What's the Real Deal with Ava Luxe?

Ava Luxe is one of my favorite perfumers, truly, I have sampled quite a few of the offerings and have been consistently impressed with the quality and complexity of many of these creations.
Serena has a gift.
Madame X is one of my most treasured fragrances, a complex and sensual blend of labdanum, amber, musk and many more notes.

Of the ones I have sampled, Midnight Violet may appeal to your search for a goth fragrance, I find it more of a "Dark Shadows" kind of scent than Film Noir.
I would sample freely if I were you. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
I am in love with Rasa, some of the guys here have praised Rasa Xtreme. Musk and roses.
Olibanum is a good one too, sort of incensy fir, to my nose.

I have purchased both the parfum extrait and the edp. I recommend the extrait formulation.
Great longevity on every scent I have tried.

type basenotes as a coupon code and get 10% off every order.
Have you read the Ava Luxe thread in the female forum? Quite extensive commentary there.http://community.basenotes.net/showthread.php?t=198743

I'm not familiar with Film Noir but I've bought many samples from Ava-Luxe. Over all I really like her stuff and the ease she allows to purchase samples (several sizes!).
My favs are: Kama, Sisha, No. 23, and Vanilla Musk. I like spending time on her site reading about her many offerings.
In fact I'm waiting on a sample order now.
Give her stuff a shot if you can.

Sorry everyone, but I bought samples of Nag Champa, Firewood and Cafe Noir and I thought they smelled as if they were done by a complete amateur perfumer. Very muddy.

Yes nsamadi - sample the Ava Luxe's before you buy. It's a hit or miss, with AL.

I loved Film Noir when I tested it last year. I also remember reading an online interview with Serena, the owner/perfumer at Ava Luxe and she said her favorite scent (she has like 4 billion scents...) is Film Noir. Which stuck with me, because I also had a very strong reaction to it, in a good way. It has the most realistic rubber note in it, similar to Play by Comme des Garcons but darker.

Midnight Violet is gorgeous. sloan_8013 loves that Incense Tibet one (not sure if thats the name). Cafe Noir (I must disagree with Ruggles) is the best coffee scent I have encountered yet.

Others, I thought were just ok.

The samples are extremely affordable - it should be easy for you to try a few and find one you love.

Ditto. I sampled about a dozen Ava Luxe scents and most of them left me cold.

Ava Luxe has a few scents (Kama, Ambra Tibet) that rival my favorite niche houses. In addition, Ava Luxe has one of the best civet notes in the industry in my opinion. However, I'll save the dissertation on the Ava Luxe line and focus on gothic scents.

Depends on your definition of gothic. To me, gothic can be anything from Blake and Goya to Clive Barker. Each person has his/her own connotation of gothic and what notes and accords define a gothic scent. Church gothic (incense, wood), cemetery (earth, stone), catacombs (water, stone, moss,) halloween/samhain (pumpkin, anise, spices) vampire (musk, copper, lush sensual notes) are some interpretations of gothic I have discussed among friends. Gothic scents from Ava Luxe could possilbly include:

Moss- reminds me of an episode of the Night Stalker, "The Spanish Moss Murders", in which Kolchak pursues a creature made of Spanish moss. The scent is very mossy, earthy, and murky.

Shambala Tibet--the scent to which Mike Perez refers in his post--is loaded with earth, smoke, and incense. Love the use of Haitian vetiver here.

Midnight Violet- very earthy and darkly floral, somewhat reminiscent of Tauer's Orris.

For gothic scents, I would recommend looking elsewhere. In honor of my 666th post, ComDiva recently introduced me to Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. I ordered a few samples from BPAL along with their Samhainaphobia 2007 (Haitian vetiver, patchouli, and clove with bourbon geranium, oakmoss, and balsams) for the coming season. Goth Rosary is another line for gothic scents.

Links:
http://www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com/welcome.html
http://www.gothrosary.com/

Oh my god, if my Joe smelled like Cafe Noir I would send it back - pure mudd.

Interesting, I don't get anything remotely muddy from Cafe Noir, just a sweet and slightly chocolately coffee scent. No other rendition of coffee has impressed me as much as this one, and it has good longevity on my skin, too. It's a very well-made scent.

My problem with the Ava Luxe fragrances that I've sampled is that they all share a strange pencil shavings note that I find very indistinct and synthetic. If it were paint, I'd say it was the color you get when you mix too many colors together - mud.

There are some exceptions, such as Wild Blackberry Musk, but overall, I don't rate this house.

Shalom!

I disagree with the first three posters, and concur wholeheartedly with the fourth: to me, Cafe Noir is delicious, with its chocolate-coffee aroma that lasts and lasts for hours. I've tried a number of other allegedly coffee-scented EDC/EDT/EDP (Rochas Man, New Haarlem, Black Vetyver Cafe, and Angel*MEN), and none of them even come close to Serena Ava Franco's Cafe Noir.

Of course, I realize that one's reaction to a scent is wholly subjective; however, my experience has been quite the opposite of some other opinions voiced here. To be honest, I really do like Thierry Mugler's Angel*MEN, and wear it on a once-a-week basis, but it doesn't hold a candle to Cafe Noir.

What's more, not only did I purchase a 60ml bottle of Cafe Noir for myself, but I also bought three 30ml bottles for each of my twenty-something daughters and their mother; and, I bought five 10ml sample vials, which proved to be a big hit with everyone whom I gifted with them.

I'm pretty-well stocked with SCS (Saint Charles Shave) Sandalwood; nevertheless, I do plan to buy a 60ml bottle of Ava Luxe's Moksha in the near future.

As always, YMMV. As we say in Hebrew: על טעם ורייח, אין להתווכח (don't argue over issues of taste and smell).

All the best!

ditto to both of ruggles'. well put.

Cafe Noir is one of the best things I've ever smelled. And I don't even drink coffee! From the first time I dabbed it from the sample vial... yum. Right after I put it on I watched James Bond Casino Royale, and that made the fragrance even better. Now I associate it with espionage, Bond girls and nice suits.