LALIQUE
ENCRE NOIRE A L’EXTREME
2015
PERFUMER
Nathalie Lorson
Cypress
Elemi
Bergamot
Vetiver
Incense
Orris
Benzoin
Sandalwood
Patchouli
If you start your fragrance journey going by community recommendations, you will come across the Encre Noir trio sooner or later. I blind bought the A L’Extreme flanker as one of my first purchases and I appreciate it for what it it’s, but it’s too green for my personal taste. I do like A L’Extreme the most of the Encre Noir line.
It’s dark, heavy, gothic and a bit challenging. Vetiver is the name of the game with this one, and it’s a green, deep vetiver, working in tangent with cypress. The woods lead the way and the incense adds quite a lot of smokiness. I love vetiver, but I’d say this is at the edge of a comfortable wear for me. It’s not necessarily a dirty, super earthy vetiver, but it’s green and combined with the cypress, it reminds me of tree sap from a pine tree.
This is a fall and winter fragrance exclusively for me. However, not a comforting, warm fragrance, but more of a mysterious, dark, cold fragrance. Not so much as an evening by the fireplace, but more so a nightly winter walk in a pine forest. Aside from the woods and smoke, there’s not too much to the scent. Some wafts I get a hint of booziness, but not overly so. I do think it’s well-balanced and it’s not too wild or harsh, but as a beginner, buying this at the price point, you might be getting more than what you bargained for.
I only tried the original Encre Noir once, but from what I can gather, the A L’Extreme is a bit smokier and complex (although still pretty simple), whereas the original is even more bare boned (and dare I say, more extreme). The performance on this is okay. It’s really strong and pungent at first, but the longevity is average. It will cling to your clothing for ages though, so be warned. You can pick up a full bottle (and I do love the presentation) for the price of two Happy Meals, and for that price you’re getting a scent profile far out of the range of your common designer fragrances. In that sense, you can’t really go wrong with it.