F by Ferragamo Black

#75 of My Fragrance Journey - Salvatore Ferragamo F by Ferragamo Black: What the Dark Carries That very specific amber. The kind that doesn’t flatter you—it reveals you. Or maybe... reveals the version of you that was already there, just waiting for the room to dim a little. My jacket was still cold from outside. London cold. The kind that gets into leather and stays there like memory. I’d been leaning against the bar for a while. Not thinking. Just existing. Watching the room breathe. Then - The guy beside me. Big. The kind of build that doesn't announce itself, it just reorganises the space around it. Shoulders that changed the geometry of the bar. A henley shirt that wasn't trying to show anything, and showed everything anyway. He'd been there a while. Paying attention in that still, unhurried way that takes practice. He leaned in. Just past accidental. The air between us got heavier. "Whatever that is," he said. Voice low. Measured. Like he'd been deciding whether to say it. "It's doing a lot of heavy lifting." I looked at my wrist. F by Ferragamo Black. Sprayed an hour ago. I'd almost forgotten it was there - which is the point, maybe. The things that work don't beg for attention. They just hold. It had started dark. That's the only word for it. Lavender, , technically - but not the kind you know. Not clean. Not shower-fresh or polite. This one felt... bruised. Scraped a little. Roughened by pepper and something herbal underneath. Coriander, maybe. It had edges. Texture. It didn’t bloom—it tightened. There’s a moment in the opening that feels slightly uncomfortable. Intentional discomfort. Like the scent is testing the space. Testing you. Some people won’t like that. That’s fine. It’s not trying to please everyone. We talked for a while at the bar. I noticed the fragrance shifting as the conversation did - the lavender going quieter, the pepper coming forward, coriander underneath it all, something almost herbal clinging to the leather of my jacket. The scent matched the temperature of the room. The temperature of the exchange. That's when you know something is working. When it stops being a thing you're wearing and starts being a thing you're in. We walked out eventually. No plan, just movement. The night air was cold, and he walked beside me with that particular ease that big men sometimes have - unhurried, grounded, as nothing much could rattle them. His voice had settled, too. Low and balsamic. Creamy, almost. The conversation had slowed into something quieter without losing its current. The tonka had taken over by then. Smoothed all those peppery edges into something richer, warmer. A cloud that sat close to the skin and didn't drift. Labdanum underneath it all, anchoring everything - the way the night itself had started to feel anchored. Less like a series of moments and more like one long, continuous thing. Nobody ever believes what it costs. In a world of niche bottles at £200 that vanish in two hours, this Ferragamo just performs. Seven, eight hours. Through the bar, through the cold air, through whatever the night becomes after. It doesn't fade so much as deepen. The muscle of the collection - not flashy, not loud, just relentlessly present. The muscle of the collection. Not flashy. Not obvious. You get compliments in the bar, and you're still wearing it home. Just reliable in the way that actually matters. It's for the man who wants to be noticed but doesn't need to be told he is. A little dark. A little unpolished. The kind of thing that works in a white tee at noon or leather at midnight, and doesn't ask permission for either. The charm lives in the rough parts. Always has. More scent stories and visuals on Instagram - @lavendercloudsjd

***Update 12/10/25**** Woah! After letting air in my bottle and letting it "Maturate" for a few weeks this has completely changed for the better! Yeah, I suppose its a "Synthetic smelling 90's dna", but it smells AMAZING now after Maturation! The Lavender note isnt your classic take on a BarberShop fragrance, its a ultra fresh, floral take on Lavender! The black pepper smells amazing now as well and the performance has even improved! Im 100% positive that any negative reviews are mostly from folks who have sprayed their brand-new bottles and rushed to judgement (Like I had prior to this update.) This scent is unapologetically a 90's masculine, but with powdery and Lavender-Fñoral touches. Its also a super clean smell even though it has the soft-spiciness from the black pepper. It now lasts around 6 hours on my skin and much longer on clothes where I can easily smell it the following day. Guy's RUN and grab a bottle of this discontinued hidden gem! Im so glad I did! Absolutely a 90's dna. Synthetic?.. Yes! Great smelling?.. YES!! Its not nearly as "Powdery" as I'd expected it to be according to the reviews here on Fragrantica, but it does have powdery touches. A clean smell, very woody dry-down like an Iso e Super type of woodiness, the black pepper isnt as prominent as folks say it is either. The closest fragrance I can compare this to outta my collection has to be Shiyaaka Silver (Reflection Man Dupe) but Shiyaaka does smell of slightly higher quality imo and is definately longer-lasting. Still tho, F-Black is different enough so that it isnt refundant. A very nice 90's style masculine scent with slightly above average longevity and pretty good projection for the first hour to hour and a half. I like it!

First of all, I would like to thank aneudi1994 for suggesting to everyone to let this sit, because today I was proven OH SO WRONG about my initial opinion (which you can read below). It was a cooler day, so I figured I'd give this one another try, and boy am I glad I did...because this may have been the biggest surprise of the year. Right after I sprayed this, it came across to me like a Dunkin' Donuts French Cruller, and as it settled, it transformed into the closest rendition of Allure I have come across so far. While writing this, I keep bringing my wrist up to my nose and smiling. Please, whatever you do, don't make the same mistake I did. This one takes time to get good, but man is it worth the wait! 8/10 --------------------------PREVIOUS REVIEW: OH, HOW WRONG I WAS---------------------------- I really wanted to believe this wasn't going to be another blah ho-hum lavender scent. I put off buying this, even after hearing all the hype from Jeremy Fragrance years prior. Well, I walked into my local CVS (which manages to stock familiar fragrances at very random times) and every now and then a few will be marked way down to clear out the inventory. On this day, F Black happened to be marked down to $29.99 for a 100mL. Remembering I had a few of their coupons I could use on this brought it down even further, to $13.99. Even then, at that price, I am still disappointed. It smells super cheap. All I am getting is cheap synthetic lavender followed by a headache-inducing musk. In contrast, La Nuit de L'Homme smells like lavender, but as if it was floating in a glass of champagne. Even at an over 80% discount for a clone, I'd gladly spend more for the real thing. 4/10

Rating: 10/10 F Black by Salvatore Ferragamo is the epitome of a fragrance that exceeds all expectations. When I first sampled this fragrance, the warm spices captivated my senses, creating an unforgettable experience. I knew I had stumbled upon a hidden gem. Now, let's talk value for money. I purchased my 100 ml bottle for $30 at Ross, but let me assure you, it's well worth it, and beyond. In fact, one could easily pay four times that amount without hesitation. The quality and complexity of the notes are simply amazing. Each spray transports me to another world of sophistication. My first experience with this scent comes to mind. I wore this fragrance with a suit in my office. The combination was perfection, and the compliments ensued. F Black possesses a versatility that can be both dressed up for a formal setting and embraced as the ideal date night fragrance. This fragrance has me constantly drawn to my wrist, taking in its mesmerizing scent. It’s addictive. If you're unsure whether to make this purchase, let me simplify it for you: just do it. As many reviewers have mentioned, this scent is a masterpiece that deserves a place in your collection. Trust me, you won't be able to get enough of it. You won’t believe the experience and the magic this fragrance has to offer. It's a journey you won't regret.

extreme nostalgia value 🥀RIP the new formula I guess. I had a small 10 mil dropper bottle of this back in 2012 and I remember wearing it every night out on the town in Tokyo and the local bar scene, back then this was more than just a few notes or whatever it like blew away all the other cheapies. Zero problem with girls. That first like 15 minutes of the fragrance it was kinda rough almost animalic fruity smell, and it turned me off at first, but the kicker was 100% this intimate soap 🧼 smell comes through, and just kills the game for like 5 hours on skin, like it creates a bigger and bigger projection actually as it dries and as you move. Pretty soon legit just smelled like just some really delicious next level clean soap with some sweet leather touch. Like a little bit sweeter YSL Rive Gauche dry down. I have a very sad love story connected with it as well, my woman left me and married another dude, because I got discharged and sent back to the states. She had a shell casing of this and she tried to hold onto my memory as long as possible but emailed me that the scent had died. It was a bullet casing that had cotton stuffed in it that I saturated with F black. 🫠 Live long and prosper.