Venom of Love Navitus Parfums 2022 Extrait de Parfum

This is just … WOW!

Venom of Love is a very gourmand, sweet, juicy, black cherry dipped in chocolate. It’s an absolutely delicious, black forrest gateaux! My favourite dessert! Although there’s almond in this, I don’t smell it. This is perfect for cold weather or a date nights. It’s fierce, sexy and delicious! It’s quite strong, so go easy, but it’s also a long lasting fragrance. I love cherry scents and this is one of my favourites. It’s a unique cherry compared to anything else I’ve smelt on the market, and I’ve tried and own many. The only other scent this compares to is Duchessa, which I’m just not willing to pay for when I can have Venom of Love Extrait de Parfum for less! In my opinion Venom of Love is a much better scent. It’s addictive! I can’t get enough! Drown me in it! it’s amazing! 10/10!

For comparison, I own Lost Cherry Eau de Parfum and I do not find these similar, other than the fact they are both cherry fragrances. Venom of Love Extrait de Parfum is cherry and chocolate, where Lost Cherry Eau de Parfum is cherry and a very predominant almond note.

I also own Bodacious and this again isn’t similar at all, other than being another variation of cherry. Bodacious is a boozy, cognac, almond and cherry scent. More similar to Lost Cherry Eau de Parfum.

This is my first try of Venom of Love, the latest release from Navitus Parfums, a dark, rich gourmand consisting of a heavy cherry liqueur with accents of almond, chocolate, vanilla, rose and jasmine. The cherry liqueur instantly reminds of Tom Ford Lost Cherry, and the two fragrances on the whole are rather similar. Venom of Love veers a little darker and less sharp than Lost Cherry, though, with a decent amount of bite, still, but less of the resinous almond quality that so defined the Tom Ford.

Its performance is very good, quite strong, frankly expected of the brand’s darker, more cold-weather-leaning scents, and the pricing is the more affordable recent pricing of $145 for 100ml, undoubtedly a much better deal than Tom Ford Lost Cherry, which runs for $240 for 50ml.

I’m going to continue to try this some more and maybe do a side-by-side with Lost Cherry but I’m loving what I’m smelling and its price is much better than TFLC.

8 out of 10

Enthralled by the fragrance pyramid, I wanted to order the scent blindly. As a precaution, I decided to go for a sample instead. Hardly had I applied "Venom of Love" when my husband walked in and said, "That smells like something you want for Christmas." From my enthusiastic "Oh, yes!" it turned into "You know what? Never mind." What happened in between...

Freshly applied, a nearly chemical, biting scent hits my nose, which transforms within seconds into a beautiful mélange of chocolate, almond, and cherry. I had expected a bit more cherry; the chocolate and almond clearly dominate. I still like it, gourmand, boozy, sweet, and delicious this little liqueur... The top note dissipates quickly, the chocolate remains, and the cherry comes to the forefront. Now I really like the scent. At this point, "Venom of Love" comes quite close to its big sister "Lost Cherry" by Tom Ford, but remains darker, more gourmand, perhaps even a bit more mature. The chocolate is probably the main difference, giving the fragrance a gentle creaminess. Overall, it's not really new. At the latest since "Lost Cherry," the combination of cherry / almond / cherry liqueur has been reinterpreted / copied in countless variations. "Venom of Love" doesn't break new ground, but it does its job quite well up to this point. As soon as the rose and jasmine join in, it's impossible to avoid the comparison.
After about 15 - 20 minutes, it happens. The floral accords take over, it becomes sweet and floral, the chocolate retreats almost completely, leaving a hint of cherry and almond in the background. And this is exactly where the scent starts to fray. It’s barely 30 minutes on the skin, but already close to the body. Sillage? Projection? None to speak of. "Venom of Love" suddenly appears shockingly pale, a fragrance that has been repeatedly referred to as a "Beast" in various YouTube reviews. The once fragrant flowers have lost all their power; from the dark, gourmand, mature juice, it turns into a sweet, floral little water. It reminds me of something that young people would buy with their first pocket money (which is not meant to be derogatory; as a young person, one usually tends to go for something pleasing).

That would be all there is to say about "Venom of Love." The dry down is not worth mentioning; the scent becomes so weak that I can’t perceive any listed note distinctly. What remains is disappointment and the search for the lost cherry (which I have since found in a slightly different form in the fantastic "Raw Cherry" by Aaron Terence Hughes...)

The nerve-wracking hunt for a perfume! Just as I managed to snag "Le Vestiaire - Babycat | Yves Saint Laurent" at KaDeWe and ordered it via email, the decant from the sharing of "Venom of love" is already on the horizon. And lo and behold, it is of course sold out for now, and naturally, I wasn't bold enough to order it blind beforehand and test it based on the decant. Shame on me, I could only roll my eyes in exasperation at myself.
I was almost afraid that I might like the Venom, as it is not available for the time being; all I can do is long for it from afar like an unfulfilled love. However, my favorite Parfumo friend cleverly thought ahead and ordered a bottle just in time, hoping that at least one of us would like the scent; thus, I feel a bit like a future adoptive mother, who has been assured a child but is not 100% sure whether the biological mother might still want to raise the child.
The bottle is not here yet.

I already own "Duchessa | Gritti," but I really wanted a somewhat oriental, woody-spicy cherry; I usually don't like fruity notes, except for cherry, sometimes plum when it is incorporated in an oriental-sweet way, or strawberry when it is executed in an exciting manner, but I haven't found that yet.
In fact, the Venom is very much like I imagined it:
syrupy sweet dark sour cherries soaked in brandy (Lost Cherry Eau de Parfum in boozy) at the opening. The cherry is then quickly dipped in dark chocolate and actually reminds me of Mon Chéri (which is rarely eaten by anyone culinary).
The layering combo Invite Only Amber | 23 and "Lovefest Burning Cherry | 48 | Kayali" somewhat resembles Venom of love, with Invite Only Amber | 23 exuding a bit more oriental flair, while the Venom has more liqueur-like sweetness to it.
I also get subtle almondy Play-Doh vibes, but I actually like that in moderation.
As it develops further, it reminds me quite a bit of Lost Cherry Eau de Parfum in an intense way; the boozy note fades, and I smell fruity cherry with a bit of earthy chocolate powder.
A cherry is just a cherry and probably always smells somewhat similar; it really depends on the embellishing accompaniments.

The cherry is indeed the main actor and more intense and long-lasting than in Lost Cherry Eau de Parfum and "Lovefest Burning Cherry | 48 | Kayali," though I wouldn't have minded a bit more dark chocolate or chocolate that is perceivable for longer; it could have been a tad more ambered/smoky for my taste.
Still, a great scent with a fantastic opening on my skin with a boozy chocolate cherry!

Addendum after multiple wears: The base definitely has an oriental feel (others have mentioned this too) and projects and holds super strong (unusual for a cherry scent).