Black Gemstone

First things first: Don't try SHL Fragrances on strips. Ruins the experience. Skin only. Wait for it. Be generous with time. I rarely write reviews. If a scent is hardly describable, it challenges me and I like to write it down into words. The opening is simply burnt plastic. Gives headache. Citrusy, cedar opening to sum up. After a few minutes it becomes that, what is challenging to describe. You will immediately notice that it's not a casual daily fragrance in which you can easily pick up the notes and define it. Noses are different. There's a quote I'd like to add here. "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." In other words, every individual might pick up some notes more likely than others, even if the notes aren't as present as other notes, just because they can identify themselves with it or feel more attracted towards specific notes. With that in mind, I'd like to start to give insights about the dry-down. It's mainly ambery, but that's not the first thing I caught. The citrus opening develops into a sweet and sour dry-down. You obviously have an ambery, resinous, woody, balsamic main accord but in the background the Olibanum in combination with the citrusy opening gives a slightly fruity touch, which isn't possible to overlook. Incredibly hard to explain. Afterwards, the citrusy opening slowly fades away, as it fades away, the spices kick in. It overlaps into a warm spicy and aromatic scent, calm in the background. Personally, the main accords are well-blended and are perfectly in harmony. Resins, woods and Myrrhs in this fragrance are simply beautifully playing along together. For me, it's less balsamic and more warm spicy, aromatic and actually fruity. The prominent Olibanum gives it such a dominant fruity vibe, which is the actual star player for me. That's what it makes outstanding around the approximately one billion amber fragrances outside. That's what I call Special. Recognizable, unforgettable, incomparable. Strong & Unique Character. One of a Million of Amber Fragrances. Stéphane Humbert Lucas - Black Gemstone. A Real Gemstone. Thanks for reading. Thanks for your time. PS: I usually absolutely don't enjoy balsamic fragrances.

Objectively, this an All-Star fragrance, particularly if you like middle eastern heavyweights which Stéphane excells at creating. The idea behind the perfume and the presentation with the gemstone dead center is a nice touch. ⚫️ In my minds eye, the fragrance fits the theme to a tee. There's speculation that the actual gem in Saudi Arabia is made of rare earth materials, fossilized amber, or that it actually a piece of a meteorite. It's said to come from the garden of eden when Adam and Eve walked the earth. That black gem color and texture is captured here. Smooth but also resinous and smokey like fossilized amber. For those that love performance, you will LOVE this. It's a monster of longevity and lasts until I wash it off. 2 hitter quitter. I barely put any on and it easily lasted me a full night out until the morning hours. My favorite parts are the birtch, cypriol, and vetiver. It's tarry and smokey. It's also got 3 types of cedar according to SHL, but he doesn't say which kind. I believe Atlas (Moroccan) is a no brainer. Probably also Virginia and Lebanon. There's an unlisted blackberry note here I believe, that is similar to the one in Mortal Skin. There's also huge dose of amber fixative in the base that sticks like glue. It reminds me a bit of Perris Monte Carlo Oud Imperial (but sweeter) which I owned but traded. I only wear a handful of ambers and middle eastern type frags, so I'm not sure I'll hang onto it. I'm going to wear it a couple more times before I decide. Although I'm not sure it fits me, I feel the need to rate it highly because as I said, it's objectively excellent, and it fits the story of the fragrance like a glove. If you love masterpieces such as Taur Marocain and Jubi XXV (which I also rated very highly years ago) in this middle eastern style of perfumery, this will fit right in. Fantastic execution. --------------------------------------------------------- Scent 95/100 Performance 95/100

This is such an incredible and unique scent. It is stunningly dark, rich, mysterious, and powerful. The wood and myrrh notes are those of cedar that is blackened to just short of being burnt, while the myrrh gives a feel of a thick, syrupy, balsamic richness. The lemon note serves to offer just enough balance to keep this fragrance from entering a proverbial black hole; it is realistic and tart. The only thing I can think of that I can compare this to is Black Afghano, and that is only in feeling that wearing the scent gives. While both are dark, the profiles are very different though I think you can wear Black Gemstone in the same situations as Afghano, namely winter months when you are trying to get attention and wish to be noticed. Performance is monstrous. I have a small sample bottle and used two sprays and was initially overwhelmed. I had applied it in my bathroom, walked to my living room, and it was immediately filled. Projection and sillage are HUGE. With a lot of scents, I can sometimes lose them within a short period, either because I get used to it or my skin just eats perfumes more than usual. Not so with this; you will smell this for hours and hours in a scent bubble around you. It only calmed down a bit after 5-6 hours for me, and even then I don't have to search for it wafting off me. This is a powerful, changing, unique, and wonderful scent from SHL. I would definitely sample first because this is not for everyone and you probably won't get much in the way of compliments. But if you want a high quality fragrance that will make you stand out from everyone else no matter where you are, this will do it.

This is simply stunning!!!! Flair Voyant has to have her or his nose checked out, calling this masterpiece sugar stone and recommending Black Afgano instead, when Black Afgano is much sweeter, also saying that Black Afgano is cheaper (when it cost $185 for 30 ml which means 370 for 60 ml) Black Gemstone 340 for 50 ml. I have both and really like Black Afgano but Black Gemstone is WAY MUCH BETTER. Kain also criticize it because in his opinion is boring, but when you read his revew of Opus XII, he says "this will knock your socks off". Really???? a perfume that is awful and unwearable. And let me tell you that I am a big fan of Amouge, but Opus XII is disgusting, If you do not believe me try it yourself. I agree almost 100% with Roge Review. I say almost because I disagree with him about longevity, I get easily 12 hours with BG, I also get very good projection and agree that the sillage is soft but noticeable. And also disagree with him when he says that BG is somewhat state of the art. Some what??? If this is not a state of the art formula then tell me what it is. And I agree 100% with cdaleb73110, I have had exactly the same experience while wearing this marvelous perfume (like he said top of the charts). My recommendation to all of you who have not sampled BG, please do it. You will not regret it. Worth every penny.

This perfume is so perfect and beautiful that it makes me cry. The combination of mounth watering lemon and mysterious cedar in the opening makes you remember your forgotten dreams and leads you towards the depth of this arcane liquid. The smoky resins and dark woods create an image of Earth's formation out of the solar nebula. You can smell its rocks on fire and feel the religious energy of this holy moment. In short, I'm thankful for discovering this amazing juice :-) I love the lemon in the opening - it's not your usual fresh citrus, it's rather a lemon let on a sunny place to ripen and then forgotten. In the dry down the perfume really becomes almost religiously resinous, you get myrrh and olibanum and woodsy notes from the temple pews. At the same time, it reminds me of a black, lustrous rock with shining mica shards or simply of a hot, almost burning sand in a desert. The sillage is moderate (which I like) and the longevity is superb, I can easily detect spots of the perfume even after shower. It reminds me slightly of my beloved Attar Mubakhar by Swiss Arabian,which is really cheap, check it out! I love this oil for ages but I hoped to discover a finer version. My dream came true!

I have a bottle of Black Gemstone and I really like it. But recently I had a sample of Journey Man by Amouage and the similarity is uncanny. I tried them on each arm. If anything Journey Man smelled better. In the dry down after a few hours however Black Gemstone smells better I must admit. With Black Gemstone I had a couple of complements, its longevity is very good and projects really well. But its very expensive. I guess after I go through this bottle, I will go with Journey Man since it's half the price (even less than that). Update: I bought a bottle of Journey Man recently after writing the above review. I like it yes, but it is certainly not Black Gemstone, not even close. Based on the sample vile, I went so far as to say J. Man smelled better (wishful thinking), but after using from the bottle and also using B. Gemstone the next day, i can easily say they are totally different smells and B. Gemstone is way, way better than J. Man in terms of every frag criteria you can have. So unfortunately I am yet to find a good and cheap alternative to this beautiful but very expensive frag.

I am excited to review a 777 because Bond, Creed, and Ford's supremacy is real and it needs to be shattered. Let me preface my discourse and dispel any hunch that Black has any similarities to Black Afgano or Jeke. This upscale oriental opens to the world escorted by medicinal fruit with the robitussin-like properties split into a smoky side and a lightly tinged leathery side. The citruses contribution isn't met with tartness nor does it gushes vivaciously. The lemon provided is baby-faced in comparison to the standard lemon we're accustomed to. During that period, you will already have sniffed your arm upwards 15-20 times(It's that interesting). The composition swiftly moves to a more comfortable zone revealing all the aromatic elements which lodges itself snugly onto a tropical bed of woods. In this phase, Black gemstone is in its most lady-like space. End the end, you're paying $340 for a formula that is somewhat state-of-the-art with soft sillage, minimal projection and about 6 good hours of longevity.

Black Gemstone isn’t for the mainstream. It’s for the man who prefers silence over noise, presence over performance, and mystery over explanation. A quietly devastating signature scent. It’s not merely a fragrance — it’s a ceremonial scent, cloaked in darkness and draped in spiritual richness. With a name evoking sacred relics and esoteric depth, this extrait is a masterclass in resinous elegance. The opening is immediately incensed, almost mosque-like, but never harsh or bitter. You get that classic SHL DNA — smooth labdanum, sandalwood, oud, and possibly a veil of rose or ambergris, though nothing screams for attention. Everything here is harmonious, like shadows dancing on silk. The drydown evolves into a sweetly smoldering, slightly gourmand balsamic aura, lingering on the skin like a whispered memory. It doesn’t shout. It haunts. It doesn’t seduce in neon. It seduces in candlelight. For dark open-collar shirt. Midnight dinners. Desert winds. Alone or in unforgettable company.

As I was looking for another winter fragrance I came across Black Gemstone. Looking at all the reviews on Fragrantica especially the comments that spoke negatively on this fragrance, I decided to pass on it. Yet, for some reason I kept looking at all the notes listed for Black Gemstone and it was everything I wanted in a fall/winter fragrance outside of the lemon. So I took another blind buy chance. The results... Wow, what a fragrance. The spices, resins, myrrh and the lemon that I was concerned about fits perfectly with the subtle sweetness of the tonka bean and all the other notes listed. I'm so glad I took a chance and purchased this fragrance. I'm actually wearing it now as I write this review. For me, another blind buy success.

STUNNING. So far there have been just a handful of fragrances that have had me just mesmerized. This is one of them. I see it isn't for everyone. That is to be expected. Everyone is different. It is a shame I only have a sample. I will have this in my collection. Not now, but hopefully soon. Certainly will work to get it on the gray market. It is too expensive otherwise. This fragrance shines. Comforting, inviting, intriguing. Just pulls you in. Looking to try more from this perfumer. I noticed a review on another offering from this house and they mentioned that the caps are plastic. If so, that seems off for the cost. But what matters is on the inside. Oh well, great fragrance and I want it.

This fragrance is a hypnotic, black tar, mysterious, captivating complex, multifaceted fragrance with a multi personality life cycle. It is a camphorus scent filled with Myrrh which makes this fragrance extremely resinous and balsamic. The opening is very sharp, dark inky bitter with a nice tart Italian lemon note to it and then it turns into this gorgeous sharp, cooling, pungent woody aromatic smoky/resinous bitter sweet scent. The ingredients of Black Gemstone are clearly intended to come as close to otherworldly as possible. This is one of the fragrances that does not smell like anything I have smelled before not even Black Afgano. Black Afgano is a baby's candy next to this.

This is my new favourite of the Stephane Humbert Lucas 777 line, although many are gems. This one reminds me of camping as a kid. But not the bonfire or the wilderness or whatever, but actually being in the tent. That’s what it smells like. A mixture of worn canvas, and rusty metal rods and bug spray. But in the best possible way. I sort of slept on this for awhile because I guess I didn’t initially love it. But I’ve been wearing it the last 3 days as the weather has gotten colder, just a spritz under my tshirt in the morning and it’s been pure heaven. Def get your nose on this if you get a chance. But not safe for blind buy, in my opinion.

Mmmmm...very nice. I get the references to Black Afghano. It's wonderfully resinous and smoky with the myrrh. There is this plastic or petrol thing also going on particularly in the first hour but it lasts all along the time line. I think its the teak wood. My Grandparents had lots of teak furniture and I inherited some of it. Yes, its the teak that creates the fuel illusion. It becomes sweeter with time but not enough to be a gourmand. A resin sweetness. Wonderfully dense and intense with the myrrh. The black beauty haunts me and I think I will have my own bottle. I get good longevity and sillage in 20 degree temps.

Dry, resinous, powerful and noble. The character is very dark, as the name suggests. There is something in this fragrance that resonates with my depth. Although it isn’t particularly pleasant or beautiful, it captures a part of you that is primitive and indulges that. It suddenly engages the subject to act with sincerity and respect. The scent is uncompromising, unapologetic and self-assured. The texture is a heavy, black smoke with an array of woodiness. In the absolute dry down, the myrrh and Tonka become more apparent and add a subtle sweetness.

A gorgeous balsamic beauty from one of the great talents of modern Oriental perfumery, this fragrance is an ode to the sacred black stone in Mecca. The perfume opens with notes of lemon and cedar, and then begins drying to reveal notes of myrrh (prominent), balsamic resins, teakwood, and olibanum. Reflective, spiritual and never overpowering, this is perfume craftsmanship of high order. Transports you to middle Eastern lands and evokes incense burned in mosques. I think I could say that this is pretty close to religion in a bottle. Enjoy!

Really great stuff. It has a resinous quality mixed with a dried fruit vibe. There's some brightness added from the lemon. I do see the comparisons to Tom Ford Black Lacquer, but this is a little deeper and not as boozy. The opening even reminds me slightly of something like Halfeti Cedar with the spicy dark, dried fruit type of scent it gives off. It dries down to a nice, dry resin, spicy cinnamon finish. Great for a cold night.

I am into the dark/ritualistic ambient music and this is my go to scent when i am visiting such kind of festivals. This smells very dark and sinister. I am always in search for this kind of scents and tested many of that genre but Black Gemstone remains unbeatable. The only perfumes that come a bit closer to this in terms of the atmosphere it creates, are some from Beaufort London like Iron Duke or Coeur de Noir.

Powerful fragrance,dark,religious. An evocative scent, night and mysterious. powerful resins,solid which combine beautifully with frankincense and woods... It 'unisex', but more on the masculine side in my opinion, for the winter days is ideal. Captivating. The sillage is strong, huge longevity.. nice parfum! Sillage: 9./10 Longevity: 10./10 Scent: 9./10 Overall: 9./10

I wonder what's wrong with people's noses. The one says it's similar to Allure Homme, the other says it's like a cleaning product and another one like marmite. Some people should stick to the mainstream and let such spiritual, dark, meditative masterpieces to those who can understand...

I'm wondering why Citris is not listed under the main accords? Wearing it right now and for the last 2 hours I have lemon and cedar popping off me like you wouldn't believe! Actually reminds me of Channel Allure homme but instead of the peach and cedar, I get lemon and cedar?

OMG YOU'VE GOT TO TRY THIS! I promise, NOBODY WILL SMELL LIKE YOU! Such a unique fragrance... a lot going on here. Heavy on the cedar & Myrrhe but FLAWLESS IN EVERYWAY! GO easy cause a little goes a long way.... MASTERPIECE!

This is very very very good. A dark scent different from others and in its way sexy. I loved it at first sniff but hear me out...try switching the lemon with raspberry.! Does not offend, sillage is moderate.

This is amazing.. My favorite from all my dark and smoky, resinous etc. scents collection.. You will be turning heads.. Wether they like it or not its impressive and very unique.. Constantly evolving.

Love this perfume! Very nice blended fragrance! This is smoky,dark,ambery,balsamic perfume and for me is very masculine. The performance is great!

Most manly, dark, resinous smell that isnt too heavy. Real masterpiece scent that doesnt resemble anything else out there. Get your nose on this.

Beautiful, dark and mysterious woody scent. A good choice for colder evenings. scent: 9/10 longevity: 8/10 projection: 8/10

very balsamic like an oud but not as strong as Black Afgano or the ilk. Teak, resins and smokey incense. A bit camphorous.

Statement maker. Its presence in a room makes all the little boys take some steps back. Smells very dark and evil.

Scent: 9/10 Quality: 10/10 Originality: 7/10 Sillage: 7/10 Projection: 7/10 Longevity: 7/10 Price VS Size: 8/10

This definitely comes with a dark energy/aura. You gotta be a certain kind of person to pull it off

The opening is admittedly scary. It’s almost too much and could drill your head in. Unapologetic, bombastic balsamic resin. If you’re patient it mellows down to a rather dark ambery fragrance. You definitely can’t wear this in a hot climate especially in close quarters unless you pull a certain dark moody vibe/look to have this in a daily driver. You DO NOT need to spray more than 3 times MAXIMUM around upper area of your body - I sprayed twice around the neck and one on the elbow and it definitely more than sufficed. Id say this is fairly unisex but masculine moreso than feminine really. I appreciate it and it definitely evokes a darkness but it’s definitely not for me. I want a dark fragrance especially when it isn’t sunny and hot but this is a bit too amber, intense and could use more versatility, maybe a bit green.

Immediately when spraying, it smells like you put your nose to a cognac bottle and smell it. It is strong and will definitely turn some people off...but! It does calm down and turn into this nice, dark, boozy, woody with the resins, it works well. This is a unique one in the sense, I wouldn't recommend this as a casual wear but more of a night out wear. This could kind of go for a woman maybe but, it definitely feels overall more masculine. This kind of reminds me of Clive Christian X... not similar in smell but, just that dark profile. So, while it was nice to experience, it's a pass for me, not for disliking it because, I definitely like it, just have similar ones like this to end up having another like those is all. Definitely worth a try. Season: Winter/Cold Weather only.

Tarry, resinous and fruity with overripened lemon, contrasting with bone-dry woods. This is the loudest of SHL777 that I’ve smelled, but it dries down softer. A bit too sweet for me for as far as this type of scent goes, the tonka and sweet resin together do me in, but it is one of the best of its type. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not overly sweet, just sweeter than I like. Farther down the drydown, the woods are more prominent and the composition gets drier and saltier, but it still has the tonka going on. I like this phase best. I’d echo that this is deeper, richer and better than Black Afghano; and a huge plus is that it does not go too powdery like Black Afghano does. I’m on the fence about keeping this one, it’s really quite good.

One of the better offerings from the house. Opens with a lemon note and quickly develops into a mostly resinous scent with very slight woodiness. It is a gourmand without trying to be one, often makes me want to bite my wrist. The resins give the perfume a slight sweet tone and this perfume definitely invokes feelings of spirituality. Definitely not worth its retail price, would buy if I got it for 130$ but if not, then I'm fine with my decant Oh God ! quench this never ending thirst for scents 😅

Bumped into the envelope of this stage in my fragrance journey. Clearly a superior production, but I already have a couple hard to wear bottles I never touch. Opening reminds me of Whisky Nobile by Farmacia. Almost distillery intense and dry. Complex and challenging, the dry down was this balsamic sweet with spice. Amazing fragrance I probably wouldn’t ever wear. Glad I picked up a decant to experience it, though.

I had to chuckle - I get a top note of marmite. Yes...salty black marmite. No citrus. It morphs into a nebulous back rubber and comes out the other side a salty Dutch Licorice scent with a light dusting of smoke and a whisper of warm bike inner tube. No sweetness at all. Very interesting and odd. Not sure what I expected but this wasn’t quite this 😁. Not awful just very quirky (and I love Dutch licorice).

Hypnotic and dripping with resinous blackness. This is paradox in a bottle. Dark and light, bitter and sweet, obscure and clear, primal and sophisticated. Between the spectrum of discernible notes, your memory, skin scent, and being are welcomed into the design. Eminently versatile, complex, and deeply satisfying, Black Gemstone is both the journey and the destination purpose-built for each wearer.

Black Gemstone definitely has a blackberry note, unless I’m just imagining it. The blackberry mixes nicely with the olibanum, and you can smell olibanum from the opening all the way through the dry down. There’s also this gun powdery accord I pick up on throughout the life of the fragrance. It’s dark and gothic but still very elegant. I can only see this being worn dressed up, on winter nights

Sweet fruity amber oud. It is definitely interesting. The beginning is a bit of a fight between a sweet fruity accord and oud. Drys down to a lovely sweet amber. Strong sillage and longevity. This reminds me of a combination of Black Oud and Sensual Orchid from Laurent Mazzone perfume. It has that same feel as perfumes from that house: more synthetic/mainstream niche. But still very well done.

Received a sample...it is as expected but a little more mellower than I would have thought. This is definitely not a beast fragrance, more moderate performance. I have some in my collection similar to this so to me this is not bottle worthy, especially given the price.

The only fragrance of SHL I may think to buy, if these were sold at 50% less than their current prices. The best of the line-up imo, still, the price tag is much exaggerated.

I find this one very similar to L.Imaginaires Fortis, the same type of sweetish warm ambery-dark scent but with a slightly better performance and added hints of incense.

Don't like the first few hours much but after that I keep getting nice wafts that I find enjoyable.

To me this is a very middle Eastern fragrance. Unique with excellent performance 8.5/10

very austere and dry scent. plenty of smoke. great quality

Black GemStone,,, if u put your nose close its smell great,,, the problem its in the air,,, in the air smell the same from the start till the end!!! As i said if u smell close smell divine but in the air its a mediocre smell!!! And even if u like the frag,,, project low low,,,, longevity is good, but u have to put your nose where u spray the frag!!! My wife dosent like the frag,,, and i put on me 5-6 sprays and she dont feel anything ( and she has a highly developed sense of smell

Nice quality ingredients and well blended. Unfortunately the combination of teak wood, the particular olibanum, and tonka creates a really sweet accord in the base that is cloying to me. Just my particular nose.

I’m starting to think this house simply doesn’t work on me. Aside from Sand Dance, everything feels a bit... off. It’s as if the brand tries to lean into a Middle Eastern aesthetic while still aiming for broad mass appeal, and in the process loses any sense of elegance. And yes; you can create elegant compositions with these types of notes; there are plenty of examples. First of all, it’s very sweet, chocolatey, with a clear tonka-driven sweetness. Despite featuring incense and myrrh, it has no churchy, liturgical aura; which, considering the name Black Gemstone and its significance; is actually appropriate. There’s also a tarry facet, but something is missing here, and I can’t quite put my finger on it. Maybe it’s because, looking at the note list, I expected something much darker and more imposing. Instead, this is only mildly dirty, very wearable, and clearly designed to appeal to the general public. Its darkness is overshadowed; softened, even; by the sweetness. Tag(s): tonka sweet, mass appealing, nothing dark, incense, chocolatey

I got this yesterday in the mail... and sold it yesterday. Is that enough of a review? Well, it is dark but not in a gothic type scent. Its more of a cumin loud spicy, stinky kind of dark. The opening does smell like a more potent fars from xerjoff but then this dries down to a leather but plastic but dry scent. It is definitely beast mode and last really long. This wasn't the resinous scent that I personally wanted, its a bit stinky to me. Maybe this smells better on someone else? I don't know. I also never worn an SHL, I preferred taklamakan out of them all. I also didn't smell mango kiss or god of fire, which maybe would change my mind. Black Gemstone is a very unique scent though. Super niche.

I sampled this one today. It's dark and heavy. There are quite a few notes but I predominately smell woody rubber. I'm sure there is an audience for this but it is not for me. Try it for yourself. The reviews on this one are really mixed.