As a vital component of Oman’s heritage and identity, Frankincense has always been important to Amouage. The ancient material has featured in several of the House’s compositions over the years, and in 2023, it took on an especially totemic form in Purpose Eau de Parfum.
Composed by Quentin Bisch, under the direction of Chief Creative Officer Renaud Salmon, the scent is a sincere and heartfelt expression of the totality of a frankincense tree, from roots to branches to leaves and, of course, the precious resin that flows through the bark, waiting to be tapped and extracted. Using the sharpness of Pink Pepper, the shimmering heat of Papyrus and the grounding quality of a special, sand-grown variety of Vetiver to highlight and emphasise the many facets of Frankincense, Purpose Eau de Parfum presents the material in memorably larger-than-life fashion.
A year later, as part of their constant conversations about their work and the art of perfumery, Salmon and Bisch wondered if there were any uncharted territories they could find within the expansive world of Purpose. “It’s not that we felt we wanted to fix something in the Eau de Parfum,” explains Salmon, “or that something was missing from it. But we found ourselves constantly going back to the scent and thinking about it – as though it was calling out to us for further exploration. Finally, after many discussions, we had a clear vision of where we wanted to take Purpose next. We had to make an Extrait.”
Although it is unquestionably grand and far-ranging in terms of its tone and proportions, Purpose Eau de Parfum also possesses a purist, almost minimalist quality, in the sense that it focusses single-mindedly on the entirety of the frankincense tree. In order to re-frame the scent in Extrait form, Bisch decided he would need to delve beneath the surface of the soil and get to grips with the roots.
“In one sense,” he says, “I wanted to give greater depth to the fragrance, but that’s a slightly superficial way of explaining what I hoped to achieve. My aim was to re-anchor the composition, to re-root it – to make its connection with the earth and the land even stronger and more profound.”
The result of Bisch and Salmon’s efforts is an immersive, sonorous meditation on the primeval power of nature. At its start, Purpose 50 presents the familiar burst of Pink Pepper from the Eau de Parfum, but here, the note invites the wearer to turn their gaze inwards rather than upwards. Almost straight away, the Frankincense appears – mineralic, resinous and mystical – although in Purpose 50, it comes across as darker, weightier and even more ancient. Before long, other facets shimmer into view – the rooty earthiness of Sand Vetiver, the heated tempestuousness of Papyrus, the leathery dryness of Saffron – all recognisable from the Eau de Parfum, yet profoundly altered, as though they are resonating with earthly landscapes, rather than rising up to the heavens.
The main reason for these effects is the presence of an accord of Sandalwood notes devised by Bisch specifically to maintain the integrity and personality of Purpose Eau de Parfum while lending it an even greater sense of gravitas for Purpose 50. With its creamier, woodier, arguably more meditative inflections, the Sandalwood accord extends the effect of the composition into previously untouched dimensions.
“Finally,” says Salmon, “as were working on an Extrait, which is in some ways the most intimate of perfume forms – the one whose full impact is appreciated only by those who come closest to us – we wanted to pay particular attention to the scent’s connection with the wearer’s body. As always, we went back to our original inspiration, and I remembered that one thing I’ve always found fascinating about frankincense trees is that their bark is almost like a skin. It’s fragile and delicate, and you can peel it off, which gives the plant a strangely human feel.”
In order to convey this bodily quality, Bisch introduced a note of Vanillin into the base of Purpose 50. With its tender sweetness and almost romantic powderiness, it provides a striking contrast with the other facets while lending the whole an almost carnal physicality that pulses and resonates with irrepressible life – very much like the resin coursing through the flesh of the trees themselves.
If Purpose Eau de Parfum presents a shamanic olfactory portrait of a complete frankincense tree, then Purpose 50 extends the base of the image and serves as a reminder that a tree does not merely consist of what is seen above the ground. A grounding haven, concealed within the darkness of the soil is an intricate arrangement of interconnectedness, linking the plant to the earth and, by extension, to the globe itself, with its ancient soul, its endless patience and its timeless wisdom. Purpose 50 brings this hidden story to vivid life.
A note on the Exceptional Extraits
The Exceptional Extraits are amongst the precious creations from the House of Amouage. Each of the perfumes in this exclusive collection has been created through painstaking experiments to gauge the effects of various ageing times and concentration levels. The intention is to push the ingredients – as well as the perfumers’ talents – to the very limits of what they can contribute to the composition. In the case of Purpose 50, a concentration of 50% perfume oils and an ageing time of 4 weeks were chosen as the ideal levels to convey the profundity of Salmon and Bisch’s vision for this singular piece of work.
Presentation
As with the other Exceptional Extraits, the bottle for Purpose 50 is a strikingly elevated version of the iconic Amouage flacon. It features rich, lustrous inner lacquering, in a shade of green very similar to that used for Purpose Eau de Parfum. On the outside, a gradient effect renders the base of the flacon so dark as to make the exterior almost indistinguishable from the interior, reflecting the composition’s focus on achieving a sense of being deeply rooted and grounded.
The exterior of the packaging once again features the kinetic visuals of Belgian artist Louise Mertens. Working from the images she created for Purpose Eau de Parfum, she has darkened the greens and added eye-catching swathes of gold, in order to project the richness of Purpose 50 as well as its profoundly spiritual aura. As with the other Exceptional Extraits, gold dust adds a finishing touch of elegance.
