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| Picture: Odette and Odile Photo: City Ballet of San Diego (c) |
It would be intriguing to know the notes and I hope Puredistance will disclose the notelist later on. I'm no "notepicker" but I think at least I smell as follows: To my nose Puredistance Black starts with a fine incense and some gentle spices, followed by a dark, ripe plummy note underscored with the woody notes of old oak cognacbarrels and a subtle oud. As the composition proceeds, it suddenly becomes colder and greener, I can smell what I think is pine balm, some traces of an almost fizzy geranium and some velvety, dark in the same time contemporary but clean patchouli over warm resins. On my skin Black goes from warm and dark notes to colder, greener even if still dark, dark like muffled mossgreen velvet worn in a cold, starry winter night.Further on in the second part of Black, the boozy, woody cognac notes appears again togehter with the dark plum, the fragrance gets warm, cozy and comforting in the later stages of the base. I pleasant, subtle smoky note (no harsh edges) also appears in the late dry down and together with the other notes, stays close to the skin for the rest of the dry down.
The vision of Puredistance Black is to be the dark and more masculine equivalent to the bright and light feminine I. IMO this vision has been fullfilled, this is like Odile and Odette, resembling each other, beautiful and graceful, but in the same so time different in character. Both Black and I are subtle and refined fragrances, Black dark and mysterious, I bright and shining. Black also deliver on the promise to slowly unfold its layers and this proecess is continuing during the whole extended drydown, longevity is minimum 24h for me, when showering of the pefume after one days, it's still unfragmented and full in its texture..
Even if not particularly original as a composition, Puredistance Black is (as always with Puredistance) a very well made and wearable fragrance, of high quality ingredients and with good sillage and longevity. It's interesting to wear and a fragrance which wins in the long run. Black is definitly unisex even if lending slightly to the masculine side. The first part of the fragrance is more feminine than the second, Black becomes more masculine when the (which I guess is) pine and geranium notes appears. In it's third stage, where the warmer notes are re-appearing Black becomes more feminine again. When it comes to resembling fragrances I think the first part contains elements from and reminds me in style of Serge Lutens Boxeuses (swe) (but without the leather and less sweet) and Annick Goutal Mon Parfum Cheri, par Camille (swe) but drier in texture than the latter. In the cooler part of the drydown I find traces of Robert Puguet Oud but Black is more gentle and quiet in style. Another fragrance which comes to my mind when wearing Puredistance Black is Donna Karan Black Cashmere and the great Le Parfum Couture Denis Durand for M.Micallef but clean, polished and well behaved in character compared to the dangerous latter.
Rating: 5
Notes: Not disclosed but woody oriental - see my guesses above.
Oh, I get the pine scent, too, that arrives very unexpectedly! I really, really like this fragrance, and I get some tobacco from it (in the same stage where you get the cognac barrels, so I'm thinking we might be perceiving the same thing, but it comes across slightly different to our noses).
SvaraRaderaSince I don't know you well enough yet to have discerned your tastes, I'm wondering if this is your kind of fragrance, Margareta, or is it something you'd like to smell on your husband? (I agree with you that it's unisex, I'm just asking as a way of getting to know you better.) :) I'm remembering that you own a bottle of Histoires de Parfums 1740, so I'm thinking this is your kind of thing. :)
Suzanne, this is definitly for me as it 1) is in the "Black range" of fragrances, some feminine and some leaning slight to the masculine side. 2) Mr Parfumista tested it to but as a conservative M (and Bel Ami) wearer he thinks this is more feminne and suits me better. I also like this frag very much, more and more for each day. The longevity is outstanding as I can catch mysterious whiffs of it days after I've worn it and of course I shower every day :-) so it is really mysterious, this is not just marketingblurb. When it comes to my perfume tastes I'll say it's very extensive, I appreciate well made fragrances from all fragrance families depending on situation, time of the year, mood, outfit etc but dark fragrances, heavy roses, tuberoses, jasmines and irisis, orientals, powdery retros, leathers are after all favored.
SvaraRaderaYou two are so lucky to have had the opportunity to try Black, it sounds like a scent I'd love as well, especially at this time of the year :) (Blogger just ate my last comment, so if there appear two comments alike, please feel free to delete one of them!)
SvaraRaderaIt is just perfect for autumn but I guess that it (with its chnaging charachter) will adopt to other seasons too. Leave a spot without Angelique Noir on Thursday and I'll bring the vial of Black witn me for you to test:-)
SvaraRadera