halfwhiteboy

I often associate amber in fragrance s with warm and sweet, if not dense, scent profiles. Expecting something in that mold, Nishane's Ambra Calabria caught me off guard with a sharp and bitter citrus opening. This type of citrus calls to mind Xerjoff's Nio , which shares a similar biting quality. I thought, okay, maybe it's just the opening, but then a barrage of fresh—and also bitter—greens come marching in.

Over the last couple of months I've been able to acquire a few Nishane bottles from fellow fragheads but I only got to actually use one now. Despite not giving them all a full wear yet, this Istanbul-based house is delighting me so far. Their 50ml bottles are all pretty basic-looking but what I like is that they come in this neat, book-type presentation that's not bulky. There's also a cute little card about the fragrance slipped in, with an accompanying list of all of the house's other fragrances. On a whim I decided to wear Fan Your Flames , which, like all others from this house, is in extrait de parfum concentration, somewhere between 30% to 38%, I've read somewhere. This could explain why it leaves an oily residue that doesn't evaporate easily when sprayed on the skin. That said, I caution against spraying on clothes.