Miller Harris is my most reviewed fragrance brand. Étui Noir is the latest addition to my collection and for reasons that will become apparent – a new favourite. The Mr and I share fragrances. He has never been hung up on the male/female fragrance thing. If he likes the smell he will wear it. It does affect how I shop for fragrance. On paper, it is not my type of fragrance. Leather is not for me but there is vetiver and citrus which I am drawn to. While I was meandering in the store I kept coming back to Etui Noir, so I bought it and I am so glad I did.
Étui Noir on me
The first spritz envelopes me in tangerine and bergamot boosted by vetiver. At this stage I am as happy as a can be. After about twenty minutes however, I am taken straight into leather and incense. For my nose it is about seventeen steps to far into my discomfort zone. I am not a fan of smokiness on a perfume blotter and even less so on my skin. In combination with leather and I am done. In addition the iris bypasses me completely. Not a hint of it on my skin at all.
Étui Noir on him
The citrus opening is not so bright on him. The incense joins the party much more gently and the iris seems to come and go on his skin. The Mr smells good in leather…. fragrance notes. Now that I think about it, I should have known that. When I first met him, Fahrenheit was his fragrance of choice. The smoky incense is somehow not so smoky on him. When I reviewed Vetiver Insolent I said that I liked it on me, but that on the Mr it smelt sexy.
To be blunt Étui Noir smells like man, and by man I mean sex. I adore how Étui Noir smells on the Mr. It turns me to mush. A mixture of his body chemistry and the animalic leather causes my brain to make my body involuntarily react. The Power of fragrance eh? Anyway, as a result, Vetiver Insolvent is now firmly on my side of the bedroom again and Étui Noir.
Fragrance is the most personal aspect of beauty in my opinion. The alchemy that takes place when notes are blended and further reactions that take place on the skin are magical. I cannot say whether Etui Noir on your skin or your partner’s skin is going to put your olfactory nerve into overdrive. If there is the remotest chance that it might… isn’t it worth a sniff?
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