Black Tourmaline

I just have to comment this fragrance, which, according to me at least, is one of the most beautiful fragrances ever. It opens up very leatherly and smoky and after a half hour or so it turns more woody with incense-oud elements. It is dark, rather dry, and spicy. It dries into an amber mossy, musky beautiful dry down. It is considered to be a unisex fragrance, in some descriptions even female, but to me it is more masculine than feminine. It evokes memories from the past, which certainly most fragrances do, and that is maybe a reason to why we like or dislike certain perfumes, this make me think of wild nature, paths, stones, birch, camps. In the same time it is elegant and most wearable. It is well blended and the composition measured and well planned. A tribute to Olivier Durbano and his designer company. So wild, mysterious and outdoorsy and at the same time sophisticated elegance. It is hard to compare Black Tourmaline to other scents, it stands on its own, it really has its own face. A very good scent. And fast delivery, I ordered it online and 36 hours later I got it, a 36 hour delivery from France to Sweden.

This piece of art is one of very few things I've been fascinated from very first moment I've met/smelt it. For me it is the biggest masterpiece of modern perfumery. I really love this divine mixture of smokey woods, ash, dark spices and cold, bitter-sweet olibanum. There is only one problem - on my skin it unveils its beauty only during really cold weather, so for me it is definitely winter scent. In my mind this is smell of some northern, pagan ceremony. It's amazing how unique this perfume is. I don't recall any frag even remotely close to BT. Although there is some commonality between BT and other Durbano's work, especially Rock Crystal and the newest one Heliotrope. I will call it Durbano's signature. I agree with Nysa, Black Tourmaline is truly unisex fragrance. Since art doesn't have gender. Calling it "sexy" or "for real men only" is blasphemy and devaluation, btw. who decides who is a real men?

I'm obsessed with this scent. It's smokey, woodsy, warm, sophisticated. I want to be in a study in a mansion with tall ceilings and bookcases for walls with leather and velvet couches, dim lighting, and nothing pressing to worry about. It smells like what a castle in a high fantasy novel would smell like. It also smells like camping trips of my childhood, of crawling into a tent after a bonfire, but elevated. I have absolutely no place or reason to wear this. The one time I tried my (now ex) boyfriend and his friends were confused and put-off about where this smell was coming from. It is definitely a more masculine scent and not a crowd pleaser. But it is one of the most exquisite scents to me and I love it so much. It is both comforting and elegant and I would happily live in a world that smells like this.

Black Tourmaline is a beautiful and challenging creation by Mr. Durbano. It took me a couple of samples to decide on a full bottle purchase. He takes darker perfume elements like Oud, spices, incense and weaves them into this magic potion which is still delicate, other-worldly and very wearable. Definitely not for lovers of sweet or floral perfumes and please try out before buying. On my skin, this starts off with a dark oud incense note and dries into an amber moss beauty. Very unique and interesting, and only for the more adventurous perfume lovers.

This is one fine example of a smoke scent. It has a lot going on with pepper, leather, incense and musk, but it manages to all work together really well. Very masculine. This will not disappoint if you are a fan of these types of fragrances. Might be a bit hard to wear, this is almost like fine abstract art. Some people might not get it or appreciate it, but they should not argue the quality. I cannot see this being worn in warm weather. I tried it out in 45o weather and it was perfect.