AMOUAGE
BELOVED MAN

2013

PERFUMER
Alexandra Carlin
Emilie Bevierre Copperman

Elemi
Grapefruit
Cardamon
Orange
Pepper

Saffron
orris
Jasmine
Geranium

Cedarwood
Leather
Vetiver
Guaiac Wood
Musk
Patchouli

Beloved Man is a less talked about Amouage release and I think it’s a rough one to pull off for me personally.

Coming fresh off smelling Secretions Magnifiques and Sombre, I thought nothing could surprise me anymore… but Beloved man is one of the weirdest scents that I’ve come across. Elemi is a tricky note, with reported scents as lemony, pine and turpentine. To my nose, the opening smells like a dark lemon soap, mixed with nutmeg and burned plastic.

It feels very resinous. As the burned plastic scent fades away a bit and the nutmeg turns into pepper, this becomes manageable for me, but it’s still confusing for a while. The citrus smells very green, almost grassy and bitter. Ginger is not listed as a note, but it wouldn’t surprise me to find that in here as well.

Luckily (in my opinion), shortly after the opening, it gets more subtle. It becomes more woody, with a clear cedar base and texture-wise it gets more powdery. It’s almost a pencil shavings, paper, woody scent, but I keep getting wafts of a plastic, faux-leather, though not in a bad way. It’s also lightly spicy. At this stage it’s quite a pleasant, classy scent. Interestingly enough, the fruitiness from the opening does linger on all the way through the drydown.

It’s unlike anything I’ve smelled before, so that’s a plus. It’s definitely not a love for me personally, but it’s hard to pinpoint in two wears, and I could see this being a good unique fragrance, probably mainly for men and maybe mainly for an older age group.