Black Touch

With a little elementary mathamagic, I find that for the price of my bottle of Green Irish Tweed, I could have bought around twelve bottles of this stuff. And I'd probably go through them all before I finished the Creed. This stuff is pure magic on me. Black Touch, like many of my favorites, is set in earth tones - burnt umber, if I had to narrow it down. Pay attention to the "People who like this" widget over to the right, because there are absolute elements of many of these fragrances dancing around in the mix here - in fact, I'm pretty sure that if I had the time and inclination, I could replicate this using some amalgamation of those scents as ingredients. Start with just the smallest hint of Encre Noir - you can sense tendrils of it, like distant smoke, throughout the life of it. Pour on some M7, to get that bronze, hummy quality to it, but smooth it out with the L'Occitane, to get it a little creamy. Just a touch of Terre D'Hermes, to get that taste of citrus up... ...and I've just created a really tasty stew for 300 dollars that Black Touch delivers for under twenty bucks. That's spooky and delightful. On one hand, if you're an elementalist, you can cover much of that earthtone experience in one go using Black Touch. On the other hand, for those of us in love with that entire spectrum, Black Touch connects the dots in several places - like a missing link. For under twenty bucks. That bears endless repeating. It doesn't threaten the pedestals of the pantheon - it's no cheap replacement for M7 or Encre Noir or L'Occitane or Terre d'Hermes. At the same time, none of those (alone) can replace the omnibus that is Black Touch. If there is a downside to it, I suppose it would be that, in carrying the DNA of so many defining perfumes, it lacks a definite personality of its own. It's not a hitman in black like Encre, it's not a gleaming bronze machine like M7, it's not a rough-and-tumble leather jacket like the Hermes. It's... a lovely burnt umber. As to longevity, on my skin this stuff is implacable; 14 hours later, all I need to do is wipe my fingers over my collarbone to bring the scent alive again to my nose, with goodly strength. Should you try it? If you're into the earthtone spectrum of perfumes, you can barely afford not to for under a double sawbuck; it's this or English Leather over at the dimestore. And this is No English Leather.

I will just pick up the last opinion to build an equation. 60% Terre D'Hermes + 30% Encre Noir + 10% X = 100% Black Touch I still wonder about the X in this equation. My best guess is 10% of Angel Men mainly in the opening. It opens with an alchool blast (so don't smell it in the initial 15 seconds). Then you get a very good spicy sweet (caramel) citrusy opening. There is also touch of cardamom. The opening notes endure through the heart notes. With the hearth notes I mainly detect the orange blossom and some white flowers. Basically you have a 2nd stage with some fainting opening notes but with a strong vibe of caramel /grapefruit / orange blossom that blends with some dirtiness coming from vetiver and cedar of the closing notes. During the drydown the woody scents become a lot more cleaner. The sweetness persists probably due to the vanilla and musk notes. At the peak, the sillage reaches 3~4 feet. After 4~5 hours it becomes a skin scent and vanishes after 6~7 hours. With higher temperatures (or sweatty skin) it projects more, the sillage reaches 6 feet and the skin scent dies after 8 hours. This fragrance is not as black as the name suggests. Probably is just a "touch" dark. It's perfect for Spring, Autumn, Winter, day or night. You may even use it during the summer at night. Performance is average for this type of notes. The bottle is nice and solid and the sprayer is very good. Let's see the maths for Frank Olivier's Black Touch: - Scent: 8.0 (very good - my judgement) - Longevity: 7.5 (7 hours +) - Sillage: 7.0 (3~4 feet for 2 1/2 hours with 3 sprays on cold weather; average projection for 2 hours); practical skin scent till the 7th hour. - Uniqueness: 8.0 (not really unique as it resembles mainly Terre d'Hermes but it's not a clone). - Wearability: 8.0 (almost allways except hot weather) - Versatility: 8.0 (everywere and attracts compliments; exceptional for "close" encounters). - Quality: 8.0 (my judgement) - Presentation: 8.0 (nice but not outstanding) - Price: 8.5 (100 ml for 20 Euros + VAT) Average: 7.89 / 10.00 In my top 10? No! But good enough for daily informal use and "close" encounters. Will I buy it again? Probably. Will I recommend it? YES! You will not make much better for 20 Euros, and this fragrance is really pleasant!

"this is my version of the black touch story" imagine if encre noir was a goth chick and terre d hermes was indian jones son. a young couple from two different sides of the street yet they fit together perfectly in a harmonious balance we call love. this fragrance is a dark vetiver with hints of a dark floral background all done in a very unique men's fragrance. the vetiver is light and airy woody and sweet. with subtle nuances of some type of flower that i cannot put my finger on. i don't think it's the geranium, perhaps the jasmine? it is very well blended and hides in this fragrances enough to not confuse you. it also has some kind of musty pleasant aspect that may put some people off. but give it a couple minutes and that turns sweet and soft. kinda like opening a very old book. it's dusty dirty but you kinda find that smell delightful for some strange reason. i can see why people associate this with TdH and EN but it is on it's own path in life. longevity 8/10 sillage 6/10 overall score 7/10 this will be one of the best inexpensive fragrances on the market for a little while. however this is an opinion and you have to be into darker scents to enjoy something like this. ** i'm not sure if it is just me but this might have iso e super in it. it tends to fade away and waft back in strength for hours. it also seems heat activated. the more you sweat the louder it projects. and it does not just wear off easily with some sweat. the good thing is it never truly dies off until around 8-10 hours.

Grape, ¿Pepper? Cardamom, VETIVER, Jasmin, Cedar It opens with a fresh aromatic Grape and a dry bitter pungent Spice note (Pepper most likely). A dry earthy woody Vetiver note plays the main role (should be listed within the middle notes). Most importantly, there is a musky Jasmin note alongside the whole road which makes the composition a little less rough and a bit more aromatic and elegant, a bit more versatile. This smells like a highly intelligent, life-hardened, villains' boss giving orders from an underground lair or something. It makes me think of Tywin Lannister for some reason. You may not get compliments with this, but this is a fragrance for someone who does not care about that anyways, a mature serious man who cares only about respect and getting things done. And please, this is nothing like Encre Noire. Are we really going to invoke the name of EN every time Vetiver is listed within the notes? EN is a Musky Wood, very musky and somehow wet, borderline unisex, whereas this one (Black Touch) is a Fresh-Spicy & Earthy Wood, very dry and masculine. Totally different fragrances, and I'm comparing them right now, I have them both.

I've gone through an entire bottle of this juice over the course of a year and a half (to be fair at least part of the bottle was used as air freshener after my cat laid out a nasty turd) and I feel like I can give a good review. Now, is this juice TdH meets Encre Noire with a lil cheapness to it? Kinda. I've decanted TdH and EN in 50/50 and in 70/30 concentrations and the resulting juice after maccarating is a bit similar. There is definitely a cheapness to it, although I certainly do not get burnt rubber or anything especially unpleasant. My bottle was solid for longevity, the base note lasts absolutely forever (I wanna say cashmiran with a little extra wood.) I love this cologne at the end of the day, a little spritz on my neck, little spritz on my sheets.I get vanilla, woods, cardamom, grapefruit, bergamot, a little floral backnote that adds an almost waxy aspect to the fragence. All in all, this is a banger under $20 (I got my bottle for $16) however I'm finding it hard to get for cheaper because a bunch of youtubers reviewed it a while back. Would get as a cheapy!