Ambre Noir

THE STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE I quite like beauty chain shops. Since airport boarding has become (even) more complicated, with weight limitations on hold luggage and liquid limitations on hand luggage, I have gotten into the habit of not carrying any perfume with me when travelling by plane. This way I justify buying a few more fragrances during the trip. When they exist in that city, I always pay at least one visit, either to a L'Erbolario or a Yves Rocher shop. An hour of carefree browsing in one of these shops is always a pleasure, and a nice occasion to discover some novelty or even to finally spot a fragrance that I referenced some time ago. This is exactly what happened in November 2022, during my umpteenth visit to Florence and Rome. I didn't miss the opportunity to spend some time in Profvmvm Roma and Santa Maria Novella shops where I pampered myself with some gems from those houses. However, all my Christmas presents were really purchased at L'Erbolario and Yves Rocher. I secretly hoped to at least find some bottles of "Dolcelisir" and "Secrets d'Essences - Vanille Noire", which have been discontinued for some time now. I wasn't lucky in my expectations, but I came across a shelf full of "Ambre Noir" at Yves Rocher. I had been wanting to retry this perfume for some time. The name is suggestive to me as I like dark fragrances and amber in particular. Some haste and the low price justified a blind purchase without further delay and so I added another typical "designer perfume" to my collection. Yves Rocher's "Ambre Noir" from the Yves Rocher Pour Homme Collection, seems to be a typical commercial woody amber. It performs sufferably, due to a low concentration, and shows a not-very-high spiciness. It seemed that in this deal I only received a fair return for the low price I paid. However, this opinion of mine only portrays the fragrance opening and little else. When in a shop someone tests it on a paper strip or even on skin, he or she will probably not get a different opinion from mine. Unlike other reviewers, I don't consider this fragrance to be linear. When the citrus together with a faint acetylene facet disappears, and while the patchouli, vetiver, and lavender mellow out, the fragrance takes on the promised semi-dark amber and earthy facet heavily flavoured with tonka, vanilla, and cedar, along with the leathery violet note which now is not very prominent. The perfume transfigures and reveals a striking resemblance to "CH Men Privé", besides promising a certain closeness to "Le Vestiaire - Tuxedo" and "Moustache". Now yes, I could conclude that the blind purchase was worthy. You just have to wait for the base development at the. However, I don't think anyone waits half an hour, or more, in a shop to find this "second" Ambre Noir, which is completely hidden behind the "first" Ambre Noir. For the development purists, a "third" Amber Noir shows up in the early dry-down when the leathery violet leaf disappears and the scent pushes towards a sweeter ambary and vanillic aroma. How can I numerically evaluate this fragrance? ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ - Scent opening: 5.5 (Faint citrus, prominent amber and patchouli, and an intrusive coriaceous note of violet leaf similar to the famous petrol chord existing in "Fahrenheit (Eau de Toilette) | Dior"). - Base and Dry-down: 9.0 (Very warm and comfortable amber-leather-tonka-vanilla scent evolving to just amber-tonka-vanilla). - Longevity: 5.5 (4 hours with 3 sprays). - Sillage: 5.5 (one arm's length with 1.0 hours of projection). - Versatility: 9.0 (At leisure, office, daily use, indoor or outdoor events, a night out, a romantic evening... Not a 10 because you'll have to respray on many occasions). - Usability: 9.0 (due to its low sillage you can even try to use it on hot summer days). - Compliments: 6.5 (My compliments would only happen during the base and drying phase). - Uniqueness: 6.5 (A handful of upscale designer fragrances can be associated with this fragrance). - Quality: 6.5 (Quality evaluation influenced by underperformance plus the synthetic opening facet with acetylene/gasoline smell; some people love it but not me). - Presentation: 7.0 (The usual traditional and simple design of the Yves Rocher For Men collection). - Price: 9.0 (100ml bottle for €21.5 during Black Friday week, offering an "Ambre Noir" shower gel as well). ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Average: 7,18/10.0 between 7 and 8 => slightly above average; between 8 and 9 => recommended; greater than or equal to 9 => not to be missed; My opinion: I looked for a low-priced amber fragrance during a trip and found it. I probably wouldn't buy it under normal circumstances. However, I must point out that the fragrance's base and dry-dow have a better scent than the average of other "amber noir" on the market. This perfume is multipurpose enough to please "Fahrenheit" lovers (which I am not) during the top and heart phases. Looking at the perfume evolution as a whole, I can consider it as a cheaper alternative to "CH Men Privé" and, to a lesser extent, to "Moustache" and "YSL Le Vestiaire - Tuxedo". The music: Shawn Mendes - "It'll Be Okay"

I had been wanting to re-experience this perfume for some time. The name is suggestive to me as I like dark fragrances and amber in particular. Some haste and the low price found justified a blind purchase. Ambre Noir from the Yves Rocher Pour Homme Collection, seems to be a typical woody amber designer fragrance. It performs sufferably, due to a low concentration, and shows a not-very-high spiciness. It seemed that in this deal I only received a fair return for the price I paid. However, this opinion of mine only portrays the fragrance opening and little else. When in a shop someone tests it on a paper strip or even on their skin, they probably don't get a very different opinion from mine. Unlike other reviewers, I don't consider this fragrance to be linear. When the citrus together with a faint acetylene facet disappears, and while the patchouli, vetiver, and lavender mellow out, the fragrance takes on the promised semi-dark amber and earthy facet heavily flavoured with tonka, vanilla, and cedar, along with the leathery violet note which now is not very prominent. The perfume transfigures and reveals a striking resemblance to CH Men Privé, besides promising a certain closeness to YSLTuxedo and Moustache. Now yes, it was worth the blind purchase. It really is worth waiting for the development at the base, but I don't think anyone waits half an hour, or more, in a shop to find this second Ambre Noir, which is completely hidden behind the first Ambre Noir. For the development purists, a third Amber Noir shows up in the early dry-down when the leathery violet leaf disappears and the scent pushes towards a sweeter ambary and vanillic stage. My opinion: I looked for a low-priced amber fragrance during a trip and found it. I probably wouldn't buy it under normal circumstances. However, I must point out that the fragrance's base and dry-dow have a better scent than the average of other "amber noir" on the market. This perfume is multipurpose enough to please Fahrenheit lovers (which I am not) during the "Top" and "Heart" phases. Looking at the evolution of the perfume as a whole, I can consider it as a cheaper alternative to CH Men Privé and, to a lesser extent, to Moustache and YSL Tuxedo. . The music: Shawn Mendes - "It'll Be Okay"

I had Voile d'Ambre by Yves Rocher, but this one is much better. An amber accord with something medicinal in the best possible way, wonderful! And it might sound strange, but this one reminds me of Reminiscence Pour Homme. It shares the medicinal quality with L'Eau D'Issey Ambre Noir, also by Christophe Raynaud, three years later. On the test strip, they smell identical, and on the skin, the Yves Rocher is stronger and the L'Eau D'Issey is a bit more leathery. No one smells like this anymore, but I'm very happy with this one. P.S. It definitely doesn't smell like The One for Men Dolce & Gabbana, because that one is soapy, which this one is not at all. - Ik had Voile d'Ambre van Yves Rocher, maar deze is veel beter. Een amber akkoord met iets medicinaals op de best mogelijke manier, heerlijk! En het klinkt misschien vreemd, maar deze doet me denken aan Reminiscence Pour Homme. Het deelt het medicinale met L'Eau D'Issey Ambre Noir 3 jaar later ook van Christophe Raynaud. Op de teststrook ruiken ze identiek en op de huid is de Yves Rocher sterker en de L'eau D'Issey iets leerachtiger. Niemand ruikt nog zo, maar ik ben heel blij met deze. Ps ruikt absoluut niet naar The One for Men Dolce&Gabbana, want die is zepig, wat deze totaal niet is.

Never judge a perfume by its bottle (D&G rip off, as a lot of people already said) or its opening. So true with this one ! The opening is ... bad. Just bad. I mean. What the heck ? All the notes are unstructured and they all explode to your nose like a real mess. But... WAIT ! 30 minutes later, more or less, here comes the majestic of this scent. Lavender and Patchouli are so useless in this one... They spoil the opening so badly and then go away. (And trust me, I love lavender and patchouli usually, but here, they are so loud and obnoxious...) Once those 2 beasts are killed, the amber and the vetiver, so deep, so powerful and smoked, almost austere (but surprisingly calm and subtle, bewitching and mysterious, not that manly one you smell so often in another perfumes) come in duet. And *ding*... You understand what is it called Ambre Noir. Yes it's ambery, it's dark, it's like the bewitching charm of darkness. You can't see it, you know it's dangerous, but this is so comforting that you're attracted to this diaphanous aura. Oh and, longevity and sillage are, as usual with YR, just enough to not disturb anyone but makes it present, like an atmosphere, the specialty of this house !

I smelled this after blind buying a 50ml + shower gel gift set on a whim - I totally get the comparisons to Rogue Man, CH Men Prive and The One EDT (of which I also own all of lol). Another strong similarity that I haven't seen mentioned is Givenchy Gentleman Only and it's perhaps most well known clone/twist in Armaf's Just For You Pour Homme... I don't remember what GO smells like but I do own JFY and there's a very strong similarity between the two. I always thought JFY was extremely similar to CH Men Prive too, so that's probably the strongest comparison for this.. CHMP with a bit of the fizziness (in the words of our own Eddie Bulliqi lol) and herbal twist on top from Rogue Man, some of the smoothness and light sweetness of The One, with the most striking resemblance being to CHMP/JFY/possibly GO I think. This is a very good fragrance overall and I'm glad I bought it - performance seems to be an issue but it's cheap and fine to simply overspray.