First Impressions – Amouage – Guidance

Amouage – Guidance – Amouage is back with four new scents titled “The Odyessy Collection – Chapter 3 – Escape”. All four feature frankincense and are accompanied by the usual nonsensical marketing mumbo jumbo. Overall, it’s a stronger collection than the previous ones under their new creative director, Renaud Salmon. Still, that wouldn’t be difficult. In today’s blog post, I’ll discuss the perfume that drew the most visceral reaction in me out of the four, Guidance, the Quentin Bisch composition. 

At its heart, Guidance is a woody, fruity floral with a few interesting accompaniments, both good and bad. The opening is strong, nutty, and fruity. I can’t say I’m a huge fan of hazelnut accords in perfumery, as I always find them raspy and scratchy. Unfortunately, the hazelnut that appears in the opening accord of Guidance doesn’t change my mind. Alongside the hazelnut is a fruity pear aspect which is cloying, sweet, and overbearing. As I mentioned, each of the four new perfumes contains incense, but it’s only a bit-part player in Guidance.

As it progresses into the heart, Guidance unveils a floral bouquet. Rose, jasmine, and osmanthus begin to dominate. The osmanthus, in particular, becomes strong on my skin. In Guidance, the osmanthus accentuates the flower’s apricot-like nuances more than its leather ones. All the florals join forces with the pear from the opening, evoking bubblegum. Saccharine and persistent, Guidance is by no means a wallflower.

Anchored by a base of sandalwood and vanilla, Guidance takes on an almost creamy guise. It’s the most enjoyable aspect of the perfume. The lotion-like smoothness of the merger is well-judged. However, Quentin Bisch’s love of synthetic Akigalawood and ambery woody material somewhat dampens the smoothness. Fortunately, he doesn’t overdose on Akigalawood like in other perfumes, such as Ganymede. Amouage lists ambergris in the base, but I doubt there is any genuine ambergris here. They don’t use real ambergris in Ashore, so I assume it’s a similar setup with Guidance. However, I could be wrong.

Guidance is easily the most mass appealing of the four new Amouage perfumes. And, in terms of gender norms, it’s also the most feminine. However, it isn’t the most novel perfume. Bisch has done this sort of thing before. Although not a carbon copy, Delina from Parfums de Marly is similar. And the hazelnut effect Bisch created in Mugler’s Angel Muse is replicated to a degree in Guidance. But, ultimately, Guidance is way too sweet for my taste. The toothachingly jarring union of pears, apricots, and flowers becomes intolerable. Couple that with its enormous sillage and longevity (easily 16-plus hours), and it’s something I could never wear.

Undoubtedly Guidance will find many fans. Room-filling fruity florals like this often do. If it were me, I’d have upped the sandalwood and incense, tamed the sweetness of the fruits, and replaced the hazelnut with almond. But, of course, then it would be a completely different scent. You can’t please everyone. There’s no way I’d pay $499AUD for the composition in its current incarnation.

What do you think of the commercial direction Amouage is taking? Have you tried Guidance?

Note: All flower photos are my own, taken in my garden. Guidance tested from an official Amouage sample I received from a store.