Black Cockatoo

CHRISTOPHER HANLON makes the very best perfumes in the world. I have been a cult fan of Mr Hanlon for over 20 years and the first perfume I purchased was possibly the first release called "Venom" which was sold all over Australia in Myers department stores in the 90s. I still have one of his classic silver bottles made from spun aluminium and anodised in gold or in matt silver. It is a collector's piece now. Christopher Hanlon currently makes around 25 individual and totally unique perfumes - 19 are listed on his website and the others are sold through his stores/outlets. What I love about this luxury brand is that they are so true to the art of perfumery and to their philosophy. Christopher Hanlon is still owned by the artist himself and he has never ventured down the path of selling-out his brand as his peers have done, aka Jo Malone, Bobby Brown, Kilian, Tom Ford and Le Labo, to name a few. I do not know one perfume company left in the world that is now 100% owned and operated by the founding artist. I certainly have witnessed a massive growth in niche-designer luxury brands in this genre; however if you dig deep into their ownership it comes up as a subsidiary of another global corporation. A lot of these mega-companies have dumped the old brands they have had for the last 5o years or so, in favour for new niche brands – that the perfume market is now hungry for. So I am a TRUE BELIEVER in following and supporting GENUINE ARTIST OWNED and operated perfume brands particularly when they have a long history in the market place for making such great and unique offerings. BLACK COCKATOO if my ALL TIME FAVE from the Christopher Hanlon stable of luxury perfumes. His perfumes are concentrated to the max. A small spritz is enough to last 12 hours if not longer. I have found however the BEST WAY TO APPLY his precious perfume oil is not to rub into the skin. During a masterclass I attended with Christopher Hanlon he said that 'Rubbing his perfumes can bruise the aroma'. Now I just lightly spritz lightly or I squirt the vapour into the air and walk into it, as Egyptians traditionally did with perfumed smoke in the Middle East. Finally, all I can say is you must try this perfume especially if you are a man. The fragrance is without doubt a totally alpha male masculine perfume and certainly would smell rather on on a woman. It is bursting with excellent strong concentrations of those extremely rare and expensive perfume aromatics like Oud, Tobacco Leaf, Amber, Cardamon, Anise and Truffle. You can smell a faint trace of Banksia and Bush Potato with Kangaroo Paw but these essential oils are in the background only and seem to amplify the main accords rather than overpower it. Like a great symphony those notes play in the background and flesh out this fragrance rather than define it. Highly recommended. And APPROVED! Five stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ummm... In my humble opinion, dare I say, BLACK COCKATOO is STRONGLY and POWERFULLY for Men Only. This luxury fragrance is comprised of a gobsmacking amount of intoxicating Oud. FYI this perfume even trumps the TOM FORD Oud collection. This is a GENUINE 100% REAL OUD product. My father adores Oud and my youngest bro (he is 14 now) totally digs it too. I grew up in Ras Al Khaimah which is a well known place by everyone in the world to be the King of Oud. All the rich, famous men in either Abu Dhabi, Dubai or Sharjah wear OUD. Everyone does. I know some westerners (some dude was ranting on before) do not like OUD and prefer those sweet synthetic fresh perfumes like CK one or Jo Malone. And that's OK. It's cool to be differrent. But if you are a man's man you will love this Oud by Christopher Hanlon. I understand some of you think its a little too strong but when a designer perfume is at $500-800 a bottle, I expect my Oud perfume to be genuine, and to contain a LOT of OUD. Otherwise I would buy something cheap from Kmart. When I buy designer luxury perfumes that are hand made by the famous artist like Christopher HAnlon I like the fact that they do contain pure and expensive perfume oils. After all we are meant to be perfume lovers not haters? Right? YES this is a super rich and pretty-powerful perfume essence. A dark golden brown-black translucent liquid. This perfume by Christopher Hanlon is GOLD. May I add to my commentary... Because I think smelling good is like landing that perfect trick—when you nail it, everyone notices. Black Cockatoo is all about that effortless cool. It’s for the guys who don’t follow trends—they set them. This isn’t some generic department store cologne your dad would wear; this is next-level. The kind of scent that makes people lean in a little closer, trying to figure out what you’re all about. 5 BLACK stars and THUMBS UP

Lov’n CHRISTOPHER HANLON Australia’s First perfumer and a total God to the stars. Purchased my small 10ml bottle from Sephora and now look totally forward to experiencing the full sized mother FKR bottle next. AWESOME scent. Luxurious and MANLY. The deep, smoky Oud immediately commands attention, weaving a luxurious tapestry with the rich Australian Sandalwood and Oak. The earthy allure of Tobacco and Amber adds depth and warmth, making this Christopher Hanlon scent ideal for the modern man who exudes confidence and class.Black Cockatoo is a true sensory adventure, perfect for the man who embraces his individuality and seeks a fragrance that matches his dynamic persona. This Hanlon concoction is a bold and memorable scent that lingers on the skin. Definitely the richest and SEXIEST perfumes I have ever smelt (apart from vintage YSL Kouros and Tom Fords classic Oud Wood)👍👍👍👍💪💣💣💣

A BEAUTIFUL fragrance but not for me. It smells very rich, EXPENSIVE and masculine. It is EXTREMELY STRONG. I receive a small black bottle of it with my purchase and tried a tiny amount on the back of my wrist. It is LOVELY but to be perfectly honest this is a 1000% BOYS PERFUME! I have gifted it to my husband. I totally agree with Miss ICE BLOCKS - this is for MEN ONLY. 💪💪💪 MASCULINE👍👍👍 🙀🙀🙀NOT FELINE FRIENDLY🌸🌸🌸

[MAY 2024] Snagged a one-time chance to get 8 different rollerballs from Christopher Hanlon + a body wash for 100AUD. 15 days to ship within Australia (The first 7 days-- inclusive-- were spent concocting a fresh batch of the liquid in a lab.) Fourth review. This, for its smooth blend of edgy animalics with hyperreal Australian botanicals, makes Black Cockatoo my favourite of the Christopher Hanlon collection thus far. The Australian nature of the blend of Black Cockatoo comes from the undertone of rainforest petchior/mulch also found in a number of bushfoods and foraged tea currently sold in the Museum of Queensland and other local Australia-first heritage distributors. The Daintree rainforest of Australia (a popular spot for tourists, and bushfood foragers) carries an unusually pre-humanity damp earthiness in the extracts. Not saying that's where these extracts were foraged, but it's a common theme within Australian extract confections of this sort. Very different from the definitely-ancient green-herbal-medicinal fern smell of New Zealand. Opening with a herbal-sweet scent ala Banksia Flower and Sweet Potato, this fragrance really evolves as it warms on your skin. In a few minutes, Black Cockatoo blooms into a soft, richly Camembert cheese-like animalic-musky oud (impressive for how effortlessly it wafts into this phase.) Lily flower extract and kangaroo paw compliment the animalic oud skankiness and bring the fragrance back into Australian botanical dew-dropped rainforest mulch sweetness. Yet despite that, Black Cockatoo is not even slightly mistakeable for an aquatic. This is as warm, and musky as a mob of marsupials residing in the Outback. And as it progresses yet again, as damp in air as clouds passing low on ground fog up the rainforests of Australia. But nowhere during its timeline, unlike Royal Sovereign, does it imply cold wet rain droplets hanging from cultivated park plants. Black Cockatoo by Christopher Hanlon smells of El Nino summer drizzles in the Australian Rainforest, far from where human civilisation has reasonable contact to-- the kind that would suffocate those intolerant to heat and humidity, except since this is a perfume it spares you of such difficulties. And so not only does Black Cockatoo work as a perfume, it works as a scent experience and one I can highly recommend to foreigners looking for a piece of "exotic" Oceania flora and fauna distilled in a bottle. Very reminiscent of my time living in Far North QLD a decade ago. Also, perfect longetivity and sillage from the rollerball alone. Walking back into my apartment, Black Cockatoo filled the air quickly-- something, unlike other perfumes are unable to, was noticeable a hundred percent. And not a single hint of alcohol on anything from Christopher Hanlon-- of which this lack of irritating alcohol sharpness from any fragrance is a rarity to me. This is not only a "love" from me, but I am definitely getting a full bottle of Black Cockatoo when my next birthday comes ($280 for a 100ml Eau de Toilette, which is fine for me. For the same price of an Extrait de Parfum from Christopher Hanlon, I can purchase both Black Cockatoo and Buly 1803's Sweet Potato and Afghanistan Carrot Garden Parfum-- currently sold at Mecca AU, and by far the most realistic Green Spring perfume I tried yet-- and layer both for the ultimate outdoor meadow experience.) You can read my review on Melbourne Amber Musk, Silver Penny, and Royal Sovereign elsewhere on Fragrantica.

Hmm. Christopher Hanlon... I am unsure where the marketing stops and the authenticity begins with this brand. I picked up some of the smaller extraits as a sample pack, and I'm still torn. Black cockatoo instantly reminded me of something, then it hit me. Brut. The same stuff I got for Christmas every year from grandparents as part of a aftershave, body wash and loofah bundle. So with that in mind I'm not sure where this scent will go. I have been wearing it now for 3 hours and the brut has settled down a bit, but it's still there. I'll report back later if things soften. I'm really unsure what to make of most of the other reviews on Christopher Hanlon. I have a strong feeling there are a load of shills on fragrantica for this brand, and that disappoints me - particularly because it is so obvious. As someone that works in marketing, I feel the brand is missing the mark by a fair bit which is a shame, because Brut aside, the fragrance is actually pretty good. This probably isn't one that will be in high rotation unfortunately.

Another HIT. Received a FREE 10ML with my recent Christopher Hanlon perfume purchase. I have only had this on my wrist for a little over seven hours now, so I cannot honestly say whether it lasts all day like most of his other perfumes. I can say though I actually wish I had purchased this fragrance! I thought Convict Diamond was FANTASTIC. But I actually prefer this now: it is SO RICH, MASCULINE and SO INTENSE. This perfume blows your mind away! It is so ADDICTIVE. I am not sure what Hanlon has put in this creation but the perfume blend is EXCEPTIONAL. I will 100% be purchasing Black Cockatoo. In addition, I noticed a review here by a woman called "Ice Block" but this fragrance is 100% NOT for women - you need to stick to women's fragrances and write about them please. Black Cockatoo is inspired by the rich cultural masculine heritage of the Middle East. These types of men's fragrances traditionally are known for their complexity and use of rare ingredients, such as Oud and TOBACCO. Black Cockatoo also contains amplified concentrations of aromatic Amber, Cardamon, Anise, Truffle and AUSTRALIAN LILLY PILLY. It is a very unique blend of exclusive and rare natural ingredients particularly from the Australian outback. CHRISTOPHER HANLON has been creating bespoke perfumes for over 25+ years and his family company started in Australia in 1875; and he is considered to be Australia's first perfumer. Hanlon's perfumes are blended using the best quality natural botanical ingredients and he is well known for his unique approach to fragrance creation, which combines traditional perfumery techniques with modern botanical fermenting technology. His perfumes are almost made the same way they make very expensive scotch whiskey. Christopher personally ferments every bottle of perfume with his own hands. That is how his beautiful rich perfume notes are developed. Christopher Hanlon has also been featured in several publications such as Vogue Australia, VOGUE China, ELLE Hong Kong and Harper's Bazaar Russia (to name a few). Black Cockatoo perfume by CHRISTOPHER HANLON is so much more than the sum of its notes - the somewhat phantom fruity/amber accord keeps still me sniffing my wrist and the woody-smoke is GORGEOUS! Almost a realistic Australian campfire scent memory. The subtle underlying background gourmand elements are beautifully blended and infuse those woody botanicals instead of contrasting them. Can't wait to try this CHRISTOPHER HANLON PERFUME in the forthcoming winter weather. YUM!!!❤️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

One thing to note with this - the "Potato" note is actually listed on the Hanlon website as "Bush Potato". It's from a completely different plant (ipomoea costata) and would generally be considered part of the "bush tucker" category of food. Can't say I've ever tried it as it's not commercially available, so I can't speak as to if it's present or not. Testing from a rollerball (extrait concentration). Starts very aromatic on me - very woody, spicy, herbal, and "retro". Dries down to more woods with a vegetal overlay. Definitely masculine! Also, readers, take note: These fragrances have been receiving reviews from people with remarkably similar writing styles... and who have ONLY ever reviewed fragrances from this brand. Make of that what you will (I certainly have my own suspicions as to what's happening). I would have let it slide, but really, "you need to stick to women's fragrances" - what an incredibly rude statement.