunning Bacca Berry Candle at the beginning of this year and it was just divine. Everything you find from Ancienne Ambiance is paraben free, has been created using natural ingredients and has recyclable packaging.
With Christmas on the horizon, I have, only the past few months been getting myself acquainted with some incredible fragrances from Ancienne Ambiance and it has been quite a journey. You may or may not be aware that at the end of August, I managed to slip over and tear my ankle ligaments in my left ankle, now let me tell you, it is excruciatingly painful, even now as I am still wearing an ankle brace, and London is not very friendly to someone on crutches, so when this little package arrived, it really made me smile.
Packaged inside this Natural 'Goddess Canvas Pouch' (£22 here), which is just so well made and incredibly roomy, I found a neat little package of five 15ml rollerball fragrances to test and try out. These fragrances come from the new Colonia Collection and if you know someone who loves their luxurious fragrances, then these would be a great gift. Within this collection, which is limited, there are three Eau de Toilettes and two Eau de Parfums, so the first three are perfect for wearing during the day and the final two are slightly more intense and perfect for evening wear.
The first fragrance is Colonia IV and it is described as being an uplifting traditional citrus fragrance and if you love your citrussy scents, then this is one which will tick those boxes for you. It has top notes of Italian Lemon, Italian Red Tangerine, Brazilian Sweet Orange, Italian Bergamot which gives it an opening burst of citrus before the middle notes of French Lavender, French Orange Blossom come through to allow the base notes of Tonka Bean, White Musc allow the fragrance to settle taking out the sharpness of the citrus to leave the most beautiful uplifting scents.
The second fragrance is Colonia VI and it sits within the fruity family. What I like about this fragrance is that having read the notes which accompany it, it wasn't at all like I expected. With top notes of Florida Orange, Argentinian Lemon it opens quite sharply and definitely grabs your attention before the middle notes of Blackcurrant Bud, Geranium come through with the floral notes and more intense fruit note which for me then dominate the scent. The base notes of Vineyard Peach and White Musc are not powerful enough to control the fragrance, but after a few hours the scent of peaches comes through and as the strength of the fragrance finally wears down, for me, it is the Peach that is the surviving note - it is this I was not expecting.
The final of the three EDT fragrances is Colonia VII and if you could bottle the scent of Summer, then this for me is it. It sits within the Citrus/Fruit family and opens with notes of Italian Pink Grapefruit and Italian Tangerine and here we have two notes that are equally powerful but so well suited to work together in this way. The middle notes of Blackcurrant Bud and Italian Blood Orange only work to intensify the sharpness of those opening notes before the base notes of Marshmallow and White Musc settle the fragrance down to bring in a bit of sweetness. It is just absolutely stunning and my favourite of the three daytime EDT fragrances.
When we move to the Eau de Parfum, there is a stark difference between the two for me and the first is the intensity of the scent itself and the second is the longevity of the scent once applied. With the EDP they last much longer on the skin, for me, I switched them over and wore the EDP's during the daytime and they lasted the entire day without the need to re-apply whereas the EDT's would have needed reapplying if I was going out of an evening.
The first of the EDP fragrances is Colonia VIII and it sits firmly within the woody family but there is a sweetness to it. It has top notes which are described as being 'Green Notes' and it is here the fragrance takes its shape and remains strong throughout. if you have ever been lucky enough to be surrounded by ripe fig trees, then for me, this is that scent and it is just beautiful and fresh. The middle notes of Coconut are just noticeable, but only just and I quite like that it doesn't overpower that fresh scent but rather adds to it. The base notes are Woody and Sandalwood and from them comes an almost powdery scent which, as the fragrance dries down, still allows that fresh scent of figs to come through.
The final EDT is Colonia IX which sits firmly within the Woody Oriental family. Described as being 'Exotic and Glamourous' this fragrance opens with the top notes of Bergamot, Cardamom and Lavender and together they open with quite the kick and it is here that you can sense the Oriental notes. Sitting in the middle we have White Flowers and whilst I can't detect them, it is for me the base notes that make this a wonderful scent and they are Sandalwood, Cedar, Patchouli, White Musk and it is here we have the woody and earthy scents which seemingly grab hold of those top notes to make this a stunning fragrance.
Here we have some truly wonderful fragrances and I have taken my time to get to know them and wear them properly before reviewing them. I love that they are a collection of fragrances whilst all being totally different and taking you on a different journey. This is exactly why they make such a wonderful gift and one that is so different to anything else I have seen and tried.
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