Encre Noire pour Elle Lalique 2009

This is an absolute chiaroscuro masterpiece of scent. It brings to mind the whole of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, or Rembrandt’s1667 painting “The Jewish Bride,” or Gerrit van Honthorst’s 1625 painting “The Matchmaker,” as it blooms on my skin. On my skin, it is a magnificently balanced, opulent renaissance symphony in rose. The brilliant liquid gold citrus lights of bergamot, ambrette, and freesia swirl smoothly onto a lavish heart of an incredibly beautiful rose. A touch of spicy osmanthus, kephalis, and heliotrope continue to smoothly shade this deeply rich colored composition, blending the contrasting light and shadow into a seamless masterpiece, finally descending into a mysterious, tenderly subtle darkness of cedar, vetiver, and musk. It’s fascinating to note that the top of the chiaro effect is perfectly illustrated by the elegantly fanciful gold decorative script used to label the bottle as contrasted with the base scuro effect of the simple, spare blackness of the bottle. Many have been obsessed and commenting on the blackness of the glass bottle, criticizing that the juice inside as being not dark enough. Well I say it’s dark enough. Frankly it’s an example of shadowy dark perfection in a bottle. Not too dark. Not wallowing blindly in a vulgar miasma of overdone patchouli, excessive spices, woods, or animalic substances. On my skin this translates as inky black, velvet shadows with a few slender threads of golden light swirling throughout. Ultrafeminine, deeply rosey, woody, and rich with an elegant shot of musk. No overdone sickening sweetness. No overdone masculinity in the woodiness. Just a perfectly balanced contrast between darkness and light. Beautifully balanced for me. I have to admit, my skin picks up base notes, amplifies them, and tends to overwhelm with them. The base notes that give this scent it’s “shadow” are very prominent with my chemistry. I feel lucky…. And I love this one. If your skin is like mine, and cannot stand overly ripe tuberose, tropical tanning oil like gardenia, indolic jasmine, too much patchouli, too dark a musk, heavy handed civet or castoreum, or too much gourmand sweetness, this may work wonderfully for you. This is a deeply subtle and luxuriously complex scent. She never screams, there is no need. She smiles gently, caresses, then speaks softly, staying close to the skin. Although it is a dangerous smile...sometimes. It brings to mind the sober, iron hand of a bejeweled, voluptuous Medici queen swathed in a crimson velvet glove. Truly, a masterpiece. Gloria in excelsis Christine Nagel. Bravo Lalique.