Fourreau Noir

I fondly recall a visit a few years ago to Bleu Lavande, in Magog, Quebec, where their fields of lavender are open to the public. We visited during peak season, early July, marveling at the expanse of purple, the aroma redolent in the humid air. Along with the usual essential oils and various personal care and bath items that used their crop, they served delicious treats, such as this lavender ice cream, which leads me to Fourreau Noir. Lavender is paired with a creamy, vanillic tonka and the opening takes me back to that day, all warm and hopeful, but its comforting embrace almost makes my eyes water, feeling wistful and vulnerable. Time waits for no one, that day is just a memory, and it is that memory among many that I hold so dear, because it was with someone who I love with all my heart and I am grateful every day to have in my life. If that isn't testament to the power of scent, I don't know what is. As Fourreau Noir settles on my skin, an almond accord surfaces, at once bitter and sweet, while the spot of clean linen dihydromyrcenol subsides and smoky musk moves in like a mist at twilight, shaded with a dusky patchouli. Fourreau Noir puts a spell on me, reminding me of how it feels during hypnagogia, that state between being awake and asleep (hynopompia being the opposite when the body awakens), where we drift in and out, see or hear—or smell things from our past, we almost hallucinate and dreams are just out of our reach. They are the dreams of Bleu Lavande, of lavender fields, ice cream, the love of one's life, and the hopes of tomorrow.

I can't resist...I tried a sample of this and it's a knockout! I could probably pull this off. When I wear Fourreau Noir, I smell like a leather couch made of the finest, most exquisitely treated leather, with a bit of sweetness of excellently blended pipe tobacco smoke...just a hint! After about three hours, it softens into a creamy, sweetish leathery yummmm, and it stays with me as a soft perfume aura for the whole day. I do detect the small bit of lavender in this, which I was initially worried about as lavender projects in a masculine way on me, usually too masculine; the lavender in this brightened the mix so that I didn't turn into a smoke bomb, but it didn't overpower the other glorious ingredients. This one is very refined, and I tried Chergui recently (I can see how these two fragrances could be related), and wore that for a few days and I think Fourreau Noir works the best for me. That being said, if I do buy this (imho, this one IS worth the steep price tag) it will not be for me, but I will give it to my husband and persuade him to wear it. I want to smell this one on men, not on myself. This would be DIVINE on men!!!! Fourreau Noir said to me (I'm serious!), "Vanessa, I like you, but you're not a man. I need a man." I could just see myself following a man who is wearing this, and trying to reassure him: "No, no, I'm not a stalker! I just want to smell the Fourreau Noir on you, just let me follow in your scent wake!" All men should try this. Just think of what you could get away with!!!

Smashing Lavender scent! I bought this in a rare travel kit form. I just recently purchased TF Lavender Extreme and Harrods for Him. All with Lavender my fave scent. I complained that nobody did a great natural lavender that was a stinker and then I get three almost at once!!!! Lavender Extreme is still the best for me - super, super natural bright violet lavender stench with a super powerful tonka that evolves out from behind over an hour to 10 hours at a volume of 10! This is different. It’s slightly darker especially at first. The tonka is there but more of a subtle accompaniment and the musk is there, which makes the lavender bolder - it’s like you have a lavender flower with the stalk and all crushed where as TF LE is more like just the petals crushed. This does not have so far the same performance in Sillage or longevity as LE but it is above average. After 1 to 3 hours the tonka starts to strengthen bringing it closer but the almond and musk keeping it darker than LE. Bond No9 is vaguely similar, in Sillage and longevity too however the chamomile and rhubarb keep it sweeter and smoother. For me these are my top three lavender scents (maybe L’occitane Lavande too). If you like lavender I know you won’t be disappointed...

Years ago, when FN was just new on the market I tried it amongst a couple of other perfumes in the amazing store of Palais Royal and thought that it was not for me...just too heavy, too smoky...it was somewhen in early summer. During one of my later visits there I received the entire collection of wax samples. After another long while I happened to open the one with the FN sample finally and...it was just stunning. I didn't get any lavender or flower from it but the deep musky side of this scent reminded me right away on my dear black she-cat how she often used to sit next to me giving me company while I was lying on the sofa during long, cold and dark winter evenings...such a warm, cosy and comforting memory. It's not that my cat smelled exactly like FN but her black warm hair was the first thing that came to my mind when this scent started to develop to something so familiar on my wrist. It took a while to discover FN for me. But now it's one of my preferred scents from my SL collection. I just bought the bell bottle last this week in the store in Paris - my fragrance for cold weather. Can't wait for autumn to come. Long lasting on my skin with a polite sillage. 10/10

I tried to find a note pyramid on Serge Lutens' website, but there was none. Fragrantica says this perfume contains tonka bean, lavender, almond, and musk. Well, if I may say so, there has never been a perfume that was more straightforward because those notes are all I smell. What you see is what you get. It's creamy, vanilla-like, with strong raw almond and just a hint of lavender. It's hard to say a lot about a perfume that is so simple. I don't see this as a masterpiece, but I certainly love it. The notes combine together beautifully, and it seems appropriate to wear just about anywhere. So the bottom line is that if these 4 notes appeal to you in combination with one another, Fourreau Noir is a safe bet. Update June 2020 (4 years later). I had the chance to buy one of the travel sprays for a very reasonable price, so I jumped on it. It’s as beautiful as I remember. I’m smelling lavender, sweet nutty tonka and laundry musk. Same 4 notes. I really love this fragrance and think it’s perfect for any occasion. Casual or dressed up, it’s perfect.

Okay, so I'll admit that I do really like this. It's lovely, enjoyable and it lasts. All things you'd want. It shifts, changes and develops in an easy to understand way. Do I want it? I'd not say no, but I don't want it desperately. I love lavender scents, I love tonka. They're combined a LOT, though and while this isn't entirely reminiscent of anything else I've tried... it feels kind of like other things. The opening, however, true to form of the brand, is very different to the main body of the scent. Its straight up dusty, smoky incense with a little bit of scratchy citrus. The rest is a creamy, edible lavender scent that calms and relaxes. It's not available in my country and I'm not too sad. One of my instagram friends was lovely enough to send a decant of this and I'll truly enjoy it, but once it's done I could accept it. I won't cry. I'll enjoy that I've given this a go and wasn't disappointed.

Lavender, supported by a noticeable almond. Shorlty after, the tonka bean shows-up rounding the edges and balances the bitterness of the almond by an envelopping sweetness. The drydown is about musc and incense, with the lavender still present. Performance is average on my skin. The 3rd and final take of Lutens on the lavender theme, and what a final! Very similar to Gris Clair, with the almond instead of iris and vanilla. Gris Clair: sharp with great presence, quite metallic, masculine, best for spring and fall days Fourreau Noir: warm, thick, round, balsamic lavender, unisex, best for winter days and spring/fall nights Encens et Lavande: crystal clear, natural lavender with a present but non invasive incense, unisex (but its thin structure makes it lean slightly feminine) You can't go wrong with any of these 3.

A shapeshifting beauty from Serge Lutens. This perfume of contrasts somehow manages to look both forward and backward through the fougere genre in an interesting perfumery sleight of hand. Its opening notes contain an absolutely prominent and noticeable but measured use of the metallic lime-lavender dihydromyrcenol, that ubiquitous "male fresh fougere" staple. I definitely don't mind it here, and it segues interestingly into the creamy, vanillic, tonka-based heart. The final drydown of this is a gorgeous semi-smoky, woody, crisp, lavender-tonka-vanilla chord which brings to mind the lavender-tonka-sandalwood-patchouli-vanilla final whispers of Jicky. Both scents also start with cacophony and end with sweet, glorious harmony. Beautiful and I so miss my finished bottle of this.

Fourreau Noir by Serge Lutens is dangerously addictive! Aggressively herbal, dried lavender notes crescendo into bitter almond and delicious tonka bean. Yet, Lutens saves the best for last: the powdery base notes of rich patchouli and incense are breathtaking and balance the initial lavender blast. Fourreau Noir is seriously seductive. This is the perfume that Basic Instinct's Catherine Tramell would have selected for the infamous interrogation scene! It's cigarette smoke, leather, incense, and opulence personified. Fourreau Noir mesmerizes everyone in its path. Sillage is high and longevity is astounding (6+ hours)!

On me, I get smoky lavender with a lot of almond, both of the bitter and the marzipan varieties. The tonka bean and musk give it a lot of powder. Oddly, I get bitter chocolate more than vanilla with the tonka bean. That said, I would definitely not consider this a sweet perfume; on me, it's powdery and rather bittersweet (not at all in a bad way). Also, on me, the perfume is WYSIWYG: it's the same from the second I apply it to when the last notes fade away. All in all, I quite like it, although I much prefer Incense et Lavande, which I think is one of the best lavender scents ever made.

I love this. Took me a while to work out it was lavender, though - it's a very sticky, heavy lavender, like I imagine lavender 'stroop' would be, though I have never seen or eaten such a thing. Lavender very much in an oriental style rather than a fougère - not clean, not powdery, not sharp or herbal but heavy and resinous, filtered through the typical Lutens prism. I'd previously tried this in wax sample but to my mind the spray (vap tout noir) is quite different - more masculine and less creamy and voluptuous. It is to lavender what Une Voix Noire is to gardenia.

Every disappointing prissy-sugar-frosted-floral-batch-of-whatever should grow a pair and become Fourreau Noir. This is exactly what I want in a new take on a traditional form. This is a clean lavender-musk, but skipping the vanilla for a complicated bittersweet almond is an elegant departure from the fruity-floral smell du jour. The result feels like an impressionist rendering of an old master we have seen copied a thousand times. Again, Sheldrake gives a deconstructed classic lightness and lively modernity that somehow feels like exactly what Lavender wants to be.

PERKINS PASTE!! For those of you that remember these pink/purple posts of glue (that never glued anything with sucess). I am trying really hard not tp lick my wrist.... Almonds, ground almonds rubbed together with lavaender (not the dried potpourri stuff). This is just amazing on me. Well hell on a man I would marry him on the spot. Never has lavender been sexy. This one has been sitting in his musty library (maybe smoking) and has come out to play a bit, first he has walked through a field of lavender. I think I could swapp my whole collection for this one.

This is lovely stuff. Love it, want it, gotta have it. I don't find it as masculine as some scents; it's a lot sweeter than Muscs Koublai Khan, for instance. It has everything that I like, I want to roll in it like catnip. A must-have, for me. 10/10. Addition: 4 years later, I have 2 bottles and the lavender seems more prominent to me now. It's Jicky's furry cousin! but the drydown is where the action is. My affection for this, has remained unchanged x

Another lovely addictive aromatic scent from the incomparable Serge Lutens. The perfume opens with notes of lavender, incense and patchouli. The heart is a sweet almond, tonka bean and vanilla. The perfume dries into a base of cedarwood and synthetic musk. The unisex scent has moderate to string projection and very good longevity. Mysterious, sweet and incredibly seductive, you wont be able to get enough of it. Enjoy!

On my this opens with a herbal blast, I could smell very prominent anise note. It settles down into very slightly creamy lavender-almond-tonka in a smokey/incencey cloud. It is serious and slightly melancholic. Intimate fragrance to me, but I only used one spray. I do not think that it leans masculine at all, this is very feminine to me. Fourreau Noir is simply beautiful, I am so happy to finally have it.

Fourreau Noir by Serge Lutens is a scent I really love, though it’s definitely not for everyone. It opens with a dry, slightly bitter touch a mix of lavender and something like wormwood...then slowly warms up on the skin. After a few hours, the lavender becomes deeper and woodier, almost smoky. It’s herbal, elegant, and a bit mysterious...perfect for those who appreciate complex, unconventional scents.

What a gorgeous scent, especially if you like lavender. Masterful, deep dark purple fleshy lavender with an animalic musk bodied out by tonka and almond (not that to me tonka and almond are part if the journey but rather complimentary to achieve a fleshed out body). Its up there with TF Lavender Extreme, Hermetica Lavincense, Tom Daxon Midnight Saffron and Montales Fougeres Marine.

I was in Paris last week on a perfume trip with a group of perfumista's!!! I bought the beatiful bell bottle in the Serge Lutens Shop! The explanation about all the fragrances was so inspiring! The interior of the shop is stunning. We were invited to come upstairs where normaly mr Lutens only talks to journalists. The colors, the perfumes, it was breathtaking.

Intoxicating , sweet dark tonka lavender. I got it because wanted something less sweeter than Jo Malone Myrh Tonka. Beautiful dry and seductive. It’s a good base for layering with anything boozy or smoky. Can’t say it’s my front row bottle, but good to reach for when feeling of comfort needed ,watching a dark thriller with buddies.