Secret Garden Collection by Amouage – Oriental flower seduction

You could already catch a little preview of the Secret Garden Discovery Set from Amouage on Instagram, because I did an unboxing there. If you don’t know our channel yet, I’ll be happy to link to it again here. On the Instagram account of Aus Liebe zum Duft you will not only find out everything about interesting new products, we also regularly present unboxings and other exciting reels in which we introduce you to fragrances, room fragrances and new launches. But back to the Secret Garden Discovery Set from Amouage, which is entirely dedicated to the world of fragrant flowers.

Amouage - Secret Garden Discovery Set
© Julia Biró

The set includes four floral fragrances, three of which may already be familiar. Lilac Love, Blossom Love and Love Tuberose are from 2016, 2017 and 2018. A new addition is Love Delight, which was only recently launched. Of course, the four creations are not only available in the handy 2 ml format and in a set of four, but also as stand-alone 100 ml bottles. Today I would like to present the first two and oldest compositions in this Secret Garden Collection, followed tomorrow by Love Tuberose and Love Delight.

Lilac Love – Amouage

I have a great love of lilacs. I have a lush shrub right outside my office window and every spring I enjoy the deep purple flowers and the scent of this member of the olive family. So my expectations of Lilac Love by Amouage are high. The flacons and packaging have been given a subtle facelift and now look much more modern, but remain true to the classic and typical Amouage style.

I can still reveal the fragrance notes to you: Lilac, heliotrope, peony, gardenia, iris, cocoa, tonka bean, sandalwood, patchouli and vanilla are the ingredients of this composition, which is intended to be “a modern and romantic floral symphony” and thus capture “the classic femininity of the modern woman”. It is also worth mentioning that the lilac fragrance cannot be obtained naturally, but that the house of Amouage – like every other brand that uses the lilac fragrance – had to recreate the special olfactory accord of the lilac.

Amouage - Secret Garden Collection - Lilac Love

Lilac Love starts the fragrance with moist and rather dark floral nuances. Admittedly, I perceive the lilac more as an undercurrent; for me, the aquatic and lucid nuances of the peony, which is accompanied by milky, lush gardenia, are in the foreground. The iris reveals its fine, earthy-creamy powder notes quite early on, accompanied by tart cocoa, spicy tonka bean and sweet, vanilla-like heliotrope. The flowers bloom magnificently in Amouage’s eau de parfum, into which warm and velvety sandalwood and earthy-creamy patchouli gradually flow, bringing the composition to a close.

Lilac Love is not a lilac fragrance in the classic sense – Omani lilac seems to have a different scent – but rather an opulent and atmospheric bouquet of different flowers, accompanied by a good dose of powderiness. It is a wonderful floral mix of creamy, milky and sweetly earthy nuances, accentuated by fine spices and dark cocoa and bedded on warm, skunky woods. Perfect for anyone who prefers classic, powdery floral fragrances with expressiveness, good presence and excellent longevity. Wearable all year round, for me personally more of a fragrance for the evening or going out than for the office and everyday life. But as always: do as you like! 💜

Blossom Love – Secret Garden Collection

Blossom Love focuses not on one particular flower – at least by name – but on three: cherry blossom, ylang-ylang and rose are at the floral center of this eau de parfum, about which the then Creative Director Christopher Chong said: “Blossom Love was inspired by the unabashed yet loyal heart of a vibrant, modern woman. She is not interested in convention, but lives fearlessly and boldly and wholeheartedly for love, romance and new adventures”. Renaud Salmon has now been successfully working in this position at the fragrance house Amouage for several years, while Christopher Chong has taken on the British label Thameen. But this should only be mentioned in passing, as Blossom Love is actually the focus of attention at the moment. Perfumers Nathalie Lorson and Elise Bénat combine the aforementioned cherry blossom, ylang-ylang and rose fragrances with amaretto, vanilla, tonka bean, sandalwood and cashmeran.

Amouage - Blossom Love

Airy, light and spring-like, Blossom Love opens with the delicate fruity notes of cherry blossom, milky ylang-ylang and a subtly soapy rose freshness. This means that the fragrance mirrors the color of the bottle in a wonderful way right from the start. Vanilla brings a spicy sweetness to the composition. I also perceive greenish nuances, which are probably due to the tonka bean, although I cannot yet sniff out its characteristic notes. Blossom Love is creamy, gentle and, thanks to cashmeran, soft as absorbent cotton, a kiss of blossoms, a special kind of floral caress, rounded off with a warm sandalwood velvety quality.

An elegant and rather classic floral fragrance that is not pink for nothing. Amouage has achieved a wonderful blend of airy, creamy flowers, fine spices and a cozy finish, even if the creation naturally does not reinvent the floral wheel. But let’s be honest, who does? I really like this feminine, finely balanced and beautifully composed eau de parfum. More for the warmer seasons, but wearable here for any occasion. 🩷

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Julia Biró Written by:

Bereits 2010 gingen so einige Blogbeiträge auf mein Konto. Dann war ich „kurz“ weg – sechs Jahre. Umso mehr freut es mich, dass ich nun wieder die Chance bekomme, mein Näschen im Dienste der Duftrezension schnuppern zu lassen und eifrig in die Tasten zu hauen. Was Nischendüfte angeht, habe ich damals übrigens schnell Feuer gefangen. Meine Ausbildung tat dazu ihr Übriges: Als diplomierte Biologin kenne ich mich nicht nur mit Fauna und Flora, sondern auch recht gut mit der Herstellung von Ölen und Extrakten aus, was den Reiz der Parfumwelt natürlich noch größer macht.

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