05/28/2024
Intersport
64 Reviews
Translated
Show original
Intersport
Top Review
15
A hautgout wafts from Place Vendôme..
Cartier is extremely cautious with the narrative for Noir Absolu, only mentioning an 'accord of burning wood and caramelized sugar' before going into far more detail about the sustainable aspects (fittingly with 'burning wood') of the bottle. More interesting is a look at the ingredients, the list of allergens here is more extensive than usual, some of them newer IFRA guidelines, some not, but here, quasi through footnotes, an increase in ingredients is recognizable that play a role in Noir Absolu:
POGOSTEMON CABLIN LEAF EXTRACT (patch), COUMARIN, JUNIPERUS VIRGINIANA OI (juniper), VANILLIN, PINENE, CEDRENE, EUGENIA CARYOPHYLLUS OIL (cloves), ROSE KETONES
Three phases:
1. Noir Absolu starts with a slightly pungent ammonia-like note, which is much harsher on paper or fabric than on my skin. I can somehow understand why reviews in English-language forums are quick to talk about urine, although the ammonia-like note is so nuanced that a certain skin odor cannot be denied, but an overly figurative interpretation somehow doesn't quite work either. Nevertheless, the, I'll call it now, 'hung ammonia animalic' contributes a slightly nostalgic facet that *almost* makes me think of early 80's hits with slight urinal overtones.
2. In a second phase, the perfume takes on a subtly caramelized, maple syrup-like note that seems to simmer with lots of spices, especially cloves with a mixture of herbal bitters [unicum, etc.], malt soy and sugar. Is this candied something perhaps a microdose of the infamous Sotolon that briefly kept New York on its toes in 2005 ( https://tinyurl.com/2h997b9n ) or other immortelle-like scents? But there's something more, coniferous-resinous, vaguely floral, something like fresh charcoal? Even after several attempts, the fragrance remains difficult to grasp in this section; the special note that characterizes the opening remains present, the slight sweetness contributes accordingly.
3. In the third and final section, Noir Absolu becomes increasingly musky, which reminds me in volume and texture of Caron's L'Anarchiste (2001), where after a mint-cinnamon-like overture, massive musk comes into play. In the background, warm but not entirely ambery, balsamic notes melt away, slightly smoky vanilla, juniper and vetiver could be involved, the still shimmering Hautgout prevents the fragrance from appearing too clean here.
*
Mathilde Laurent is a stroke of luck for Cartier. Of the long-established Parisian luxury goods manufacturers, Hermès enjoyed the almost impeccable reputation for a long time when it came to in-house perfumes: the slowly growing portfolio with groundbreaking works by Roudnitska, Robert, or Giacobetti, among others, was almost completely retained and maintained accordingly even after the publicity-technical smart move to hire Jean Claude Ellena as in-house perfumer, and the Hermès legacy was upheld with all kinds of new additions.
The apparently well-considered handover to a new in-house perfumer, whose previous work included Tolles (Theorema), also sounded promising at first - the results so far have been rather mixed: it is navigated back and forth between leather theme variations, the umpteenth rose oud, and Woody Amber Torschlusspanik. Cartier, a similarly long-established competitor with its Paris headquarters just a few hundred meters to the east, on the other hand, has been able to position itself increasingly convincingly
Even if I have liked the classic Cartier fragrances over the years: Must, Santos, Must pour Homme, Déclaration were drawn from other perfumers - for around 15 years, Mathilde Laurent has been developing an independent program that ranges from well-executed mainstream (Envol) to the inevitable exclusive series (including LES HEURES DE PARFUM). Even if many flankers are part of it, with the Soliflor concept of the LES ÉPURES DE PARFUM series Laurent was able to propose remarkably straightforward, to-the-point fragrances.
Noir Absolu is probably exactly what the ÉPURES are not - a dense, molasses-like fragrance that leaves plenty of room for interpretation between the notes. The difference to the transparent, hyper-realistic Épures could hardly be greater, perhaps Mathilde Laurent had to go through with it, perhaps marketing strategy, or simply, the odd one out? I can't imagine whether Noir Absolu will appeal to Cartier's regular audience, but that's probably not the purpose of such a release. I can't recognize any olfactory references to the original or other Pasha versions, fortunately 'Noir Absolu' is its own thing; a fragrance whose middle section I see more next to Comme des Garçons' Series 7: Sweet - Wood Coffee or Series 7: Sweet - Burnt Sugar (both 2005), or Le participe passé (2018), or its finish close to the aforementioned Caron. Especially in the designer sector, or in this case jeweler, halfway original fragrances are more than scarce, and here Mathilde Laurent can score with Noir Absolu.
POGOSTEMON CABLIN LEAF EXTRACT (patch), COUMARIN, JUNIPERUS VIRGINIANA OI (juniper), VANILLIN, PINENE, CEDRENE, EUGENIA CARYOPHYLLUS OIL (cloves), ROSE KETONES
Three phases:
1. Noir Absolu starts with a slightly pungent ammonia-like note, which is much harsher on paper or fabric than on my skin. I can somehow understand why reviews in English-language forums are quick to talk about urine, although the ammonia-like note is so nuanced that a certain skin odor cannot be denied, but an overly figurative interpretation somehow doesn't quite work either. Nevertheless, the, I'll call it now, 'hung ammonia animalic' contributes a slightly nostalgic facet that *almost* makes me think of early 80's hits with slight urinal overtones.
2. In a second phase, the perfume takes on a subtly caramelized, maple syrup-like note that seems to simmer with lots of spices, especially cloves with a mixture of herbal bitters [unicum, etc.], malt soy and sugar. Is this candied something perhaps a microdose of the infamous Sotolon that briefly kept New York on its toes in 2005 ( https://tinyurl.com/2h997b9n ) or other immortelle-like scents? But there's something more, coniferous-resinous, vaguely floral, something like fresh charcoal? Even after several attempts, the fragrance remains difficult to grasp in this section; the special note that characterizes the opening remains present, the slight sweetness contributes accordingly.
3. In the third and final section, Noir Absolu becomes increasingly musky, which reminds me in volume and texture of Caron's L'Anarchiste (2001), where after a mint-cinnamon-like overture, massive musk comes into play. In the background, warm but not entirely ambery, balsamic notes melt away, slightly smoky vanilla, juniper and vetiver could be involved, the still shimmering Hautgout prevents the fragrance from appearing too clean here.
*
Mathilde Laurent is a stroke of luck for Cartier. Of the long-established Parisian luxury goods manufacturers, Hermès enjoyed the almost impeccable reputation for a long time when it came to in-house perfumes: the slowly growing portfolio with groundbreaking works by Roudnitska, Robert, or Giacobetti, among others, was almost completely retained and maintained accordingly even after the publicity-technical smart move to hire Jean Claude Ellena as in-house perfumer, and the Hermès legacy was upheld with all kinds of new additions.
The apparently well-considered handover to a new in-house perfumer, whose previous work included Tolles (Theorema), also sounded promising at first - the results so far have been rather mixed: it is navigated back and forth between leather theme variations, the umpteenth rose oud, and Woody Amber Torschlusspanik. Cartier, a similarly long-established competitor with its Paris headquarters just a few hundred meters to the east, on the other hand, has been able to position itself increasingly convincingly
Even if I have liked the classic Cartier fragrances over the years: Must, Santos, Must pour Homme, Déclaration were drawn from other perfumers - for around 15 years, Mathilde Laurent has been developing an independent program that ranges from well-executed mainstream (Envol) to the inevitable exclusive series (including LES HEURES DE PARFUM). Even if many flankers are part of it, with the Soliflor concept of the LES ÉPURES DE PARFUM series Laurent was able to propose remarkably straightforward, to-the-point fragrances.
Noir Absolu is probably exactly what the ÉPURES are not - a dense, molasses-like fragrance that leaves plenty of room for interpretation between the notes. The difference to the transparent, hyper-realistic Épures could hardly be greater, perhaps Mathilde Laurent had to go through with it, perhaps marketing strategy, or simply, the odd one out? I can't imagine whether Noir Absolu will appeal to Cartier's regular audience, but that's probably not the purpose of such a release. I can't recognize any olfactory references to the original or other Pasha versions, fortunately 'Noir Absolu' is its own thing; a fragrance whose middle section I see more next to Comme des Garçons' Series 7: Sweet - Wood Coffee or Series 7: Sweet - Burnt Sugar (both 2005), or Le participe passé (2018), or its finish close to the aforementioned Caron. Especially in the designer sector, or in this case jeweler, halfway original fragrances are more than scarce, and here Mathilde Laurent can score with Noir Absolu.
11 Comments