I love spicy and peppery food.  I practically put Tabasco sauce on everything that I eat.  And like perfume, I would have a hard time living without it.  As much as I like spice and pepper, I don’t want to smell peppery!  As a pepper scent, Black isn’t all that bad, it’s just not my thing so I’ll try to do it justice without being too prejudiced.

WHAT I SMELL: Black goes on cool to the touch almost sweet in a fashion.  That quickly fades and a smoky incense comes to the surface.  I’m not really smelling the pepper at this point, instead it’s almost a woody incense that swirls and curls like smoke.  Eventually, the pepper comes to the surface and it’s sharp.  The incense that seemed so smoky still is there, but the punctuated sharpness of the pepper gives it all a bite.  But like the incense, the pepper seems to be a bit subdued as well.  It’s like you are waiting for the ingredients to jump out in a blast, but as each note appears it manages to contain itself without being too loud.

Black Notes:  black pepper, pepperwood, red pepper, violet, thyme, black tea, birch tar, incense, tree moss

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Dried wood boxes that have been sitting in a smokehouse storage basement, but not as they just came out of a building, but rather if had been sitting outside for a month or so to smooth out the sharper edge of the remaining smoky smell.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE BLACK: dry, subdued, dusty

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT BLACK: Bois de Jasmin, Grain de Musc, CaFleureBon

BOTTOM LINE: This is an interesting scent and I find that its well done if you like your scents to feel more modern and remote.  For me, it’s great for sampling but not for wearing.  Black is one of a trio of scents in the Play Series.  The other two scents are Green and Red which you can read more about in the above cited links.  I do like the playful bottle though!

• Bone Rating: 3.5 out of 5 possible bones
• Scent: Woody Spicy
• Classification: Leans Masculine
• Nose: Antoine Maisondieu
• Expense: Approximately $100 for 100ml EdT