Top Notes 
Heart Notes 
Base Notes 
01/31/2024
ScentNebula
18 Reviews
ScentNebula
1
Dark, woody clove, vanilla & fruity rose scent with bizarre performance
Normally I wait until I've given something several proper wearings to write a review. However, my experience with this one was so strange that I had to share my thoughts immediately! I will update my review if anything changes.
This was an instant love when I smelled it on paper. The scent was familiar to me, and very nostalgic. It took me a while to figure out: it’s the smell of the waiting room at the dentist my parents went to when I was a kid. It took me even longer to figure out what might have been responsible for that scent: clove oil, used as a topical anesthetic in dentistry. Despite this association, and my usual distaste for medicinal and syrupy scents,I don’t find it offputting for some reason.
Fake Noir is primarily a dark, sweet woody scent with a very fruity rose that resembles some kind of dark stonefruit like cherry or plum. The clove is very dominant to me, but is softened by the rose, a touch of vanilla, and woods. I don’t smell anything conventionally “spicy” in there - nothing feels hot or tingly about this, it’s very smooth.
Close to the skin I find the rose takes on a very faint rubbery greenness, while the notes that project are mainly a sweet powdery rose and vanilla, without the darker woody facets (but the performance of this on me is very strange, which I will get to).
In the late drydown, I smell patchouli and vanilla, which might be my favorite part - it’s a very soft, sexy combination that isn’t too sweet. With the fruity rose still lingering in the background, it almost resembles cherries and cream.
Unfortunately, Fake Noir wasn’t compatible with my skin. It opens with a huge blast of alcohol, and as soon as the alcohol notes evaporate, it becomes a skin scent. 2 hours after spraying on, the scent has almost completely faded away. However, at times throughout wearing it I occasionally get some projection, which fades in and out. I wonder if this is due to the heavy use of synthetics in this fragrance (which ATH is open about), as I find that the performance of synthetics on me can be strange and unpredictable.
The drydown reminds me of a weak version of Serge Lutens Fils de Joie - similar kind of sweet powdery floral scent profile with a touch of smokiness that reminds of Nag Champa. However I feel like Fake Noir is more in the gourmand direction with vanilla, while Fils de Joie is more incensey, with honey just being one component of that and not edible. Of course, the performance of Fake Noir on me can’t hold a candle to the absolute beast that is Fils de Joie. I really don’t know what’s going on there. It’s not a batch issue because the person I got the decant from had no issues with its performance.
I may try layering this with my favorite rose fragrance to see if it improves the performance at all.
This was an instant love when I smelled it on paper. The scent was familiar to me, and very nostalgic. It took me a while to figure out: it’s the smell of the waiting room at the dentist my parents went to when I was a kid. It took me even longer to figure out what might have been responsible for that scent: clove oil, used as a topical anesthetic in dentistry. Despite this association, and my usual distaste for medicinal and syrupy scents,I don’t find it offputting for some reason.
Fake Noir is primarily a dark, sweet woody scent with a very fruity rose that resembles some kind of dark stonefruit like cherry or plum. The clove is very dominant to me, but is softened by the rose, a touch of vanilla, and woods. I don’t smell anything conventionally “spicy” in there - nothing feels hot or tingly about this, it’s very smooth.
Close to the skin I find the rose takes on a very faint rubbery greenness, while the notes that project are mainly a sweet powdery rose and vanilla, without the darker woody facets (but the performance of this on me is very strange, which I will get to).
In the late drydown, I smell patchouli and vanilla, which might be my favorite part - it’s a very soft, sexy combination that isn’t too sweet. With the fruity rose still lingering in the background, it almost resembles cherries and cream.
Unfortunately, Fake Noir wasn’t compatible with my skin. It opens with a huge blast of alcohol, and as soon as the alcohol notes evaporate, it becomes a skin scent. 2 hours after spraying on, the scent has almost completely faded away. However, at times throughout wearing it I occasionally get some projection, which fades in and out. I wonder if this is due to the heavy use of synthetics in this fragrance (which ATH is open about), as I find that the performance of synthetics on me can be strange and unpredictable.
The drydown reminds me of a weak version of Serge Lutens Fils de Joie - similar kind of sweet powdery floral scent profile with a touch of smokiness that reminds of Nag Champa. However I feel like Fake Noir is more in the gourmand direction with vanilla, while Fils de Joie is more incensey, with honey just being one component of that and not edible. Of course, the performance of Fake Noir on me can’t hold a candle to the absolute beast that is Fils de Joie. I really don’t know what’s going on there. It’s not a batch issue because the person I got the decant from had no issues with its performance.
I may try layering this with my favorite rose fragrance to see if it improves the performance at all.
ScentNebula
