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.

Wow, this is a stunner. It's such a smooth, rich, cozy blend of tonka bean, coffee and vanilla. These three are the predominant notes on my skin once the perfume has settled down. The opening does have a lavender bite, but it warms and rounds up fairly quickly. One impression I got as I sprayed it first was a similarity to Zadig & Voltaire's Just Rock! for her. I can see now that there are some overlapping notes in the two, but while Zadig stays quite "fluffy" in a way, Rhapsodie gains a different depth and is smokier and darker, also slightly less sweet. If you miss the discontinued Zadig though, give Rhapsodie Noire a try, it might tickle the right spot. Longevity and sillage are just right, 5-6 hours on my skin with quite a robust presence throughout.

I have the bottle of this perfume. It has a duration that exceeds 10 hours with a high intensity. When I put on this perfume, the first thing I smell on my skin is toffee, it's caramel. A camel that has fougere, aromatic sensations, which evolves into a woody toffee, sensual creamy, elegant woody. With a slight alcoholic point. It is a beautiful, elegant perfume, with a fascinating aroma that I enjoy from start to finish. If I could tell you a similarity, it is with Italica by Xerjoff, but of course with its own personality, its aromatic touches, less intensity of wood. Great quality of its aromas. It is unisex but because of this caramel sensation I feel this feminine perfume. It's delicious, a fantastic job in perfumery.

I love New Haarlem, and this is even better. What's different is the balance of notes, less sugar for the sake of a certain booziness, and a bittersweet, narcotic, hay-tobacco, late-summer accord. It transforms the separate notes into a landscape, there's a sense of humidity in the air and a subtle misty-green floral vapor floating above the darker parts of this night field. You don't usually find flowers in such company, and it's great. The warmth of a summer night. There have been also times when all the discernible notes were overridden by something much more unspeakable but true to the title - the smell of sweet burnt blackness, caramelized at the edges, floral in its heart.

A beautiful fragrance that oscillates between a deep dark gourmand comprised of tobacco, rum and coffee that is dense and rich and sublime, and then a lighter fougere aspect featuring a very fresh and approachable lavender, mildly aromatic sage, and powdery florals. With the exception of vanilla, which was always present, I rarely perceived all these notes at once but rather they took turns with each other so the fragrance never became too familiar or comfortable but remained unexpected and mysterious. It lasts a good 8 + hours on skin and has a moderate sillage of a couple feet.

Wow. I used to own both Replica Coffee Break and Rochas Man... I sold both because as unique as they are they both smell a bit cheap and synthetic. This is a much more elevated version of both. The coffee in this is a deep espresso and the herbal notes are so much more pronounced and full of depth here. This is a good one for those who actually enjoy herbal notes in all their hay-like or medicinal aspects. It lacks that bubbly, cozy lactonic feel, this is a lot more dark and moody and smoldering, but it is a lovely, higher quality sibling to both.

This has become my favorite scent out of the dozens I own and hundreds I've tried. It's hard for me to describe, as I don't find any single note to be dominant or even distinct--yet it's never muddy or boring. Rather, it has a unique interplay of fresh brightness, rich sweetness, and a subtle earthiness. It's never harsh, sharp, or loud, but it remains undoubtedly present. I find it utterly captivating, and when I wear it I feel more poised, more alluring, and more mysterious than I could hope to be in real life. Stunning, underrated gem.

This is a sultry and embracingly enticing scent from Dusita. One of their best performers on my skin. Billie Holiday is in Paris, and so are you but you are not dining on French cuisine. No, no. This has an undertone of the spicy-sweet warmth of foods of North Africa, which you get a whiff of mixed with a perfume. And you cannot make out whether it's a man or a woman leaving a scent trail, but you follow it nevertheless. The jazz and booze have left you buzzed and you are too intrigued not to. Yes, I am buying a full bottle!

I received a sample of this yesterday and immediately bought a full bottle. The opening is very lavender forward on my skin, but sweet, warm and fuzzy. It’s stays sweet throughout the drydown, but it’s not cloying to my nose at all. It feels gourmand adjacent to me, not entirely edible. It’s a very comforting scent, like a warm hug. I went to bed wearing this and could still smell it in the morning. I love it. Pissara is so talented and I am grateful for her artistry.

A review after one full day of wearing it: a yummy surprise. It’s a caramel (tonka, vanilla and rum?), lavender and patchouli scent, I don’t pickup anything else specific...although I’m sure there’s more in here. La Rhapsodie Noire indeed, so expertly blended that I only smell a smooth, deep gourmand amber. I’m enjoying my maiden voyage—a complex gourmand is not what I expected from Dusita.

Amazing. I have mugler tonka, and coffee break. I would say this fragrance is both of those combined, with a nice woody and tobacco touch. This is truly amazing. While I love pure tonka, this fragrance is better and more well rounded. And I wouldn’t say this has a burnt sugar smell, but more like a burnt coffee smell. A must have if you are a coffee frag lover.

I bought a sample set from Dusita, and it was the last sample a tried. What a suprise! An incredibly delicate, balanced, well-blended scent, this is my favorite of the samples. Fresh, sweet tonkabean with a touch of levander, deep and loveble. Love it! 😊 10/10 I love when I wear it from the morning and smell sometimes late evening.

This is such a unique fragrance. It mixes gourmand and woody and fougere. Greater than the sum of its parts. One of those rare fragrances where the more I wear it, the more I like it (vs. those that get tiresome). Probably my favorite from Dusita, and that’s saying a lot because she has some strong contenders!

It’s absolutely exceptional and unique! Doesn’t smell like anything Pissara made before. I love the cozy home-like fragrance of coffee and burned sugar with caramel tonka beans. And at the same time it’s fresh, woody and balanced. Quite original gourmand fougère. I think it’s my favorite from Dusita.

Update after a few wears: It is very soft but lasts a long time. Extremely pleasant and wearable. One of the few scents that elicited a comment from my wife and family... ;-) This is a gorgeous soft longlasting fougere. I had one sample, then another then realized i had to get a bottle.

A steaming cup of café au lait and a wiener pecan pastry. The pecan nuts caramelized with maple sirop is a little burned. It’s delightful and sticky. You have to wash your hands, so here the lavender soapyness appears. Well done and long lasting. Avoid if you’re on a diet