Nadir

After a brief encounter with full NOT Perfumes line I was immediately drawn to NADIR - the king of darkness and mysterious allure. It opens on my skin camphorous, mentholated and with a quite pronounced cardamom - one of my favourite spicy notes, which adds sweetness and exoticism to the composition. The unmistakable earthiness and rich, dark green in colour, almost velvety plush feel of patchouli transports you deep into the heart of the forest; not a summer forest, lively with sunshine peeking through the tree tops but rather a cold, darkest of fall nights, forest; filled with aromas swirling around - hints of damp leaves, earth and woods, tiny wisps of mushrooms and what my nose detects, pine. NADIR is an intriguing melange of two opposite worlds each pulling you in, trying to grab your attention. We have the mentholated, inky-black, almost bitter coldness; while on the other side there's the spicy, warm, resinous beating heart of sweet myrrh and heady, dark, sexy vanilla. Despite being opposite in feel they work extremely well together in creating a mysterious aura around you, like a well played symphony; a masterfully executed piece by ones skilful fingers. None of the notes dominate or overpower one another but rather work perfectly in sync, creating one of the most unique, artistic, full of soul and bewitching charm, compositions!

This one is right up my alley. I very much enjoy camphorous notes in perfumery, though they are rarely well done. I guess it is a tricky note to tackle in a luxury fragrance, one doesn't want to end up smelling like glue. Or moth balls.... Well, no worries here, in softly sweet 'n spicy Nadir, the camphorous kick is cushioned by a layer of velvety leather and a veil of fruity cardamom and serene incense. It is all wonderful and golden...But then through all this exotic warmth, Nadir carries enough animalic darkness (castoreum, smoked vanilla) to set up a beautiful chiaroscuro. There's a touch of café au lait in the dry down as well.... Nadir is uncommon and original and feels truly artisanal. It is a cozy, comforting scent that takes its time to bloom on skin, and then lingers for a very, very long time. Great stuff indeed...

Carmex and hot black tar. A very camphorous and slightly mentholated scent, reminiscent a dense and sludge-y ritualistic brew. There is a bit of molasses-y sweetness and ashes. The dense texture of the scent reminds me a bit of fir balsam absolute. Nadir was initially my least-liked of all the NOT perfumes, but it has an addictive darkness to it that draws me back in. I went from disliking it to seriously considering buying a bottle. For a frame of reference, it is slightly similar to Sonoma Scent Studio's Fireside Intense, but Nadir is much more camphorous.

This was polite and agreeable right from the start, nothing provocative, not in-your-face, just lots of spice and some sweetness. Think "masala chai blend", it's somewhat like that. Did not change much over time either, a very stable scent.

So happy I got one. It’s on the way🤯