My review of Eau Noire

[Indie_Guy]

Yesterday I was getting ready for a big date, and I was going to wear Hanae Mori, but I got a package from Slim (Thanks! I'll be sending you samples of Dry Clean and Skai). Inside the package were samples of the "Dior Three"-Eau Noire, Cologne Blanche, and Bois D'Argent.

I decided to take a risk and wear Eau Noire on my date. I had made reservations at a really swank French/Asian restaurant and since I had heard the Eau Noire has alot of "culinary notes", I decided to go for it.

The desciptions I've read are pretty accurate. It opens with a green "parsley sprig" kind of herbal bite. Very weird opening. Total spice rack. Then shortly after, you get a syrupy sweetness that's like a liquer-between Drambuie and Green Chartreuse. Then a burnt butterscotch note. This fragrance is very full and sweet. I kind of wish it were a tad less sweet and a bit more herbal, but I really enjoyed wearing it.

The date went very well, one of the nicer girls I've met lately. It have a feeling this might become serious (although the thought of commitment scares me) Its always fun to wear a brand new fragrance on a first date, because it always makes you feel like a new person. So I'm glad I wore Eau Noire. It was a success. In a nice restaurant with lots of spice and aromas flying around, the Eau Noire fit right in.

I don't know if I'll buy a bottle though, because it's so sweet and a tad heavy -I could see it becoming cloying if worn enough. Something nice for a special occasion. I tried the other two of the trio, but they're alot lighter and it may take me some time to formulate an opinion. Thanks again for the samples, Slim!

[Ballardbeau]

Nice review Indie.

Eau Noire is a REALLY potent frag. I sprayed too much on my first wearing on a cross-country airplane flight! I felt very sorry for the people around me; I was even gassing myself out. This would do better as a roll-on fragrance.

Good luck with the young lady!

[Fresno]

Eau Noire is lavender only if you really, really believe it is lavender. You gotta labor to find it. The first time I smelled it (blind), I was sure it was another Punjab curry scent, and confidently declaimed it so. I don't find the vanilla here overwhelming; it's one of my favorites. However, I prefer Bois d'Argent, following some months of rattling between the two, although I'd replace my EN decant when it runs out.

[Concord]

Congratulations on the successful date. Eau Noire is far too vanillic on me, but then my skin tend to pick up the sweeter notes in a fragrance. If I were you I'd try it a few more times before I'd splurge.

[knightowl]

Indie, do you find Eau Noire to be much sweeter than HM?

KO

[MorningOil]

I've liked Eau Noire very much each time I've tried it. It's strong, to be sure, but also quite restrained in the way that it doesn't try all too hard to please; it's quite self-confident and come hither. If that makes any sense at all.

But what annoys me is that Dior don't sell it in <125ml amounts! Gah! I would definitely have plumped for a 50ml for occasional wear; but at £60+ - no thanks.

[teflondog]

Excellent review and story about your date. I find that Eau Noire starts off smelling like my mom's kitchen cupboard. I get a lot of dried oregano, basil, thyme, and parsley. Aside from the sweet vanilla note, the drydown reminds me of Djarum clove cigarettes. I have a friend who smokes them all the time so I always think about those damn cigarettes when I smell Eau Noire's base.

[Indie_Guy]

Indie, do you find Eau Noire to be much sweeter *than HM?

KO

Good question. *I'll put it like this; Alot of people find HM to be a sweet fragrance, and while there's no argument that it isn't... I do find it to be a very different kind of sweetness than most others. *To me, HM's sweetness is kind of an "up top" sweetness, with a base of bitterness. *The sweetness in HM dovetails into a dark chocolate lower register. *Its almost like the "dark" without the "chocolate" if that makes any sense. *And HM always manages to fly brightly at the same altitude- it doesn't, like alot of sweeter scents, slowly as time goes on, drag lower like a sagging helium balloon into a vanillic/ambery wasteland... which I must say Eau Noire DOES.

That is my one quibble with Eau Noire. *It turns into one of the most sugary drydowns I've ever experienced. *Imagine Willy Wonka remade as a gangster film. *Its like being forced by an Oompah Loompah at gunpoint to wear concrete boots and take a "dip" in a river of butterscotch syrup. *You sink to a sweet death. The intriguing topnotes flee so quickly and it gets so sweet and gourmand, that it leaves no room for dessert! *Extremely decadent. *This baby has back.

So *to compare HM to Eau Noire. *HM will always be in my top three favorite scents of all time- I never get tired of it. *Everytime I wear it, it dances. *It's romantic, intellectual, bittersweet, ethereal, complex, and gorgeous. *Eau Noire is interesting. *I like it and intend to wear it several more times; but its like an odd mix of parsley, Aunt Jemima's syrup, butterscotch candies, and Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough Ice Cream. *It's like the perfumer that created Eau Noire was either "snowed in" or was locked in his mother's pantry, and had to summon MacGuyver-like abilities to create something out of what he had to work with.

If I ever become an expectant father, maybe this would be a nice scent to wear as it's like a pregnant woman's food cravings bottled.

[foetidus]

Great reviews, Indie.

[SlimPickins]

Hey Indie
Glad the samples came through OK. Props to Scentimental for incuding them in a package to me. I like passing on samples, especially around the holidays.
Your reaction to Eau Noir is similar to mine, though my reviews would never be so creative as to include references to assaultive Oompah Loopahs, MacGuyver, Aunt Jemima, and the wonderful metaphor, "like a sagging helium balloon into a vanillic/ambery wasteland." Well done!
At this point Eau Noir just makes me angry. It is so close to being a great fragrance. There is so much about it that is well done, and many people will undoubtedly love it. It has those woderful spice and herbal notes, and that unique and interesting smokey/woody middle. But that burnt sugar "maple syrup" just gets too sweet. Argh. I am finding that I can tolerate this frag only in the most controlled dosing. This is strictly dab on or roll on only.
Like you, I will continue to wear it. In moderation.
Slim