AMOUAGE
EXISTENCE
2025
PERFUMER
Quentin Bisch
lily-of-the-valley
rose
frankincense
mystikal
labdanum
ambergris
benzoin
white musk
‘An expression of the serenity of endlessness, Existence is based around a heart-breaking note of Lily of the Valley. Delicate and fragile, it is also possessed of a remarkable expansiveness, thanks to the addition of Frankincense. As the scent develops, an Aldehyde facet enhances the impression of pristine whiteness, while Rose adds living, breathing physicality. In the base, Benzoin connects the landscape to the complex reality of the earth. Bright, sincere and emotive, Existence conveys the incomprehensible vastness of the infinite, with all of its life-affirming optimism. 20% oil concentration, 4 weeks ageing: 2 weeks maceration, 2 weeks maturation.’ – Amouage
Admittedly, as with Decision, I think Existence has a lot more going for it than I initially figured when I briefly smelled it. That being said, Existence is definitely an acquired taste (and not mine).
When I smelled Existence before it had properly launched, it came across a tad dated to me, as a lily-of-the-valley forward scent. Mind you, I spoke to about a dozen people that smelled it that weekend as well, and not a single one of them liked it on first sniff. That’s not so much a ‘diss’ to Existence, as it says something about the need to give it a proper wearing and how different it ends up being in my opinion…. for better, or worse, that’s up for debate.
On skin, for a lily-of-the-valley opening, it’s much less traditional than I thought it would be. A neon-green, fruity-tinged floral with an overdose of aldehydes and white musks. Surprisingly based on my first sniff, but perhaps less surprising, given the Bisch-Amouage direction of this era, this is also uncommonly, candied sweet. It ends up having little to nothing to do with yesteryear’s vintage/retro green stemmy lily-of-the-valley fragrances. It also feels worlds apart from Marc-Antoine Barrois Tilia for those wondering.
Existence has a full-on blast of soapy, fresh, laundry detergent. It’s white, bright, sharp, vibrant, almost piercing. It has more personality and more of a distinct floral scent, than notable contemporaries in this field (Tilia, Divanche, Acne Studios, Blanche Absolu, Ode To Dullness). It’s bolder, louder, with a fruitier tinge to the florals and a growing sweetness in a manner and scale that you don’t find in any of those aforementioned fragrances.
Now, I’m not saying this is yet another Guidance/Guidance 46 take, but… it unquestionably creeps in more and more during the wear. Quite a lot of pink-hued, sugary rose water. Not as creamy, sweet, lactonic of a rose as in Guidance, but much closer to that, than to other Amouage roses like the Epic Woman or Lyric Woman DNA’s and sweeter than your average rose water scent. The rose feels a lot more dominant than the lily-of-the-valley or greener scents after the opening; it even recalls Parfums de Marly Delina at times.
It’s kind of a weird combination of clean and sweet, but it does work and I would prefer Existence over Guidance as it does not get as cloying; the soapy clean side fights back as hard as it can. I loved this rather accurate description by Fragrantica user Pilikins saying: ‘It smells like ironing cotton using sugar syrup instead of water’.
Honestly, I’m on the fence about Existence. I was confident I didn’t like it at all at first, quickly noticed I was way off in my impression of it, but I’m not sure if I like the different direction more. It’s definitely more interesting and it has its charm. Perhaps I would’ve liked it more if we didn’t just get about 5 sweet Bisch-Amouages recently, and several other brands following suit. The ‘Guidance’ DNA seems to be the next trending thing to copy and Amouage seems to lean hard into that path, with the 46 flanker, as well as turning Purpose into a Guidance flanker with Purpose 50. While Existence is not a clear-cut version, it’s going in the same direction and I’m just not that eager to keep going down that road.