Amouage Honour Women Eau de Parfum Spray, 1.7 fl. oz.

Inspired by Puccini’s musical drama Madame Butterfly, Amouage Honor Woman is a fragile and even passionate interpretation of white florals. (How would it be able to not be enthusiastic when it depends on the account of a champion who murders herself when the American warrior she’s pined for comes back to her country to take their tyke?) “Death with respect, ” declares the courageous woman before passing on, “when one can never again live in honour.” Honor Woman opens with a tart rhubarb note and closures on a smooth base of unpretentiously fiery gums, golden and relatively intangible calfskin. However, the masterpiece of Honor Woman is its botanical heart. Gardenia, which is regularly sent to draw out its hot-house bloom sultriness, is here straightforward and light, flanked like a princess in white with her orderlies lily-of-the-valley, jasmine, carnation and an exceptionally quelled tuberose. Maybe the energetic gardenia that Madame Butterfly’s Cio San used to be gives route, after Pinkerton’s treachery, to a more stoic and rich — if heartbreaking — adaptation of the blossom. Eros changed into Thanatos. As it dries down, hints of rhubarb stay as its quietly zesty and warm base ascents up. Indeed, even without the scent’s exaggerated back story, Honor Woman’s fragrant account is great all alone. Respect Woman is housed in a white precious stone jug with a gold-plated top joined with a white opal Svarovski gem. Respect Woman Notes Pepper, rhubarb, coriander, jasmine, tuberose, gardenia, lily of the valley, carnation, vetiver, frankincense, golden, opoponax, leather