Black Ebony

This is yet another amazing and unique smelling perfume. There's no messing around here, the name perfectly suits what this is, a dark earthy and sensual fragrance. The noise my girlfriend made upon sniffing this was almost one of arousal and there's me thinking it might be a bit too strange for her. The opening is a spicy dense ebony woods and oud with non of that medicinal, ambery sensibility just dank, hardcore, strength. There's a hint of the natural greenness from vetiver, papyrus and patchouli but nothing strong enough to dominate the incense wood of the base. Whatever else is in Black ebony conspires to make yet another unique signature from this house, even the patchouli in this which is earthy yes but somehow is transformed in this context into something I haven't smelled before. Bella Bellissima could never be accused of lacking innovation and this is another wonderful example. Brilliant!!!

Smells like mould. But that's what oud all about I guess.... on the card I found it's very unpleasant like what I got --- pure mould. However I tried it on the skin and it's still smells like mould but I'm getting addicted. There must be something wrong with me.. :) I found there is some alcohol-liked vibe as well. It's very unique. Every time I'm in a bad mood or I want to feel my dark side, I wear this. :))

I bought this bottle back in November 2011 and used it a few times during the cold winter months. It is a very pronounced and heavy parfum, that on the first spray, can be somewhat overwhelming to some. The first thing I get is a sharp burst of dark woods and oriental spices - the kind that is extremely earthy and almost cloying. Straight away your nose picks up oud wood - as oud is effectively fungus infected hardwood, the strong smell is vibrant and very earthy. The musky 10 minutes after, along with a hint of tea rose kills off the almost offensive spicy oud. The thing about the oud is that it matures and lingers throughout the whole life of the perfume, from start to finish, softening to an almost chocolate-like essence. The sweetness comes from the rose and papyrus maturing in the base - since it's a parfum the whole scent is very creamy and substantive. Very complex scent that can leave your sense ringing in mercy if over-applied. I have many times over-sprayed to the point where it is noticeably offensive - even I got sick of it a couple of hours into the day! Sillage is extremely strong, longevity is extremely long (5-10 hours) Overall a very distinctive perfume, with a great Arabian twang in the scent. Use with caution.

I like this recreation of oud. It is the trumpeting, boozy, black lacquered wood kind, not the weak, chewy band-aid accord that often turns up in these Western dabblings in agarwood synthesis. It's enhanced by a dark leather, wine-like rose and dry papyrus. Hints of warm sweetness from the caraway and cardamom add a sense of Eastern exoticism. It reminded me a bit of "Amour de Palazzo" by Jul et mad, but without the dirtiness. For all it's weight, this is still a sanitized, clean smelling oud that will not get weird looks, unless you over spray. It's very potent.