Geisha Noire Eau de Parfum

My initial impression was that of a light amber with not a lot of depth. But hour after hour, I kept smelling something gorgeous and addictive drifting up to my nose. I had written off Noire as a light fragrance, so I assumed that the marvelous scent was some other perfume on my jacket from the last time I wore it. After a few hours, I smelled the spot on my skin with Noire on it, and I had to eat my words big time [sheepish look on my face]! It was a breathtakingly dense, balsamic incense; an intensely deep, precious amber; just barely sweet. I wasn't certain, but I thought there could be a little frankincense in it. Geisha Noire is NOT an Avignon-style Catholic church perfume. It is, however, one word: Crack. It will cause those embarrassing situations where you get caught sniffing yourself in public, at a red light, in a meeting with an important client, and so on. While it contains vanilla, make no mistake about it, this is a perfume based on resins. It's a dark amber and walks a tight line between feeling cold and medieval and warm and soothing. So it's a little of both at the same time. It is not churchy whatsoever, yet still feels very sacred. Out of the several perfumes I have sampled from Aroma M, I would say that this is Ms. McElroy's masterpiece. A sublime, distinctive amber, the likes of which I have never encountered. (Note: I own the oil. I have never liked Shalimar, after trying every concentration and from modern to vintage. The oil does not resemble Shalimar AT ALL. There is no citrus, nothing smoky or leathery, vanilla is not a dominant note, and there is absolutely no powder. I did not sample the EdP, so can not compare. It sounds like they are quite different.)

Geisha Noire does immediately call Shalimar to mind, but it's softer, without the intense bergamot and powerful birch tar note that Shalimar opens with. It opens with delicious woods and spices, with underlying vanilla that becomes more prominent into drydown. But the vanilla never ends up simple or synthetic as other vanillas often do. It's an absolute treat for the nose, paired to perfection with a salty sweet, animalic ambergris, smooth tonka and touch of smoke. The touch of ambergris and rich golden amber reminds me a little of Cuir Fetiche's sensual dry down too It may be sacrilege to say this, but I find it more publicly wearable than the classic EDP Shalimar, which has a heavier powder. (Which is one of the reasons why I think there are so many flankers of Shalimar now - from the more vanillic to more citric). Geisha Noire is indeed very relaxing, as the Aroma M site mentions. It's tactile and sensual, like rough velvet and cat fur, smooth with little tufts to give texture and definition, so it's not just a smooth sweet amber/vanilla. This is my second perfume love from Aroma M, the first was Geisha Green (not on the database here) Geisha Noire's sillage is soft to moderate depending on application (I'm wearing the perfumed oil, so the EDP will have more projection). Longevity excellent, many many hours of lovely dry down. Perfect for winter/Autumn days and cooler evenings year round,date nights and just for your own personal, comforting velvety scent If you love Midnight in Paris, Bulgari Black, Shalimar's dry down and Cuir Fetiche, you'll love this (Oh yes, and no Iso E, big synthetics and the like, very easy on the nose!)

I'd heard interesting things about Aroma M oils in general, and Geisha Noire in particular, from a few perfume-oriented friends, so I ordered their sampler pack. While I have mixed feelings about a few of the vials they sent me, Noire was a winner. I brought the sampler pack along with me on a long romantic weekend away for my anniversary, and Noire is the one I chose to wear out on the night of, so I'll admit, there's might be some sentimental clouding--but really, it's rather lovely. The smokiness reminded me a little of Shalimar at first, and I was afraid it would suffer in comparison as it does not truly manage to capture Shalimar's elegance, but at heart it is its' own fragrance. As it dries down, it becomes tastier and more complex, still spicy and smoky but also rich with glowing woods and vanilla. This perfume is like polished smoky quartz: cloudy, smoky, dark but not quite opaque, a bit somber, but content and understatedly refined. The oil is so thick and the scent is so strong that the tiny sample vial will last for repeated, multiple applications--good thing, as I've grown a bit addicted. I will almost certainly be springing for the rollerball as soon as I run out. A great scent for fall and winter.

A beautiful fragrance, a really nice blend and good performance. It should be a unisex fragrance, men can certainly wear this one. During the opening I sense woody notes with some soft sweetness subdued in the background. The scent itself is powdery when sniffed close to the skin, from a distance I get a creamy vanilla scent. It is not particularly amber heavy, the ambergris is there but not overly powerful or salty. I have the roll-on oil version and a few tiny dabs last for hours, due to the fragrance being light I'm not entirely sure that this one projects very far. I don't get the smoky aspects of the fragrance as others have pointed out, to me this is more a woody amber fragrance. The closest I can think of is Amber Oud by Kilian, Geisha Noire is a little sweeter maybe due to the Tonka note. Either way it's not sickly sweet. I love amber fragrances like Amber Absolute, Ambre Loup, Grand Soir etc Geisha Noire has impressed me a great deal and I really enjoy wearing it. Overall this is approaching masterpiece territory, the more I wear it the more I like it. 9/10

I am sampling the oil version. Firstly, this stuff is THICK. Whatever residue is on the sample applicator applied to the wrists is enough for me, so proceed with caution when applying. Geisha Noire starts out heavy on what I perceive to be the black amber. It's full of leathery, powdery, smokey sweetness, somewhat reminiscent of Shalimar without the citrus. This facet of the fragrance fades somewhat to become a dark, lovely vanilla-sandalwood that melds beautifully with the skin. I know the term "noire" has essentially lost all meaning in perfumery, but this one actually seems up to snuff. Very reasonably priced for niche, especially considering how little product it takes per application. Worth sampling!