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Dark scents? When a scent is dark, what's it like?

post #1 of 28
10/18/12 at 3:46pm
Thread Starter 
What excactly in my wardrobe are dark scents?

Which are the darkest scents you know?

What kind of reactions does the dark scent causes to others?
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post #2 of 28
10/18/12 at 5:26pm
Black Tourmaline is a dark scent that comes to mind. Aoud Pur Oriental for me is another of mine that conjures up that image..
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post #3 of 28
10/18/12 at 5:46pm
Complete opposite of fresh. Something that is dense. Strange...for some reason, it's hard to explain
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post #4 of 28
10/18/12 at 6:04pm
Its a mental thing. generally, the scent is sort of muted, though it may have tremendous sillage. it is austere and simple in its composition. citrus, for many people, is an excited and cheerful: it may come from some deep understanding of warm weather, harvest and food, who knows. Tonka bean, which i am NOT nominating as a dark scent, is darker by comparison.

then again, in parts of asia white is the color of death.
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post #5 of 28
10/18/12 at 6:08pm
Dark suggests different things to different people. To me, it's when the frag recalls me something dark, like woods, a deep forest, a cave. Materials like certain woods and spices, birch tar, some leathers, and similar. In your wardrobe, things that come to mind are the Montale aouds, Or Black, Antaeus.

cacio
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post #6 of 28
10/18/12 at 6:47pm
To me a dark frag is one that is dense, on the heavy side, intense in nature, and kind of wraps you up in it's scent. Even though I don't really care about what frag goes with what season, I wouldn't wear a dark frag in warm weather, I think it would be quite suffocating. As others have said, it is the total opposite of a fresh frag.
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post #7 of 28
10/18/12 at 6:54pm
^ In addition to the above, in your wardrobe... Salvador Dali pH.

No.88 is pretty dark.
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post #8 of 28
10/18/12 at 7:05pm
Encre Noire can be dark if too many sprays are used...well at least for me
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post #9 of 28
10/18/12 at 8:11pm
I agree with everything said here, the woody or resinous notes usually. I would like to add that I usually also find incense notes to be dark as well.
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post #10 of 28
10/18/12 at 10:24pm
I don't find Encre Noire dark as such. But from among the scents I've been privileged to use or even test, Fahrenheit Absolute comes off as unmistakably dark. Try this one sometime to get a feel of it.
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post #11 of 28
10/19/12 at 1:57am
Eucris, No 88 and Black Aoud are pretty dark to me. Certain notes to me like Patchouli, Geranium,Cummin and certain ouds are pretty dark.
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post #12 of 28
10/19/12 at 3:19am
Encre Noir is darkness bottled!
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post #13 of 28
10/19/12 at 3:28am
Completely agree that Encre Noir is on the dark side.
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post #14 of 28
10/19/12 at 3:46am
When I hear "dark" , I picture Fahrenheit Absolute or even normal Fahrenheit to a certain extent. Chanel Antaeus also seems pretty dark to me .
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post #15 of 28
10/19/12 at 4:07am
I think of a combination of base notes like castoreum, leather, patchouli, cumin, etc. with a little bit of amber. Blending is usually such that there is a bit of a creamy quality (either that or strong lavender or a strong fougere accord). Black frags, on the other hand, tend to be sweeter (usually syrupy), with less notes, and some element along the lines of tobacco or an alcoholic beverage. Spice notes are usually obvious. Lavender is common to both.
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post #16 of 28
10/19/12 at 9:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bigsly View Post

I think of a combination of notes like castoreum, leather, patchouli, cumin, etc. with a little bit of amber. Blending is usually such that there is a bit of a creamy quality (either that or strong lavender or a strong fougere accord). Black frags, on the other hand, tend to be sweeter (usually syrupy), with less notes, and some element along the lines of tobacco or an alcoholic beverage. Lavender is common to both.

Well put Bigsly. Nevertheless, "dark" and especially "black" on BN (and in general) always struck me as strange uses of those words. I find the words verge on useless/meaningless because their meaning varies subjectively so much. (As opposed to "bright" for example, which always seems to refer to citric or herbal "sharp" accords.)
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post #17 of 28
10/19/12 at 9:43am
'Dark' is associated with the mood or feelings that certain accords evoke, by virtue of scent associations. Example: smoky note = burning coals/woods => a destructive process => sombre atmosphere => darker or melancholic mood. It's not easy to explain but humans are still hardwired to literally smell trouble/danger.
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post #18 of 28
10/19/12 at 9:56am
I has to have lots patchouli in it my opinion.
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post #19 of 28
10/19/12 at 10:15am
Smokiness (vetiver, incense), earthiness (vetiver, patchouli, sandalwood) and certain sweet herbal/floral qualities (heavy rose, lavender as mentioned above, tobacco, caramel etc) when coming together produce a dark effect.

Encre Noire, Gucci pour Homme, Egoiste, No 88, DHI all smell quite dark throughout.
M7, on the other hand, has a very dark opening but seems to settle into a lighter mood later on.

Of course, each of these qualities alone doesn't seem to be enough to produce the requisite darkness. Timbuktu and Dzongkha are almost ethereal. L'Instant EDT is not dark enough, Dior Homme EDT positively glows (lol), and no doubt countless other examples exist.
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post #20 of 28
10/19/12 at 7:11pm
My guess for a dark scent? One with an absence of citrus and excessive florals.

Tokyo Milk have a line of "dark" scents with black bottles and macabre images in white ink: cockroaches, .45 pistols, feather quills.

My favourite is the Bulletproof, which comes across as an almost leathery scent.

http://www.tokyo-milk.com/t/femme-fatale
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post #21 of 28
10/19/12 at 7:46pm
A fragrance that smells mystical, strange, and sometimes bone dry that gives you a lonely vibe

M7
Black Aoud
Dark Aoud
Encre Noire
Back to Black
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post #22 of 28
10/21/12 at 2:58am
Thread Starter 
Thanks to everyone for your input!
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post #23 of 28
10/21/12 at 5:30am
I think YSL M7 & Chanel are dark, but DH or even DHI seem more creamy to me.
And Encre Noir is not quite dark to my nose.
A definite example of darkness is Jacomo de Jacomo or Versace Man or Zirh Ikon to me...
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post #24 of 28
10/21/12 at 7:15am
From your wardrobe, I would think a few reflect a somewhat mysterious hodgepodge with nuances bordering on the brooding, portentous, or dramatic:

Black Aoud by Montale
Or Black by Pascal Morabito
Salvador Dali pour Homme by Salvador Dali
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post #25 of 28
10/21/12 at 12:46pm
Anything containing one or more of Aoud, Leather, or Patchouli tends to 'feel' dark to me.
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post #26 of 28
10/21/12 at 2:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dollars&scents View Post

From your wardrobe, I would think a few reflect a somewhat mysterious hodgepodge with nuances bordering on the brooding, portentous, or dramatic:

Black Aoud by Montale
Or Black by Pascal Morabito
Salvador Dali pour Homme by Salvador Dali

Dollars&scents Makes a great point here by referencing something you can smell right now that we would consider dark. I agree about both Black Aoud and Dali. Encre Noire is a dark scent too. Dark is not citrus, not sweet, not fruity. Dark is typically musky, smokey, incense like, or earthy and dirty - and often it takes an "appreciation" to like them...sort of like developing a taste for a food you didnt like as a kid. Dark scents are (for me) usually ones that I have learned to like...but most people would consider them harsh, or gross perhaps.

- - - Updated - - -

Quote:
Originally Posted by dollars&scents View Post

From your wardrobe, I would think a few reflect a somewhat mysterious hodgepodge with nuances bordering on the brooding, portentous, or dramatic:

Black Aoud by Montale
Or Black by Pascal Morabito
Salvador Dali pour Homme by Salvador Dali

Dollars&scents Makes a great point here by referencing something you can smell right now that we would consider dark. I agree about both Black Aoud and Dali. Encre Noire is a dark scent too. Dark is not citrus, not sweet, not fruity. Dark is typically musky, smokey, incense like, or earthy and dirty - and often it takes an "appreciation" to like them...sort of like developing a taste for a food you didnt like as a kid. Dark scents are (for me) usually ones that I have learned to like...but most people would consider them harsh, or gross perhaps.
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post #27 of 28
10/21/12 at 2:54pm
Encre Noire.
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post #28 of 28
10/22/12 at 1:24pm
Or Black
Rien
Rose de Nuit
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Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Male Fragrance Discussion › MFD Archive › Dark scents? When a scent is dark, what's it like?