One of my favorite new perfume releases of 2014 was Amouage Sunshine Woman. I admired it so much because it was sunshine as only Amouage and Creative Director Christopher Chong could imagine it. Mr. Chong has made it one of the hallmarks of his tenure to have his perfumers find ways of expressing ideas in fascinating ways. I recently received my sample of the masculine counterpart to Sunshine Woman called Sunshine Man.
Christopher Chong
For Sunshine Man Mr. Chong chose to work with perfumers Fabrice Pellegrin and Pierre Negrin. M. Negrin is becoming a consistent participant as he has participated in the composition of every Amouage perfume since 2013 except Sunshine Woman. As with those previous works he is part of a team to realize Mr. Chong’s vision.
Fabrice Pellegrin
That vision for Sunshine Man was to try and evoke an eclipse as darkness and brightness come together. That is a familiar trope for perfume composition. I was not surprised to see Mr. Chong push for the same kind of surprising brightness out of notes you don’t normally think of as bright. This was the same process used to create Sunshine Woman. The biggest difference is each phase of development does have a point of light to be eclipsed by a couple of other traditionally darker notes. It makes for an experience where the light and the dark are constantly exchanging places on my skin.
Pierre Negrin
The perfumers use lavender as the point of light in the opening of Sunshine Man. What comes next is citrus but in an unusual way as an orange brandy accord provides the first part of the shadow. This is a rich boozy citrus accord and it sort of invites the lavender in for a drink, too. The real eclipse of the top notes happens as immortelle slides across the face of the other two notes. I love immortelle for its rich maple syrup-like quality. The perfumers here also remind me that it is a bright yellow floral and beyond the sweeter depth there is a bit of sunny floralcy. By having gone from light to dark the immortelle unexpectedly provides the beginning of the light again. In the heart bergamot provides the sunlight. It actually breaks through the top notes like a sunbeam. Then almost as rapidly clary sage and juniper berry cloak it in a green herbal and astringent fruit shade. The movement of bergamot into the heart from its more traditional place right on top makes for a feeling of an introverted pyramid. I think the perfumers were working for that sunbeam effect and the bergamot provided it. In the base the clean lines of cedar are where the light is found. Vanilla and tonka provide the sweet darkness.
Sunshine Man has 18-24 hour longevity and above average sillage.
If you’ve ever witnessed a real solar eclipse, or seen a picture, there is that moment when the moon completely covers the sun itself but surrounding the moon is a brilliant ring of light called a corona. As I wore Sunshine Man there were many times I felt that it was the perfumed equivalent of that darkness surrounded by brilliance. Sunshine Man is a worthy partner to last year’s release it shines just as brightly but differently.
Disclosure: this review was based on a press sample provided by Amouage.
–Mark Behnke
