4
Very helpful Review
Noir Exquis
It took me quite a while to actually figure out why I wasn’t enamoured with the opening of this perfume, but I think something clicked when I got to smell Martin Margiela’s By The Fireplace. Chestnut. My brain simply won’t allow my sense of smell to recognise chestnut as a desirable aroma, and i really think that the omission of this particular note would have made me like this perfume a whole lot more.
The chestnut opens with the sweet tang of orange, which I found a dissonant pairing, and definitely had a negative impact on how i perceived the rest of the perfume’s development. Like having the aftertaste of medicine in your mouth just before you eat a lovely dessert.
From that point, the scent plays out very safely using the old firm of vanilla and tonka, solidified with some dark woods (i guess something was needed for the Noir). I wish the coffee was accentuated on my skin, but i only got the haunting of some distant powdery bitterness. Maple sap was also missing in action, but that could have been me assuming it would smell like the stuff I pour on pancakes.
The thing is, it smells nice on me after the first 10 minutes and I know a few people who genuinely have this perfume as one of their loves. So like all reviews, you need to take my opinion in the context of my personal tastes of the time, and right now gourmands in general are not my, well, jam.
There is one thing, it is the type of scent I really enjoy smelling off clothing. I wore it with a scarf the other day and really enjoyed nuzzling my cold nose into it 8 hours later. It hangs around, but won’t really intrude anyone’s personal space unless they are close enough to intrude yours.
Now if you are a gourmand fan, then I will always recommend you try this. Just because I am a chestnutaphobe, doesn’t mean you won’t love it. But somewhat sadly, Noir Exquis will be finding a new home with someone that can show it more love than I can. It’s not you, it’s me.
The chestnut opens with the sweet tang of orange, which I found a dissonant pairing, and definitely had a negative impact on how i perceived the rest of the perfume’s development. Like having the aftertaste of medicine in your mouth just before you eat a lovely dessert.
From that point, the scent plays out very safely using the old firm of vanilla and tonka, solidified with some dark woods (i guess something was needed for the Noir). I wish the coffee was accentuated on my skin, but i only got the haunting of some distant powdery bitterness. Maple sap was also missing in action, but that could have been me assuming it would smell like the stuff I pour on pancakes.
The thing is, it smells nice on me after the first 10 minutes and I know a few people who genuinely have this perfume as one of their loves. So like all reviews, you need to take my opinion in the context of my personal tastes of the time, and right now gourmands in general are not my, well, jam.
There is one thing, it is the type of scent I really enjoy smelling off clothing. I wore it with a scarf the other day and really enjoyed nuzzling my cold nose into it 8 hours later. It hangs around, but won’t really intrude anyone’s personal space unless they are close enough to intrude yours.
Now if you are a gourmand fan, then I will always recommend you try this. Just because I am a chestnutaphobe, doesn’t mean you won’t love it. But somewhat sadly, Noir Exquis will be finding a new home with someone that can show it more love than I can. It’s not you, it’s me.
1 Comment
Dalmajen 6 years ago
I had exactly the same experience with this fragrance! I just couldn’t get past the chestnut, and it ruined the whole experience for me. I really wanted to like this one, but sadly I swapped it away as well.