Ok, so now we have Opus I, II, III, IV and V. A few days ago I said that I haven't been that impressed with the library releases, particularly Opus IV. I still stand by my impression of IV. I've tried it numerous times now and it just doesn't wear very comfortably on my skin. I haven't tried V yet, although the notes do sound fantastic. I wrote about II a long time ago. At the time I liked it, and I still think it is nice, although by no means anywhere near one of my favourites in the Amouage line.
So what about I and III? Funnily enough, they were the last two I tried eventually, and have ended up being the best of the lot, particularly III. I should say that these have stellar lasting power. I first tested them on paper a couple of times, just to get a general feel for them, and the scent strips powered through my pockets for almost a week. On skin they project very well too, easily lasting through a vigorous shower. Of course, Amouage is not exactly known for its skin scents...
I don't intend to write in-depth about I and III. The notes for I include bigarade, plum, cardamom, rose, jasmine, tuberose, ylang-ylang, lily of the valley, papyrus, cedar, gaiac wood, incense, tonka bean, sandalwood and vetiver. In other words, everything but the kitchen sink. The first stages are very floral, which along with incense, is an Amouage trademark touch. Remarkably I don't find the florals too much. There are enough woods and incense to balance it nicely. It is very rich and opulent though.
III includes notes of mimosa, broom, clove, nutmeg, thyme, violet, jasmine, ylang-ylang, orange blossom, musk, ambrette, papyrus, cedar, sandalwood, gaiac wood, benzoin and vanilla. While some of the woods and florals are quite similar to Opus I, Opus III smells significantly different. I detect a lot of mimosa to start, with plenty of violet in the mid stage. The dry down was sweet, but not cloying and smelled warm and inviting. Overall II really hit the spot for me and as I already said, I like it the most out of this collection.
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