HS3

I got the email from LuckyScent saying they had Back to Black in stock and within minutes, I was on the site to order a sample. I had high hopes for it – I wanted to like it. I’d enjoyed Calice Becker’s previous work with By Kilian, so I was set. I got the samples I’d ordered a few days later and dumped them all out on the table, excited to try all the new goodies.

I sniffed the Back to Black directly from the stick and immediately thought “wow, this is going to be good.” I put a bit on the back of my hand and looked forward to what would come of it. It opened with a jammy berry note, almost so tart and pungent that it could tingle your glands. It then transitioned into a wonderful almond woody note, sweetened by vanilla and honey with a touch of warm patchouli. All seemed to be going well. A good while later into the dry down, the honey started to come out a bit more than I was hoping. It was similar to the honey note in the base of Miel de Bois by Serge Lutens. Not good. Hours later, all that was left was the pulsing honey note, all too close to the smell of a well-used port-a-potty on a hot day. Honey isn’t listed as one of the notes and the Kilian website isn’t updated yet, but it seems like a number of people are getting a big honeyed tobacco note pretty strongly.

I’m going to revisit it in hopes that it was a fluke – perhaps applying it by swiping didn’t let it develop the way it needed to.

Longevity and projection are both huge – just from the bit I had on my hand, I was getting wafts of it all afternoon. Also, from that same little bit on my hand, I could still smell it the next morning and still traces after showering.

I’ll try again soon.

Notes from Luckyscent:
Bergamot, raspberry, blue chamomile, cardamom, coriander, saffron, cedarwood, vanilla, almond, vetiver, cistus labdanum, patchouli, oakmoss.

I really wasn’t sure what I was getting into the first time I tried it. I was lucky enough for someone to send me a sample they’d parted ways with. I didn’t have any preconceptions of what it would smell like, but I thoroughly enjoyed what I got. It’s a really lovely super dry patchouli with dusty earth, camphor and grasses as a backdrop. Think sensual without using the usual suspects of vanilla or sandalwood as a cloak or to make it overly rich. It leans more to the masculine side than feminine for patchoulis, but it’s by no means an overpowering scent. It remains a light aura of a scent on the skin as opposed to a powerhouse patchouli scent. I’ve tried plenty of patchouli scents, and where most rely on a richer, more oriental base, this stays crisp without those overbearing, heavy notes you usually associate with patchouli. It makes uses of tobacco notes and hay to support its lead players. Like many of the Nasomattos, there is a signature note that is hard to describe, but is strangely addictive.

It’s a parfum extrait, but it’s not an in-your-face type. I originally wrote it off as having less than stellar lengevity, but I was mistaken after a few wears. It wears closely and doesn’t have a huge, lingering sillage which I think works perfectly for this and sets it apart from other patchouli heavy scents. However, I can still easily detect it with a fluff of the shirt 10 hours later.

Chanel (Jacques Polge & Christopher Sheldrake) did it right with this one. This is in the top 5 scents I smelled in 2008.

I would describe it overall as a rich, yet accessible take on patchouli and chocolate. However, there are just so many wonderful aspects all along the way that make it as wonderful as it is. The opening has the peppery tart spray of bitter orange peel with a sweet chocolate undertone. The spices are gritty and light, not ones to hit the back of your throat.. A wonderful patchouli that you wouldn’t necessarily identify unless you knew to look for it emerges with just the slightest powdery feathering. It settles into a rich, warm leathery scent that still retains some of its top notes punch and even has a comforting, classic feel to it. I don’t know many classic Chanels, but the dry down makes me think of a complex scent with such depth a company like this would have produced.

This is really a masterpiece for me. I knew I would end up buying it within minutes of sampling it. I took a sample and wore it that night and the next day and bought a bottle the next afternoon. The bottle is gorgeous and the base of the box doubles as a Chanel stand for the bottle. The packaging is top notch – even the cap is magnetically polarized so that the Chanel logo is horizontal when you put the cap on.

Be sure you love anything you buy from Les Exclusifs line… you’re getting a jug of it. The price may seem daunting at first, but when you account for how much you’re actually getting, it’s no more expensive than any other standard designer scent.

Huge A+ from me.