Crying of Evil

Crying of Evil continues my descent through the house of Stéphane Humbert Lucas, leaning fully into darkness, tension, and provocation. This is a fragrance that feels deliberately confrontational, built around spice, shadowed florals, animalic leather, and resinous depth that never aims to comfort. There is a sense of unease woven into its structure, where beauty and menace exist side by side, creating something that feels emotional rather than decorative. Crying of Evil carries a reputation for being intense, dramatic, and unapologetically niche, the kind of scent that challenges both the wearer and the space around them. Let’s step into the wearing experience and see how this darker impulse begins to cry out once it’s let loose onto skin. Opening: The opening is fruity, leathery, and spicy. The primary notes I get are red berries, leather, spices, and violet, with the red berries and leather leading. The red berries hit first as tart, dark, and restrained rather than bright or sugary. They smell like crushed berries with their skins intact, giving off a sharp, slightly acidic sweetness that feels tense and almost biting. There is nothing playful or jammy here. Instead, the fruit feels shadowed and serious, more like a dark stain than fresh juice. The leather joins in almost immediately as a dark, supple, and subtly animalic accord. It smells like worn leather that still carries warmth and life, with a gentle but noticeable bite beneath the smooth surface. The animalic edge is controlled rather than dirty, giving it a lived in, slightly feral quality without becoming harsh or challenging. It reminds me of the leather found in fragrances like CH Men Prive or Armani Code Elixir, but rendered in a more natural and expensive way. Spices then emerge as dry, warm, and slightly abrasive rather than cozy or sweet. They feel blended rather than identifiable, creating tension and heat with a faint peppery sharpness that never turns stinging. Instead, it feels deliberate, almost like a controlled burn. Violet comes through last as cool, powdery, and slightly muted, adding a restrained floral softness. It has a cosmetic, suede like quality with a faint dryness that keeps it from feeling airy or sweet, lending a quiet melancholy that fits seamlessly into the darker tone of the opening. Dry Down: The dry down is balsamic, leathery, and smoky. The primary notes I get are olibanum, leather, amber, and spices, with olibanum and leather remaining the most prominent. Olibanum takes on a dry, smoky, incense driven character, smelling like burning frankincense rather than raw resin. It carries a smoldering quality that feels atmospheric rather than sharp, reading as dark and slightly ashy without any brightness. The leather remains consistent from the opening, holding onto its animalic, worn character without softening or changing direction. Amber enters as a dark, warm, resinous presence rather than anything sweet or glowing. It feels dense and slightly sticky, adding weight and depth without turning comforting or plush. There is very little sweetness here, as the amber stays shadowed and restrained. The spices persist into the dry down but sit further back, still offering a faint nose tickling warmth that adds energy without dominating. As the dry down progresses, the balsamic sweetness of the amber and olibanum becomes slightly more noticeable, giving the fragrance a rich, smoky warmth that briefly reminded me of Boss Bottled Elixir. Performance: In the first hour, projection is very strong and easily capable of filling a room, immediately announcing its presence. Sillage follows with a dense, heavy trail that lingers confidently behind you. After the first few hours, projection remains largely unchanged, showing little to no noticeable drop off, while the scent trail softens slightly but remains clearly perceptible. Around the seven to eight hour mark, projection begins to dial back to a more moderate range of 3-4 feet, and the trail becomes lighter yet still noticeable. It finally settles close to the skin around the ten hour point, demonstrating strong projection and solid longevity that places it firmly alongside God of Fire and Sand Dance. When to Wear: Crying of Evil is best suited for fall and winter and truly comes alive in the evening. Its bold, dark, and pensive character makes it an excellent choice for special occasions like date nights or anniversaries, where its intensity and depth feel intentional. It also carries a sense of complexity and quiet regality that allows it to work surprisingly well in formal settings, especially those that call for something dramatic and commanding. That same intensity, however, makes it a poor choice for casual wear, where it would feel overly serious. It is also not appropriate for office environments, where its projection and animalic undertones would likely feel overwhelming and out of place. Blind Buy: Crying of Evil is not a safe blind buy. The combination of animalic leather, dry smoky olibanum, and persistent spice creates a profile that is intentionally bold and can be polarizing for unseasoned fragrance wearers. This is not a composition that eases you in or plays to mass appeal. Instead, it leans into darkness and intensity, which will immediately narrow its audience. There is also very little in the way of familiar sweetness or freshness to soften its edges, making it especially challenging for those who prefer cleaner, brighter, or more modern designer styles. When you factor in the high price point, blind buying becomes difficult to justify. Sampling is strongly recommended, as wearing it on skin is the only way to know whether its commanding, confrontational character resonates with you or feels like too much. Final Verdict: Crying of Evil stands out as one of the more compelling and self assured offerings I have encountered from the house so far. From the opening, it commands attention with its tension filled blend of tart fruit, animalic leather, and spice, setting a tone that feels deliberate and unapologetic. As it moves into the dry down, the fragrance deepens into a smoky, balsamic composition that feels rich, dramatic, and thoughtfully constructed, carrying an almost incense drenched gravitas that brings to mind the weight and seriousness of classic niche perfumery. Performance supports that presence, delivering strong projection and longevity that comfortably match God of Fire and Sand Dance. Taken as a whole, Crying of Evil feels confident, mature, and uncompromising, a fragrance that knows exactly what it wants to be and never backs away from it. It is bold without feeling reckless, artistic without becoming unwearable, and for me, it earns its place as a standout release and a definite addition to my collection. Scent: 10/10 Longevity: 8/10 Sillage: 9/10 Versatility: Average Compliment Factor: Average Gender: Masculine Value: Fair

What, so few reviews?! Well here I come! So, a kind perfume seller made me test this perfume today and I love it. First of all, this is the first Stephane Humbert Lucas that I have tried. I knew about them, but also knew that they are very expensive - this here costs 200 euros per 50ml. So that's a LOT. But onto the review. Without knowing the actual notes, this on me evolved like this: first, smoke and incense with very little sweetness; then, I started smelling oud as well, on top of the previous notes, which here isn't listed. Then, the oud disappeared progressively, leaving room for some leather, amber, patchouli and sweet vanilla - not too sweet though. Something flowery too, but very slightly, probably the tuberose. The thing is, on my skin vanilla tends to go either powdery or bubblegum-like. And tuberose can be bubblegummy too! I am not saying this has a bubblegum note, at all - in fact I love the vanilla note here, as it stays vanilla. But my nose sometimes has a hard time discerning tuberose because it links it to vanilla lol. Anyway. The perfume becomes then a incensy, boozy vanilla - I swear I got some rum here! - with the previous notes peeking here and there, then the booziness subsides and it becomes a smoky, ambery and musky vanilla. From start to finish, it smells smoky, smoky sweet, smoky boozy sweet, smoky musky sweet. However bear in mind that when I say sweet, I mean slightly sweet. It gets sweeter in the drydown, but it isn't a gourmand. I love how the incense is ALWAYS present from start to finish. Also, the incense is a bit churchy - I like it a lot in this perfume, kinda like Avignon - but never excessively so. It is a very expensive perfume and sadly I won't be able to buy it, but I recommend it because it is beautiful. You can tell it is high quality! It is perfectly rounded, blended. Never harsh or burnt or acidic or synthetic. Really really good. It evolves a lot and even today, in the scorching heat, it didn't choke me at all. Performance-wise, it's great. I have had it for like 6 hours and it is still noticeably there. Smells nice, musky, smoky vanilla. Obviously it is better for the colder months, but again, today it's really hot but I wore it like a champ. The sillage is not enormous, but it is strong. The guy sprayed me 3 times lol, I thought he was gonna make me pay for it ahahah! Now, last but not least, what does it remind me of? My mom said, you have one like that at home. Lol I wish I did! But she was onto something. The oud note I got reminded me a lot of Black Afgano, even though it is not as strong here in Crying of Evil, plus, to be honest, Black Afgano is a much harsher perfume. I love it, but I am not kidding myself here. Afgano is blunt, this one is like a hug. The boozy note instead, was uncannily similar to... Dolcelisir by L'Erbolario! Like what?? I was shocked, I mean, Dolcelisir is super nice but is waaaaaaaay cheaper than this. Obviously they are not dupes by any means. However there is a bit of Black Afgano and Dolcelisir in Crying of Evil. Which made me happy because, since I can't afford this beautiful perfume, at least I'll console myself with the ones I already have ahahahah. So, try this. It's great. Edit: oh and also, the bottle is to die for!

Luckyscent sample reviewed. SHL somehow manages to make mostly synthetic creations sexy. His perfumes always has a definate personality, and CoE is no exception. This fragrance is a dominant leather fragrance. It has the familliar pairing of violet to texturize the leather as well as a slight rose component. The fruity berries and tuberose open up like a long distant relative of Poison, then the core of leather and oilbanum asserts itself. Its not smoky. The oilbanums texture is almost a gritty woody, green element. Sandalwood adds a light powdery creaminess to smooth down edges. What gives this fragrance its super sillage and forceful nature is IsoE Super. Its here in quantity to blend all the components together. Patchouli and musk ground the fragrance. It is to be noted the leather does stay into the drydown. Wear time is 6hrs in my testing. If you like sweet fruity leathers its a great pick up for fall and winter. Lovely creativity. Unique

Dark and Mysterious. This is my first entry into Stephane Humbert Lucas, admittedly the bottles are what drew me in. Initially God of Fire popped up on my radar due to the hype and me being a fan of fruity ouds but this one seems like the next best choice. I really like it, it's very dark and gothic to me bit still sweet and pleasant enough. A very soft leather that I think is pretty unisex. Not sure how else to describe this one other than being a very soft dark scent that I find very enjoyable. It's still new to me but it's definitely growing on me. Kind of reminds me of Gucci's Voice Of The Snake only frutier and less burnt. It has Tubereus listed which I normally hate but i dont get it much in here so its a non issue Beautiful presentation but very expensive for only a 50ml. Looking forward to trying more from this house if I get the chance, this was a complete blind buy and turned out to be right up my alley.

I initially tried this last year and really didn’t like it. I found it sickeningly sweet, flat and like a jam paste. Fast forward to winter and I’m now wondering how I disliked it. I didn’t get the Amber, spicey, tobacco or leathery notes last year. The fruits feel like blackberry and it’s my favourite berry note as it’s so nuanced. This is radiant (not shrieky) deep and warm. The bottle colour is so right. This scents smells of all shades of purple from eggplant to mauve, limned with low lights of black and highlights of amber and gold (if scent was colour). I’m huffing the back of my hand and as I’m heading out to brunch am pleased I smell so good (imo). Once again my approach of resampling the same scent at different times of the year has shown me that things can change dramatically for the better (usually). Now on the large desire list 😁