Terror & Magnificence

And 2020 will begin under the reign of the Terror and Magnificence, the new fragrance by Beaufortlondon ...This time the architect in charge, is no other than Pia Long, she has a great article/review about her creation online. They say, love is blind, and as much as i love this house, and being Vi Et Armis/Rake and Ruin my all time favourites, to tell you the truth, i'm a bit confused, because i don't really know if this is taking the direction of the mainstream-waterdown highway or is just something punctual and the house after this release will carry on creating Dark Beasts like the ones from the past. This state of disorientation reminds me of something the perfumer said: Darkness of the kind that makes you doubt your own senses, my problem with this fragrance is that i was expecting another kind of terror or at least, my vision of it ...wrong again! The subtle character of this rare beauty, the balanced and blended to perfection and her refined soul, is the true manifestation of Magnificence. Notes: since i don't know what the Kyphi accord smells like, there not much i can say, this perfume develops from the begging to the end, not linear at all; and you do pick up many of the notes listed ..The papyrus, the incense, the benzoin and the styrax, the labdanum, the smoke from the birch tar, the myrrh, the tobacco and the vetiver. But what really took me by surprise is the stone cellar theme, when i saw the wet stone accord listed, i thought: here we go again with the selling poetry. There is at one point a huge stone-inside of a church feel to this masterpiece. Once again a blind buy from this house, for me, absolutely no regrets and very glad and thankfull.

Terror & Magnificence starts the way I would expect a BeauFort to: smoky and dark. But this time, it’s more polite and mellow compared to previous smoky BeauFort creations. The fragrance opens boldly with the sharpness of a campfire—black like tar, woody-smoky, and charred, oily wood. As the opening mellows, the more “churchy” elements begin to emerge: incense, myrrh, benzoin, old dry wood of benches and other old religious décor. But the scent doesn’t go fully ecclesiastical. There’s something darker, wilder, and more primal anchoring it—the exotic kyphi accord and a sharp, woody-earthy papyrus note. The traditional BeauFort black smoke in this fragrance turns surprisingly mild and even slightly sweet. Birch tar is softened by labdanum and, especially, the aforementioned benzoin, creating an exotic amber-like accord of black smoke. To me, Terror & Magnificence is the BeauFort for people who don’t typically “get” smoky fragrances—or better yet, the perfect introduction to the smoky genre. I love smoky, incense-heavy, and resinous scents, so for me, this is all Magnificence—no Terror to be found.

It's one of my favourite fragrances now, but you NEED to try it before buying. For me, it's playing with something dark and unsettling in smells without getting too much into trashy odours that will give you a headache. However, I saw that it pretty much gave a headache to some other people who tried it... It's dry, it's gunpowder-like, it's cruel, it's mighty... This smell makes me think of a scene with someone being followed in a dark green forest. It's autumn, just a couple of days without rains. There's still some daylight at the moment, but it's barely helpful in this place. The person who's being followed passes an unexpectedly grandiose old church in the forest. This church is in a really bad state and had a fire recently (struck by a lightning maybe), the smell of burnt wood, incenses, and smoke is still there. The church looks magnificent, but radiates danger without any obvious reasons. For the person being followed, it gets worse from there—the follower's definitely getting closer remaining unseen, but it's unclear "who" or "what" that follower is...

Okay, yep, there it is: The year is 2004; I am back in college at UC Santa Cruz. It’s a rainy night, and I’m out in the woods. I’m with my friends. We’re listening to black metal on an iPod plugged into headphones that are cranked up to max, acting as a makeshift portable speaker. The thick lush greenery of the dark woods gives us refuge from the downpour, but we’re still soaked. One of us is climbing a redwood tree nearby. Cold granite boulders offer us makeshift, if slightly uncomfortable, seats. The mouth of the nearby cave beckons with a dubious invitation – an exhalation of cold, wet, earthy air. I’m wearing my favorite old leather jacket; it’s cozy with wear but it’s barely keeping me warm. The sweet perfume of the girls from the party we just gleefully abandoned is still wreathed around us like a ghost. One of us just finished a damp cigarette. We’re passing around a bottle of Jim Beam in the dark, laughing. It’s no wonder I love this fragrance. 95%

Got this as a sample with a fragrance order, thought nothing of it, never heard of the house. On a night in, like all nights these times, have it a go. First impression, commend des garcon black with BALLS! I like CDG Black but felt it went too soft spice market in the drydown. This is good! It's dark and Smokey but something in here gives it some brightness to balance it out and make it wearable. After 24 hours with the sample a full bottle was on order. While CDG Black was good there was something stopping me from taking the plunge. Terror and magnificent is just that, some trrrrrrrble with some mags. Ying & Yang in a battle so fierce you get them confused. I see reviews commenting on how Pia went soft in this one, well whatever, it's right in my wheelhouse. This will even make me reach for encre Noir less, a lot less. To me this is heavily masculine. Good longevity and proper projection. Love it!