Eau de Citron Noir

At last, I found a citrus perfume with an edge. No sugary grin—just a dry, cutting stare. Eau de Citron Noir doesn't try to charm me; it challenges me instead. And somehow, that's exactly what I love about it. This isn't your typical burst of sunny citrus. It's citrus that's wandered through the underworld, made peace with its bitterness, and come back all the more compelling for it. From the initial spray, I'm greeted by a vivid blast of tangy black lime, as though someone has grated fresh zest over smouldering embers. That opening touches something deep in me. It's sharp, astringent, and irresistibly mouthwatering. It's the kind of sourness that makes my jaw tingle and immediately makes me want another sniff. The lemon and citron have a beautiful sting to them—bracing rather than sweet—and I can't get enough. It evokes of the idea of biting into a preserved lemon dusted with fine black tea and just a hint of mystery. As it settles, the black tea and guaiac wood begin to emerge, adding a smoky depth that anchors all that vibrant acidity. The result is dry, thoughtful, and wonderfully restrained. To me, it has the olfactory equivalent of a dry wit, no sugar, no fluff, just elegance with a razor-sharp edge. I can't help comparing it to other citrus fragrances. If they're the cheerful brunch guests in pastel sweaters sipping mimosas, Eau de Citron Noir is the mysterious guest who quietly orders a black espresso with a slice of scorched lemon. It shouldn't work... and yet it works beautifully. If you love citrus but occasionally wish it had a little more bite, I think Eau de Citron Noir is absolutely worth experiencing.

This is my second review of this after finishing a bottle. It's rare when I finish a bottle of something because I have so many fragrances so that already says something.....kinda. I still love the fragrance. The dried lime with tea and smoke. I love it . It smells unique mature and mysterious and super fresh. The name is very fitting. Obviously you must like sharp citrus fragrances . The dry down does mellow out it you can still easily tell it's a smokey lime fragrance . So..... performance. It's an Eau de Cologne so you can't expect it to be a projection monster or anything remotely close to that . BUT the first hour with moderate sprays (5) it projects quite a bit for like 45 minutes then fades. At 2 hours it's already sitting pretty close . It's going to be a close skin scent until it's just about gone at 4 hours . So with that said what do you do? You over spray the heck out of it . For this quality and unique scent at $50ish dollars that's a good price that I don't mind spraying it a lot. When I have needed this to last 5 to 6 hours I'm spraying my shirt 5 times and my skin 6 or 7. After the first hour you have a nice little scent bubble that isn't attacking anyone's nose but can be smelled occasionally. While a stronger version of this would be nice I don't think the same scent can be achieved with a stronger version. On pure smell it's right where it needs to be with its concentration . Super versatile, can be worn whenever . I really like this and I'm hoping the 6.7oz eventually hits discounters. 8.5/10

A photorealistic blend of lime, lemon, citron and black tea with a woody, slightly smoky aspect in the background! If you love citruses and tea in your perfumes, Eau de Citron Noir is a safe blind buy in my opinion, whether you are a man or a woman. Based on the way Eau de Citron Noir acts on me, I wouldn’t consider this scent a masculine one, I would say it’s 100% a unisex fragrance. Keep in mind that this is a cologne concentration, so the performance is on the light side, but smells so natural, realistic, soothing, relaxing and refreshing in the same time. It’s a very simple and classic scent, but it’s the type that works perfectly in high heat&high humidity environments. In preparation for my August trip to the South of Spain, I decided to test a lot of designer freshies, because the weather forecast shows very high temperatures and in such conditions, citruses and tea it’s all I can wear without feeling suffocated. The scent advertises a smoke note in composition, but at least on me, it’s very minimal, I don’t detect smoke in the air, just tea and citruses. I have some classics of this genre from Guerlain like Herba Fresca and Mandarin Basilic, but I want a new fragrance to have for this holiday, to make new scents memories with. For what I want, this was the best overall, thinking scent quality, performance and price. Obviously, I didn’t pay FRP in store, but decided to buy my bottle online for a bargain price. Hermes Eau de Citron Noir will be the one for me for this summer holiday!

Never have I bought a backup bottle so fast. This stuff is incredible. A burst of fresh, full-bodied lemon and lime that almost immediately turns moody and weird, like a storm cloud interrupting an obnoxiously sunny day. If there's such a thing as "goth citrus", it's this. Fresh-cut grass and smoky black tea shroud the fruit, segueing into a mouth-wateringly tangy and dry sourness; I'm assuming this is the black lime/ noomi basra accord, having yet to taste this exotic-to-me ingredient (although I've already ordered some from the House of Bezos, just to try). The spookily tenacious drydown is a dark green cedar/incense thing that feels like enough of an evolution from the smoky citrus that an obvious use of modern woody musks doesn't feel out of place, although there seems to be disagreement on that point. Apparently some of you sniff a whiff of ambroxide and are ready to smash plates, but I think it's deployed judiciously here, and I'd much rather smell someone who's bathed in Eau de Citron Noir over the latest Aventus knockoff. Your mileage may vary, but I think this is one of Christine Nagel's most satisfying splashes for Hermès. Take a familiar concept - lemon cologne! What could be less original? - and turn it on its head with a creative twist, while keeping the whole thing wearable, versatile, and weirdly addictive. I genuinely hope this sells, and is never discontinued. (And PM me if you want someone to take that bottle you blind-bought off your hands.)

Opening is divine. The lemon does smell a little like cleaning product but it is so wonderfully offset by a very masculine woody/grassy note that smells like patchouli or vetiver that it doesn't really matter. I believe that's the guaiac wood. In any case, the citruses are gone within the first 5 mins. The citric opening is also deep and slightly dark compared to other citrus-based frags. It's not gothic dark. More like 5 o'clock shadow dark. Shame this is merely an eau de cologne. Like Rhubarbe Ecarlate, Hermès needs to release this as a proper eau de parfum. An hour in, it's still there but has contracted into a skin scent. I personally find this superior to the oft touted Concentre D' Orange Verte. 20 mins later, everything has settled to a woody, grassy patchouli scent. It's also mellowed significantly. 2 hrs in and it's still going. It's retracted significantly but it's still easily detectable. 3 hrs in. It's now barely hanging on. At this rate I'd say total longevity is between 3-3.5 hrs which is a phenomenal showing for an Eau de Cologne. That's equivalent longevity to some Eau de Toilettes. PS. I thought this was going to be done by the 3.5 hr mark but 5 hrs in I can still smell this on my skin - especially if exposed to warm ambient air. Is this really an Eau de Cologne or did Hermès deliberately mislabel the concentration of this?