Jo's Scent Notes: M&S Studio Amber Crème
I talk a lot about building ‘a wardrobe of fragrances’. But perfume can be scarily expensive, and far from everyone has the cash to splash on assembling a collection of scents at £250+ (as so many are priced, these days).
Enter M&S. Good old M&S. Good old born-again M&S, so lifted from the doldrums of just a few years ago, elevated to a place we all want to shop in again. (Although for clothes, give me Vinted anytime.)
And now, there are these M&S fragrances, which let you build a wardrobe of fragrances so, so affordably, if you fancy. (There is, however, no law that says you can’t buy just one!) The M&S Studio scents have got every perfume writer buzzing, because they are worthy discoveries in their own right, at any price – never mind £22.50 for 100ml eau de parfum.
Amber Crème is the one I’m currently rocking, after smelling it at an open day for perfume house MANE, who created this, and immediately ordering for click-and-collect. TBH it’s not really a summery scent, more of a rich, opaque-tights-season scent, but I love it so much I’m making an exception. Amber Crème is a cashmere wrap of a scent, gently sweet and and soft, with tendrils of smoke and a base that smells like the warm, woody panelling of an old library, with the merest whisper of vanilla alongside.
It’s one of those fragrances that I love so much on myself, I have to keep smelling my own skin. I am, unsurprisingly, spritzing Amber Crème incredibly generously, because the bottle feels huge, and hefty (I have decanted some into a Travalo, for on-the-go re-spraying). The quality of the packaging itself can’t be praised highly enough: the glass is thicker than many a £300+ flacon, and the magnetised lid feels high quality in its own right. I LITERALLY DON’T KNOW HOW THEY’VE DONE THIS.
I am about to nip into an M&S to spray some of the others, and quite probably take home the £12 Discovery Set, to research further. I like the nose-tingling zingy sound of Ginger Flower (notes of ginger, citrus, musks and warm woods), and Dewy Rose (velvety rose and violet) – but I’ve also heard great reports of Darkest Vanilla, in that it’s not super-sweet like most vanillas, but like scraping the seeds from a fresh vanilla pod. A must-try, for sure.
Bravo, M&S. You’ve done so much for our wardrobes, over the years. And now, with M&S Studio, you’re going to do the same to our fragrance wardrobes…
M&S Studio Amber Crème/£22.50 for 100ml – buy here
