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

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...

Chanel copying Guerlain. Why?

                      Last month, I had the pleasure of trying Comète by Chanel, the latest addition to their prestigious Les Exclusifs line. This fragrance follows the release of Le Lion in 2020, another standout in the same collection. Like Le Lion , Comète is a beautiful perfume that captures the essence of Chanel’s refined elegance. However, both fragrances bear a striking resemblance to classic creations by Guerlain, leading me to ponder the direction Chanel is taking. Chanel has a great fragrance history. Not as hallowed and old as Guerlain but for past three decades it has far outshone Guerlain. In my view, no other perfume house has come close to Chanel’s excellence in this century. This makes their recent approach of echoing Guerlain classics somewhat perplexing. Have they run out of fresh ideas? Is Roger Dove at the helm of their fragrance division, or have they perhaps...

La Chasse Aux Papillons Extreme by L'Artisan Parfumeur

I read many reviews before or after I do my own and I seem to be at complete odds with the house of L'Artisan. I have previously said on basenotes that for me, L'Artisan Parfumeur is the most over-rated house I have come across. La Chasse Aux Papillons Extreme does nothing to sway that opinion. Yet another linear, floral dominant scent that does nothing to stir me up or inspire me in any way. This house has "pleasant" nailed down to an art form......but damn...can't we go beyond that? The only attempt at polarization so far has been Dzongkha ....and I found it a jumbled mess. At these prices, move me, anger me, hate me.......but please don't bore me. Extreme in a nutshell is a toned down tuberose with assorted "blossom" thrown in the mix. Is it bad? No, it's an acceptable floral scent that's very timid and just lays on my skin smelling like....well....a toned down version of tuberose with blossom this or that added to it. I'm almost a...