Néroli Outrenoir

I'm furious. Like, big-big mad. Drunk-scrolling on one of the fragrance trade and sales groups on FB, I saw someone post that they had 10ml decants of Neroli Outrenoir for sale. It's not my fault that my PayPal details just fell into my phone. The wine did it. It whispered "Girl, you don't have full-bottle Guerlain money... just get this instead. What's the harm?" I'm not a neroli lover, I shrugged. I'm safe. HUBRIS. Don't look at me. I knew not what I was doing. A few days later a glass vial arrived, cocooned in bubble-wrap like a sweetly-snoozing, innocent-looking amber-coloured panacea to sooth the raging beast of impulsive blind-buying that lives within us all. Traitorous little bitch, upon first sniff it became absolutely clear that there was nothing innocent or snoozy about this juice AT. ALL. Transporting. That's the first word that came to mind. A grey-skied London was left behind in an instant- I was like a siren in a Herbal Essences shampoo ad, instantly whisked away to a rainforest oasis to shower under a waterfall. That sparkling citrus burst hit me first, so hard I genuinely think my third eye or root chakra or something else awakened in me. I could hear colours. I could see music. I was away in the clouds. Then the grounding, slightly damp and mossy astringency of black tea wrapped its way around my ankles to pull me back to earth. Wet from the waterfall, dizzy-drugged with intoxicating citrus, and now romping and rolling around in wet, fertile soil with someone unbelievably sexy, surrounded by crushed waxy-white petals. Sacred-ritual love-making, scented with sticky-sweet resins burned over an open fire. Its grip on me abated, just about, and I felt like I was in the most expensive, luxurious spa. Coddled in the fluffiest white robe, cuddled by damp, heavenly-smelling steamy air, sipping on a hot, sweet lemon black tea as the rain pelted down outside. Mind you, it's actually 8.15am, and I'm coming down from a multi-sensory hallucinatory trip while I stand in my hallway, halfway out the door and late for work. For fuck's sake. For the rest of the day, it clung to my clothes occasionally sending nostalgic wafts of white-floral intoxication straight to my synapses. I missed my rainforest lover and my waterfall. It wasn't a decant. It was a masterfully sneaky, calculatedly created wallet assassin, designed specifically to bankrupt wine-addled imbeciles like me. Don't do it. Don't smell it. For the love of god, don't even LOOK at it, unless you're happy living off ramen for the next two months with a shiny new bottle on your shelves and a Guerlain-sized ballistic hole in your bank account. On the upside though, you'll smell so good that strangers want to nuzzle your neck, and it will be the start of your romantic lead character arc, so.

"Resinous Neroli Tea" MASTERPIECE Neroli Outrenoir doesn't scream Guerlain. It only has hints of the traditional guerlainade sauce in the base. As many have said before me, it is a neroli + black tea + myrrh/resins scent. These notes might sound simple or maybe boring. But it is absolutely stunningly gorgeous. I'm constantly on edge that it's going to be discontinued because everything I love this much gets the axe. Neroli Outrenoir somehow manages to be a refreshing green citrusy neroli that actually lasts and lasts throughout almost the entire life of the fragrance on my skin; which is an impressive 8+ hours (a full day at the office). Usually neroli and citrus scents are the quickest to fade, so I'm not sure how Thierry Wasser & Delphine Jelk are doing this, but this little number lasts. This bright, cheerful and sunshiny neroli is paired with a steeped and brisk black tea note that's unmistakable. I think of a proper traditional tea service, afternoon tea at the Savoy in London. Fresh tea leaves in a silver strainer with a porcelain tea pot. Later this brisk tea meets a guerlainade base of sorts; this one is focused on myrrh along with some slightly smoky, earthy and ambery notes. You don't smell these three elements separately after a while, it just all melts together into this bright sunshiny scent over a slightly sweet resinous base. It's literally brilliant. Neroli Outrenoir has been my signature scent for my professional life for a few years now. It works in all seasons. Brisk enough for summer and resinous enough for winter. I'm always aware how so many people are sensitive to fragrance so this seems to be perfect for wearing around office colleagues. They can smell it because it projects, but it seems to only smell bright and refreshing to them. It's expensive so I don't have a back-up bottle. I only need about 3 maybe 4 sprays to last almost the whole day so my bottle is still about half full and I've had it a few years. I never have to worry about anyone else wearing it or smelling similar; it's my signature for my work life. Absolutely perfect for the office because I think it conveys a seriousness (not sexy) yet it's a bold, confident and crisp fragrance. I wear entirely different scents for downtime with family and friends but this is just so perfect for my office persona. I love Neroli Outrenoir so much. It's a MASTERPIECE. BRILLIANT 10/10

UPDATE! HOLY GRAIL & MASTERPIECE - 7 months later! ———- Yes; I shelled out $360 USD for this. Year rounder that’s versatile for any occasion. I’d be remiss not to mention the engraving & customizable flourishes. I normally don’t give a hoot about presentation, but this is a lasting experience and gives me an extra luxurious feeling every time I reach for it. **My description: I enjoy tea scents. The tea here strikes me as black, & of the highest quality. It’s bitter & realistic, but not off-putting. It’s subdued yet present, smoked, yet damp, fresh, yet earthy, light, yet substantial and deep. When I say light, I don’t mean fleeting or freshie. Far from it! It’s uplifting on the deepest level. This is deeper neroli/orange blossom, not a bright citrus, thank goodness. I’m bored of those. (Wulong, etc.) This is a welcome change, & that’s the clincher. There’s no black tea like this on the market that I’m aware of. It pains me to say, I do find this “traditionally femme,” not unisex, if that matters to you. I don’t understand the smokey reference. It’s not smokey. It’s more ‘baked.’ Smokey, it is not. **Mood: It’s calming & therapeutic. Very versatile & great for work, given its calming effect. In fact, the day I received it & wore it, both my mother & sister commented (via phone) that I sounded more calm than usual. **Comparison: I struggled with making the decision to get this or Angelique Noir. In the end, this was less sweet, lasts longer, fuller bodied & more complex. If this helps anyone, A.N. lasts 3 hours on me. (For the record, I Love A.N.) **Performance: This one gives me 5-6 hours, with projection for 2, and nice wafts for 6. I won’t lie- For ME, the price to performance ratio is disappointing for my conservative wallet. To get my personal desired effect, I have to spray 10 times, & it’s still not overbearing, intrusive or offensive. If you have the resources to spray to your heart’s content, or if you prefer a light, personal scent, I do recommend it, & envy you! (It’s quite a good performer compared to the rest of the L’Art collection. **Overall: Delightful experience with each wear. The bottle has gotten better and better over time. Would I repurchase? As long as $$ is flowing in, yes.

I think the most commonly used word in this comments section is "masterpiece", and knowing what Neroli Outrenoir smells like, that word completely befits the fragrance. It is, indeed, a masterpiece. The fragrance is oddly and vaguely nostalgic upon opening--I can't quite place my finger on it, though I think it associates with a childhood tradition I had with my family where they would go to the beach every year for no other reason but to sit in the hotel lobby to snack on tea and lemon biscuits (for some reason). Notwithstanding that slightly irrelevant point, the opening is very much a blast of citrus and black tea. The accord here is almost salivating--this might be the first and only time I'd ever describe a citrus fragrance as "gourmand". But to me it just feels like that very much. As the fragrance develops, the citrus and tea notes remain a constant but now feel quite akin to an expensive soap, and blend well with luxurious resins and a hint of a ginger note somewhere right before fading away. It's a beautiful symphony of scents, from start to finish. Now, performance time--it's a cool, smooth 5 hours of projection (typically) on my skin, with up to 9-10 hours of lasting as a skin scent before completely dying out. Which, honestly, isn't so bad for a citrus fragrance. I'm not gonna lie--prior to my purchase of Neroli Outrenoir, I kept hearing from different sources that Guerlain is the gold standard for fragrances, but due to my obsession with the work of brands like Creed, Parfums de Marly, MFK, etc. I hadn't really had a desire to explore Guerlain fragrances until recently. Now, I understand. Guerlain's collection of private-blend fragrances might run expensive, but I put them on-par, or even superior, to the famous niche perfumeries like the ones listed above, when it comes to quality and craft. The actual scent profile? Now that's subjective, but so far, I'm loving what I'm seeing, both with this and Herbes Troublantes (the hand soap of which I intend to buy very soon and place beside every faucet I own). Job well done, Guerlain (as if you needed to hear that).

Very special indeed ... a bit like a scented version of one of those optical illusions where your brain flits between two completely different interpretations of the same image (is it a glass or two people in profile? Ducks or fishes? that sort of thing.) My brain toggles between getting greenish-smoky tea and bright clean citrus from this, with both aspects done with impeccable taste and deeply deeply satisfying as well as staying intriguing. Only got a tiny spritz of this amid a department store sniffing rampage so I need to go back to it in spring before deciding to jump or not - it's far too expensive to be an impulse buy - but it has tickled my nose in all the right ways. Just hugely seductive. ETA: got a FB as a present and falling for it all the way, baby - its true magnificence comes out when you've had time to wear it on different days and see how it plays. Applied generously enough the longevity will stretch to 9-10h and it cycles fascinatingly from tea to citrus to tea to deliciously sweetly-powdery, almost earthy amber notes underneath, wisps of smoke drifting through, but all in a contained and discreet forcefield of loveliness all around you. Also presents different facets in different temperatures / humidity. At some moments it even seems to have a bizarre, yet welcome, sort of toasted-rice or other cereal note to it - which sounds horrid but isn't. That sweet, earthy, vanilla-tinged amber effect at the end hangs on for absolutely aaaages and is a delicious closing chapter, too. This is just *SO* good. Don't write it off after a first sniff as just a 'light, short-lived, overrated and overpriced citrus" like I almost did. It is so so so much more.