Black Cashmere (2002)
by Donna Karan

Too much of everything for me, I'm afraid. Donna Karan's Chaos shared some elements of this (but in Chaos, they were blended with fizzy cola bottles and sparkling lemonade). I bet this will smell exciting on the right person, but for me, it was headache-inducing. (And luckily, Chaos is now being reissued, so I'll wait for that lovely gem to return instead!).

To me, Black Cashmere is not a casual, everyday scent. It's moody and evocative, and I have to be in a certain frame of mind to enjoy it. I live in New England, and if one scent embodies the smell of fall here, this is it: wood smoke, crisp leaves, spiced drinks, incense. Another reviewer said it smelled like "tar", and I agree, but it's not wholly unpleasant. Also brings up an image of Indian spices baking on hot sand. It is an austere scent; there is nothing sweet or comforting about Black Cashmere, yet it can be oddly relaxing. I enjoy wearing it on those days I feel aloof and slightly melancholic. Its bottle perfectly captures the mood of the fragrance.

Well, That wasn't exactly the kind of smell I'd like to smell on my wife... In fact, I think she would kill me if I bought a bottle of this stuff...It's too dark and cloying, smoky...

I so WANTED to love Black Cashmere, but at the dry-down, the final notes overpowered me. It was a muted Tabu. Not good.

I loved the smokiness tho..darn it!!

Well I just got a sm btl of Theorema on ebay, and on me it smells just like Black Cashmere minus the offensive and loud notes at the final dry-down of Black Cashmere

I am a oriental, spicy lover. Hubby likes Obsession on me, but Cinnabar has been my signature scent since 1978.

Fendi, Theorema looks as tho it will kick Cinnabar to the back of the line for a bi...at least until I get to know it. So far...lovely. I'm pleased.

I just love this! The incense aroma takes me back to my years in Catholic school when I was young and naughty. It has those wonderful woody notes softened and made feminine by a powdery veil of something I can't identify. I agree with another post tho, it does not last long enough.

What a magnificent scent this is. Elegant and exotic woods, incense, and spices create a rich, sensual drama of depth and esoterica. To my nose this is primarily an incense fragrance. The other elements of the fragrance — the spices, the woods, and the florals — seem to support the incense as their main purpose, and a beautiful job they do of it, too. The incense dominates the top notes with a distinguishable saffron smoothing out the accord. The top notes last a long time with the movement going from incense and spice of the opening to the incense and woods of the middle. When the transfer is complete, the woods have replaced the spices as the dominant partner of the incense. I am intrigued by the progression of the woods in Black Cashmere — they take a rich, important, and exotic role in the fragrance, although they are rather easy to overlook with all of the more dramatic things going on. The incense note is rather linear to my nose — all the movement of this fragrance seems to be accomplished by the spices and woods. This is an utterly beautiful fragrance: It is at once powerful and subtle, but it could last longer. Intelligent and mystic, it is an experience and a meditation. But keep your meditation somewhat short – Black Cashmere doesn’t last long enough.