Urban Legend

This creature is hard to put your finger on. It is sort of gourmand yet oriental. It is fresh yet dark and deep. It has this note in that isn't listed that sort of has a boozy sharp accord yet it isn't a boozy fragrance. The Tonka is amped up but I would argue its the best use of the note I have experience maybe second to the way Chanel uses it. The neroli is similar to that of Sweet Redemption or something Bond would do and the ginger give it this freshness that is food (gingerbread) like sort of sweet not like ginger in many other fragrances that list ginger. Opens with a glazed neroli (maybe the vanilla+neroli) then comes this potent gingerbread like accord that again is sort of fresh not heavy but sweet and then the this dark Tonka note similar to what is found in Espresso. I really enjoyed this one and to be honest given my collection would buy this over Espresso and second to Black Magic. Performance is on par with Espresso

As noted by others, the composition blasts open with a dark, juicy, viscous black licorice. But is that a bad thing? Just as Espresso Royale is the most authentic coffee fragrance I’ve ever smelled, this opens with the most authentic licorice note out there. Heavy on the tonka, it’s Blue Sugar’s complicated, rebellious brother. The neroli+ginger combination freshens the licorice after about 15 minutes and eases the pulsing, darkness into the background. My skin tends to amplify white flower and this is no exception. The neroli eventually takes over, but the dark licorice anchors it and keeps it from floating away into the clouds. The vanilla runs along the base keeping this in the gourmand territory that I love as it finishes off to a syrupy, boozy licorice liqueur.

This is a very odd but interesting fragrance. At first I couldn't identify what I was smelling, and although this scent is not for me, I was intrigued to figure out what it reminded me of. I kept thinking it is some kind of sweet food . . . then it hit me - black licorice coated in a paint thinner. On my skin I get a very strong acrid licorice. The licorice is powerful from the beginning, through the dry down. Hours later it morphed into kind of a pleasant wood scent, to me. None of these is listed on the notes, so it must be the way it reacts to my body chemistry. Urban Legend is unusual.

The opening of this fragrance is absolutely revolting to me. It smells like burnt licorice and ginger. Normally I love a licorice note and a ginger note, but these smell burnt and are off-putting. But if you give this fragrance time to settle it calms down and the burnt smell goes away. You can also layer it with whatever you find missing in the composition, for example I like it with a Bulgarian rose oil or amber and it works nicely. I much prefer Sebastiane's Espresso Royale though.

What smelled out of the bottle like a vanilla-dominant fragrance came off on skin as an orange chocolate nightmare, giving me a headache and nauseating me. I've never found grounds to harshly criticize a fragrance before since I'm generally apt at selecting ones that I'll like, but Urban Legend was a $25 add-on to a full-priced bottle of Espresso Royale, which I love, so certainly this in no way is a referendum on the Sebastiane house, just Urban Legend. Smellers beware. 0 out of 10