La Rhapsodie Noire

Airy sage, hay, and coffee. I see how this would remind people of Black Phantom. It’s not exactly the same, but I get the same vibe if that makes sense. This is more of an ‘all-rounder’ rather than a black & white gourmand. It’s airy whilst still being a little sweet (not nearly as sweet as BP, though). Also, this is the first sage frag that I’ve enjoyed in a long time. Usually sage tickles my brain, however it’s amazing in this dry, airy, slightly caramel-hay composition. This could be a great cold weather signature scent for someone that loves gourmands but wants something versatile enough to wear to the office (a gourmand that you can wear to the office? It shouldn’t work, but this certainly could). If I’m honest I don’t love the initial spray, but it settles very quickly. I thought this fragrance might end up a bit like the Tragedy of Lord George, being a fougere that dries down to a sweet-tonka base. This is way more interesting, in my opinion. It starts off a little like a sweeter version of Sartorial and then dries down to an airy, almost-gourmand. This is very comfortable & cozy. This will probably be a full bottle purchase for me 👍 Edit: After visiting my now-empty sample vial over & over for the past week I decided to pull the trigger on a full bottle.

It was a bold choice for Parfums Dusita to produce a fougére that was tobacco, coffee, and tonka bean dominant: I've not smelled anything else that has those notes paired with lavender before, at least the way they are here. The result is a pleasing, masculine-leaning perfume that's quite enjoyable and has even an odd freshness to it, though it would be best worn for evenings on colder nights. I can understand Pissara Umavijani's comparisons of this to Paris in the interwar period because this does remind me perhaps of a fragrance Georges Simenon's Inspector Maigret might wear, smoking his pipe and drinking coffee one morning before he goes to speak to his superiors. Her fragrances are on the spendy side for my budget, but they almost never ever miss, and this one does not. This has that same sophisticated harmonious background accord I often smell in her fragrances. UPDATE 4/24/23: I got a great deal on this, so I bought a full bottle. I understand why some reviewers think the opening is a little on the sweet side (although it's really nothing compared to most gourmands out there), but it moves through that fairly quickly, and the sophisticated drydown (which again reminds me of a Maigret novel) is really bliss. I'm glad I got this!

Dusita has me wearing a fougere, and as a femme scent woman, this is WILD. I adore this scent--it's a gourmand sensibility; there's sugar, a few coffee beans, plenty of floral sweetness. The scent is powdery, gentle, woodsy, vanillin. Would definitely work well on a man, but on a woman, I find it sensual and confident. I I like how it pushes the envelope for me--perfume is part of your wardrobe, the way you want to feel. One note--this is not a coffee scent, imo. If that's what you're after, try La Tacita de Cafe. I also wouldn't compare this to the thin-scented Maison M. Coffee Break, which seems inexpensive and synthetic compared to this perfume. You might be familiar with coffee/vanilla frags like Mancera's Roses Vanilla, or my favorite coffee/vanilla scent, Tiziana Tirenzi's Delox, but this is NOT a coffee vanilla fragrance. Instead, I find it primarily a sweet fougere, with a powdery aspect. I have nothing like this in my collection to compare it to, and that's why I love Dusita as a house.

I have revisited my collection of Dusita samples and realised that I have fallen in love with some which I first thought “pretty but not for me”. I already own full bottle of Pelagos and full bottle of Erawan (still love both deeply). Was considering getting a full bottle of Anamcara, and realised that I also fell in love with Melodie de l’Amour and...this one I first thought that rhapsodie noire is way too masculine for me, and also slightly too strange with the tobacco with coffee and vanilla... but I’m loving it on my skin. I get the slightly aromatic opening but it very quickly give ways to coffee with tonka bean vanilla and tobacco. Actually I get coffee with condensed milk... it gets more woody as it dries down but the sweetness never disappears which makes it feminine enough for me, while staying mysterious and slightly dark. It’s really unique.

Why is it so hard to write a review for your favorites?? I enjoy writing reviews so much, how come I am not able to put my admiration into words?? Maybe it's the fact that I want to speak in superlatives but I don't want to sound pretentious. Or maybe it's just easier to pinpoint why you think something is not a 10, but harder to tell why something is. Anyways, it's a 10 for me. Unusual fougere, lavender and tobacco sweetened by coffee and tonka but not too sweet. Silky smooth, intimate, modest but long lasting. Feels like wearing a second skin, which Pissara's perfumes often do to me. Transformative, moody, pensive, delicate but dark. Don't shoot me, I am not the biggest fan of Paris, in my mind I like to picture Krakow, Prague or Budapest at night, at the beginning of the 1900's when I am wearing this.