Potion Royal Black

If it were a color, it would be blue-black. If it were an emotion, it would be desire. If it were a genre, it would be Film Noir. If you have wished for a rose fragrance that can’t be construed as being effeminate this is worth a try. I blind bought Potion Royal Black two years ago and have had no regrets. I guess I have been on a rose kick lately, but I just love the concept of DSquared2, both the fragrance and the fashion. The clothing is just behind Ports1961 for me: artful and intriguing, not conniving. This resinous treasure opens with a rose of the heirloom variety imbued with incense and leather. The three notes seem to transform into one aromatic, ever blooming posy before your nose. Tobacco intercedes immediately thereafter and, smelling something of an unlit cigarette, coaxes the dainty petals into showing their masculine side. Pimento warms the skin and adds just a touch of piquant fermentation. Guaiac and cashmere woods inhabit the base instilling the bouquet with depth and luxury. I did not, to my relief, detect an over-abundance of the ubiquitous bergamot and musk here, but they are present. Overall, once the composition achieves its final form, it holds onto the skin with the tenacity of Japan lacquer and offers excellent projection. There are mossy shades of vintage Chanel Antaeus in its structure, but they are faint chimeras. If you weren’t walking the earth back in the early 1980’s when the original Antaeus was released, and ever wondered what it was like, this would be a reasonable but incomplete study. Potion Royal Black is an atmospheric gem particularly suitable to late autumn in temperate climates and is worn to its best effect in cool, crisp air. Of course, living in a climate controlled universe (as most of us do), it is possible to turn down the thermostat on a random rainy evening and just spray yourself into a sleepy, rose scented nirvana. I like to take it with me to cosmopolitan cities like New York, London and Berlin the same as to bed. Great for living large, such as evenings out on the town or even when you just want to draw a little extra (positive) attention to yourself, say on an important date or for an event. I wore this to Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in New York last month and received several inquiries from other attendees. I can safely report that nobody else smelled like this. The best part is that for all its niche appeal it can be had for the price of a less distinguished bottle. I call it bargain priced individualism.

Okay so I went to my local perfume counter and said to some of the women there..."You know me by now...what else do you have that I will like?" I always use certain fragrances as a reference to (hopefully) help them alert me to new ones...In this case it was Robert Piguet 'Bois Noir' and Amouage Interlude Man. She came up with this one from DSquared. It was a new one to me, the He Woods are a mixed bag and I'm not overly keen really...but I figured hey I'll try it! A pale comparison with Bois Noir which is in another league(not even gonna mention Interlude) was my conclusion. It smelled cheaper, I'd figured they were the same price but when I discovered this one was half the price it changed my perspective slightly. Really not a bad effort at the high end opulence that I crave from a spicy, Oudy, smokey, Incense scent at a designer price. Also the rose strikes a pretty good balance in Potion Royal Black, all in all not bad. For me though, I like designer fragrances for being a composition that you wouldn't see in the niche realm and this attempt is slightly redundant for me. It just highlights that If I want this sort of smell I will have to be prepared to pay for it and in truth will get something much much better than this. Update: My original point above was not very objective. I'm speaking as somebody who loves dark, eastern, incense fragrances and is prepared to pay top dollar so this doesn't really appeal to me...but more broadly speaking this might be the finest designer fragrance you can get and not to be sniffed at! (If you pardon the pun...this most definitely should be sniffed at! in a really good way.) Tried this again the otherday as I was really quite impressed the by this the first time, considering it's price point. It starts out as a really smokey mess quite frankly and is very pungent with spices and I'm not sure what it's supposed to be? You can actually sniff through the layers of resinous, smoke and reveal what struck me as an almost feminine rose scent underneath. However, as it dries down it seems to get deeper and darker and in the very deep drydown 8+ hours it becomes my favorite a gorgeous leather (Think almost Tuscan leather or Clive Christian 'C' PRAISE INDEED!) but by then it's so faint it's just barely in the realms of existence. Quite a journey this fragrance takes you on...layered and really a bold outing for a designer house with awesome longevity, so well done to DSquared.

How does one follow up such a well written review as the one before this one? I love this frag so much that I'm compelled to add my two or three cents on the subject. Im a sucker for dark manly rose scents. I own Club De Nuit Intense by Armaf which is basically NOIR DE NOIR minus $250+, David Yurman's Limited Edition, Aramis Calligraphy Rose, Shade's Wood and now DSquared's Potion Royal Black. Owning these scents gives you an idea of the versatility of rose notes in fragrances. They are undeniably rosy but they aren't anywhere near copies of each other as far as fragrances go. Each has a very unique take on Rose and Potion is one of my favorites. What makes this different from the others is the Incense, Leather and Rose combo. These notes combine to create a very sensual fragrance. It's also very niche in terms of the smell, blend, and performance. As has been mentioned it is very easy to see this scent selling for 5x its asking price and it would probably sell more if that were the case than it does as an affordable designer scent. There are some synthetics used but so what? WIth IFRA rules in play even Niche brands are producing SYNTHETIC scents. The bottom line is the smell and this smells amazing. Scents like this is what frugal frag heads live to find. Something which should be far more exclusive being sold at an accessible price. And because the availability is so scarce chances are no one will smell like you. I collect fragrances because of gem finds like this. This will certainly be one of my night out scents as it gets colder which is when this scent, I believe, would fit best. Its a warm, dense, sweet, but masculine take on Rose. I get consistently over 10 hours (i spray on my Tshirts) with great sillage for the first 4 hours. On clothes this will last forever. So give a couple sprays between your chest and your Tshirt and you will be giving off whiffs of this forever...lol... Simply put...A wow factor Fragrance. If u don't like rose scents this may be one which changes your mind. Its undeniably beautiful. 10/10- This scent is everything I want in a fragrance and is a unicorn compared to the hosts of generic designer scents which all smell the same these days. It gets a 10 because it measures up to the best from the Designer world past and present. YouTube Channel- Simply Put Scents

Potion Royal Black After spraying few times in retail shop I bought the bottle online quite cheap. I think it should have been called "potion ROSE royal" A fantastic rose scent , one of my favourites. I would agree with Santiago below , a bucket of deep red wet roses.The opening is a blast of roses combo with incense and gentle leather. The other notes cashmere wood, musk and guaiac wood are a bit softer but are there. Not sure about pimento, I don't know how it smells. One day a applied 5-6 sprays on my body around 8:30 am. While being in the office, few friends and colleagues were asking what is this nice smell ? Did the clean-lady cleaned the whole office in the morning? At that moment I felt very happy that was my Potion Royal Black. The projection was about 3 meters. When I went home 9pm the rose , soft smoke and incense notes were still on my skin. That make 12 hours longevity minimum. After 3 hours , midnight the scent was still there. So , at least on my skin this fantastic perfume is a beast. However, this is just my nose, and the perfume has been applied on my skin. I do recommend this EDP to everyone. Not sure if the negative reviews are from fake samples or bad batches. Even my signature Epic man doesn't have excellent marks (due to high price). However, it doesn't mean that this will b the same scent in every single person all around the world. Just my skin, my PH my review. I hope it helps. Conclusion: Batch: 00D82BE1 Price online: 50 euros , April -3 , 2016 Scent: 10 Longevity :10 Sillage:10 Overall 10 Cheers, GG

My dear, old friend, I have just discovered how much I have missed thee. I bought this - 100ml - fragrance when it was first released and adored it from day one. I didn't use much of it after the first week and stored it in my cupboard for a rainy day. I moved home a few months after buying it and when unpacking everything in my new home, I completely forgot that I had bought it, mainy due to the fact that it wasn't there when I unpacked my boxes. It had disappeared and consequently, I didn't 'miss' it. Fast-forward 5+ years (to this week as I type) and I found a box in my storage unit and opened it. Eureka! There it was, staring at me, practically brand new, in the original box and 99% full. The smell is exactly the same as it was 5 years ago - pungent, strong, masculine and all-consuming. I won't waste time typing what it smells like as many of you have already done that. However, I will say that this fragrance is absolutely beautiful with incredible sillage and longevity. Its presence dominates everything around it, including me. I had no idea that this is now discontinued and feel very lucky that I own this masterpiece. If you can get your hands on an original bottle of this potion, then beg, steal or borrow it. Even if it's a rare 'blind buy', don't hesitate. Thank me later.