Hello, fellow sniffers, and welcome to my latest review. Today, I’m reporting on Harmatan Noir by Pierre Guillaume, which is said to feel like a night in the deserts of Africa. One can easily guess that there might be tea in the scent, as tea ceremonies are common in many African cultures, such as the Maghreb tea culture, where green tea with mint leaves is often enjoyed.
And for those who are wondering how one can drink tea in hot places… well, you don’t drink boiling hot tea, but rather warm tea. And as you hopefully know, drinking ice-cold beverages on hot days only makes you sweat more, so lukewarm tea is actually the best thing to drink in summer. And really, tea is always a good choice, isn’t it? No, it must be cold beer, right? You silly people! :D
But back to the scent, let’s see how it smells; the notes sound quite promising!
The Scent:
The scent starts off sharply alcoholic, which lingers for a few seconds before you can finally smell the notes. Then, there is indeed mint to be detected, or rather mint tea, depending on how you interpret it, since mint tea actually smells almost exclusively of mint :D I would have preferred a stronger mint, but well, that’s how it is. The background is floral and slightly sweet, which could be jasmine. Additionally, the scent also has a green and herbal quality.
Not long after, the scent remains fresh, even though the mint becomes noticeably weaker. Now it smells a bit woodier, but also more balsamic and warmer. There’s a nice sweetness that now leans more towards amber rather than jasmine, at least that’s how it seems to me, as the scent could also be influenced by the combination of various, but not really identifiable spices as described.
In the base, the scent continues to be fresh. It still has a slightly sweet, but also balsamic aroma. The woody notes become a bit weaker, but it now smells a bit cleaner. A very lovely scent.
The Sillage and Longevity:
Unfortunately, the sillage is not the strongest, so you would need to get quite close to catch a whiff of it on someone. The longevity is okay at about six hours.
The Bottle:
The bottle is rectangular, clear, and rather boring, as it looks like a million other bottles. What sets this bottle apart slightly from others is perhaps the round label, which is the trademark of Pierre Guillaume fragrances. Everything is fine, but nothing special.
Conclusion:
So, despite the slightly sharp beginning (which only lasts a few seconds), I think the scent develops excellently. It simply smells fresh, but also very warm, gentle, and even balsamic. Actually, I was most interested in the mint tea note, but you really only catch a brief and faint whiff of it; nonetheless, the rest of the scent turned out quite wonderful.
With a little imagination, if you close your eyes for a moment on a nice summer evening, you can actually transport yourself to an evening desert landscape where you rest and drink tea. This gives you a feeling of satisfaction and tranquility, and you might even think of exotic places like Africa. You start to smile, but that smile soon fades when you hear in the news in the following days that the hot Sahara wind will soon reach Germany, marking the beginning of yet another unbearably disgusting heatwave, where you’ll just be sweating and sticking to everything, especially leather seats… argh :DDDD Yes, yes, laugh all you want, but the next heatwave is coming faster than you think!
But as I said, the scent here is excellent and definitely worth a try, especially if you like sweet-warm and slightly woody notes like cypress and juniper. It’s best used in spring and summer, more for leisure or daytime, as it’s too weak for going out.
And that’s it for now; I wish you all a wonderful evening, see you next time :)
Top Notes 
Mint tea
Heart Notes 
Cedar
Jasmine
Salt
Base Notes 
Spices
Woods
Blossoms
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