Noir

Noir belongs to the oriental family. Bois de Jasmin lists bergamot, verbena, violet, pink pepper, caraway, geranium, iris, rose, nutmeg, black pepper, clary sage, leather, patchouli, vetiver, amber, civet, benzoin, opoponax and vanilla.

An aromatic opening

Bergamot and verbena open the fragrance with clary sage and spices, pink pepper and caraway. Kevin, on Now Smell This, likes this opening as much as the end of the drydown.

Rose and geranium

The heart pairs Bulgarian rose, Egyptian geranium, iris, nutmeg and black pepper. Kevin finds this stage unfinished: the geranium-tinged notes seem to him awkward rather than interesting, and remind him of shampoo.

An animalic base

The base brings together patchouli, vetiver, vanilla, opoponax and civet, an animalic note. Victoria, on Bois de Jasmin, compares the whole to Guerlain’s Habit Rouge, of which Noir seems to her a close relative.

What the label declares

The label opens with denatured alcohol, water and fragrance, ahead of linalool and limonene. It names citronellol, cinnamyl alcohol, benzyl benzoate, hydroxycitronellal, alpha-isomethyl ionone and coumarin.

The list also declares geraniol, citral, benzyl alcohol, farnesol and eugenol, substances whose mention becomes mandatory above a certain dose.