Ambre Noir

Oh my! Now THIS is a true Amber, and whilst many perfumes slap "Noir" on the end of their name in the hope of imparting a darkness that the scent does not, in fact, contain... we have all manner of shadows contained within this delicious, dark gold liquid. So many amber fragrance creators wimp out and start dropping vanilla into the mix "surely most people wont be able to take this unless I make it sweeter?" they panic. Now, I love vanilla, but I don't want every single base of every single perfume to go mad with it. There's perhaps a hint of vanilla here, but it never fully appears in the dusky shadows. The labdanum is very apparent and holds this fragrance together, along with that fabulously erotic note of leather. Somehow both comforting and stimulating. A little goes a very long way - I merely touched the dipper to my skin and am surrounded by an all-enveloping veil of amber & moss. It feels like being transported back to medieval times. This is a bone-dry, dusty piece of sculpted wood from an ancient church-pew. Slowly, methodically infused with incense over hundreds of years. The first hit is almost overwhelming, but somehow melds with your skin to become an absolute MUST try for both Amber & Incense lovers.

Oh, this is gorgeous! It’s a full blast of labdanum, sandalwood, fir sap, cedar wood, and a little incense. The first image that came to mind was a forest of big, tall, dark evergreen trees, the kind of forest that’s so dense and dark nothing can grow on the ground, a forest that surrounds you with darkness. As it dries down, both literally and in the olfactory sense, I can smell oud and vetiver, as well as more cedar, and the labdanum resin that is always there. It’s as if Laurie Erickson had captured the bare-bones spirit of an Arabian perfume, removed all the lavish decorations, and distilled it down to its dry, ethereal, woody essence. The sillage is magnificent. This is far and away the best perfume I’ve tried in recent memory. I cannot praise it highly enough except to say that everyone should try Ambre Noir. It has a strong personality so you may love it or you may hate it, but in either case you will have had a true olfactory adventure. I almost never buy full bottles of anything, but after testing it I did buy a bottle of Ambre Noir.

H.E.A.V.E.N.L.Y. (eyes rolling back in my head). Out of all the frankincentric (did I just make up that word?) perfumes I have ever smelled, this is the cream of the crop. Move aside, Avignon! Ambre Noir accomplishes what Avignon does not. It's a well-balanced predominantly frankincense perfume with the right touch of floral. Rose to be precise. Rose is very obvious here, yet it does not take over the perfume and instead retains a mysterious quality. The initial phase smells strongly of sandalwood and leather, so it is woody and very pleasantly animalic. After some time, rose becomes more dominant. While I agree that it is a dark perfume, perfect for candlelit castles and thunderstorms, it's not terribly depressing nor cold. Not a typical church perfume either, too romantic. Reminds me of visiting the duomos of Italy and enjoying the alters with thousands of candles that are lit by all the tourists and locals too. The drydown smells like a waxy, powdery, rose candle. Such a gorgeous scent. Very highly recommended.

Dark amber, smoky wood, with a swirling dusky rose in its midst. Its opening is sweet, balsamic, and red wine-y or cognac. This all tempers and the sweet/balsamic mutes and the dusky rose and woods arise . It doesn't seem to change much after that but it smells so beautiful, I just don't care! It took me a few wearings to really appreciate this fragrance and grow from like to love. Also, other ambers that I've sampled after this one just aren't comparing to this one. I wonder if my amber journey has ended here!? It's definitely cool weather material but I'd wear it on a warm night as well. Good longevity(8 hours and that was dabbled, not sprayed). I also layered over L'Erbolario Meharees which gave it even more richness. This will be a definite FB consideration come Fall.

That’s a very solemn dark amber, a resin from an ancient huge mossy fir tree. And this tree it’s standing close to the zoo as there’s a strong animalistic smell present. I like the faint but still distinct rose note which lends a less serious twist on an otherwise strong and serious composition. Ambre Noir is a strong but polite giant of a scent, it’s bound to be noticed: loved or disliked, it’s another story. For me the scent has almost a meditative quality, probably because of a hefty dose of frankincense in it. Beautiful to be worn in winter, but I think hot and sultry summer might be another time to wear this. I doubt though that I’ll reach for Ambre Noir in fall and spring, as I see it, this scent needs extremes.