English Leather Black (2007)
by Dana

The reviews below are correct: the fruity top notes are appealing, promising a nice fruity wood scent. However, after about a half hour, those nice top notes disappear to uncover a flaccid, characterless "scent" that I can only describe as the smell of your skin after you just showered with a shower gel and rinsed it off. Basically it's the smell of the memory of soap, if that makes any sense. This fragrance's existence makes no sense, so I suppose that's an appropriate description.

MY RATING: 2/10

30th December, 2011.

I actually like English Black's top note which is Bergamot--whatever that is! It smells manly on me for about 15 minutes and then fades away into nothingness.

Is this even a fragrance or did they just stick some water in a black box and stick a black wooden handle on it?

2/5 stars overall 1/5 longevity.

18th January, 2011.

An enjoyably decent scent with laughable longevity, ELB is best used as an added layer for another fragrance because it seems incomplete. The coriander/bergamot combo and some plummy vibe herein makes me think of a tamed and broken Michael Kors for Men clone missing half the ingredients. Not bad, but not entirely ready for the vast and scary world of competitive fragrance sales. Back to the lab with you, Dana Frankenstein; this monster needs new legs.

4th January, 2011.

I wasn't sure about this one, and I'm still not. It's one of those scents that's so all over the map you can't quite make up your mind about it. I like the topnotes. The initial phase reminds me of Coca-Cola. I'm not sure what that means or if it's good or bad...but it's not unpleasant. It passes through the mid-notes pretty quickly so there's really no time to figure out what they are. It drys down to a sort of embery smell, like charred wood. There's nothing amazing here...but it is intriguing. I keep sniffing trying to figure it out. Not the best thing ever invented...but not one of the worst. This would probably lend itself to layering; especially a more citrusy juice, like Clinique Happy.

27th September, 2009.

English Leather Black does smell cheap at the first sniff, but it quickly starts developing into something better: the bergamot of the top and middle’s coriander combine to form a unique accord: It’s a rich-ish texture accord incorporating some of the warmer notes – lavender and possibly cardamom (I would say). The opening quickly moves to the middle accord which reminds me a bit of fragrances like DK Leaded and Unleaded or Cacharel’s Nemo. I find the middle level very enjoyable but it doesn’t have a very solid sillage, nor does it last anywhere near long enough. The base is satisfactorily woody – I don’t get any sweet from the fragrance and the musk of the base doesn’t come across very clearly, but I enjoy the drydown except that it just doesn’t last long enough.

English Leather Black is an interesting and somewhat successful attempt at a black version of the drugstore classic. It would have been successful had it any real longevity.

7th August, 2009.

This cheapy really does smell "black" to me. It's sweet and woody, and the darkly-stained wooden cap kind of alludes to what they were going for. I didn't notice it evolving much, but it makes me think of nicely-finished ebony or some other exotic hardwood, with a little leather in there too. I got a 1.7 oz (a monster size for me) for next to nothing. It's not really that strong, and I think it merits 3-4 sprays where I might normally do 2 but it took me a while to realize that. I don't think this would surprise anyone in a bad way or a good way. I was thinking of getting rid of it in favor of more expensive brands, but then I realized that nothing I've owned or even tried has had quite this type of polished wood vibe, so I kept it for its uniqueness.

12nd July, 2009.