Encre Noire

I feel like woody perfumes are completely overdone, and when they're good, there's something in there that just bothers me. Take Bois Imperial for example. A great fragrance, only gets good reviews, but for some reason, I really dislike it. I personally find it boring, partly because it IS good, in a cookie-cutter way. Yes, of course that combination will work and smell good. That's boring to me. How about making something tried and true, but this time, actually trying something? Well, seems like it worked really well for Lalique, because Nathalie Lorson really made something special here. Encre Noire has been around for over 20 years now, first releasing in 2006, having recently (meaning 2023) made a comeback. It opens with an almost photorealistic cypress note, which remains strong until the dry-down, which is where this EDT shines. What you get is a smell resembling writing ink and pencil shavings, so closely, that my initial thought was 'Wow I bet this is exactly what an English Literature professor's desk smells like' You know, because they write with an old school feather and squid ink or something. Anyways, I think this is a great pickup for someone that enjoys more unconventional woody scents and wants real quality fragrance for a bargain. Others that may enjoy this are gothic scent lovers that don't want to smell like 'Old disgusting church' or 'Run-down Appalachia AA meeting room' to switch it up for once in their olfactory exploratory career. Or English Literature professors. You know, because this is what they smell like. Versatile, kinda niche, affordable. I'm going to give this fantastic perfume a 7/10.