I love Black Amber. It absolutely has patchouli, but not that cheap suffocating stuff. And of course there is the amber, but what exactly makes it so mysterious I have no idea. I love Carnival Wax in general because all of their frags have an edge to them and this is no exception. I have found that any CW on top of Black Amber is made that much better. Perfect on its own or layered. Long lasting love!

Black Amber is a heavy mix of patchouli and amber. And this is pretty much amber and patchouli at their worst for me. I love patchouli from brands like Reminiscence Paris & Thierry Mugler, but this is a heavy, headshoppy, cheap, mentholic, bitter sort of patchouli. It reminds me of motor oil and rotting wood. And I usually love amber, but this is a faint, powdery variety that isn't working for me either. The drydown is all patchouli all the time. It's a total scrubber for me. And at $90 for 10mls of this oil, a bottle from Reminiscence is actually cheaper. continued >>