Skip to main content

Noir Marine by Phaedon

Egyptian Peppermint, Tobacco leaves and Resins.

The peppermint blast from Noir Marine is striking. It's more peppermint than a mentholated accord, but it certainly gets your attention. Like a cool breeze brushing by you, Noir Marine's salutation is almost certain to satisfy mint lovers.

The concept ( according to Luckyscent ) is to shift gears from cool to neutral and then to warm. Peppermint, Tobacco as the neutral and onward to warm resins. The Peppermint worked like a charm on me. I'm not a lover of the note, but I do have renditions I like. Noir Marine implements a bracing rendition, but it's very good nonetheless.

The problem that arises for me is the disparaging decline in the transition to the middle accord of tobacco. There's a bit too much contrast and a discrepancy of "presence" following the opening.

The idea of bridging three accords in this manner fascinates me. I'd be enthralled if it worked effectively. The Peppermint is a very sharp and a tangible first impression. It may stand to reason that there would be a letdown of sorts following an opening like that. Even so, the mid and base are simply tuned too low for me to appreciate fully. The opening may have raised my "tolerance" a bit too high and the result is an unappreciated heart and base. In the end, the reasons I find Noir Marine lacking are neither here nor there.

The tobacco accord suffers the most from my apparent olfactory fatigue. By the time the resiny base arrives, I enjoy the way it smells and it reminds me ( for whatever reason ) of autumn. It's still too low for my liking and conclude after my wearings that the attenuation needs tweaking in this scent. The heart and base deserve a volume increase so it can be felt.

In spite of my review being tantamount to describing a fragrant, premature ejaculation, I still like Noir Marine, but wouldn't consider a purchase unless they bumped it up a notch.

Sillage is good in the top accord, but lacking otherwise. Longevity is about 3 hours with 2 of those relegated to being a close scent. Noir Marine smells very good, but because of these shortcomings, a sample wear is definitely recommended. Perhaps it will work with more presence on your skin than it did mine. A neutral rating from Aromi for Phaedon's Noir Marine.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Oriental Lounge by The Different Company

Bergamot, Curry Leaf, Pepper, Red Rose, Tonka Bean, Labdanum, Satinwood. I suppose the first thing I noticed about Oriental Lounge is that as a man, this is a bit of a stretch to pull off. Since the core of Oriental Lounge is a powdery tonka and amber duo, it really does lean a bit too far feminine for me to wear. However, it would smell just as lovely on a woman and more appropriate as well. I bring this up simply because it's marketed as shared. I was wondering about the curry leaf. Actually, this "note" brought nothing to the table with the exception of possibly enhancing the pepper note just a bit. Even so, the pepper note itself was low key ( at least on me ) and both blended nicely with the citrus opening. From the onset of Oriental Lounge, it's unmistakable that this fragrance is.......well.....an oriental. From other opinions, I read some gripes about longevity, but it lasts on me quite awhile. This fragrance is uncomplicated and without much movemen...

Black Suede by Avon

Nutmeg, Clove, Amber, Musk, Moss, Wood Notes. Yes.........I am reviewing one of the Rodney Dangerfield's of fragrance. Black Suede has been gracing medicine cabinets, for better or worse, since 1980 my friends. If you're expecting me to inform you ( like others may have already ) that Black Suede is a nasty scrubber, you will be disappointed. On the other hand, if you're expecting a glowing review claiming it's a diamond in the rough, you won't hear that from me either. I will say though that Black Suede doesn't deserve the hate it's received and most of that is due to snobbery aimed at Avon products in general. I kid you not when I state that a close relative to this fragrance is Cacharel Pour L'Homme. The array of spice in both ensure comparison, but the "smoother" of the two is Black Suede due to its implementation of Amber. While wearing Black Suede, one can detect a hint of "drugstore". That quality doesn't manife...

Silver by Etienne Aigner

Basil, Bergamot, Green Notes, Juniper Berry, Lemon. Carnation, Cedar, Cinnamon, Jasmine, Patchouli, Pine Needle. Castoreum, Labdanum, Leather, Moss and Musk. 1984 brought us yet another terrific and underrated masculine. Etienne Aigner's Silver is ( of course ) under the radar and mostly disregarded by the fragrance community at large. I have no answers for this other than possibly bad timing and marketing mistakes. It could also be that Silver is sophisticated and long lasting without the bombastic qualities that were inherent in many releases of that particular time period. It may have slipped by unnoticed. Silver opens as an extremely smooth ( and I mean smooth ) rendition of herbs and dominant basil set atop a light citric accord. It leans green like you would expect, but this is not a conventional aroma of green. This has a low center of gravity and within a minute or two, an elegant moss begins its journey from the base to incorporate itself into the opening. Silv...