Film Noir

My 2nd favorite from the brand. Film Noir is really something special, and not at all what most would expect. It's one of those fragrances that really makes you reminisce of the past. A clean powdery opening, with just the right amount of lavender and patchouli behind it. After that it keeps building on it's earthy elements while some sweetness is introduced from the honey, then you get to the dry down. I expected the civet & oud duo to be harsh, but it's not that animalic and the oud is toned down by other smells going on. I do wish I get more of the honey, as between the 20th or 30th minute of wearing this I always seem to get this amazingly complex honey accord, but it sadly does not last long and gets sidelined by the other notes of civet and tonka bean weirdly enough. Performance & longevity are amazing, but it won't disturb anyone. To be fair, if I smelled this on someone I wouldn't complain one bit, it's simply that good. You can never get enough of this, you can wear it any time/day/season and you'll pick up on a different note. It's always changing but keeping the vintage smell you're addicted to. With a name like "Film Noir" you'd think of those old black & white movies, and that's the easiest way to describe this fragrance, but it definitely doesn't do it justice as there is something so nostalgic about this. I can't recommend this enough, this brand as a whole is great. I made a promise to myself to only spray this fragrance when I'm wearing 2 clothing items; my leather jacket or a certain watch I have. Might sound weird to some of you, but I'm sure a lot of people do this. It really adds onto the experience of wearing this fragrance, knowing that I'm wearing some of the only things that bring me happiness in life.

Opens with a vintage-esque powdery lavender and neroli combo. The lavender here is comes across as very natural and theres even a touch of something a bit dirty to it, possibly coming from the civet and maybe the allspice peeking through. The lavender last for about an hour or so and then the iris, honey, vanilla and oakmoss become the main players. The powderiness is present from start to finish and gives this fragrance a sheer and airy texture. I think thats why the perfumer mentions cigarette smoke. While I personally don't detect any smokiness in here, the texture is definitely reminiscent of some kind of smoke or dust shimmering through rays of sunlight. The composition is overall quite light and airy and there is nothing dense or cloying about it whatsoever. It also has a fairly natural feel to it. I am someone who definitely prefers natural leaning perfumes and there is nothing here that stands out as being overly synthetic or harsh. So far, have mostly worn it in warm weather but I think it would be great all year round. Can be worn in the morning but I personally think its better suited for late afternoon/evening. There's definitely a vintage feel to this one and I think it would be great for someone who wants something with a bit of nostalgia but doesn't want to veer off into "grandma" territory or feel like they should be wearing a candy stripe suit and holding a cane. This has been my favorite from the house so far. And since it was inspired by vintage films, I'll say which one comes to mind for me when I smell this: A Streetcar Named Desire.

Incredibly evocative perfume from one of the most promising new houses I’ve come across in years. This perfume has certain hallmarks of extremely vintage men’s classic fougeres: definitely a nod to Caron Pour un Homme and also, in my opinion, Caron’s Third Man... but also this doesn’t actually smell like either. The lavender is very present but also atypical and new smelling, combined with the accord of civet, neroli and allspice, it does something very striking here. The perfumer compares it to the idealized image of cigarette smoke in silent films, without smelling anything like a cigarette. Strangely I agree. This smells like you’d imagine the beautiful curling lines of smoke might smell like if you’d only ever seen it onscreen. Fresh, sexy, romantic. There will be much more helpful reviews than mine to come, yet let me try and add some helpful stuff in here at the end: this smells much different to the person wearing it and the person who notices how good they smell. It also smells different inside and outside(out in the fresh air is best imho). A friend who bought it after smelling it on me one time said it’s “rootbeer smoke” and while I’d save that for Le Labo’s Patchouli 24, I know what he means. Sparkly and effervescent while also being sweetly smoky. Lastly, the perfumer claims it smells best in the morning after the night you wore it to go out. And I kind of get what he means. It has a certain lived in charm, like smelling your loved ones clothes. Can’t recommend this one enough.

After having a sample of this for a while and then finally getting a bottle about a month ago, I need to share the experience I've had with it because it's completely unique in my (admittedly limited) history of wearing fragrances: I actually CRAVE this scent. I miss it when I'm not wearing it; I got back from a weekend trip where I only brought a handful of random samples with me to use up and was relieved and excited when I got to wear Film Noir after a hearty post-airport shower. I don't really know what aspect of this perfume does this for me, but whatever it is, it's absolutely divine. I think it's because of how it lasts and evolves: it sticks around but doesn't cloy, yet surrounds me. It fits like a glove, so to speak, but projects as well. If I wanted to use gendered, evocative imagery that fits the way it's marketed, I'd describe it as a socialite's too-fancy evening dress that is shockingly comfortable and which she never wants to take off. It really does feel like it's almost too amazing to wear all the time; nothing about it is pedestrian, yet it's imminently wearable all the same. Something I've noticed from all the perfumes I've tried from this house is that they have an air-like, cool quality regardless of the actual notes; the way the lavender note manifests in Film Noir is a perfect example of this. I want to wear it all the time and I think I might go through my bottle at an alarming rate. I'm hooked!

Out of the handful I've sampled from Clandestine Laboratories, this is my favorite. Many have noted its resemblance to Third Man - even the name of the perfume gestures that way - and I agree. But I think there's another ancestor that's just as important - Habanita. I don't know what to call the notes that make them similar - though I notice orris root is heavily present in both - but it accounts for a lot of the character that Film Noir does not share with Le 3e Homme such as that sweetness that is coded as "honey" here. Nor does Film Noir have the citrus notes of Le 3e Homme, which are similarly hardly present in Habanita. When you read the description, the reference is even more obvious. "Cigarette smoke in an ideal world" is pretty much the brief for Habanita, if briefs had been a thing back then. Another perfume I believe is similar is New York Intense by Nicolai with its pronounced oakmoss and lavender notes. I like Film Noir even more than all its predecessors, it's downright addictive.