# Ralph Lauren — Treasures of Safari - Amber

> Treasures of Safari - Amber is a discontinued 2016 soft amber from Ralph Lauren's short-lived boutique-exclusive "Ralph Lauren Collection" (also called the Luxury Collection) - the brand's bid to ente

## Essence
Treasures of Safari - Amber is a discontinued 2016 soft amber from Ralph Lauren's short-lived boutique-exclusive "Ralph Lauren Collection" (also called the Luxury Collection) - the brand's bid to enter the rarefied "house exclusives" tier alongside Chanel Les Exclusifs, Dior La Collection Privee and Armani Prive. The collection was built around five "fragrant worlds" (New York, London, the French Riviera, Safari, and the American Rockies), each with two scents, for ten total. "Treasures of Safari" was the Safari world; Amber is its warm-resin half, with Oud as its companion. It is credited to IFF master perfumer Carlos Benaim, who composed four of the ten (Amber, Oud, Magnolia, White Tea) - the line as a whole also used Harry Fremont and Calice Becker. Benaim framed the collection's single-note brief to Allure: "When you work around a single note, you must find inspiration in one ingredient and focus all your creativity on it."
## Scent Profile
Amber is a soft, cozy, resinous amber rather than a heavy oriental. The official note breakdown lists amber, labdanum and Madagascar (bourbon) vanilla, with benzoin rounding it out - "benzoin (an ingredient for incense with an almond-like sweetness), bourbon vanilla, and spicy labdanum resin complete this sensual eau de parfum," per the brand's own description. In wear, the most useful first-hand account describes "a soft gourmand amber. Not too sweet and not too powdery, nice balanced scent. Upon spraying you get an initial blast of alcohol that fades away very quickly and in comes the vanilla and amber, soft rich and slightly resinous." Another wearer calls it "sweet, resinous amber. (Not too sweet). Clear and clean and lovely. Warm, and cozy. Like being snuggled up in front of the fire." The labdanum keeps it from being a flat vanilla-amber, adding a faint spicy-leathery resin depth, while the benzoin contributes the almond-tinged sweetness. The overall impression skews soft and slightly feminine despite the unisex billing - comforting and snuggly rather than smoky or animalic. This is the gentle, balsamic end of the amber spectrum, not the dense Ambre Sultan/incense-amber end.
## Performance
Given the soft, "snuggly bubble" character most wearers describe, the realistic expectation is a moderate, intimate amber that wears close to the skin rather than projecting a room-filling trail; the more conservative wearers figure is the safer guide. One wearer's framing - "the scent creates a lovely bubble around you" - fits a comfort scent more than a beast.
## Wearing Context
A relaxing, cozy, cool-weather comfort fragrance. Multiple wearers reach for it at bedtime or for downtime - "I find myself reaching for this prior to going to bed" - and pair it mentally with fireside, baking-cookies coziness. It is easy and inoffensive enough for casual day wear, dresses up with "jeans and a silk top," and leans feminine-soft though it is genuinely wearable unisex. Best in autumn/winter and quiet, close-quarters settings rather than as a projecting statement.
## Comparisons & DNA
The comparison wearers name most often is Elie Saab - specifically Essence No. 3 Ambre, which lists as a "smells similar" neighbor and which a reviewer independently cites: "the only fragrance in my collection that smells similar to this is Elie Saab Ambre, which is another great amber scent." The soft, slightly feminine-leaning balsamic-amber character also drew a comparison to Prada's amber-family men's scents from one wearer placing it "in a similar category." More broadly it sits in the comforting vanilla-benzoin-labdanum amber tradition - adjacent to the gentler readings of Prada Amber and the cozy end of resinous gourmand-ambers - rather than the smoky, incense-forward camp.
## Reception
Genuinely sparse. The only real-wear sentiment lives in a handful of reviews, which are warmly positive - wearers call it "amazing and addictive," "refined and well blended," and "full bottle worthy," praising its cozy, balanced softness. With so few data points, treat the enthusiasm as a small, self-selecting fan group rather than a broad consensus. The collection as a whole received some launch press (Allure, Marie Claire) framed around Benaim's single-note concept and the luxury positioning, but the individual scents were never widely reviewed.
## Versions & Reformulation
A single Eau de Parfum, launched 2016, now discontinued. No reformulation is documented (it didn't live long enough or sell widely enough to warrant one). The only versioning context is its place within the ten-piece Ralph Lauren Collection, which was accompanied by ancillary products - body creme, scented diffusers and candles - and optional Italian leather bottle cases. The line has since been effectively superseded by Ralph Lauren's later prestige pushes (the Polo Supreme Collection and Ralph's Club). The exact discontinuation date and reason are not documented in reliable named sources.
## Acquisition Notes
Treasures of Safari - Amber sits in Ralph Lauren's designer fragrance tier as an EDP. Catalog pricing is not documented in the catalog. Official or commonly documented bottle formats include 50 ml, 100 ml. Confirm the exact flanker, concentration, and packaging because Ralph Lauren names often repeat across related releases.
## Notable Facts & Lore
- The Collection was a deliberate luxury play, positioning Ralph Lauren alongside private-line projects from Chanel, Dior, and Armani. Now Smell This detailed the accessories: kidskin leather sleeves, a leather travel case, a travel diffuser, and a trunk built to accommodate ten 100 ml eaux de parfum.
- Carlos Benaim, IFF's first-ever designated Master Perfumer, anchored the line; his wider resume includes the original Polo, Eternity for Men, Flowerbomb, and White Diamonds.
- Despite that pedigree and packaging ambition, the Collection never achieved broad distribution and quietly disappeared, making Treasures of Safari Amber a genuine collector's curio rather than a known quantity.